“You’re going to make me masturbate.”
“Is that something you’d enjoy?”
She shrugged and looked away, and I had the distinct impression that Zoey wasn’t exactly the type of woman who kissed and told. There was no doubt in my mind that she had plenty of experience. She was nearly 30, after all, and she was drop-dead gorgeous. She knew how to be playful, and she knew how to banter, and she could hold her own in a conversation. Plus, judging by her brother’s explanation of her job, it sounded like she was on top of the world.
Despite all of that, though, Zoey appeared to be wildly unappreciated. She hadn’t been teased enough, taunted enough. She didn’t seem to know just how beautiful she really was, and she didn’t seem to know that anyone in this room would be lucky to take her home. Jason and Taylor had both shot me confused looks when I’d walked back into the room with her on my arm, but I didn’t feel the need to explain anything to anyone.
No, I wasn’t going to make her masturbate. As tempting as it was to have her tease herself to orgasm, I thought it would be even better to touch her myself. As long as she was enjoying the game, I’d play with her. I’d tease her. I’d torture her in the most delicious ways until she forgot everything except the feeling of pleasure.
Before I could say anything else, the music stopped, and a spotlight shone on the man of the hour. Felix stood in the center of the room, and he smiled.
“Thank you all for coming out tonight,” he said.
“Happy birthday!” A guest yelled.
“Yeah, happy birthday!”
“Happy fucking
birthday!”
A few people laughed and most of the room cheered, egging on the birthday boy. I moved Zoey so she was standing in front of me. Her back was to my chest, and I held onto her waist, tugging her back against me. I was wrapped around her, holding her with one hand while I held my whiskey glass with the other, and we watched Felix together.
“Thank you,” he laughed. “Now, as most of you know, today is a pretty important day.”
“Oh, shit,” Zoey whispered.
“What?”
She didn’t reply, though. She was completely focused on Felix. Lauren stood to the side, watching him, too. All eyes were on Felix as he grinned. I wasn’t sure whether he was going to announce that it was time to eat cake or whether he had some sort of gag planned, but it soon became obvious.
“Most of you know that my girlfriend, Lauren, and I have been dating for a while now.”
“A lifetime!” Someone called out.
“Ball and chain,” another yelled.
Most of the guests were in their late 20s or early 30s, so they were close to our ages; however, a lot of them were single, and apparently, they liked that. At least, they wanted everyone to think that they liked it. There was nothing wrong with being in a long-term relationship, I thought. At least, there wasn’t anything wrong with being in one at this stage in our lives.
“Oh, shit,” I whispered as he gestured for Lauren to join him. He was going to propose. Suddenly, it was obvious. Why else would he have begged me to come tonight? Oh, he led me to believe that it was so I could see Zoey, but there was something else there, too.
The words seemed to float silently out of his mouth as he promised to love Lauren. He explained how important she was, and how special she was, and how much he loved her, but I couldn’t hear a damn thing. I just stared at him, completely caught off guard. He hadn’t even told me he’d been thinking of proposing. It had been a complete secret.
Of course, Lauren said yes. She laughed and clapped her hands, and they kissed, and then the DJ started playing a romantic song which the lucky couple had obviously selected ahead of time, and Felix and Lauren danced to it in the center of the room. Zoey and I stood there, watching them. Our bodies were both wildly tense.
“Did you know about this?” Zoey’s voice was a whisper.
“No. Did you?”
“No,” she said. “They both completely caught me off-guard.”
“Me too.”
“It’s not that he’s not allowed to have secrets,” she said. “But he’s my brother. He should have told me.”
“I agree. As his best friend, I feel the same way.”
“Well, fuck them,” Zoey shrugged. I knew it pissed her off that Felix had sprung this on us. It probably shouldn’t have been surprising. After all, he and Lauren had been together for a long time, and they’d been living together, too. They had a house, which was a nice, wonderful little home. It made sense that they were ready to take their relationship to the next level.