Full Circle (23 page)

She propped herself on her elbow and rested
her other hand on his chest as she kissed his shoulder. “Well, he
needs to accept that this is my choice. And we need to force the
issue. He’s never going to come around if we don’t give him a
push.”

“And you want to push him.”

“You’ll help, of course.” Sirens rang out
somewhere in the distance, but she and Mark were tucked into the
safety of each other. The rest of the world could be in chaos, but
around Mark, she would feel nothing but calm. “And we haven’t even
told
your
parents.”

“We will. But I believe in making that kind of
announcement in person.” He rolled back to his side so they were
facing each other again. “I was thinking we could take a weekend
off and go to Chicago after closing on the house. There’s this
furniture store up there that’s been around for decades. I wanted
us to go there and pick out a new bed. Something to start our life
together. And my parents are having a party for my mom’s birthday
in a few weeks, so that would be the perfect time.” He ran the tips
of his fingers around her eye and down her cheek. “We could go
shopping . . . buy a bed, maybe a few other pieces
of furniture . . . go to my mom’s
party . . .” He kissed the tip of her nose.
“Announce our engagement.” His smile faltered briefly before
brightening his face once more. “How does that sound?”

“Sounds perfect. For
your
parents.
Now, what about mine?” She dropped her head to the pillow, keeping
her eyes on his, enjoying the soothing way his fingers slowly
skimmed up and down her arm. “My dad’s going to be a lot tougher
customer than your parents.”

“I know.” He kissed her, letting his lips
cling to hers as if imparting reassurance everything would be okay.
“How about we keep it simple and tell them we have news and would
like to have dinner with them. We can make reservations at a nice
restaurant—”

“Where he can’t make a scene, right?”

He laughed. “I hadn’t thought of that, but
yes, that’s a good point. If we’re in a restaurant, he’s not as
likely to make a scene.”

She tapped the side of her head. “Gotta think
of these things.”

“Absolutely.” He inched closer, wrapping his
arm around her waist and pulling her against him. “So, we invite
them to dinner—in a restaurant—and we just tell them we’re
engaged.”

“When? Before dinner? During dessert?” She
smirked. “As we’re about to get back in our car and come home?”

He chuckled lightly. “I say we get it out
right away so you’re not worrying about it the whole time. If he
gets mad and leaves, then at least our consciences are cleared and
we’ve taken the first step.”

He made it sound so simple, but Karma feared
revealing their engagement wouldn’t go exactly as planned. But, as
Mark said, at least the news would be out there. The hard part
would be over.

She just wished her dad could be as happy for
her now as he had been when Brad proposed. That wasn’t going to
happen, though. Dad had liked Brad. He despised Mark.

But Dad needed to understand she was marrying
Mark. End of story.

They were in this for the long haul.

Even if they still hadn’t set a date.

Chapter 14

True friends stab you in the front.

-Oscar Wilde

“Who’s bright idea was it to go jogging in this
weather?” Karma shot Daniel a scowl, her nose freezing, her legs
tingling beneath her thermal leggings and nylon, water resistant
training pants that swished like two plastic bags being rubbed
together with every stride.

Zach, who trotted on her other side, laughed.
“Daniel, I think you just got on Karma’s shit list.”

“She’ll thank me later . . .
on her wedding day when she looks absolutely fabulous in her
dress.”

She expelled a derisive huff. “At this rate,
I might never get into a wedding dress.”

Daniel shot her an inquisitive glance.

“Mark still hasn’t set a date,” she
explained.

The threesome followed a curve along the
trail as an icy mist began falling. It wasn’t quite warm enough for
rain, not quite cold enough for snow. Just right for miserable mist
that made the air feel like ice.

“Well, honey, what’s that fine man waiting for? A
shift in the gravitational forces of the universe.” Daniel paused
for a few quick breaths. “Get Mark to commit to a date. It’s not
rocket science.”

She laughed. “Did you just use Mark’s name in
the same sentence as the word commit? Do you not see the irony of
that?”

“I thought he was over all that
nonsense.”

“He is, but—”

“Mm-mm, honey.” Daniel waggled his finger.
“He needs to shit or get off the pot. That’s what I say. If he
wants to play, he’s gots to pay.”

“Amen,” Zach said. “He put a ring on it, now
he needs to make it real.”

Karma slowed to a walk, dragging the boys’
pace down with hers. “Okay, you two, cut Mark some slack. He’s
working on it. We’re just waiting until we get moved in to the
house and get settled. Then we’ll start looking at dates for the
wedding.”

“If you say so.” Daniel jacked his hands up
on his hips as he walked, panting. “By the way, how’s that going?
The new house, I mean.”

It had been three weeks ago today that she
and Mark had made the offer on the house, which the sellers had
accepted four days later, after a quick negotiation on price. Being
that Mark had liquidated assets to pay for the purchase with cash,
the closing fast-tracked, and they’d signed the paperwork on
Valentine’s Day. That night they had a quiet carpet picnic in their
new dining room to celebrate. They’d chattered the whole time about
moving in, what would go where, which rooms would be used for what.
But not once did they discuss the wedding.

“Everything’s fine. Mark’s already moving in,
and I notified my landlord on Monday that I’m vacating my apartment
at the end of the month. I’m losing my security deposit, but that
can’t be helped.” She waved her hand dismissively. She hated losing
the money, but the only way she could get her security deposit back
was if she waited to move out until the end of October, and that
wasn’t happening, so buh-bye security deposit. “And this weekend,
Mark and I are going to Chicago for his mom’s birthday party. While
we’re there, we’re going to tell his parents about our
engagement.”

“And what about your parents? When are you
telling them?”

“We’re having dinner with them Friday
night.”

Daniel’s eyebrows shot upward. “I hope you
can still go to Chicago after your dad hears the news. Maybe you
should wear body armor to dinner.”

She blew air between her pursed lips, making
them flutter. “Tell me about it. It was like trying to talk a Colts
fan into betting on the Patriots just to get my dad to accept our
invitation.”

“How did you finally convince him?”

“I didn’t. Mom did. And I have no idea what
she said. But damn, it took a week for him to agree just to have a
meal with us.”

Zach bent to one side then the other,
stretching. “So, how’s everything else going? How’s your new
job?”

“And your classes? How are they going?”
Daniel added.

“Busy and busier.” She stopped at a fence and
used it for balance as she stretched her quadriceps. “I finished my
first assignment for Winstrom on Monday, so now I’m just waiting to
hear back from my boss, and my classes are intense. Sometimes I
don’t finish my homework until after ten o’clock at night.”

Daniel cringed and exchanged glances with
Zach. “I bet that’s putting a damper on your sex life.”

“Not really. Mark keeps things
interesting.”

Zach made an appreciative noise. “I bet.”
He’d made no secret that he thought Mark was—how had he put
it?—just about the hottest straight man he’d ever met.

Daniel gave Zach’s shoulder a light shove.
“Hey, you’re taken, lover boy.”

Laughing, Zach took Daniel’s hand, pulled him
close, and kissed him on the lips. “Calm down, handsome. I may be
taken, but I’m not blind. I can still appreciate a good-looking
heterosexual man.”

Those two didn’t give two shits what the
public thought about their shows of affection. They were secure in
their feelings, and even if they weren’t, they were built like UFC
fighters. Zach had even recently gotten a tattoo of Daniel’s name
across his chest, inspired by Mark’s tattoo of her name on his
chest, no less. But now he was obsessed with the idea of getting
another tattoo on his back. An eagle with outstretched wings on his
shoulder blades.

Tattoos or not, Daniel and Zach looked like
guys you didn’t want to go up against, even though they were as
sweet as kittens and didn’t have a violent bone in their bodies.
That didn’t mean they wouldn’t shed someone’s blood who threatened
them, though. If it came to protecting one another or someone they
loved, they could definitely lay down the hurt. But they wouldn’t
be the ones starting the fight.

Daniel possessively bit Zach’s lip and held
it between his teeth. Then he released it and said, “Just as long
as you bring your fantasies home to me, babe.”

“You know I do.” A sly, heated look passed
between them, and then Zach pecked him hard on the mouth once more
and pulled away with a wet
smack
as their lips suctioned
apart. “You’re the only one I want to share my secret fantasies
with, babe. You know that better than anyone.”

Karma felt a little like a voyeur for
witnessing their hotly intimate moment. Then they separated and the
three of them headed across the street. Daniel and Zach lived near
the jogging trail, which was why Karma usually went to their house
for their running dates.

As they walked in silence, Karma’s mind
mulled over what Zach had said about his fantasies. About how
Daniel was the only one he wanted to share them with.

And that made her think about Mark and the
conversation they’d had three weeks ago. She still didn’t know
quite what to think about what he’d told her. About liking anal
play. Not just giving, but receiving, too.

She glanced to the side, at her friends’
loosely joined hands. Their thick fingers wove together. Easy.
Comfortable.

For gay men, was it easier to talk about anal
stuff? Was it simply assumed that a gay man liked having dildos and
cocks inserted in his butt? That that sort of thing was
situation normal
for them but
situation red alert
for
a straight man? And did straight men really enjoy that sort of
thing? Because Mark wasn’t gay. He was absolutely and completely
heterosexual. So then, why did he enjoy stuff like that? He’d
explained the biology behind why, but she still didn’t fully know
how she felt about what he apparently wanted her to do to him,
mostly because she didn’t know how to do it.

She was so damn green. For all her progress
into the world of debauchery, there were still so many things that
made her feel like a first grader in a high school trigonometry
class.

Daniel chucked her shoulder. “Hey, you
okay?”

She jolted from her thoughts. “Yeah,
why?”

His eyes scrunched into narrow slits under a
furrowed brow. “You sure? You got really quiet on us, and you look
like your mind is dwelling on some pretty deep shit. Is everything
between you and Mark really as okay as you say it is?”

Zach peered around Daniel’s head at her.

“Yes,” she said, “everything’s fine. I’m
just . . . it’s just that . . .” She
sighed. “He and I were talking a few weeks ago, and he said
something that’s got me kind of thrown.”

“What did he say?” Concern coated Zach’s
words.

“Yeah. And what were you talking about?”
Daniel added.

“It was nothing really,
but . . .” She held a greater appreciation for the
effort it had taken for Mark to come clean. This was a hard subject
to talk about, and she wasn’t even talking about herself. Imagine
how hard it had been for Mark to reveal to her these were
his
fantasies and turn-ons?

“Okay, you’re starting to worry me,” Daniel
said, letting go of Zach’s hand to retrieve his keys from his
pocket.

“Really, Daniel, it’s not that big a deal.
It’s just . . . awkward.” And really, should she
even be discussing this with them? What if Mark found out? Would he
be embarrassed? Angry?

They started up their driveway. “Well, you’re
going to come in, and I’m going to heat us all up a pot of soup to
take this chill off.” He lifted his gaze to the grey, overcast
skies still dropping their misty dampness. Then he glanced at
Karma. “And you’re going to spill all, awkward or not.”

As Daniel unlocked the door, Zach nodded at
her as if putting the period on Daniel’s statement.

“Fine, just let me get inside your warm house
first, but you both have to promise me you’ll keep this between us.
This is private. No making any smart-ass comments to Mark or
anything like that.”

“Smart-ass comments?” Daniel shut the door
behind them. “Now I
am
intrigued.”

In the mudroom, Karma peeled out of her cold,
moisture-slicked jogging suit, pulled off her cap, and hung
everything on the pegs dotting the wall before joining her friends
in the kitchen.

“Okay, girl, start talking,” Daniel said
before she even had a chance to sit down. He snagged the ceramic
teapot from the stove and started filling it with water.

Meanwhile, Zach grabbed a large container of
what looked like homemade soup from the refrigerator and set it by
the stove.

With a resigned sigh, she parked herself on a
barstool and plunked her elbows on the counter. “Mark told me
something a few weeks ago, and I’m not sure what to think about
it.”

Zach and Daniel exchanged glances, each with
one eyebrow raised.

“What did he tell you?” Zach spoke evenly.
Cautious curiosity dripped from every syllable.