He has no idea that that is the entire point. I need to be able to look at her and see another man fucking her. I know it will make it impossible to move forward with any form of a healthy relationship. If I can change my view of her from the one that got away to just another girl I used to fuck, then I can move on with my life.
I turn my eyes back to the group.
Slick holds her hands up. “Not a chance.”
The three interested guys chuckle when she tosses her beer bottle in the garbage and walks out.
I’m surprised she didn’t lay out all the reasons this could go terribly wrong, but maybe she’s not as on her game when she’s been drinking.
“You’re not leaving?” I ask, turning my attention briefly back to Boomer.
He shrugs. “What can I say? I’ve always been interested in disasters.”
Spade, Aro, and Ugly are grinning with a pick me, pick me glint in their eyes when I look over at them.
“You can’t just pick someone,” Boomer says.
“I thought you weren’t getting involved,” Ugly sneers, as if he figures he’s got it in the bag already.
“I said I wouldn’t fuck her because doing that shit while she’s staying here is a recipe for disaster, but I can help mitigate the fallout. I have to work with you fuckers. I don’t want to get caught by a stray bullet when Grinch realizes how much he fucked up.”
The three guys shrug like it makes perfect sense, and the crazy part is they all three seem just as willing even though there’s the potential for disaster.
“How then?” I ask Boomer, not wanting this to end up with me hating the guy who joins us.
“Pick names out of a hat.”
Spade pulls his off his head, offering it up, and it speaks of his eagerness.
“We don’t have pen and paper,” Aro says after looking around.
“Beer caps,” Boomer offers, and the second the words are out of his mouth, Aro is on his feet, heading to the trash can.
He pulls three bottle caps from the garbage before looking back over at Boomer. “You sure you don’t want a shot?”
“Not a fucking chance,” the man says.
“I’m Bud Light,” Aro says, dropping that bottlecap in the hat Spade is holding out. “Spade, you’re Miller, and Ugly, you’re Heineken.”
“Seems fair,” Spade says, shaking the baseball hat to mix up the caps.
“Maybe Boomer should hold the cap and pick,” I say.
“Nope,” Boomer says, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve had enough involvement already.”
“Just close your eyes when you pick,” Aro suggests.
So I do. I squeeze my eyes closed and feel for the cap. I grab the first cap that touches my fingers.
“Holy shit,” Ugly mutters when I hold up the green cap with the red star. “I fucking won!”
His excitement rubs me the wrong way.
“I was Heineken,” Spade argues.
“You were Miller,” Boomer interjects. “Ugly was Heineken. It’s fitting because he’s not the only thing that’s going to be ugly when it’s all over.”
Ugly is wiggling in his chair like a kid being presented with a massive birthday cake. “So, do we go now?”
“No,” I tell him as I fling the bottlecap at his head. “I’ll give you the details when I work them out.”
Ugly is still bragging about his win when I walk out of the garage an hour later.
Chapter 26
Grace
I glance from the clothes in my hands back to the door.
What would Trenton do if he walked in here right now to find me naked, hair still dripping wet from the shower I took in his bathroom, rummaging through his clothes?
With the way he just went to sleep last night, I imagine he’d grunt at me or ignore me altogether.
I can’t count the number of times I pulled on one of his t-shirts or rolled the waistband of a pair of his sweats. He didn’t mind, but they also didn’t stay on my body very long either. We didn’t spend much time in clothes when we were in private.
I pull the clothes on, wanting to trigger as many memories as I could of the good times we had together. He may not be able to resist me sexually, but he’s still holding back emotionally.
Maybe he doesn’t care about you in that way?
I shove that revelation away as I stand in front of the bathroom mirror and check the fit of the garments. My ass fills them out more than they did in the past, and my breasts are definitely larger than they were before, but that’s to be expected since we met right after I got out of recruit training at eighteen.
My plan to wait Trenton out by staying in his room until he returns isn’t going very well. I’ve showered, dressed, and have been sitting on the bed for over an hour.