Shaken Not Stirred (Mixology) (23 page)

“Desperation sex? Should I be insulted?”

“No. I mean, we were desperate for each
other.”

“We haven’t taken a shower together…”

His eyes lit up “No, I guess we haven’t.”

I expected him to back up so I could move.
Instead, he lifted me. He stopped by the kitchen counter to drop
off his phone before hurrying us up the stairs.

Under the warm spray of the shower, the
craziness of the night faded away. Colin’s lips and mouth never
stopped roaming, and I didn’t want them to. I wanted him to touch
every single part of me, and I wanted to touch him. His taste was
still exciting, but it had also become a favorite comfort I craved.
He pushed me up against the wall and I held him close, wanting no
space between us.

Carly didn’t give any warning when she showed
up on Colin’s doorstep. It was eight a.m. on a Saturday, and by
some miracle, Colin wasn’t running in to work until later. Warm,
and enjoying the feeling of waking up to an actual person in the
bed next to me (I could count on one hand how often that happened
with Colin), I wasn’t thrilled to hear the doorbell ring.

“Ugh. That better not be one of your
roommates,” Colin groaned. Evidently, he wasn’t thrilled with the
interruption either.

“Why would it be for me?”

“They’ve come by to get you to dive and
stuff.” He stretched, settling his arm behind me.

“Diving in December? No thanks. This has to
be for you.”

The doorbell rang again, followed by
incessant knocking.

“Is that your way of telling me to get
it?”

“It is your house.”

“Fine.” He kissed me lightly. “But you better
be looking as adorable and naked when I get back.”

“Are you sure you want to go there? What if
you disappear for ten hours? Still expect me to be naked?”

“You’re never going to let me off the hook
for that, are you?”

“Maybe someday.” I ran my hand down his
chest, hoping whoever was at the door would go away.

They didn’t. The knocking grew worse.

“I’ll be right back.”

“I hope so.” I bit my lip, aiming for a mix
of sexy and coy—and hoping that no matter who it was, he’d send
them away and get back to bed.

He groaned. “Please don’t move.”

He dressed quickly and walked out of the
room, leaving the door open.

“What are you doing here?” Colin’s whine
carried upstairs.

“Aren’t you happy to see your favorite little
sister?” Carly’s heels echoed on the tile floor.

I jumped out of bed, quickly finding a
t-shirt and jeans to throw on in case she walked upstairs. I hoped
Colin would stop her before that, but from what I knew of Carly,
she did what she wanted.

“I have company.”

“Oh. Maddy’s here?”

“Who else would it be?” he snapped. I
wondered if she’d put two and two together and realized exactly why
he was annoyed.

Carly snapped right back at him. “If it was
anyone else, I’d kick your ass. You know I like her.”

I ventured out into the hall, pulling my hair
up into a ponytail as I walked.

Colin sighed. “It’s Maddy, and you’re
interrupting.”

“I couldn’t care less about your sex life.
You can go back upstairs. I’ll go get unpacked in the guest
room.”

“Unpacked?” Colin’s voice went up a
little.

I started to walk downstairs.

“Hey, Maddy!” Carly ran over and gave me a
hug. “I probably should have expected you’d be here.”

“It’s great to see you.” I caught Colin’s eye
over her head and tried to send the message that he needed to cool
it.

“I’m sorry to have woken you up so early, but
I didn’t feel like waiting in the car.”

“Did you leave in the middle of the night?” I
led her over to the couch. She may have been acting all bubbly, but
I knew there was a not-so-great reason for her unannounced
arrival.

“I thought I’d spend the first week of winter
break with my favorite brother.”

Colin sat down across from us with his elbows
leaning on his knees. “I’m your only brother, and I’ll be working
all week.”

“So? I’m capable of entertaining myself.”

“You could also entertain yourself at
home.”

“I’d rather do it here. At the beach.” She
kicked the light pink duffel bag she’d dropped on the floor.

“What’s going on, Carly?” Colin asked
nervously.

“Nothing.” She looked at me and then back at
him.

I caught the drift that she wasn’t going to
talk in front of me. “I’m going to take a shower.” With my excuse
made, I smiled faintly at both of them, and took my leave. My
curiosity was piqued, but I respected Carly’s need for privacy.

My hair didn’t need to be shampooed twice,
but I needed to give them time. The acoustics in the house were
awful, and the only way they’d really have privacy was if I left
the water running. When the water started turning cold, I got out.
Politeness or not, I wasn’t spending time in a cold shower.

I towel dried my hair and pulled on a
slightly faded sweater and the same jeans. I had a drawer of
clothes at Colin’s place, but I hadn’t refilled it in quite a
while.

By the time I got downstairs, Colin and Carly
were busy making pancakes.

“Save any water for me?” Colin handed me my
mug of chai tea. It had taken him about a month to realize that I
didn’t drink coffee in the morning. I only drank it at night. I
know how weird that is, but I liked it better that way.

I accepted the mug and took a seat at the
island. “I thought you could use a cold shower.”

Carly laughed. “I promise to give you guys
some space.”

I inhaled the warm steam from my tea. “Don’t
worry about it. I plan on spending today with my roommates
anyway.”

Colin refilled his cup with black coffee.
“You do? Funny. I thought we were going shopping for a tree
today.”

Carly grinned. “A tree? Oh my God. You guys
are getting a Christmas tree together? That’s really cute.”

“Colin wants to throw a holiday party. How do
you throw one if you don’t have a tree?” I asked.

“You can’t. Everyone knows that.” She smiled
even bigger. “So if this isn’t a quasi-romantic outing, I’m
in.”

“Why don’t you two go together? I don’t mind
some downtime at home.” I got the sense that they needed time
alone.

Carly shook her head. “No way. If you don’t
go, I don’t go.”

Either I was wrong, or she was worried about
offending me.

Colin sipped his coffee. “You’re coming,
Maddy. This was your idea.”

“When’s the party?” Carly poured the last of
the batter in the pan. “Will I still be here?”

“Friday night.” I picked up the now empty
bowl and placed it in the sink. “That is if Colin gets home in
time.” He’d even been late for the Thanksgiving I’d hosted with
Macon. Brody was the only one who went home for the holiday.

“I will.”

“Good. These are your friends. I’m not
hosting them without you.”

“If it helps, I’ll be here.” Carly flipped a
pancake. “I’m pretty good at hosting these things.”

“Awesome! That does help.”

Colin gulped down coffee. I’d never seen
anyone who could drink hot coffee so fast. “Maybe Carly and I will
come and keep you company at work tonight.”

“I shouldn’t need it. Max said there’s a
couple of big parties coming in. That usually keeps me busy.”

“Well, we’ll still come in to see you.”

“If you insist.”

***

“Don’t look now, but your boy toy just walked
in.” Mary kept me company at the bar.

I turned, ready to greet Colin with a smile.
We’d never made it tree shopping. Colin got called into work. Carly
suggested we go without him, but that felt wrong. He’d have to have
free time eventually, right?

It wasn’t Colin.

“What’s he doing here?” I watched as Lyle set
up his guitar the way he always did on Thursday nights. It was a
Saturday.

“That family reunion group requested music.
Max called him in, I guess.”

“I have a feeling he’s not what they had in
mind.”

“Yeah, but it’s what you have in mind.” She
winked. Even though I was dating Colin, she knew I hadn’t gotten
over Lyle. Feelings aren’t like that. You can’t just shut them off
with a switch. Besides, it wasn’t a purely physical thing. Could
you blame me for connecting with his lyrics? It made him that much
more intriguing.

“I don’t have a drink.”

“What do you mean?” She eyed the rows of
bottles behind me.

“I mean, I didn’t pick out a drink for him
yet. I usually do that on Wednesday nights.”

“It’s not a drink that’s going to get his
attention.” She leaned back, accentuating her ample cleavage. I
wondered if that was her suggested way to get Lyle to look. If so,
it wasn’t going to work for me.

“I know, but I need to figure it out. I feel
like if I can get that right, I’ll figure him out. I don’t want to
date him anyway. I’m with Colin.”

“Sure.” She smiled. “Good luck coming up with
something.”

I thought fast. I still thought whiskey was
the key, but I wanted to get more creative. I racked my brain for a
new whiskey drink but came up with nothing.

“At this rate, I might as well try a
Manhattan again,” I said mostly to myself. The drink seemed perfect
for him, and I was out of other ideas.

I grabbed the sweet vermouth and the
Angostura bitters and poured them into a mixing glass with the
whiskey. After stirring well (stirring can really make a
difference), I strained it into a chilled glass just as he sat
down.

Afraid I’d miss my chance, I headed right
over to the spot he always played during the colder months. As much
as I loved listening to him outside, the closed space somehow made
it even better. “Hey.” I moved into my usual greeting.

“Hi, Maddy.” He used my name. I tried to hide
my surprise.

He accepted the drink and sipped it.
“Thanks.” His eyes stayed focused on my face.

I tried to read his expression. He seemed to
like it enough, but he didn’t take another sip. He opened his mouth
like he was going to say something, but then he closed it.

“Do you need anything else?” I bit my tongue.
What else would I be offering? It’s not like I served the food.

He smiled. “No. I think I’m good. But I’ll
let you know if that changes.”

“Good.” I smiled and walked away.

I met up with Mary at the bar. “Still no
luck?”

“On the drink? I don’t think so, but I did
get a few words of conversation”

“You are such a goofball.”

“Yeah, I know.”

I filled Mary’s tray and set back to listen
to Lyle’s music. He started with a song he hadn’t played in months,
and I closed my eyes for a minute to take it in.

I’m hungry for affection…hungry for the way
you make me feel.

Just listening to him gave me chills.

You just don’t get it. Don’t get how much
more you are. How much more you’ll be.

Keep on dreaming my love, and keep on
starving me.

When I opened my eyes, I realized I wasn’t
alone.

“Colin’s going to meet me here in a little
bit. This place is happening.” Carly smiled, clearly not concerned
to find me with my eyes shut.

“Yeah, there are a few parties going on. I
guess the holidays are giving this town a new life.” It took a
second for her words and presence to set in. I had totally
forgotten. Colin may not have noticed the way I looked at Lyle, but
a girl would. I had to force myself to ignore Lyle’s presence. I
built up a mental wall to prevent myself from glancing over at him.
The hard part was I couldn’t ignore his singing.

“That’s cool.” She turned her head so she
could check out the open room. She looked in the direction of Lyle,
but my mental wall prevented me from seeing whether that’s who she
was watching.

“Want a cosmo?”

“Yes! I still love those.”

I smiled. “Good.” At least I’d gotten that
one right. I opened a new container of cranberry juice, you
wouldn’t believe how much of it we went through, and I made her
cosmo.

She sipped her drink as soon as I set it in
front of her. “I think Colin got you something really nice for your
anniversary.”

“Our anniversary?”

“Yeah, your three-month one.”

“He got me a gift because we’ve dated three
months?”

Carly laughed. “I guess he wanted an excuse
to buy you nice jewelry.” She covered her mouth with her hand.
“Oops, sorry.”

“It’s okay, but does that mean I’m supposed
to buy him something?”

“Maybe? I think he’s planning to take you out
somewhere special on Saturday.”

“Is he always like this?”

“Does he always make a big deal out of
things? No. This is new.”

“Then why is he doing it?” I filled a glass
with water for myself.

“Because he likes you a lot. Are you
complaining that he bought you jewelry and is taking you out?”

“No. I just hope he doesn’t think he has to.
Like, I’m the kind of girl who needs that stuff.”

“Every girl needs that stuff. It’s just
whether you decide to admit it.”

“That’s not true.” I was surprised by the
comment. It didn’t seem very Carly.

“I’m not saying we all need jewelry and fancy
meals, but we all want a guy to show us he thinks we’re worth
it.”

I slipped off my cardigan sweater. Either it
was the crowds or Lyle’s music that was getting me hot. “A guy can
do that without those kinds of gestures.”

“They can, but that’s an easy way. Colin’s
trying hard with you.”

“Why do I get the sense that there’s
something loaded in that statement?”

“Colin dropped me off because he had to run
into work for an hour. He’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”

“Meaning?”

“I’ve been sitting in the Grille for
forty-five minutes.” The expression on her face made my stomach
drop. If I was hot moments earlier, I was now on fire.