After Tonight

by Erin Nicholas

  “You mean, of course you remember taking her virginity. In my basement.”

  Well…yeah. And he knew that Riley thought of the basement in her parents’ house as hers. It was where she’d spent nearly all of her out-of-school time. But once in a while, Kyle and his friends would commandeer the away-from-the-parents space.

  And if she thought Sarah was the only girl he’d had sex with down there, she’d be very wrong.

  “I do remember that,” he said hesitantly. Because he sensed there was more.

  “Do you remember laughing and talking about her and my other friends two years before that?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “Sarah and Lucy and Kate were spending the night. Sarah had a huge crush on you, and Kyle told you that. Then you laughed and said, ‘What would I talk to a girl like that about if we were alone for even five minutes?’ We were upstairs in the kitchen getting drinks, and we heard you.”

  Derek blew out a breath. “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that.”

  “She was so embarrassed. She didn’t come over for months after that because she was afraid of seeing you, and you were always at our house.” Riley was frowning at him as if this had happened just last night.

  “I’m sorry.” He shrugged. “I really am. I didn’t know she heard me. I didn’t even know she was up there.” He paused. He knew he shouldn’t go on but, he couldn’t help himself. “But seriously, Riley, what would we have talked about?”

  Riley drew herself straighter. “You weren’t worried about that two years later in my basement.”

  And, also knowing he should not say it, he replied easily, “Well, we weren’t talking much that night.”

  Then he turned and headed back out front, done with this conversation. And done with letting Riley get to him. For now.

  Because she always got to him.

  2

  “So basically, you want to have sex with me,” Scott said to Derek as Derek set a beer down in front of him.

  “That is absolutely not what I said,” Derek told him. He looked at Kyle. “You get what I’m saying, right?”

  Kyle nodded. “Sure. But if you want to have sex with one of us, I don’t know why it isn’t me.”

  These two were his best friends, and he’d known he was going to get shit about this. But if they hadn’t given him a rough time, he would have thought they weren’t really taking him seriously. “I don’t want to have sex with either of you,” Derek said firmly but calmly.

  “But you said that you have no women in your life like us.” Scott waggled his thumb back and forth between himself and Kyle. “But you’d like to have the kind of sex you’re having now with someone like that.”

  Derek gave him a look that said, “I know you’re being a dumbass on purpose.” He sighed. “I want to have hot sex with a woman who knows me the way you two know me.” He held up a hand before either of them said anything. “I want to have someone like Peyton or Hannah.”

  There. That would make it clear what he was talking about. Peyton and Scott knew each other inside and out and were still having rock-the-house sex all the time. Hannah and Kyle had known each other and been in love since high school. They had a history that was both awesome and a little painful, and they were as close as any couple Derek had ever seen. And they were as hot together as Peyton and Scott.

  Derek knew—in fact, he was pretty sure he’d been the one to point out to these guys—that when you were with someone who knew you well, and loved you in spite of knowing you well, the sex was even better. He knew that. He’d had something very close to that a couple of times. He didn’t take on the whole I-want-to-be-your-everything bit that Scott and Kyle did, so even the relationships with the couple of women he’d been serious about weren’t as all-consuming as what Scott and Peyton and Kyle and Hannah were doing. There was no way Derek wanted to be anyone’s everything. That was a hell of a lot of pressure. But he did know that sex with a woman he truly cared about and knew well was amazing and…well, other things were amazing too. Like spending time outside of the bedroom. Something he didn’t do with women very often.

  But maybe he should. Maybe it was time to have a longer-term relationship. Maybe it was time to get serious. It was sure working well for Scott and Kyle.

  Of course, Scott and Kyle were the more serious types by nature. Definitely. Kyle was a straight-laced, perfectionistic physician, and Scott was a by-the-book, save-the-world cop. Derek was…a playboy bartender.

  It probably wasn’t great for him to model his whole life after these guys. He didn’t think he could be a rule-following perfectionist if someone paid him a million bucks to do it.

  So why was he all of a sudden thinking about his relationships with women?

  But the answer was obvious. And annoying.

  Riley.

  The talk with Riley three nights ago had replayed in his mind for hours afterward. And he was pissed the next morning when he’d awoken tired. And alone. He hadn’t gone out to talk to the women who’d been there looking for him. He’d told his friends he needed to get cleaned up from the mud and had headed home. Where he’d proceeded to think about the fact that Riley obviously thought he was an ass about women, and had been since high school when he’d debauched her basement couch.

  He frowned. And now he was thinking about her again. Why did he care what Riley thought of him? He wasn’t a dumb kid—or a dumb early-twenty-something guy—anymore. He’d grown up. He was doing shit with his life. He was an integral part of the community, was close to his family, had a job he loved, and lots of friends. He was happy. His situation was damned near perfect. It didn’t matter if Riley knew any of that or believed it. She wasn’t actually his little sister. He wasn’t even sure he’d call her a friend.

  Yet, he was still pissed that she thought he hit on women with broken hearts because they were easier. He wasn’t an asshole. And he didn’t need easy, thank you very much.

  Scott took a swallow of beer. “Well, sorry, buddy, can’t help you there. Peyton is very taken.”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve ruined Hannah for any other man,” Kyle said.

  Clearly neither of them actually thought Derek was talking about having sex with their girls, but he sighed anyway. “Thanks for the talk, guys.”

  His friends were absolutely head over heels in love. The whole let’s-get-a-dog-and-spend-every-Christmas-together-and-tell-each-other-everything kind of love, but they were also having Vegas-worthy sex. It could be done.

  Not that this was all some great revelation to Derek. It might shock Riley Ames, but he was actually a pretty insightful guy.

  “Look,” Kyle finally said, setting his coffee cup aside and leaning in—the sure sign he was finally going to give Derek some real input. “You think you’re Vegas to all these girls who are stuck in Sapphire Falls. You think you’re giving them this short-term good time when things in their real life get a little boring or don’t work out the way they plan. But I think what you have to ask yourself is…how much do you need the regular trips to Vegas.”

  Derek refilled Kyle’s cup, thinking that over. It wasn’t quite time to switch the bar over from alcohol to coffee and tea only, something he did every night around midnight, but Kyle was on call pretty much twenty-four seven. It wasn’t unusual for him to not drink, no matter what time it was.

  “You think I’m doing all of that for me more than for them?” Derek asked.

  “You send them back out into Sapphire Falls,” Kyle said. “You help them let loose for a night, or a weekend, or even for a few weekends, but eventually they go back to their real lives, find nice guys, and settle down. And everyone knows that’s what’s going to happen.”

  “Because that’s what they ultimately want,” Derek said. “Nobody wants Vegas all the time.”

  “Except you.”

  Derek felt himself freeze. He looked at Kyle. “What?”

  “You’re the one who doesn’t go back out into the ‘regular’ dating scene a
fter one of your flings.” Kyle picked up his cup and sipped with that smug look he often got when he was right about something.

  Derek didn’t really know what to say to Kyle’s revelation.

  “But he does go back out into regular life in Sapphire Falls,” Scott said. “I mean, it’s not a relationship, but Derek is as Sapphire Falls as it gets. All the odd jobs around town, running the main social hub, involved in everything, knows everyone.” Scott regarded Derek with a thoughtful look. “Yeah, maybe those ‘Vegas trips’ are for you as much as they are for the women. It’s a way to let loose and get out of the regular grind around here and then, Monday morning, you’re back to being committed to your longest-term, most serious relationship.” He nodded as if figuring it all out. “You can’t be serious about a woman because you’re already in a committed relationship. With this town.”

  Derek felt his eyes narrow. But he didn’t hear himself arguing.

  Was he avoiding commitment in a relationship because he was already over-committed to…everything else in his life?

  “I think I just really like the hot sex with beautiful, willing partners who think I’m amazing,” he finally said.

  Scott shrugged. “Or maybe it’s just that.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense too,” Kyle said, picking up his cup again.

  Derek rolled his eyes. Yeah, these guys were a ton of help.

  “Officer, I’m here to report a crime.”

  Peyton Wells, Scott’s girlfriend, slid between Scott and Kyle, her body rubbing against Scott’s. The big cop grinned down at her. “Yeah, what happened?”

  “You’re going to have to cuff me and frisk me before I talk,” she told him.

  “That can be arranged.” Scott pivoted on the stool and settled his hands possessively on her hips. “Though I don’t know where you’d be hiding any weapons in this outfit.”

  Peyton was, as usual, dressed in short shorts and a tank that fit her body like a glove. She was Scott’s, completely and without a doubt, but as a red-blooded straight man, Derek had to admit that Peyton was damned nice to look at.

  “Oh, I think I might have a thing or two that I can use against you,” she told Scott with a smile that said very clearly to everyone looking on what she meant.

  Scott gave a low growl and said, “I’m not going to get any work done on that paperwork tonight, am I?”

  “Oh!” Peyton leaned back slightly. “I forgot about that! You are definitely going to get work done on that.”

  Scott pulled her close again. “I don’t want to work on it.”

  “I’ll reward you afterward.” Peyton batted her eyes at him and licked her bottom lip.

  Scott started to lean in to kiss her, but she pulled back at the last second.

  “After.”

  “Dammit, Trouble,” Scott grumbled.

  “You have to get that in by next Friday,” she said. “Seriously.” She looked over at Derek and Kyle. “Tell him that he has to go do this presentation. He’ll be so good at it.”

  “What presentation?” Derek asked.

  “He didn’t tell you?” She frowned up at Scott, then looked back to Derek. “He was asked to present at a multistate convention of law enforcement working on sex trafficking issues.” She put a hand on Scott’s cheek. “I know you want to do it. I’ll help you with the paperwork. We’ll get it done super-fast, and then you can…” She trailed off. “Whatever you want.”

  Derek actually felt the heat spiking between them. And he decided that, yes, that would be a very interesting thing to try—being with someone who knew his talents and dreams and encouraged them, even while tempting him with hot, handcuff-me-to-the-bed sex.

  Then again, what talents and dreams did he have? Pizza ovens in the Come Again kitchen and maybe adding a couple of local microbrewery beers to the drink menu. And both of those things were going to be done in the next couple of months.

  Huh. Maybe he didn’t need a serious girlfriend because he didn’t need any help being a better man.

  And Riley floated through his mind again.

  She would probably disagree.

  No, she would definitely disagree.

  He stubbornly resisted looking over at the table where she sat, her feet propped on the chair across from her, her laptop open, her headphones on—the universal signal for “I don’t want to talk”. She came in every night to work, just like a number of other people, including local bestselling author Michael Kade.

  The Come Again had become an after-hours place for night owls who didn’t have their own offices to work in. It had started because the work to expand the Come Again for the pizza business happened after the bar closed, and the lights had drawn Peyton in when she’d decided to take classes online. Other people had quickly noticed the lights and cars in the lot, and Derek had simply gone with it, keeping the coffeepot going until the wee hours.

  Now it was just a routine, and he kind of liked it. His buddy Bryan Murray actually owned the bar, but Derek was going to be the owner of the pizza business, and he loved being a part of the Come Again. It really was the social hub of Sapphire Falls, and it mattered to him that he was a part of a place where people always felt welcome, where celebrations were held and defeats were made a little less painful, where you could come with a group of friends to make memories, or where you could come alone to make friends.

  “Hey.”

  He focused again on the people in front of him as Hannah slid up onto the stool next to Kyle.

  Kyle gave her a sweet kiss on the temple. “How was your day?”

  She nodded, leaning in to rest against him. “Okay.”

  Kyle’s hand rested on the back of her neck and he rubbed gently. Hannah had chronic neck pain from an accident a few years prior, and Derek wondered if Kyle even realized he was massaging her. It seemed an instinctive, protective action.

  “You sound tired,” Kyle said softly.

  “I am.”

  “Okay, time to go home.” He put his arm around her and started to stand. “Hot bath and then I’m tucking you in.”

  “And getting in with me?” she asked, giving him a sexy—if sleepy—smile.

  “Just to sleep, Hannah,” Kyle said. His expression was full of affection.

  And Derek found himself having to swallow hard. On his right was the couple that had upped the temp in the whole bar just looking at each other, and on his left was the couple in which one was simply taking care of the other. And that was kind of hot…or something…too.

  “This,” he announced. Both couples looked at him. He gestured between them. “This is what I’m talking about.”

  Hannah, Kyle, Peyton and Scott all looked at one another, then back at Kyle. And Kyle and Scott nodded.

  “Yeah, this is pretty great,” Kyle said.

  “You definitely want some of this,” Scott added.

  Yeah, he thought maybe he did. Vegas and Sapphire Falls all in one beautiful, sweet, naughty, fun package.

  Kyle and Hannah said their goodnights and left. Peyton went up on tiptoe and whispered something in Scott’s ear that had him saying goodnight a minute later.

  And then Derek was alone.

  He started wiping down glasses, lost in thought, until he heard, “Well, hey, I was hoping you were here tonight.”

  He looked up to find Ashley Archer leaning on the other side of the bar. “Hey, Ash. What’s up?”

  Ashley was a girl he’d “visited Vegas” with a couple of times. Maybe three. Or four.

  “I was just wondering what you were up to this weekend?” She gave him a flirty smile.

  He thought about it. He studied her lips. He thought about the last time they’d been together. Then he surprised them both and asked, “Have you read any of Michael Kade’s books?”

  Ashley frowned. “Um, no. Not really my thing.”

  Well, at least she knew who Kade was. He was living here in Sapphire Falls now though, and Derek wondered if she’d known the author before he moved in and started making a
big deal about writing a tongue-in-cheek murder mystery set in Aquamarine Ridge, a town that bore an uncanny similarity to Sapphire Falls.

  But Derek didn’t ask. Because he didn’t really want to know. He was about to ask a woman on a date, and he didn’t really need to know that it was a dumb idea.

  “He’s hosting a thing here in town in a few weeks,” Derek said. “It’s a murder-mystery thing where fans can come to Sapphire Falls and actually live out the story in his book.”

  Derek thought it was fabulous. That would probably surprise a lot of people, but he was an avid reader and was, admittedly, a fan-boy dork over Michael Kade’s stuff. He’d loved the Aquamarine Ridge book. It was funny and suspenseful with just enough gore. And he couldn’t wait for the fan weekend. He was the guy building the sets they needed and the keeper of the weapons and clues, and he was stupidly into it.

  That would surprise Riley, he bet.

  And dammit, there he was thinking about her again.

  “I heard something about the weekend thing,” Ashley told him.

  “Yeah, I’m working on the planning and everything. Was wondering if you’d want to go to his book reading next Sunday afternoon?”

  Kade was going to be reading from the book and signing copies at Lucy Geller’s bookstore in town. The first hour was for Sapphire Falls only, then it would be open to anyone who wanted to make the trip to the little town. They were expecting a huge crowd, and every place from the diner to the bakery was gearing up to serve and charm their visitors. Hailey Conner Bennett, the woman in charge of everything having to do with tourism in Sapphire Falls, was nearly beside herself.

  “A Sunday afternoon?” Ashley asked, as if he’d just asked if she knew how to tap dance.

  It was true that most of his “dates” were long over by Sunday afternoon, and he was typically either at the pond fishing or lounging on his couch watching TV.

  “Yeah, it starts at three,” he said, telling himself he couldn’t bail on the invitation just because she looked completely confused.

  “Um…” Ashley glanced around. “I haven’t read the book.”