Erica's Choice (15 page)

Fantasies he’d encouraged her to share. Corey had no right to act like a possessive creep, not when he’d encouraged Erica’s attraction to Griff.

Griff left the bathroom, walking across the hall to his bedroom. Corey caught up in time to see Griff dragging a pair of jeans over his bare butt. The knowledge that he went without underwear made Corey’s mouth dry out.
Who says I’m not ready?

“No fair,” Corey said. “The only clothes I have are all sweaty.”

“I’d lend you some jeans but you’re bigger than me.”

“Oh you noticed that too?”

Griff sent him a droll look. “Don’t start with me, Wachawski. It’s what you do with it that counts.”

A little shiver ripped through Corey. “So what do you do with it? I mean when you’re with a guy it must be different.”

“You asking who gets to be the boss?”

“I suppose.”

Griff smiled slowly. “I usually like to be in charge.”

That shiver coursed over Corey’s skin again. “No kidding.”

Riffling through his drawers Griff found a pair of baggy sweatpants and tossed them over. “I told you, Corey, not tonight. You need time to let the big head wrap around what the little head wants.” He glanced downward with a knowing smile. “Not that you’re so little.”

Heat flushed Corey’s skin, made him tighten below the waist. He dragged the sweatpants on to hide the response. Griff was flirting with him, and it made Corey’s brain scramble. Maybe his big head did need more time than the rest of him to work this whole thing out.

He sat on the bed while Griff went looking for a shirt. “How did it happen?” At Griff’s questioning look, Corey clarified. “Your first time with a man.”

“It was stupid. I was at a party with this girl I was going with. Actually I thought it was getting serious, but she didn’t seem to be of the same opinion.” Pulling a button-up flannel from his wardrobe, Griff handed it over. “She was flirting with this other guy to make a point. When I took issue, Becca came up with a way we could battle to win her affections. We all ended up in one of the bedrooms together. I was drunk. I don’t really know how it happened, but somewhere in the middle of it he started kissing me and that got out of control pretty fast. Becca went ballistic.”

Corey still held the shirt balled up in his fists. “She broke up with you over it.”

“And called me a few choice names in the process. Pervy faggot was my personal favorite.”

“Shit, Griff. That sucks.”

Griff shrugged. “Not everyone’s as freakishly understanding as you are, mate.”

“Did you ever think you were…you know?”

Griff came to stand before Corey. He looked down at him, stroking back his hair in that tender way that took Corey by surprise. “You’re not gay, Cor.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“Because women give you a hard-on, dork.”

Corey held Griff’s gaze. “You give me a hard-on too.”

Silence fell, as bulky as a blanket. Corey could see the pulse thudding at the base of Griff’s throat. When he spoke his voice was as thick as molasses. “I’m gonna order a pizza. No pepperoni, right?”

When Griff made to move away, Corey grabbed him around the waist and held him still. “You had to take care of yourself before. Maybe you ought to show me how to get that right.”

Corey leaned forward and pressed his lips to the flat muscles of Griff’s abdomen. Twisting his fingers in Corey’s hair, Griff used the grip to tip his head back. He swooped down and claimed his mouth for a brief, hot kiss. “Am I going to have to tie your hands to keep them from wandering?”

Corey’s cock flexed even as his blood cooled. Talk about his body giving him mixed messages. “I don’t know if I’d like that.”

“Exactly my point. You don’t know what you want yet. Like you said, it’s different with a guy. Give it time.”

Griff moved away again and Corey let out a breath that shuddered.

Griff went to order the pizza, and the two of them sat with a couple of beers and the supreme-without-pepperoni in the living room. They found a game on and watched it while they ate, the sound turned down. Mostly they talked like a couple of guys sharing brews and junk food and nothing else between them.

But Griff’s flashing grins and occasional flirtatious comments kept electric heat fizzing in the air. Corey was half-hard the whole time, his skin prickly and hot.

“So how is this going to work?” Corey asked at one point, his impetuousness getting the best of him. “I mean with Erica.”

“I still want her.” Griff smiled ruefully. “There I am, being upfront about it.”

“That hasn’t changed for me, either. But…”

“She wants you like crazy, Cor. Don’t doubt that. The two of you are like horny little peas in a pod.”

“She told me to stop calling her.”

“Only because some prick went over there and forced her to make a decision before she was ready.”

“Yeah, I heard that guy’s a massive tool.”

“I heard he
has
a massive tool, and he really knows how to use it.”

Corey wadded up a napkin and threw it at Griff’s head. “You’re a jerk.”

“Who makes you hot, right?”

The glance Griff sent Corey’s crotch would have clued Griff in to the truth, so Corey didn’t do Griff’s ego the favor of confirming it. “This is messed up.”

“Not really. It’s simple. Erica said you should stop calling her. She didn’t say anything about visits, did she? And she never actually told me to piss off.”

“What a shocker.” Corey’s gaze narrowed. “What did you have in mind?”

“I can fix this for you, Cor. The three of us can have some fun and then, when the time is right, you and Erica can make a go of it.”

The suggestion gave Corey a cold feeling in his chest. “You think you can start something like that and just…stop?”

“Sure.” Corey saw the way Griff’s Adam’s apple worked and wondered if he was back to telling lies again. “I’ll get bored eventually.”

The thought of Griff getting bored with him made Corey’s gut burn. Griff was more practiced at hiding his emotions than Corey could ever be, and the notion made Corey wonder if he was well out of his depth. But it was too late to go backward. The lure of that
ultimate payoff
Griff had mentioned was too strong. If he didn’t follow this through, Corey would always wonder what he’d missed.

Corey asked, “Are you going to help me get her back? It’s the least you can do.”

“Fair enough.”

“Are you going to put me out of my misery at some point too?”

With a smirk, Griff once again glanced down at the place where Corey formed a bulge in his sweatpants. “Oh yeah. Believe it.”

But not tonight
,
Corey mentally added, wondering if Griff’s determination to take the slow road with him was going to prove beneficial or as frustrating as hell.

Wondering if he wasn’t headed for a big fall either way.

Chapter Ten

Five days after Erica had received her get-out-of-cancer-free card, the phone rang.

The phone never could ring these days without making her think of Corey, and Erica’s heart clutched. The one thing tempering her relief at being given a reprieve from a terminal disease was the sadness that still rested like a decaying thing in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought of Griff or Corey. Of those wild moments in Griff’s arms, of the cold, hurtful truths she’d used to push Corey away the last time they’d spoken.

No, it would not be Corey on the other end of the line this time. The thought weighed Erica’s heart down as she lifted the receiver.

The voice she heard stopped it altogether.

“What are you wearing?”

Erica gaped for several moments, flabbergasted by Griff’s question. “What?”

“What? You’re happy to do the kinky phone thing with Wachawski, but I don’t rate?” Erica blew out a stunned breath. Griff went on as though she hadn’t made a sound.

“Lucky for me I’m not the sensitive type. So, watchadoing on this fine Saturday morning?”

“I’m very busy.” Erica glanced down at the rag and bottle of cleaning spray on the kitchen bench. “There’s no need to come over and check my smoke alarms or anything.”

“Shame,” Griff said smoothly. “I so enjoyed it last time.”

Heat flushed through Erica. She was stunned into silence by Griff’s nerve.

“Besides,” Griff continued. “It’s too late to stop us.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look out your window, gorgeous.”

Erica broke into a sprint to get to the living room window. Down there in her front yard they stood, both wearing khaki shorts and stretchy T-shirts. Corey’s was black and Griff’s faded red, the same shirt he’d been wearing the morning he’d come over and they’d…

“Surprise,” Griff said into the phone. Corey lifted a hand and gave her a wave.

Astounded, Erica waved back. “What are you doing here?”

“Yard needs mowing,” Griff stated. “We’re going to mow it.”

They were going to
mow her lawn
? “You don’t have to do that.”

“Hard work and sunshine are good for the soul.”

Erica saw Griff’s wink, his cheeky lopsided smile, even from a distance. He was fifty meters away and still he could make her belly flutter. It was darned exasperating. “I don’t need you to do my yard work. I’ll hire someone.”

“Why would you do that when you’ve got us?”

There was a click in her ear as Griff hung up his mobile phone, leaving Erica to ponder what he meant by saying she
had
them. She watched as they turned, walked to Griff’s Ute and started pulling gear out of the back.

Shell-shocked, Erica wandered back to the kitchen and retrieved the cloth and bottle of cleaning spray she’d left on the bench. She held on to them without moving for several moments, until the phone rang again.

Erica picked up the receiver, her heart pounding.

“Look, Griff can be an ass sometimes.” In the background Griff issued a disgruntled objection to Corey’s opening line. “You won’t hold that against me though, will you?”

Erica shut her eyes against the pleasure of Corey’s whisky-smooth timbre pouring over her. Oh, he had such a voice on him. Just right for slow sexy conversations that weakened a woman’s resolve. “Corey, I don’t understand. Didn’t you hear anything I said the other day?”

“I heard you say your life was complicated, that’s why we’re here. We want to make it easier for you. You don’t have to do everything alone, Erica.”

Erica warmed, his words as effective as a comforting hug. His generosity made guilt eddy inside her. “Don’t you hate me, Corey?”

“Baby, I could never hate you.”

“I slept with Griff, remember? I refused to go out with you and then I slept with your best friend.”

“It’s not as simple as that. All those nights on the phone… I knew what you wanted, that it wasn’t just me. I encouraged it. I get it, Erica.” Corey’s voice softened in a way that made Erica’s heart skip a beat. “Griff sort of gets under your skin in a way you can’t ignore.”

Walking back to the window, Erica looked out at the front yard. She couldn’t see either of their faces, could find no clue as to whether Corey’s statement implied what she thought it did.

Had something happened between Griff and Corey?

“We’re going to get started,” Corey announced. “Anytime you want to come down and say hi, that’d be just fine with me.”

He hung up the phone.

A short time later the lawnmower started. Erica remained ensconced in the safety of the house, carrying out her usual raft of Saturday-morning chores and glancing out the window about a thousand times in the process.

She had to go down there at some point, at the very least offer them something to drink. But she delayed, afraid of how she might react once she was in close proximity with those two hunky, sweaty men.

After months and months of burying her emotions, either for Aunt Claire’s sake or to avoid facing the reality of her situation, she now felt raw and sensitive. All the feelings she’d numbed had come alive with a vengeance, making the very surface of her skin seem to pulse with awareness. In the past two days, she’d simultaneously felt a hairsbreadth away from laughter or tears. If she came within a meter of Corey and Griff, she was liable to either break down or launch herself at them and beg them to make love to her.

But the moment of truth couldn’t be put off forever. Manners dictated she offer them refreshment for helping her out, even if she hadn’t asked for it. Erica opened the fridge and found a bottle of juice. At the sink she mixed it in a jug with some ice, then she retrieved some bread from the freezer and started making sandwiches.

The men were working in the backyard now. Erica watched as Corey paused in his duties to wipe the sweat off his face with the hem of his T-shirt. The action exposed the flat expanse of his abdomen and the impressive bulge of his pectorals. Erica’s mouth dried out as everything below her waist grew moist.

Griff approached, butting shoulders with Corey. He said something close to Corey’s ear, and Corey laughed, color stealing into his cheeks. Every cell in Erica’s body went still as Griff placed his hand on Corey’s stomach, spreading his fingers over the ridged muscles there. There was something beyond platonic in the gesture, close mateship with sexual currents running through it.