The Summer Proposal

by Keeland, Vi

  They both looked at me like I was nuts.

  Out on the porch, I saw my brother walking up the path.

  “Hey, there he is. It’s about damn time.” I thumbed over my shoulder. “We almost died from boredom waiting around in there.”

  Austin smiled and shook his head. He looked to Teagan and extended his hand. “I’m this bonehead’s brother, Austin.”

  “Teagan. Nice to meet you.” She tilted her head. “Have we met before?”

  My brother shrugged. “Not that I know of.”

  “Probably just saw you around campus. I’ve been living here for so long, everyone is starting to look familiar.” She glanced between the two of us. “You guys don’t look alike.”

  I bounced on my heels with a grin. “Such a shame…for him.”

  Austin chuckled. “He might’ve gotten the looks, but I got the brains. Someday he’ll be bald and fat, and I’ll still be smart. You sure you don’t want to go out with me instead?”

  Teagan laughed. “Well, you do share the same wit.”

  “Are you guys heading out already?” Austin asked.

  “Yeah. No offense, but this party sucks. You want to come with us? We’re going over to the hockey team party.”

  Austin shook his head. “No thanks. They’re a little much for me off the ice. Besides, my back’s been killing me all day. I’m just going to sit around and have a couple of beers and call it a night.”

  “Again with the backache? What could possibly make it hurt? There isn’t even any checking in your sport.”

  Austin looked at Teagan, shaking his head. “I run track. This mo-mo thinks you can’t get injured unless you play a contact sport.”

  “You know, if they’d let people try to tackle the runners as they ran, it would be a much better time.”

  Austin chuckled. “You two have fun.”

  I slapped my brother on the shoulder. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “Yeah, there would have to be something you wouldn’t do for that to be advice.”

  I grabbed Teagan’s hand. “Ready?”

  “Sure.” She turned to my brother. “Bye, Austin. It was nice meeting you.”

  “You, too.”

  As we walked away, Teagan turned to look back again.

  “Did you forget something?”

  “No. I just…I feel like I know your brother from somewhere, but I can’t place it.”

  “As long as you didn’t go out with him before me. Because that would just be weird.”

  She smiled. “I think I’d remember if I went out with a guy.”

  “I don’t know. They say memory is one of the first things to go. You are pretty old.”

  She bumped her shoulder to mine as we walked. “God, you’re lucky you’re cute, because you can be sort of obnoxious.”

  I grinned. “Oh yeah, you think I’m cute?”

  Her eyes dropped to my lips, and she sighed. “Yeah, I guess that makes two of us who know you’re cute.”

  • • •

  “I can’t find my earring. Have you seen it?”

  I rolled over on my back and threw my arm over my eyes to block the sun. “I didn’t even notice you had ears.”

  A pillow whacked me in the abs. “Jerk.” Teagan pouted. “You didn’t know I had ears? Do you remember my name?”

  I squinted one eye open. “Brandy, right?”

  She pretended to be pissed but couldn’t hide her smile. “I’m serious about my earring. My grandmother gave them to me. She died last year.”

  “Okay, sorry.” I rubbed sleep from my eyes and crawled out of bed, wearing only my boxer briefs. “Where did you look so far?”

  “Only in the bathroom. I just noticed it missing. It’s got to be in the bed somewhere.”

  I grinned, remembering us stumbling back to my room last night after the party. “Or near that door. Or over there on that chair.”

  She whacked me with the pillow again, this time not hiding her smile. “Just look for it.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  While she searched the floor, I shook out the pillows and blankets, moved the mattress to see if it had fallen behind, and rustled my clothes from last night to see if anything fell out. But we both came up empty.

  “Damn it. Maybe I lost it at the party last night. Do you think they cleaned up yet?”

  I looked at her. “There’s still six weeks left in the semester.”

  She laughed as she zipped up her leather boots. “Alright. I have to run because I have a shift at the hospital today. Will anyone be up if I stop over on my way to see if it fell out there?”

  I grabbed a box of Cheerios and dug inside for a handful, shoving them into my mouth dry. “There isn’t even a lock on the door. Just let yourself in if no one answers.”

  “Okay.”

  She pushed up on her toes and kissed me while I chewed. “I had fun last night.”

  “Me too.”

  “You want to hang out next weekend?”

  “Can’t,” I said. “Games Friday and Saturday night and then Sunday I’m heading down to New York to go ice skating with a bunch of the guys from the team.”

  “All the way to New York to skate?”

  “Yeah, it’s some sort of tradition. The hockey team goes to Wollman Rink, where they have the big Christmas tree in Central Park, to skate on the last day and then to the Irish pub a few blocks away.”

  “Well, I have either class or rotations Tuesday through Friday this week.”

  I shrugged. “Want to meet up after your shift ends later?”

  Teagan smiled and stuck her hand into the Cheerios box. “Yeah, maybe. Text me.” She turned around at the door and ate some of the cereal from her hand. “And this doesn’t count as you buying my breakfast. So you’re buying me food next time.”

  “No problem.” I held up the Cheerios. “I’ll bring the box. They’re good any time of the day.”

  She chuckled. “See you later.”

  That afternoon, Teagan texted to say she hadn’t found the earring at the house where the party had been last night. She asked if I could go by the place my brother’s party had been. Since I had practice, I told her I’d stop by afterward and pick her up at the library where she was meeting someone to swap notes after her shift at the hospital.

  She was waiting outside wearing blue scrubs when I pulled up at the front of the library.

  “Any luck finding my earring?” She climbed into the car and pulled the door closed.

  I shook my head. “I looked myself and asked two of the guys if anyone found it. By the way, Chandler’s name is actually Rene. I think Chandler works better for him.”

  Teagan sighed. “I can’t believe I lost that earring. It’s only the second time I wore them out. Would you mind driving to the house we went to for the first party, and we can walk the path we took to the second party before it gets dark? Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

  “Sure.”

  Parking in Boston was a bitch sometimes, so I had to leave the car a block away before we could trace our path to the other house and back. We didn’t find the earring, but when we were almost to the car again, Teagan pointed up ahead to a guy getting out of a car. “Is that your brother?”

  I squinted. “Yeah, I think it is… Austin!”

  He turned and waited. “Do you work at a hospital?” he asked Teagan as we approached.

  “I’m a med student.” Teagan snapped her fingers. “That’s where I know you from. You were a patient.”

  “You were in the hospital?” I said.

  Austin shook his head. “No, I wasn’t.”

  Teagan’s brows furrowed. “Yes, you came into Boston Medical Center a week ago, right?”

  Austin’s eyes flashed to mine and back to Teagan. His tone was stern. “No, I didn’t. But if I did, wouldn’t you be bound by doctor-patient privilege or something?”

  Teagan’s face fell. “Uh…yeah… Sorry.”

  “Jesus, lighten up, bro. She’s a student.”
<
br />   Austin frowned and put his hands on his hips. “What are you guys doing here anyway?”

  I pointed to Teagan. “She lost an earring somewhere last night. So we were retracing the walk from here to the party we went to after.”

  He nodded. “Any luck?”

  “No, but we’re going to go grab something to eat. Want to third wheel?”

  Austin shook his head. “I gotta study.”

  “Alright, later. But look around the living room for her earring when you go in. I checked earlier, but it can’t hurt to look again.”

  “You got it. Have fun.”

  Maybe it was me, but it felt like my brother couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here. He was already at the front door before Teagan and I finished saying goodbye.

  I looked at her. “Sorry. Not sure what’s up his ass.”

  She looked back at the house as Austin walked inside. “Maybe he just has something on his mind.”

  CHAPTER 16

  * * *

  Max

  We stumbled back into my suite, still laughing.

  Ice skating today had gone about as well for Georgia as aerial yoga had for me yesterday. I was sure her ass was pretty sore right now from how many times she’d bounced on it. Not surprisingly, she didn’t take her loss well. Since the score from the last two days had been 1-1, she’d insisted on a tiebreaker competition. Still cocky from showing off my skills on the ice, I’d agreed and let her pick.

  In the Uber on the way home, she’d decided on a speed math competition, asking the driver to give us numbers to add in our head, before checking them with her phone. Of course, she was a business major with an MBA, and I was a hockey player, so she’d assumed it was a slam-dunk. But she’d never asked what my major had been in college—math. It served her right for assuming I’d studied beer pong. So I upped the ante—winner gets head.

  After I kicked her ass, I let her in on my college major. We were still laughing and arguing about whether I’d played fair when we got back to the hotel room.

  “Didn’t take you for a welcher, Delaney.”

  She grabbed my shirt and fisted it in her hand, backing me against the wall.

  “I’m no welcher. But you’re a cheater.”

  Smiling, I put my hands on her shoulders and gave her a gentle shove down. “On your knees, sweetheart.”

  Georgia’s eyes sparked, and she flashed an evil grin. “We’re even if I can make you come in less than three minutes.”

  I can definitely hold out for three minutes.

  Before I could even respond, she sank to her knees. Looking up from under thick lashes, Georgia ran her tongue along her top lip. And fuck if it wasn’t the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. I watched as she unbuttoned my pants, and the sound of the zipper coming down made the hair on my arms stand up. She tugged off my jeans and boxers in one swoop and looked back up at me with the wickedest grin I’d ever seen.

  “Three minutes—deal?”

  I answered by digging one hand into her hair and winding it around my fist, and grabbing my cock with the other.

  “You got a deal. Now stop talking and open wide.”

  Her beautiful, plump lips opened, and I guided myself into her hot mouth. She sucked as I pushed in, going slow and feeding her a few inches, then pulling back out an inch or two, and pushing back in for more. After a few times, I hit that sink-or-swim spot—the place where most women gagged if you drove farther, and I was about to pull back again when she looked up at me. It took everything I had in me not to ram myself down her throat.

  “Fuck, Georgia. Fuuuck. Take more.”

  Her eyes gleamed, and in that instant, I realized I’d just taken a sucker’s bet I was about to lose. Georgia adjusted her jaw, opening wider, and surged forward, not waiting for me to push the limits as she swallowed me down her throat.

  My eyes rolled back in my head.

  Her throat squeezed me like a vise, warm and tight. I hadn’t even been in her mouth for thirty seconds, yet I could already imagine what my cock would look like as it erupted down her throat.

  I groaned.

  She moaned.

  And something within me went from playful to fucking carnal. It became a frantic race for me to feel what I’d just imagined happening. Somehow I joined her freaking team and wanted her to win this one more than anything. I began to pump faster. Using my hands in her hair to steady her head, I took over. She’d bet I couldn’t hold out for three minutes while she gave me head, but she hadn’t mentioned anything about fucking her face. This was a whole different ballgame, and my release came barreling down like a runaway freight train. Fuck her wager. Losing this is way better than winning anything else.

  “Georgia…” I slowed down. Even though she could deep throat better than a damn porn star, I wasn’t going to make assumptions. “Babe…” I loosened my grip on her hair. “I’m going to come.”

  Georgia looked up at me, letting me know she’d heard my warning, then sucked me in deeper again.

  “Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuck.”

  So I dug my hands into her hair one more time, pushing in as deep as I could, and released. The pulsating stream seemed to go on forever. At the risk of sounding like a wuss, I was completely out of breath and felt a little lightheaded after.

  Georgia wiped her mouth as she got up and grinned. “I win.”

  I blew out a hiss of breath. “If that’s losing, I’m a damn moron for spending my entire life competing to win.”

  • • •

  We slept pretty late the next morning and were still in bed playing around at eleven when Georgia’s phone rang. Maggie’s name flashed on the screen, so she swiped to answer while I sucked on her neck.

  “Hey.”

  “I think Gabriel is losing his shit.”

  I hadn’t meant to listen, but I heard the words loud and clear since I was currently on top of her with our heads so close. Pulling back, my eyes met Georgia’s. She frowned.

  I got up. “I’m going to take a shower.”

  I heard half the conversation as I walked to the bathroom.

  “What do you mean?” And then a pause before, “Why would the receptionist tell him that?”

  I probably could’ve heard the rest of it from the bathroom, but rather than eavesdrop and ruin my mood more, I took an extra-long, hot shower. When Georgia had first told me about her open relationship, I figured it was the perfect arrangement. We could enjoy each other for a few months, and then, probably when things between us started to wane anyway, I wouldn’t feel bad leaving her high and dry when I left for California. Besides, the other guy wasn’t even in the country, so that would make it easy not to remember he existed. But the more I got to know Georgia, the more the other guy who wasn’t even in the country was still somehow too close. I was starting to understand how the women I’d dated the last few years felt. Two people agreed to a physical-only relationship, some light fun without strings attached, yet one ends up wanting more. Only this time, it was me holding the short stick. And it royally sucked.

  My fingers were pruney by the time I finally came back out of the bathroom. Georgia had put on a T-shirt and looked lost as she stood at the window staring at the city below.

  When she heard me, she turned. “Sorry about that.”

  I rubbed my wet hair with a towel. “Nothing to be sorry about.”

  “Maybe not technically, but it still feels wrong to discuss another man on the phone while I’m here with you.”

  I said nothing.

  She frowned. “Gabriel texted me a few times yesterday. When I didn’t respond, and I wasn’t answering my office phone, he called the main number at my office. Apparently, the receptionist told him I was on vacation for two weeks and asked if he’d like to speak to Maggie. When they transferred him, he gave Maggie the third degree. She told him she’d pass along his message, but that was all she would say.”

  I nodded.

  “Should I call him and tell him I’m seeing someone?” she asked.

&n
bsp; “I don’t know, Georgia. I don’t think I’m the right person to give you advice on how to manage things with your ex-fiancé. I’d probably tell the guy to go fuck himself. You don’t try to track him down while he’s busy fucking other women, do you?”

  Georgia frowned again.

  “Yeah, like I said, not sure I’m the right person to ask.”

  I headed back to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I came out again, she was still at the window. I walked up behind her and rubbed her shoulders.

  “I’m not trying to be a dick, Georgia. It’s just…I know this is supposed to be only a summer of fun, yet I can’t help but feel territorial when it comes to you, whether that’s right or wrong. I also care about you, and I don’t like the idea of some asswipe stringing you along and then suddenly showing some interest when you start to pay less attention to him. He sounds like he’s just playing games.”

  She turned around. “I do understand it’s weird to talk to you about it. Do you think we can pretend Maggie never called and enjoy our day? The last thing I want is to put a damper on our fun. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t want to go to work, or even check in with the office. I love being in this little bubble with you, and I don’t want it to end.”

  I forced a smile and leaned in to kiss her. “What phone call?”

  The smile that spread across her face made my chest hurt. “Thank you. Actually, I’d like to thank you properly.” She reached for the towel tucked at my waist and gave it a quick tug. It fell to the floor, and suddenly I really couldn’t remember any phone call.

  CHAPTER 17

  * * *

  Georgia

  The next week flew by way too fast. Max and I did just about every touristy thing in New York, and then some. It made me sad to think that in just a couple of days, I’d be going back to work. Tonight we were venturing out of the city—not too far, only to New Jersey—to watch a hockey playoff game with his teammate Tomasso and Jenna, his wife, whom I’d sat next to a few times watching their games.

  “Hey!” Jenna stood when we got down to our seats. They weren’t as good as the ones at the Garden, but close. She gave me a hug while Tomasso and Max did some one-armed shoulder hug thing. The game hadn’t started yet, and people around us started to whisper. A few took out their phones and snapped pictures. Max had only been recognized a few times while we were out during our staycation, but I guess it was impossible for it not to happen when we were in an arena full of hockey fans. A girl from the row behind us asked him to sign her jersey.