Chat (3 page)

“Yeah.”

We stared at the stars in silence, listening to the water lap against the planks beneath us.

“San?”

“Hmm?”

I remembered my heart thundering so hard at that moment, I thought I’d be sick over the side of the dock.

“What if we tried… this? Us?”

She sat up quickly, her long hair falling over her bare
shoulders.

“What do you mean?”

God, she was always in charge, and now she was going to make me say it.

I forced myself to keep my gaze locked in hers.

“Us. You and me. Dating.”

Immediately, I felt the air cool between us.

Her lashes batted before lowering. “What happens if it doesn’t work? I can’t lose you, Jason. I love you too much.”

“That’s what I mean,” I sat up, lowering my voice. “You already love me. I already love you. You’re my best friend. I’d rather do nothing with you than anything with anyone else.”

“Can’t we just leave it at that?” she cried, climbing unsteadily to her feet. “Okay, we date. And then you kiss me again, and then maybe we fuck, and then we date some more, and then-…,”

“Stop it. Don’t say it like that,” I snapped.

“What, fuck? That’s all it is. Just a bunch of bullshit words to get me naked, and then that’s it, there’s nothing about me worth keeping.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Max is a fucking jackass, and I have a feeling I’m being compared to that loser right now.”

“Well, what’s different? We kissed once, it was nice, but it almost ruined us. We didn’t talk for a month. A month! That was the worst month of my life, Jason.”

“It was nice?” I urged. Getting her to talk about that kiss- both of our
first
kisses- was next to impossible.

“
Of course it was! It was my sixteenth birthday. You kissed me on that little boat, under the biggest full moon I’d ever seen, right here on this lake. It was perfect. And then you didn’t talk to me anymore!”

“We were kids, San. I was nervous. I didn’t know what to say.”

She threw her hands in the air, shaking her head. “Fine! We’re dating. Now what?”

I raked my hand through my hair, turning to gather the empty cans around us. “You know what? Never mind.
Never fucking mind. You still want to sleep here, or should I ask my dad to drive you home?”

“No, I’m your girlfriend, right? I sleep here. Come on, I hope your He-Man sheets are clean. I haven’t been in your bed
in a
long
time.”

“You think you’re the only one who ever got
screwed over?” I shouted, the alcohol giving me a little more confidence than I’d expected. “That I’m just fucking my way through high school like Max Grierson? I slept with Kelly Mayer, did you know that? Lost my virginity to her. And we all know what happened there.”

She paled in the moonlight, and her eyes filled with giant, crocodile tears.

“She hooked up with Keith,” I went on. “And that was it. But it doesn’t matter, because I was only in it to see her naked.”

She stared at me for all of five seconds before bursting into tears.

“
I’m sorry,
” she wailed, and I knew this was a combination of her expressive personality and too much cheap beer. I caught her in my arms, and she sobbed, soaking my tuxedo shirt. “It hurts so much. Why are people assholes? Just fucking assholes?”

“
We’re
not.” I pulled away to tip her chin up to me. “So if I kiss you now, and I call you back tomorrow, will you be my girlfriend?”

She nodded quickly, her dark eyes swimming with moonlight.

“Okay, Boss. Here we go.”

I’d kissed he
r then, and just remembering how her lips tasted against mine gave me a hard-on in the middle of my office.

Blinking, I
cleared my throat, tossing the basketball into the hoop near the door. It landed in the trash can with a thunk. “Jesus,” I murmured, adjusting myself and pressing my fingertips to my temples. I hadn’t thought about Sandy like that in so long, and I guessed it was all the chatting with Carissa that was stoking all those new-relationship feelings.

I copied a section of
the book from my iPhone app and pasted it into my Facebook chat with Sandy. It was a spanking scene, and I was interested to hear what she had to say.

By the time
I packed up my laptop, it was after five. Sandy met me at the door to my office, her own laptop bag slung over her shoulder.

“Hey, you didn’t make an
eye appointment, did you?” I demanded.

She pushed her black glasses up the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. “No, they closed at four. Come on, you can still take me to dinner. And I read that scene.
And… I have bad news for you.”

I stiffened,
taking her bag. “And what is that?”

She dropped her hand to her hip, tilting her head to smirk up at me. “You’re
way out of your league.”

“
Way? Ouch.” I gave her a relieved sigh. “What, you think I can’t get freaky?”

“Freaky? I think your idea of freaky is sprinkling rose petals over the bed and drawing
her a hot bath. You’re a romantic, Jason. And there’s nothing wrong with that, except
that
girl writes about an alpha male. Which you are not. And I don’t want sushi.”

Her rapid sentences clicked along with her high heels, and I admired her fast-paced stride as we walked to the parking lot. “I can be freaky,” I argued again as she stopped, lifting her phone from her purse.

“Oh! Jack’s on his way home! I’m sorry.” She turned to give me her pouty face, and I shrugged, waiting for her to unlock her car before opening the door for her.

“No biggie. Tell Numbers I said hi. Text me later, if you get a chance,” I called.

“I will! I promise. And Brew,” she called.

“Yeah?”

She slipped her reading glasses off and replaced them with oversized, brown sunglasses. “I’ll help. I’ll make this girl see you. And once she does, she won’t be able to see anything else.”

I smile
d, sliding my aviators down from my head. “I love the way you talk. Now write it.”

She smirked, throwing her Jeep into reverse.

My house was small, nestled in a suburb just outside of Cleveland, and was the best thing that I’d gotten out of my marriage. Elaina had fought me on our dog, Joplin, but I’d threatened to leak naked pictures of her onto the internet if she tried to take our German shepherd away from me. Joplin was only a year old, and she and Sandy were probably the only reasons I hadn’t drank myself to death after the divorce.

“
Daddy’s baby!” I cried. She came barreling at me, woofing in short, excited pants as I petted and scratched her back. As she galloped toward the back door, I cracked open a bottle of Stella, tossing my keys and iPhone into the bowl near the front door.

As I let
Joplin out the back door, I moved to my laptop.

Carissa was off-line, so I settled on the couch and flicked on the TV.

I was well aware that I’d gone from meticulous work-outs to couch and beer marathons after the divorce, but lately I’d been getting back to the gym and was being a little more careful about what I ate. I knew that I had a chicken breast in the fridge, but after the Hibachi talk, I almost considered going by myself.

Almost two hours later,
Joplin was barking at the back door. I realized I’d fallen asleep on the couch, and the April evening was quickly growing dark. The ding from my laptop indicating a Facebook message drew my attention, and I hurriedly let the dog back in before moving to the computer.

It was Sandy.

Alexandra Quinn:
You there?

Jason Brewer:
Here. How was dinner?

Alexandra Quinn:
We didn’t go. Jack had to go into the office for a while.

I narrowed my eyes.

Jason Brewer:
Everything okay?

Alexandra Quinn:
It’s fine. Okay, so she wants you in the driver seat. Like I said, alpha male. Lots of short directives. Understand?

I typed my response, frowning.

Jason Brewer:
I think so. Like, take off your fucking clothes. Now.

Alexandra Quinn:
LOL. Right. But you may want to wait until you’ve at least exchanged pleasantries. You know, so you don’t come off as psycho rapist boy.

I grinned.

Jason Brewer:
lol, you’re the boss.

Alexandra Quinn:
Okay. So, start with something neutral. Ask a sexy question.

Jason Brewer:
Hmm. Okay. What color is your thong?

I waited for her response, chuckling at the screen.

Alexandra Quinn:
SMH

Jason Brewer:
Okay, can you take off your thong?

Alexandra Quinn:
I’m not wearing a thong.

Jason Brewer:
Commando, huh? Hot.

Alexandra Quinn:
Dead end. Keep asking questions until I give you an answer. Then, start telling me what to do.

I took a long swig of my warm beer, smirking.

Jason Brewer:
I’m in charge here. One more order from you, and I’ll show you who’s the boss.

I waited, tapping my finger against the space bar.

Alexandra Quinn:
Who’s the boss? That you, Tony Danza?

I laughed, cringing before attacking the keyboard.

Jason Brewer:
I warned you. You have a smart little mouth. Tug your skirt up to your hips. I’m going to teach you a lesson.

The blinking cursor ticked in cadence with my heartbeat.

Finally, her message appeared.

Alexandra Quinn:
Okay.

Okay? Was she saying that was okay, what I had just said, or did she really just
do
what I told her to do?

Jason Brewer:
Tell me what you see.

I waited.

I’d never waited so hard for something in my life. My dick twitched, aching for release, and I
tugged at my zipper.

Alexandra Quinn:
My thighs.

Jason Brewer:
Are you still wearing those tights?

Alexandra Quinn:
No.

I thought of the backs of her legs as she walked out of my office.

Swallowing hard, my fingers skidded over the keyboard.

Jason Brewer:
Run your hand over your leg. From your knee up.

Alexandra Quinn:
Fast or slow?

Jason Brewer:
Slow. Tell me how it feels.

Alexandra Quinn:
Warm. Soft.

Fuck. I typed faster.

Jason Brewer:
I like that. Open your legs.

Alexandra Quinn:
Okay.

Like a man possessed, I hit enter before I could stop the next sentence from reaching her.

Jason Brewer:
Touch yourself.

Alexandra Quinn:
How?

Jason Brewer
:
Open your pussy. Push one finger in.

I waited.

Alexandra Quinn:
Oh God Jason I did

Jason Brewer:
Are you wet?

Alexandra Quinn:
Yes so wet... I slid right in…

I pumped my left hand over my cock, typing with my right.

Jason Brewer:
Two fingers. Now.

Alexandra Quinn:
Jason

Jason Brewer:
Harder. Don’t come yet.

Alexandra Quinn:
what

Jason Brewer:
Fuck. San.
I want to know what you taste like.

The cursor blinked.

I stilled.

Fuck
.