Release (6 page)

Brooklyn’s coffee is
returned. Our eye contact non-moving, we say our thanks. Now the switch again,
from lusty shit to serious stuff.

“Okay,” I say, cutting into
the moment. Brooklyn raises her mug to her lips. “So to finish where we left
off. I was born in L.A. Saffron and I had a great childhood, our parents were
remarkable, but as you know we didn’t get to keep them for long.

“A lady called Elizabeth
Carroll and her husband, Ray, became our legal guardians. They were our
neighbors when we were real young, and sometimes Saff and I stayed with them
when our parents were away for work. Through them we ended up in Hillsborough,
which isn’t far from here. That’s where we met our closest friends, the guys we
moved to the city with twelve years ago.

“Adam, who you’ve already
seen, his brother, Joe, and Gerard became like brothers to us. Their parents
treated us like their own in some ways, too. Saff and I actually ended up being
part of a larger family. It’s not exactly the same as having your own parents,
and given the choice I know what I’d choose, but I do consider us to be very
fortunate.”

“It’s sad about your
parents, I’m sorry to hear that. Amazing that you had so many wonderful people
around you, like the next best thing. It’s bittersweet, really.”

I nod in agreement. Isn’t
life bittersweet, period?

“Do you see Elizabeth and
Ray often?”

“It’s just Beth now. I visit
all the time and call her on the days I don’t. She’s in her early seventies, so
I like to keep a close eye on her. There are a lot of people around her, and
she’s very capable, but I like to make certain myself. She’s in Italy right
now, on a two month trip with friends.”

“Two whole months?”

“She’s got a villa out there
and likes to make the most of it.”

“A villa in Italy. Nice. So
you and your friends all moved here together? Why?”

“Adam and Joe moved here so
they could work in their uncle’s tattoo shop, which they own now. Saffron
wanted to come with Adam – I assume you know they’re married. I came because my
sister did, and Gerard just decided to also. From the moment we all met we were
tight, even Saffron. She did have girlfriends, but she hung with us a lot. I
think either way we’d have all wound up here eventually. Even though
Hillsborough’s a beautiful place, the vibe here in the city is better suited to
us.”

“You didn’t mind your little
sister and your mate getting together?”

I shake my head. “Sounds
strange when a lot of guys don’t like that, but I trust Adam with her. I knew
he’d take care of her. They’ve been together over fourteen years, and I don’t
see them ever choosing to be apart.”

“Wow, fourteen years. That’s
impressive.”

As we continue to talk,
Brooklyn relaxes a little more with me, but I can see she’s not entirely
certain. I’ve never exchanged so much information, in such a short time-frame,
with a woman I’m trying to bang.

There’s no denying Brooklyn
Scott is beautiful, but it’s not the sensual elegance of her beauty that grips
me, the thing that was easy to appreciate from my front row position in the
theater and from across the bar. What gets me the most is the hard gaze that
shows challenge and determination, a confident woman who clearly wants to
protect herself. The barest hints of uncertainty and vulnerability have slipped
in there a few times and with that she becomes a tentative woman that any guy
in their right mind would feel a profound desire to protect.

And hell if I’m not
desperate to see her face and those eyes express sexual satisfaction,
especially since I’ve seen how unrestrained and compelling both are when she’s
dancing.

I’m damn sure gonna figure
out how to get those ‘Do Not Touch’ signs taken down.

I look at Dane partially relieved it’s time to go,
because I so badly want to stay. I wanted his personality to be shit. I wanted
to leave here with no desire to see him again. Instead, I’ve enjoyed being in
his company, even with the tense moment that seemed to come from nowhere. In
fairness to him, I’m the one that got arsey.

Dane’s approach and attitude
has been perfect, and his honesty is exactly what I need right now. That’s
played a major factor in my decision to see him again. I’d like to. I hope he
feels the same way.

Maybe the fact that it’s now
ten a.m. and he told me he needed to be at work for nine means he does.

Dane holds the door open, I
exit the cafe and turn to face him, unsure how to express my interest in seeing
him again. If this was any other man, and not one I shouldn’t want to see, I
wouldn’t have a problem making it clear.

“Same time same place
tomorrow? Just for coffee?” he says.

My smile is slight, but in
my mind I’m jumping with joy and doing summersaults and the splits and all
kinds of other excited expressions.

“Yeah, I’ll see you
tomorrow,” I say, calmly.

When I get home, I go straight to Leona’s room. She’s
still in bed, but awake, so I lie next to her, on my tummy and propped up by my
forearms, and give her the info on Dane.

I question whether I’m a
fool and if I’m asking for trouble, but on a deeper level that I can’t seem to
grasp an understanding of, I want to keep going with this. I really, really
hope I’m doing the right thing.

“Tell me honestly, Lee, do
you think I’m mad seeing him again? Do you think I’m playing with fire?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,
babe. The problem with him is he sleeps around and doesn’t get involved. He
isn’t dodgy. It’s obviously wise not to go into this with expectations, but if
you just want to have a good time with him, I don’t see the problem. You
deserve to have fun, and what better payback is there to that wanker of an ex
than you going out and enjoying yourself – with another man. Dane might be the
perfect person for it, because he won’t expect too much from you.”

“I didn’t think of it like
that. I don’t really want to put myself out there as another random shag of
his, though.”

“You don’t have to. The
choice is
yours
, and that’s my point. The ball’s in your court.”

She’s right. It’s up to
me
whether or not anything happens with Dane.

After class and a lengthy stretch session, the three
of us go to get some lunch. Kayla’s face is practically stuck to the glass as
she looks at the variety of choices for her sub on the other side. Leona’s
doing the same thing. I know what I want.

Whilst I stand waiting for
them, a musky, slightly citrus aroma captivates my senses. It’s potent, but not
unpleasant. I glance at the man to my right – the one responsible for the
lovely cologne – and he’s watching Kayla. I’ve never seen him before, but my
friend seems to have caught his attention. Is this another Cupid moment? I’ve
decided his name is Shaun and he’s a stockbroker.

‘Shaun’ is tall, I’d say
around six-foot, with short, strawberry-blond hair. When my brother’s hair is
wet in the morning, he runs his fingers through it and
voilà
,
done. It’s left slightly disordered and looks so good. This guy probably does
that, too. His skin looks like it’s been kissed by the sun, a nice golden
shimmer remaining. Given that it’s not consistently sunny here in San Francisco,
that’s likely his natural tone or he’s recently been somewhere hot. He’s not my
type, but I can still appreciate the handsomeness of a man that doesn’t fit my
ideal. He must be on his lunch break, because he’s dressed in a white shirt
with a claret colored tie knotted neatly at the collar and black pinstripe
trousers. The sleeves being rolled up to his elbows doesn’t lessen how well
presented he is.

I wonder if he’ll speak to
Kayla. She’s single at the moment. He isn’t her type, either. She likes the rough,
edgy look, but personally I think they’d suit, if going by appearances alone.

She’s gorgeous with golden
curls cascading down to the middle of her back and amazing, big eyes the color
of a turquoise sea. And she’s got a body to die for, tight and petite with
curves in all the right places.

He definitely works out; his
broad shoulders carry great muscle definition and I’m not imagining the way his
sleeves hug his biceps. What he’s wearing emphasizes a narrow waist and legs
that don’t avoid squats. If only Kayla would un-stick her bloody face from the
glass and look his way.

‘Shaun’s’ gaze slides to me,
he catches me inspecting him. Sooo embarrassing.

My lips awkwardly turn up at
the corners and I home in on the menu displayed on the wall behind the counter.
I hope he doesn’t think I was checking him out.

“Hello, Kayla,” he suddenly
says, soft, but sure. He knows her?

Her head swiftly turns in
his direction, as though she recognized his voice. “You are totally not talking
to me, dude,” she says, with a frosty bite to her tone.

“Actually, I am,” he says,
his voice and expression unchanged. Someone’s clearly cocksure.

Kayla looks at me. It’s as
though the sea in her eyes has iced over. “Brooklyn, this is Gerard, Dane’s
douche bag of a friend.”

What the fuck?
My jaw
drops and I quickly close my mouth to hide my reaction. I look at him with no
idea what to say. This is Gerard.

“You know Dane?” he asks me,
curious blue eyes staring into mine.

I slip my hands into the
pockets of my tracksuit jacket. “Kind of. Only just.” What more can I
say? 

He simply responds with a
small incline of his head.

I’d love to know what he’s
thinking. I hate that he probably thinks I’m some random conquest of his
mate’s. I focus on the man serving, he’s waiting. “You can go first, we’re
still deciding,” I say to Gerard. The sooner he goes the better.

He smiles in thanks and
turns to the counter.

I really need to find out
what happened between him and Kayla. It’s been clear that he hurt her, and
because of that I haven’t asked how, but now I’ve seen the real life Gerard I
have to know.

Especially since I’m
supposed to be meeting Dane again tomorrow.

We take our lunch home and
sit at our yellow, square kitchen table.

Sipping my sparkling water,
I choose my words. “What happened with Gerard? You don’t have to talk about it,
not if you don’t want to.” Tossing a strand of lettuce in my mouth, I wait for
her response. I can’t believe I was pairing the two of them up like that.
Suddenly San Francisco feels too small.

Kayla sighs, thoughtfully.
Her eyes are softer now. “I met him in a bar one night, he came and spoke to
me. We talked, I let him buy me a drink, and then I left with my friends. End
of that, I thought. A week later I was in the same bar, and he was there again.
He bought me another drink, and that time I spent longer talking to him. I was
attracted to him. He made me laugh and he was super sweet. So when he asked for
my number, I gave it to him. I didn’t want to get with a guy, I’d just broke up
with Brad and I was still hurting. I told Gerard that and he seemed to
understand, but he didn’t hold back. He wasn’t afraid to show his interest in
me.” She bites into her ham sub and chews.

I pick at the chicken that’s
fallen from mine. Leona’s silently chewing as she listens.

Kayla sips some diet coke.
“Weeks later, we spent the night together, fucked like animals. The next night
he was fucking my best friend. He knew it was a big deal for me going with him
and the cold bastard still went with her. He obviously likes the thrill of the
chase, because he wouldn’t have had to try at all with her. The skanky bitch,
she’d have banged him the first night. Obviously he was wise enough to know he
wouldn’t have gotten anywhere with me if they’d been together first. Asshole,
he was the biggest mistake of my life. I had true feelings for him. He doesn’t
know that, but my slut of an ex-best friend did.”

She bites hard into her sub.
No doubt she’d like that to be Gerard’s cock with the amount of force that went
into it. I don’t blame her. I chomp into my lunch, without really tasting it.

“I can’t believe he would
even try to talk to you after what he did,” Leona says. “How arrogant is that?”

“He’s a cunt! Thankfully, I
rarely encounter him and it’s the first time I’ve been that near to him since
it happened.”

“I’m not going tomorrow,” I
announce. “I feel proper sick with myself for even giving someone like Dane a
chance. No way am I gonna let that man mug me off.” I stand up. “I’ll be back
in a bit.”

Leaving the apartment block,
I dash across the street and make the short walk along Franklin. Working out in
my mind exactly what I’m going to say, I turn onto Bush Street. I’m going to
tell Dane I’m not going tomorrow and that– shit. I freeze in place as Dane
walks out of his shop with another man. Hoping he doesn’t look this way and see
me, I pivot around and speed walk back in the direction I just came from.

How am I actually supposed
to stand in front of the guy and say I don’t want to see him again? I took one
look at him and knew I still want to. At some point today I need to question my
sanity, because this whole thing is fucking insane.

He shags around and
doesn’t
do girlfriends.

I
love
shagging –
when it’s part of a
relationship
.

I
don’t
just fuck!

Dane
does!

This is ridiculous.

When I enter the kitchen,
Kayla and Leona are still at the table, doing their nationality switch – Kayla
becomes British, Leona becomes American. I usually find it highly entertaining.
Frustrated with myself, I sit on the chair I left vacant literally about five
minutes ago.

“Where did you go?” Kayla
asks.

“I was going to tell Dane to
forget it. He only went and walked out onto the street. I lost my nerve and
turned back.”

Leona chuckles with her
mouth full of food. She forces it down with a large swallow. “I can imagine it;
you walking out there with all that attitude you left here with, one look at
him and you leg it back.” She laughs again, and I sort of do, too. “As I said,
Brooklyn, the choice is yours.”

Get to know me.
Form your opinion of me. See where things go from there.

Straight from the horse’s
mouth, and I couldn’t have put it better myself.

I’ll do that, and I’ll do it
armed with the knowledge I have of him.