His and Hers and Hers

by Nona Raines

  Cassie approached and stood by, her smile slipping as he seemed in no hurry to cut short his conversation with the bartender. Finally she cleared her throat in order to have him acknowledge her. “Um, hi. Sully Markham? I’m Cassie. Cassie DeSantis.”

  His eyes lasered on her, and it was as though the barmaid dematerialized. “Well, Cassie. Hello there.”

  Hellooo there. Just the way he said it made her picture some slimy character from an old porn film. He already had the slick hair and the leer; all he needed was a pencil-thin mustache.

  Her stomach sank like the Titanic. She just knew this date was toast, but since she was here, it would be stupid to throw in the towel so soon.

  Cassie smiled sickly and slid onto the bar stool as best she could in the tight skirt. “I knew you right away.”

  He leaned toward her. “Well, I can’t make the same claim.” When he looked her up and down, it felt as though he was running clammy fingers over her skin. “I must say, your picture doesn’t do you justice.”

  Jordan’s appreciative gaze made her shiver with arousal. This guy’s stare made her shudder with disgust.

  She was even more creeped out when he touched her, stroked her hand. “What are you drinking, sweetheart?”

  “Um, a screwdriver, please.” It was the first thing that popped into her head. One quick drink, and she was out of here.

  “Mmm…” He drifted his fingers up her bare thigh, teased the hem of her skirt. “I’d like half that order, myself. The screw part…”

  Huh? Was this guy for real, or did that kind of crap talk actually pass for flirtation lately? Sure, it had been a while since she’d been on any kind of a date, but she couldn’t believe she was that far out of the loop. She shifted so his hand fell away. Sully signaled the bartender, who was at the other end of the bar. When Cassie looked in that direction, she blinked in disbelief. Kyla and Jordan stood there, each holding a bottle of beer. Jordan tipped the mouth of his bottle in a brief salute while Kyla gave her a less than discreet thumbs-up.

  She coughed. “Uh, I’m uh, excuse me, I just need to visit the ladies’ room.”

  “Well, hurry back, honey.” Sully winked.

  It was all she could do not to roll her eyes. Blarf.

  She carefully slid off the stool, hoping the skirt wouldn’t hike up to expose her bare ass to the entire bar. As she marched past her two friends, she gave Kyla the eye and muttered, “Bathroom. Now.”

  Kyla’s eyebrows rose, and she handed her beer to Jordan. “Hold this.”

  In the two-stall ladies’ room, Cassie pulled Kyla into the larger handicapped stall for a modicum of privacy. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

  “What?” Kyla laughed. “Come on, Cass. We just wanted to make sure you weren’t stuck with a loser. I must say, you really hit the Powerball with that one. I mean he’s seriously hot! Okay, maybe he looks a little uptight in that suit, but I’m sure that once you get him out of it—” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.

  Cassie wanted to tell her about the creepy vibe Sully gave off, but thought better of it. The date was already a bust. To confess her mistake to her best friend would make her feel that much more a loser. “Yeah, but how am I supposed to get anywhere with you and Jordan watching my every move?”

  “Well, all right.” Kyla sighed. “We’ll just finish our drinks and go.”

  “No. You’ll go now.” Cassie tried to be stern but soon folded. “Please? I’m nervous enough as it is.”

  “Okay, fine.” Ky turned and led the way out of the stall. A woman primping in the mirror gave them an odd look as they passed, then shrugged as though she’d seen stranger things in public bathrooms.

  Cassie gave Kyla a head start, and when she returned to the bar, both her friends were gone. She sighed in relief. Now all she had to do was think of an excuse to cut out early—one that wasn’t too lame.

  Her date was again flirting with the bartender, going so far as to slip a bill into her cleavage. The woman didn’t object. Apparently Sully operated on the old chestnut “Out of sight, out of mind.”

  That was it. Cassie decided she’d fall back on the old standby: the sudden headache.

  The bartender drifted away, and as Cassie reached her seat, she began, “Uh, listen, Sully—”

  A cell phone beeped. “Oops. That’s mine.” He snatched it from his pocket and swiveled away from her on the stool. “Excuse me, Cathy.”

  “Sure.” She didn’t bother to correct his mistaking her name. She took a halfhearted sip of her screwdriver as he spoke loudly into his phone.

  “Hello? Yeah. Uh-huh. Really? When did this happen? Oh my God. The hospital? Oh, that’s terrible. I’ll get there right away. No, don’t worry. You hang tight now. See you soon. Yeah. Bye-bye.”

  Cassie eyed him curiously as he turned back her way, his face crumpled with worry. He ran his hand through his hair in a distracted movement. “God, I’m sorry, Cathy. I have to go.”

  Instantly the dislike she felt for him became concern. “Something’s wrong?”

  “It was my cousin on the phone. His mom’s in the hospital—a heart attack, they think, some kind of heart thing. My cousin’s a mess. Who can blame him? I’ve got to get over there. He shouldn’t be alone.“

  “Of course. God, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can—”

  “No, no. But thanks, that’s sweet.” Sully stood, let go a deep breath. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am about this. You stay, finish your drink. All right? I’d feel terrible if this spoiled your evening too.” He quickly jammed his phone back in his pocket.

  “Uh, all right…”

  “Nice meeting you. You take care now.” He stalked away before she had a chance to say more. Cassie stirred her drink with the tiny plastic straw and took a sip. Sully must be a pretty decent guy to be so concerned about his aunt. Maybe she’d been too quick to judge him.

  A suspicion, a misgiving, something crept icily up her spine and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Taking her drink with her, Cassie bobbed and weaved through the crowd of people on the make until she reached the large plate-glass windows looking out on the parking lot. There, next to a silver sedan, was Sully, nuzzling the neck of the dark-haired bartender.

  Oh man, she’d been punked. The old family emergency shtick. And she’d fallen for it, hook, line, and sinker.

  She’d have laughed if it weren’t so pathetic. She’d been dumped by a guy she didn’t even like.

  Time to head home.

  “Miss! Excuse me, Miss!” It took a while for her to hear the voice over the loud chatter and blasting music. Even longer for Cassie to realize she was the one being addressed.

  A young, ponytailed waitress waved a slip of paper at her. “The tab comes to eighteen dollars.”

  Cassie blinked at her. “Excuse me?”

  “Your drinks. Two 7 and 7’s and one screwdriver. The guy you were with? He said you’d pay.”

  This time Cassie did laugh. The son of a bitch had stuck her with the tab.

  * * * *

  “Oh, God. Yeah, baby.” Jordan groaned as Kyla slid up and down on his hard cock. His fingers tightened on the generous globes of her ass. His vision grew fuzzy as his balls drew up tight to his body and fire raced up his spine. “I’m coming…God…”

  “Come for me, babe.” Kyla worked her clit while her hips pistoned against his. “Oohhh…”

  Coming down from his climax, Jordan marveled at Kyla’s beauty as she tossed her head back and followed him into orgasm. Her short, dark hair was mussed, her face and chest flushed. Her heavy breasts were ripe fruits, her large nipples the color of cocoa. As luscious as cocoa too. He loved her so much.

  As her orgasm subsided, she slumped onto him, her forehead bumping his nose. They laughed and arranged themselves more comfortably, Kyla snuggling against his side.

  She let go a long sigh. “That was fun.”

  He palmed her hip. “Uh-huh.”

  She rubbed her nose again
st his upper arm and gave him a little nip. “I wonder how Cassie’s date is going.”

  Jordan winced as though wounded. “Ow. That’s what you were thinking about while we were doing it? Cassie’s date?”

  “You gotta admit, he was pretty cute.”

  “Ugh. He was a slickster, I could tell.”

  “I’m telling her you said that.” Kyla elbowed him. “I hope she’s getting lucky, though. She should be. She looked good tonight, didn’t she?”

  “You did a good job with her.”

  She gave him the elbow again, a little harder. “You make it sound like she’s the ugly duckling.”

  “Ouch. That’s not what I meant. No. She looked hot.”

  Kyla lifted an eyebrow. “You should have seen her in that thong.”

  His cock stirred at the image. He grabbed a handful of her ass. “You’re a bad girl.”

  She caressed his dick, which should have been comatose after his explosive orgasm, but Kyla could always get him going. The little smirk on her full lips told him she knew it, too. “That gets you hot, doesn’t it?”

  He wasn’t sure if she meant the image of Cassie in her thong or the way she stroked him. He pulled her on top of him, crushing her ample breasts against his chest. “You know what really makes me hot? The thought of both you beauties in some itty-bitty panties.”

  Something sparked in her pretty brown eyes. “Both of us, huh?”

  “You bet.”

  “And what else? Would we just be standing around in those little panties?”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” He twirled his finger in a lock of her hair. “There might be a little girl-on-girl play…maybe some kissing…”

  “Umm…” She gave him a wet, openmouthed kiss. “Now who’s being bad?”

  Jordan was well aware that his talk was revving her motor, just as it was his. Kyla made no secret of her bicurious side. She told him she’d kissed a girl in high school on a dare. In college she’d done a bit more than that when she and her boyfriend at the time had gotten together with another couple, played strip poker, and had too much to drink. Kyla and the other girl had played around a little to get the guys hot.

  “I liked it,” his ever-honest Kyla had told him. “In fact, I liked her better than I liked my guy. Oh, he loved watching the two of us, and fucked my brains out afterward. But he got all huffy the next day. Oh, what’re you, a lez? Asshole. I dumped his ass then and there. He had a little dick anyway.”

  The asshole’s loss was Jordan’s gain. He’d fallen for Kyla the first time he saw her at Jonesy’s Bar and Grill. They’d each been out for a few drinks with friends and there’d been an instant connection between them.

  They’d been inseparable practically from their first date and had been living together four years. They had a crazy-good sex life, and they’d always been monogamous. Sure, in their time together there’d been plenty of sexy talk and what-if scenarios. But their fantasies had never included someone they knew. A friend. It was hot, now, to cross that line and imagine being with Kyla and Cassie. But Jordan knew it was dangerous too.

  So why had they crossed the threshold? Was Kyla getting bored with their sex life? Was he?

  To dodge that uncomfortable possibility, he tried making a joke. “Hey, what red-blooded straight man doesn’t fantasize about having two gorgeous chicks at his disposal?”

  “Yeah.” She settled her chin on his chest. “What’s that about, anyway?”

  “It makes him the center of attention. Plus, we’re all a bunch of horny bastards. We can’t help ourselves.”

  “For sure.” She kissed his chest, then made a loud raspberry against his skin before rolling off him. “Too bad we’re such an unadventurous, settled old couple, huh?”

  “Not completely settled,” he murmured. He winced instinctively, squeezing his eyes shut, wanting to kick himself. He knew better than to go there.

  Kyla went still momentarily as the dart hit its mark. If she’d been in a different mood, she’d have torn him a new one, but this time she simply let it slide.

  To Jordan’s mind, truly being “settled” meant being married. And Kyla didn’t do marriage. In fact, one of the conditions she’d made before moving in with him was that he would never ask her to marry him. The subject was forever off the table.

  And at the time, that was fine with him. Hell, he’d been twenty-three, way too young to even be thinking of settling down. Plus, he would have promised anything, his left nut if necessary, to get Kyla to be with him.

  But now he could see thirty on the horizon. And the things he’d scoffed at a few years ago didn’t seem so lame now. Marriage. Kids. A family. But Kyla’s shitty childhood had soured her on the whole marriage deal. How could he run the old bait-and-switch game on her? He’d made a promise.

  But that didn’t mean he had to like it. And it didn’t mean he wasn’t above the occasional remark. Hell, he was only human.

  She slipped out of bed without a word.

  “Where you going?” His nerves jangled with alarm. Had he pissed her off?

  “Chill,” she answered, her voice mild. “Just getting my phone.” She grabbed it from on top of the dresser.

  She scooted back beside him and he slipped his arm around her waist. He should have known his Kyla was not the passive-aggressive type. She did not believe in the silent treatment. No, if she was pissed, you’d know it—right before she tore off your head or another body part.

  “What are you doing?” he asked as she tapped the phone keys.

  Her eyes were glued to the tiny screen. “Texting Cassie.”

  “Oh, come on. She’s probably asleep.”

  “You wish.”

  Jordan rolled his eyes. But it was true. He did hope Cassie was sleeping. He hated to think of her doing the deed with that superficial creep. Sully. “Then you’ll be interrupting something.”

  Her lips curled in a self-satisfied little smirk. “I sure hope so.”

  Chapter Three

  Cassie lay sprawled on her sofa with a drink in her hand. A screwdriver made with orange juice from the fridge and vodka from her freezer.

  Still dressed in her borrowed slutwear, she squirmed in humiliation thinking of the disastrous night. The eighteen dollars she’d been stuck for didn’t matter. Sully certainly didn’t matter. But it stung like hell to be dumped by some loser she didn’t even care about on a date she never wanted in the first place.

  Why had she gone through with it? Because of Jordan and Ky, of course. They’d encouraged her. Hell, they were more excited by the whole thing than she was. Well, Kyla was, anyway. And Jordan would do anything to make Kyla happy. He’d seemed fine with it, until tonight. Had there been snark in his voice when he mentioned Sully, or had she just imagined it?

  Wishful thinking, Cassie, that’s all.

  The truth was she’d had far more fun composing the online profile and planning the date with her friends than imagining the date itself. Because she’d been with Kyla and Jordan. Hanging with them, talking with them, getting to know them better…

  Falling in love with them?

  But you don’t do love, right? Hadn’t her childhood taught her that? Every time she started to care, every time she reached out to someone, she was snatched away and put into a different foster home. Finally she’d made the decision it was safer not to care too much about anyone or anything. She couldn’t be hurt that way.

  But once she’d grown that hard shell, it had become part of her, and she found she couldn’t shed it. What had been a shield protecting her from hurt turned into a wall keeping everyone away. She wasn’t even sure she could love anyone anymore.

  “Why are we here, then?” She remembered the stricken look on her girlfriend Syd’s face, her bewilderment when Cassie had confessed that fear to her long ago. “Why am I here? If you can’t love me, why are we even together?”

  Why had she agreed to meet Sully in the first place? Had she really believed that lightning would strike? That they’d hit it off? T
hat maybe he’d be enough to help her move past her feelings for her two closest friends?

  Yeah, right. Fat chance of that.

  She’d made peace with her bisexuality years ago. Some people argued that bisexuals were simply those afraid to admit they were gay, but it wasn’t that at all. She loved women, yes—their softness, their curves, their tenderness. She knew how to make love to a woman because she knew what made her feel good. But she loved being with men too. She enjoyed the feel of a man’s hard body pressed to hers, the solid wall of his chest, the strength of his arms.

  But it wasn’t just about sex. She could be attracted to a person of either sex—attracted to someone’s personality, intellect, or sense of humor. Immediately she pictured Jordan’s smile. She thought of Kyla’s no-bullshit attitude.

  Cass, you’re totally screwed.

  Kyla and Jordan were a committed couple. Anyone with eyes could tell how much they loved each other. They weren’t the type to screw around on each other. Cassie wouldn’t feel the same about them if they were. That was her conundrum.

  The very thing that made her so crazy for them was what made it impossible for her to have a relationship with them. There was no room for her.

  Cassie knew she could go on the prowl and find someone to get freaky with. She’d done that before, had random hookups with men and women. Hell, she could even find a couple to play with and share their bed for a few hours of fun.

  But those brief encounters had ultimately left her dissatisfied. She wanted to be more than a random piece of ass, a number in someone’s black book to call when they were in the mood for a nasty good time.

  But doing the relationship thing with Sydney hadn’t worked out either. They’d been together almost a year before Syd threw in the towel.

  She’d been celibate since then. Just how long had it been? Her stuff was probably shriveled like a raisin from lack of use.

  Well, what’s the plan, Cass? Sit here getting drunk and feeling sorry for yourself?