Coercion (8 page)

Needing the easy comfort of a distraction, Valerie stepped aside and held open the door. “Come on in.”

* * * *

“What do you mean, you’re ‘busy’?” Michael hollered as Breeze shrugged his hands off her shoulders. He sank down on her full-size bed and slugged one of its many orange satin pillows. “I planned on spending the whole night with you.”

“I’m sorry, but you’ll just have to spend it with someone else.” She unscrewed the cap to a bottle of nail polish.

“I don’t want to spend it with someone else. I want to spend it with you.”

“Michael, you forget we’re not exclusive anymore, so you can’t have all these expectations of me. What’d you even want to do, anyway? Obviously not go out. I know you have about twelve cents since quitting your distinguished gas station gig. So that must mean you wanted to fuck me then drink all the beer Lisa and I bought. Am I getting close?”

Michael gave the pillow another punch. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Breeze sighed as she painted her fingernails cherry red at her vanity table. “Calm down and quit yelling at me. It’s embarrassing for us both. And stop hitting stuff. That’s just stupid.”

“Doesn’t the fact I’m your boyfriend mean something to you?”

“Actually, it doesn’t mean
anything
to me because you
are
n
’
t
my boyfriend. We’ve gone over this before, remember?”

Michael remembered all right, but had been hoping she was the one who’d forgotten. He struggled to remain in control, hating he had no claim on her, that it was acceptable for her to sleep him with one day, and the next sidle up to Tom Courpel with bedroom eyes for all the world to see.

She twisted the cap back on the nail polish. “I’m done being the girl who’s supposed to drop everything I’m doing just because you wander over and wanna screw. Sorry, baby, it doesn’t work like that. Not anymore. I want something more.”

“You’re not being fair.” Michael trembled, the evening going pear-shaped and fast. “And I don’t see how you can say all this to me, but not hold Karl Seegan and whoever the hell else to the same standards.”

Breeze turned in her chair to face Michael and crossed one slim leg over the other. “You’re still talking about Karl Seegan? That was a whole month ago.”

He leaned back on the bed and propped himself up with his hands. “So was the last time we had sex.”

“You’re so dramatic.” She waved her hands back and forth in an effort to dry the polish. “It was only last weekend.”

“Yeah? And whose turn is it this weekend?” He reached for his half-empty soda and twisted the cap to the left, then the right, wondering why he perpetually tortured himself by asking questions sure to have ugly answers.

Breeze turned back to the mirror and rummaged through her cosmetics, careful not to smear her nail color. “It’s none of your business.”

“Tell me who you’re going out with tonight.” The bottle crumpled in his grip as his panic mounted.

“The girls.”

“What’re you gonna be doing?”

“Girly things you wouldn’t be interested in.” She snapped open a container of blush and quickly applied some of the pink makeup to the apples of her cheeks.

“Great, I’ll drive.”

“Michael!” Breeze breathed out an incredulous laugh. “Why are you being so weird?”

He stood and threw the soda bottle in the trashcan near the vanity. “Because if I thought you were actually going to go out with the girls, I wouldn’t have asked to join you.” He grabbed his coat from the bed. “I’m out of here.”

“Don’t go away mad,” she called after him, but he had already slammed the door behind him.

* * * *

“You have the hang of this yet?” Daniel’s mouth curved into a smile as he sat cross-legged on the living room floor and watched Valerie attempt to fan the playing cards in her hand without dropping them.

“Yes, a full house beats everything.” Her brow furrowed as she studied her cards.

“Only technically. It beats everything that’s not a four of a kind, straight flush or royal flush, at least.”

Valerie shot him an exasperated look. “I couldn’t even shuffle the deck before tonight. Give me some credit.”

Daniel winked. “You’re right, you’ve grown up a lot in the past hour.”

Her mother appeared in the doorway. “Your father and I are going to bed,” she said with a warm, knowing smile as she toyed with her gold necklace, sliding the pendant up and down the chain. “You kids play nice.”

“I can’t make any promises,” Valerie said. “Daniel tends to cheat and take advantage of the weak.”

“Goodnight, Mrs. Mercer,” Daniel said. “Maybe in the morning, Valerie will have learned to be a better sport.”

“I won’t hold my breath,” Valerie’s mother joked, closing the living room doors behind her.

“Trying to get in good with my mom, I see.” Valerie nudged Daniel’s shin with her toe. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but she’s sort of seeing my dad right now.”

Daniel raised his hands in the air. “Hey, it’s not my fault. I can’t help I’m insanely attractive and older women love me. It’s a curse, really.”

“Why?” Valerie asked with a laugh. “Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.”

His brow creased as he concentrated on splitting the deck in half. “It’s usually a sign their daughters want nothing to do with me.”

Valerie’s gaze danced over his face. Pink spots bloomed on his cheeks and could no longer be blamed on too much summer sun. She swallowed a giddy, nervous gulp and gave him another nudge with her foot. “I can’t speak for all those other daughters, but I’m having a decent time.”

He glanced at her and gave her a cautious smile. “A
decent
time?”

She nodded. “That’s right. And I think after you let me win a few rounds, I’ll be having a blast.”

Daniel let out a loud laugh. “Is that so?”

“Yes, haven’t you heard? It’s good for morale.” She tapped her finger thoughtfully against her lips. “Actually... What time is it?”

He looked at his wristwatch. “Almost ten. Why?”

“Because I know a way to boost my self-esteem while keeping you morally sound.” She took a deep breath, her heart thumping like it always did before something important was about to happen. “Are you any good at bowling?”

“Bowling? I—”

A sudden, lazy calypso beat sounded on the door. Valerie and Daniel shot each curious looks, and she pushed herself off the rug and padded barefoot to the front door. Then she peeked through the peephole and felt her heart turn over when she saw Michael Vartanian leaning against the steps’ metal railing.

She unlocked the door with fumbling fingers and swung it open, giving him what she hoped was a dazzling smile, but he appeared not to notice as he stepped inside and brushed past her. Her grin faltered. “Won’t you come in?”

He turned around and heaved a sigh. “Sorry. You want me to take about three steps backward so I can go outside for a whole two seconds just so you can invite me in, which you were going to do anyway?”

She bit her lip. “No. I was just teasing you.”

“I’m not in the mood for teasing.”

Valerie followed him as he made his way into the living room and sat on the couch. His knee bounced as he stared blankly at the stone fireplace surrounded with potted houseplants and paid no mind to Daniel Travato, who openly gaped at him with distrust.

“So...do you guys know each other?” She gestured between her two visitors.

“Yeah.” Daniel gave Michael a brief, tight nod. “I’ve seen you around before.”

Michael turned to Daniel and narrowed his eyes, as if simultaneously trying to remember him and figure out why Daniel was there. Finally, he just muttered “Hey” and returned his attention to the fireplace.

Before Valerie could find the words to fill the awkward silence, Daniel got to his feet and handed her the deck of cards, all fifty-two of them stacked neatly and put in their thin, cardboard sleeve. “I better get going, Valerie. I need to get up early tomorrow.” He grabbed his coat from the back of the couch. “I’ll see you ’round campus.”

She followed Daniel to the front door. “I’m sorry about this.” She dropped her voice. “It’s just...he looks upset.”

“He sure does.” He gave her a small smile and took a deep breath. “See you.”

Valerie shut the door behind him and closed her eyes. She hadn’t wanted her night with Daniel to end like this. Still, she couldn’t ignore the fact Michael Vartanian currently sat in her living room, waiting for her. A smile spread over her face, and she took a few deep breaths to try to restrain the intoxicating delight fluttering in her chest. This moment was exactly what she’d been waiting for.

She returned to the living room, shut the wooden doors behind her and sat on the couch next to Michael, whose legs still bobbed. “You know,” she said after a moment’s pause, “my mom told me once that you shake the luck out of you when you move your leg like that, and when you finally stop, all your luck will be gone.”

“Too late.” He paused his motions. “So what happens if I never stop shaking my legs? Then I’ll always have luck to lose.”

Valerie smiled. “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.” She cleared her throat. “Um, how did you know where I live?”

“I was just driving around and recognized your mom’s Volvo in the drive,” he said, his tone devoid of emotion. Then he swiveled his head to look at Valerie, his eyes wide. “Your mom’s not here, is she?”

“Yeah, but she and my dad are already in bed. They always zonk out before ten and sleep like the dead.”

His shoulders slumped with relief. “Good.”

Her heart pounded at his reaction as she imagined all the evening’s possibilities. Even though Michael sat on the couch, apparently unaffected by the fact they were essentially alone in the house, it was all she could think about. In fact, being alone with him was all she ever thought about.

And now here he was, in her living room with Breeze nowhere in sight. Many of her fantasies began with such a scenario, but she didn’t know how the reality of the situation would actually pan out.

“What brings you here?” she asked, not knowing how to have a conversation with him.

He ran a hand through his thick hair. “Why? You want me to go?”

“No. I just...” Valerie trailed off, unable to express how she felt. She hoped he’d acknowledge that him being around her wasn’t an everyday occurrence and offer some kind of explanation.

He gave her an indolent smile and put his hands behind his head. “I just felt like visiting.” His words were accompanied by a yawn. “I realized we haven’t hung out in awhile.”

“We’ve never really hung out.”

“Then what do you call what we did last month?”

Her face flushed. The way he’d been acting, she hadn’t thought he’d bring it up, but now that he had, she realized she didn’t know what she wanted him to say about it. “I don’t know. But I didn’t consider that ‘hanging out.’”

Michael chuckled. “I guess it wasn’t.” He studied her for a moment. “Let me rephrase that. I realized we haven’t fooled around in awhile.”

The fever spreading through her cheeks intensified as she rubbed the backside of her arms. “Well, it hasn’t seemed like you wanted me around.”

“Sure I have,” he said, clearly unconcerned.

“Really?” Skepticism laced her words. “But you haven’t spoken to me in weeks.”

“Be fair. You haven’t talked to me either.” He lowered his hands and leaned into her. “And you know I’m right.”

Valerie’s mouth went dry from Michael’s nearness as she stared at him wordlessly. A flood of warmth rushed to her most private parts.

He stared at her, his thick lashes surrounding his dark, penetrating eyes like silky crescents. Then he reached out to her, drawing idle patterns on her arm with his index finger. “You ever think about that day in the parking lot?”

“All the time.” The words flew out of her before her brain could even process them.

“Oh, yeah?” A smirk appeared on his face. “Me too.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised.

“Mmm-hmm.” His hand moved to her chest, where he traced the underside of her right breast over her t-shirt. “Why does that shock you?”

“I’m not sure.” Her mind grew foggy as his finger circled her nipple. “I guess because you’re with Breeze, and we haven’t really spoken or anything since—”

“Do you think of that day when you make yourself come?”

“I have,” she said after a moment’s pause.

His hand drifted to the hem of her shirt and disappeared underneath the fabric. Valerie inhaled sharply when he touched the bare skin of her stomach. “And what about it was so hot?”

“I don’t know.” She bit her lip as his hand suddenly engulfed her breast, encased in a pale blue bra.

He pinched her nipple through the lacy material. “Figure it out.”

She winced with pleasure. “I just liked it. I can’t explain it. It was exciting.”

“It was exciting because you were a good girl doing something bad,” he said in a thick voice as his hand slipped inside her bra and touched her breast.

She shivered. “You think I’m a good girl?” She’d already started to lose herself in his cool hands on her hot skin.

“For now, at least.” Michael ceased touching her and instead folded his hands in his lap, almost demurely. “Prove to me you’re not.”

A twinge of fear and anticipation raced through her. “How?”

He licked his lips. “I wanna watch you.”

Dread splashed over her like a bucket of ice water. “Watch me do what?”

He leaned toward her and kissed her softly. Then he pulled away slightly and whispered against her mouth, “Show me. Show me what you do.” He took her hand in his and guided it between her legs. “Show me what you do when you think of me.”

She let out a shaky breath. “I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“Because.” She bit her lip. “I’m nervous.”

He grinned. “You worry too much. What’s to be nervous about?” He kissed her neck, nibbling at the sensitive skin. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about you fingering yourself and screaming my name when you come.”

A rash of goose bumps broke out on her arms. “You have?”

“Yeah.” His teeth nipped at her earlobe. “And it’s the hottest fucking thing.”