Edge (Gentry Boys #7) (8 page)

“Sure,” Conway shrugged.  “This is Arizona after all.  I was here a few weeks back and saw a six foot diamondback rattler slithering out of the urinal in the men’s room.” 

Emily gasped while Jackson cleared his throat and threw his friend a very clear ‘Cut the shit’ glare.

Conway blew him a kiss. 

I found that I was stifling a laugh. 

Maybe it was because of the absurdity of finding myself here, across the table from a ghost of days past.       

Or maybe it was because I’d caught a glimpse of the carefree boy my best friend had loved and I grudgingly realized I could end up liking him a little.    

Conway cleared his throat rather loudly and my eyes darted up to his face. Somehow in the course of my internal dialogue I’d started staring right at his denim-covered, beer-soaked crotch.  It was completely unintentional. 

Or perhaps it wasn’t. 

I wasn’t sure anymore. 

However, I
was
sure that Conway was finding the entire episode wildly entertaining. I was also sure that when he stared at me that way my cheeks grew hot and a flutter of desire coursed through my belly. 

Someone turned the volume of the music higher. 

The two couples at the next table broke into raucous laughter, joined hands and started singing along to
The Gambler. 

Jackson and Emily returned to the important business of drooling all over each other. 

Conway said something but I didn’t hear him. 

“What?” I shouted. 

He leaned closer, close enough for me to smell the heady mix of soap, smoke and alcohol that radiated from his body. 

“I said it was loud in here.” His breath was right against my ear, hot and sensual. 

“A little,” I agreed and grabbed one of the beers. 

Conway waited while I swallowed great gulping mouthfuls of beer. I found that the more I drank the less I hated the taste.  Plus the more I drank the easier it was to ignore the way Conway was sitting there with his arms crossed, studying me with that maddening half smile. 

When the song ended the two neighboring couples clapped their hands and loudly called for another round.  Jackson leaned over and said something to Conway, who glanced at me and nodded.  

Emily was drunk even though I could swear I hadn’t seen her take more than two sips and we’d been here for less than twenty minutes.  She was practically falling out of her chair.  Infatuation can do weird things to people.   I tried to keep up as she talked excitedly. 

“Remember that hotel thing I told you about?”

“Huh?”

“The hotel.  San Gabriel.  It’s right across the street. You said you’d heard of it.” 

“Oh.”

“They
live
there!” 

“Who?”

“Jackson and his friend, um,…”

“Con.”

“Yeah, him.  So they live there and Jackson wants us to come hang out for a while.” 

“Where?” My head was spinning. From one glass of beer.  Downright pathetic. I’d always been a lightweight when it came to alcohol.

Emily hissed with exasperation.  “The hotel, idiot.  Jackson says he and his friends have an entire floor to themselves and it’s really nice.” 

“Well, that’s good.” 

Emily squeezed my arm.  “So you’re up for it?”

I looked at her.  Just when I opened my mouth to inquire about what exactly I was agreeing to be ‘up for’, Conway pulled his chair back and stood. 

Had he been this tall six years ago?  This muscular, this built, this frighteningly imposing?  I couldn’t remember. 

A one hundred dollar bill materialized in his fingers and he tossed it down on the table. 

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, extending his hand to me in some kind of pseudo-chivalrous gesture. 

I stood up and reluctantly accepted his hand.  “And then what?”

His fingers closed around mine.  His smile was a challenge.  “Whatever you want.” 

It was crazy.  It would have been crazy even if we were two perfect strangers.  I’d never played the moral police but hopping into bed with random partners just wasn’t my thing.   Plus when you considered who Conway was and the context of how we’d known each other, the idea of following him home added a heaping spoonful of extra syrupy crazy.

“Maybe I just want to watch television,” I said, which was stupid but also my way of saying ‘I’m not fucking you’ without actually
saying
‘I’m not fucking you’. 

Conway took the bizarre declaration in stride.  “We have a really nice high definition screen,” he said politely.  “And there’s a standing policy of ladies’ choice when it comes to the programming.”  

Jackson and Emily were halfway toward the door but I was still hesitating.  I was beginning to wish I’d stayed at home with a bowl of popcorn and vintage teen angst. 

Conway sighed and reached over to smooth a strand of long hair out of my face.  “No pressure, Roslyn.  I swear.  Just come hang out for an hour or two. There’s nothing to be nervous about.  After all, we were friends once upon a time, weren’t we?”

No, we weren’t.  Not really. 

But somehow he seemed earnest and sincere.  Already I was starting to doubt my earlier conclusion that Conway Gentry was just a raunchy jerk with a bad attitude.  I still didn’t have any intention of taking my clothes off for him but I also trusted that he wouldn’t do anything creepy.  Anyway I was a little too wobbly at the moment to get behind the wheel. 

“All right,” I agreed, “just for a little while.” 

Conway’s hand rested on the small of my back as we made our way out of the bar. I relaxed once we were outside.  It was a short walk to the Hotel San Gabriel where he lived and being at his side felt rather comfortable.     

After all, although we’d never exactly been friends we’d once been…something. 

CONWAY

She thought I was a dick.  I hadn’t given her any reason to think otherwise but somehow the idea bothered me.  Jackson hadn’t said much about the friend his date was bringing along to the bar, but he’d promised all up and down that she was hot as city asphalt in July.  He’d seen her last week at the party where he met his new girl, Emily. 

The same party I’d run into Roe. 

Sorry, the party where I’d run into
Roslyn,
formerly known as Roe. 

I hadn’t put two and two together because that party was crammed full of hot girls. 

And what were the odds Emily’s friend would be Roslyn Tory? 

Apparently someone up there in the sky had a wild sense of humor because I was just sitting in my chair nursing a drink and waiting for something to entertain me when she showed up.  Jackson had immediately slung his arm around the cute black-haired girl he’d been talking to all week. 

Roslyn and I just stared at each other.  I glimpsed the flicker in her eyes and for a second I figured she’d turn on her heel and walk her uptight ass out of there.  She didn’t, proving I didn’t know as much as I thought I knew. It was weird seeing her, just like it was weird running into her last time.  We knew each other and yet we didn’t know each other at all.  We never had.

Strangely enough, I was glad when she lifted her chin in defiance and sat down.  I was even more glad when she agreed to come back to the hotel.  Sure, she’d tossed me one of those looks that said, ‘you’re not getting any of this’ but I’d seen such looks before and conquered them with ease. 

Now as we walked side by side while trailing Jackson and Emily, who were already sucking face and handling each other’s asses, I cast a sidelong glance at Roslyn.  She was studying the dark sidewalk, walking slowly, her arms crossed over her stomach like that pose alone was enough to keep her prim and proper.   

Why her?

Why indeed. 

I hadn’t gotten any skin in a while and it wasn’t for lack of options.  I thought about my brother’s engagement party and how I’d been envious of what the men in my family had.  It seemed like backsliding in a way, to give in tonight and set my dirty sights on someone who’d known me when I was better than this, back when I was in love with the girl next door.

“What did you say?” Roslyn asked curiously. 

“I didn’t say anything.” 

“Oh.”  She bent her head once more.  “I thought you did.” 

I lied.  I’d mumbled two words under my breath, not meaning for her to hear them.  Roslyn was sexy and classy and she didn’t like me all that much.  Somehow the combination was irresistible no matter who she was or how she knew me.  I could have it all backwards though.  Maybe I wanted her because she reminded me of a time when the world was still pretty and hopeful.  I’d finally muttered ‘Fuck it’ because I wasn’t going to dwell on why or how I wanted her. I was just going to make it happen.

She was startled when I touched her arm but then she relaxed and allowed me to take her hand.  We followed Jackson and Emily into the lobby where the tweakers had collected a squad of shopping carts and were dutifully taking them apart while arguing about how they were going to reassemble them in order to make them more aerodynamic. 

Roslyn dropped my hand and stared at the tweakers as they crawled around on the floor clutching their shopping cart wheels.  Jackson pressed the button on the elevator while Emily hung on to him.  Normally I avoided the elevator because it got stuck at least twice a week but I wanted to get Roslyn upstairs before she had a chance to think too carefully about whether she ought to be here. 

“They’re harmless,” I told her and gently nudged her toward the elevator when it opened. 

“I know,” she said.  “I’ve seen the type before.  What are they on?”

“Meth, most likely,” I said while Jackson made out with her roommate about four inches behind us as the elevator rose to the sixth floor.  I let out a breath of relief when it stopped without incident.  It amused my buddies to no end that I was rather claustrophobic.  Getting stuck inside an elevator would drive me pants-on-the-head batshit in about ten minutes. 

I was glad that nobody had decided to throw a party tonight.  In fact the sixth floor was pretty quiet as we entered the lounge just beyond the elevators.  Kilt was snoring on one of the couches and Eli was half awake on another one.  He looked up and gave a brief nod then returned to his whisky sipping as he channel surfed. 

A small dilemma arose.  My pants were still soaked with the beer Roslyn had accidentally spilled back at the bar.  I hadn’t yet closed in on the part of the night where clothes were an inconvenience, but the feeling of swamp ass was a little distracting so I really wanted to change.  Emily and Jackson had already departed in favor of a more private place where they could get to know each other better.  If I left Roslyn out here she might get spooked and take off.  Yet I saw she’d returned to her arm-crossed pose and I knew if I tried to get her to come to my room right now the whole evening would be no dice.  I had good instincts about shit like that. 

“Hey,” I said and she looked up.  “I’m just going to disappear for a quick minute and change out of these wet pants.” 

“Sure,” she nodded.  “I really am sorry about that.” 

“Not a big deal.  You can grab a drink out of that fridge in the corner.  The boys won’t hassle you if they know you’re with me so just hang out here while I take a trip down to my room, okay?”

She squinted down the dim hallway.  “Your room is down there?”

“Yup.  Third door on the right.  You’re welcome to come if you’d like-“ but she was already shaking her head vigorously. 

Yeah, she wasn’t into it yet.  She would be. 

I changed hurriedly.  Even though I’d promised Roslyn the boys wouldn’t give her a hard time I couldn’t be too sure of that.  Eli seemed out of it and if Kilt woke up and saw a pair of sweet tits right in front of him he might get some ideas and accidentally scare her away. 

Roslyn was standing right where I left her, arms still crossed, looking stunning and uncertain.  She actually smiled when she saw me heading her way and I returned the smile.  But she did pause when I sank down on an empty couch and patted the place beside me. 

“Have a seat,” I said.  The only light in the room came from a dim corner lamp but it was enough.

“There?” she asked skeptically.

“Where else?”  Ordinarily I would have tossed out a line about how we could probably find a mattress that was more comfortable but I knew that wouldn’t work on her. 

“Come on,” I urged, reaching for her hand and letting my eyes linger on the perfect shape of her legs, right up the line to the tight V encased in snug denim shorts. 

When I finally got around to glancing at her face again she wasn’t smiling anymore.  She looked a little pissed, like she knew exactly what pictures were running through my head and she’d be damned if she’d indulge them.  

Well, I liked a small challenge now and then.  I hadn’t had one in a long time. And I’d known when I invited her here tonight that this wouldn’t be the easiest task in the world. 

I took my hat off, pasted my most authentic expression on my face and looked her right in the eye. 

“Please,” I said, reaching for her once again, “come sit with me, Roslyn.” 

Sometimes just saying a girl’s name was enough to melt the first layer of resistance.  I could see something change inside of her as she regarded me.  She was still wary, but her eyes skimmed over my muscled arms and across my chest, just like she’d done earlier tonight.  She may not like the idea of wanting me but she wanted me just the same.  It wouldn’t take long for me to get her to admit it.   

Kilt let out a mighty snore from his armchair ten feet away.  Eli had switched to a replay of tonight’s baseball game while he kept working on his bottle.  Jackson and Emily hadn’t reappeared so I figured we’d seen the last of them for the night.   

When Roslyn primly sat on the edge of the sofa I gave her a few seconds to settle in before casually curling one arm around behind her.  She didn’t lean into me but she didn’t glare or shove me away either.  That was a good sign. 

“You like baseball?” I asked casually.  My fingers were itching to light a cigarette but that might interfere with the mood I was trying to set.  Besides, I was trying to cut back on the cancer sticks. 

“Yes,” she said, staring straight ahead at the screen but settling in just a notch.  “My father kept a luxury suite at Chase Field for years.”

“Luxury suite,” I said, nodding like I was impressed.  “Sounds pretty fancy.” 

She looked at me with pursed lips, probably trying to decide if I was bullshitting her or not.  I gave her a smile and a nod to let her know I was interested in every word that came out of her pretty mouth even though I could really give half a fuck about her dad’s luxury suite. 

“I guess,” she shrugged.  “I mean yeah, it was nice.  Great view, great food.  My dad always ended up giving most of the tickets to his employees but at least once every few weeks I got to visit the park with him.”   

I managed to get my arm around her shoulder without letting her see that I’d moved a muscle.  Once I touched her though she stiffened slightly, just for a second.  I found bare skin just beyond her flimsy sleeve and rolled my thumb in a slow circle.  She shuddered.  She melted.  A sense of triumph stirred, hardening my dick.   

“You’re far away,” I said, keeping my voice low.

Roslyn blinked.  “I’m right here, Con.” 

In other local news, Kilt yawned and Eli had changed position so he could get a better view of us.  Well, he was trying to get a better view of Roslyn anyway.  Apparently he wasn’t as close to unconscious as I’d thought because he’d carefully set his bottle down and slid his hand over his crotch. 

I shot him a look of warning.  For now I didn’t care if he watched but he’d better not say a word or twitch a muscle.  In a good move, he’d changed the baseball game to something more suitable.  It was porn, but the semi-classy pay-per-view type that didn’t make it obvious from the first three seconds.  Onscreen a woman sat stiffly in a chair, legs crossed, pen moving as she took dictation from her boss while he rested a hand on her shoulder and then moved it lower, and lower…

“But you’re not close enough, Roslyn,” I whispered, curling my arm around her more firmly. 

Roslyn’s eyes narrowed and she gave me a shrewd look.  “Really?  You think it’s that easy?  What happened to ‘No pressure’ and ‘We’re friends’?”  She shook her head with disgust and I smelled her perfume.  Honeysuckle. “I understand who you are, Conway Gentry.  And you should understand that I’m not some, some, ah…”

“Some what?”  I was smiling. 

“I’m not some
toy
that you can play with,” she spat. 

There was force behind those words but her body spoke a different language.  I could feel her squirming under my touch, could practically see the tension in the muscles between her legs, could hear the rapid pace of her breathing and the squeaking break in her voice as she tried to sound tough.  She was battling with herself but I could have told her to save the drama.  I already knew which side would win. 

“Aren’t you?” I whispered, letting my other hand travel to her face to stroke her soft cheek.  She really was exquisite.  I couldn’t wait to see more.  I wouldn’t have to wait much longer. 

“Aren’t I what?” she breathed, her voice catching as my thumb brushed her lower lip. 

I smiled and ran my left hand through her hair, tugging lightly.  Thick and dark red, it hung down in long curls.  I wanted to feel it on my thighs. 

“Aren’t you in the mood to play, Roslyn?” 

One of two things was about to happen.  She’d tell me to go to hell or she’d admit she wanted this as much as I did. All she had to do was let herself go a little. It didn’t have to mean anything.  It could just be a hot fuck between two people who happened to have something in common once. 

“Maybe,” she whispered.

“Maybe what?”

She licked her lips. “Maybe I’m in the mood to play after all.” 

“I’m glad,” I said, trying not to sound smug. 

My knuckles brushed her right breast and she inhaled sharply.  Somewhere down the hall, towards the direction of Jackson’s room I thought I heard a groan.  Kilt snored away in the corner.  Eli was slouching with his head back, eyes narrowed to slits, the dim light making it look like he was asleep with his hand inside his pants. In the middle of all that I pulled an unresisting Roslyn right into my lap. 

“Con?” she said, suddenly alarmed, and I got a bunch of thick hair in my face as she tried to twist around to see me.  I massaged her shoulders and felt her gradually loosen up.

“Shh.” I pushed her hair aside and slid the sleeve of her shirt down, enough to kiss her shoulder.  “Watch the movie, honey.”

She settled down, her back against my chest, her ass unwittingly in contact with my dick, which she absolutely had to feel.  She’d be feeling a whole more of it.  My hands went to her hips, trying to knead the tender flesh underneath the scratchy denim.  That was the first thing that had to fucking go. 

Not yet though.  Not quite yet.