Cora didn’t want to put a label on what she and James had. The last thing she was going to tell Stacey was the fact she’d been cooking them dinner regularly. They were either at her place, or the club. One of her favorite things to do was fucking him, and for him to be the envy of most men in the club.
From what she’d heard, Leo and Paul were trying to capture Stacey’s attention but had failed.
She and James also went on a couple of dates to the movies away from the club. It had been refreshing going out. He was always surprising her.
An hour later, four sets of parents arrived, and Cora wasn’t surprised to see James tagging along with Lucy. Cora had called ahead to the bank to let Lucy know what had gone on. Stuart’s father was dressed in a suit, and he shook James’s hand as they entered.
Sharon came and escorted all of them into her room.
“Wow, that looked scary as shit,” Stacey said.
“Shouldn’t you be teaching?” Cora asked. Lunch had long since finished.
“Michael’s taking over for me. I didn’t finish lunch, and I went and snagged us these sandwiches from the cafeteria.”
Cora was starving, and she didn’t even argue with her friend. Sitting down, she unwrapped the egg salad roll and started eating.
“Tell me something,” Stacey said.
“I’ll tell you something if you tell me something,” Cora said, striking up a deal.
“Okay, deal. Do you have feelings for James?”
Pausing in chewing her sandwich, Cora thought about it, really thought about. “Yes, I do.”
“Really?”
Cora nodded. She did like James, had feelings for him, but she wasn’t going to be ruled by her feelings. “He makes me happy, and he doesn’t make me feel bad or guilty for what I like. I’ve never had that, not once.”
It didn’t matter what she wanted to do to him, or for him to do to her, James didn’t judge her. He didn’t treat her like some weird person for wanting sex, hot dirty sex.
“It’s time for my question,” Cora said, bringing the focus back to Stacey.
“I’m ready.”
“What’s going on with you, Leo, and Paul?”
Stacey let out a sigh. “I hate this game.”
“This is not a game. I’m being serious here. What’s going on? I answered your question. It’s only fair that you answer mine.”
Seconds passed while Stacey took a bite of her sandwich.
“They’ve asked if I would be willing to date them both,” she said, slowly.
“And what did you say?”
“I told them they were both crazy. I’m not going to date even one man, certainly not two.”
“Did you really say that?” Stacey was many things but mean wasn’t one of them.
“No, I couldn’t bring myself to hurt either of them. They’re so nice, and I’m just not ready.”
“You know they’re not going to be like your ex.” Cora never said his real name. There were times when Stacey couldn’t handle hearing his name.
“I know. I’m just not ready to settle down with a couple of men I don’t know anything about.” Stacey ran fingers through her hair. “I never know what to expect from them. They’re nice guys, and any woman would be crazy to tell them to suck it.”
“You’re going to tell them to suck it, right?”