From Yesterday (17 page)

Brady opens the door right away and his eyes fall right to the bag with my clothes. Surprisingly, he says nothing; just steps out of the way to let me in and shuts the door behind me. He takes the bag from me and carries it to the bedroom while I stand awkwardly in the foyer.

He comes back out and sees me standing there. "What are you doing?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I guess I was waiting for you to come back."

"Uh, why? Make yourself at home."

I look around for a second. "I guess it's just habit. My parents taught me to never act inappropriately in someone else's home."

"You slept in my bed with me last night. Naked. I'd say we're past that. Relax."

"Fine." I use a bar stool for leverage to get myself up on the kitchen counter and sit with my legs up on the top of the same stool, parted slightly. The length of the dress keeps it from being obscene, which is good because I'm still not wearing panties. Brady has the same galley kitchen with the island/counter/breakfast bar and three high top stools just like all the other units in this building that I've seen. The surface I'm sitting on is about six feet long and three feet wide. I wonder how it feel to have him come over here and fuck me up against this counter.

Perhaps I'm a bit overloaded on the hormones right now.

"Very nice, Paige. Keep testing me. See what happens."

I part my legs even more. "Uh huh. Speaking of which, I can't believe you didn't say anything about me going upstairs alone to get my stuff."

He throws his hands in the air. "What can I do? It's not like you are very good at taking advice that could keep you safe. I wasn't surprised."

He comes over to sit at the breakfast bar, holding my legs up and then resting them in his lap after he sits in the same stool I was using. "How was your second class?"

I sigh. "More boring than usual. Oh, I called the locksmith on my way back and they are sending someone tonight between four and eight."

"That's great. Did you also call Victor?"

"I did. He actually met me upstairs earlier when I got my things. So I wasn't alone." I smirk at Brady. "He said that the red crap on my vase was not blood. His brother has a friend that is a Chemistry professor at the community college. I guess that school just spent several million dollar on a brand new science complex and they some machine with a name I cannot pronounce. It can read the stuff and spit out all the chemicals used in it. Victor took a sample of the fake blood pool in my bedroom, too."

Brady looks impressed. "That's a great way to start. Did he say when he'd know what the stuff is?"

I shake my head. "No, he's not sure when the professor will have time to help him out. That guy is the only one with access to the machine and he does all the testing for the department so it might be a few days before he can get to us."

Brady looks at his watch. "Well, it is only one. We have at least three hours to kill until the locksmith. What would you like to do?"

To illustrate the point of what
he
would like to do, Brady slips his hand under my dress and slowly drags it upward. I let him get just outside of his goal before I clamp my legs shut with his hand trapped between them.

"Well, actually I talked to Elyse yesterday and she mentioned that Garrett was leaving on a work trip this morning. And I ran into her just now and she looks lonely. So, I may have suggested she come downstairs and hang out with us?"

I say the last part like it's a question when we both know that I've already done what I'm asking and really, Brady can't be mad because we are still just friends, technically, and therefore he's not guaranteed sex whenever he feels like it. At least, I think that's how it works. It isn't as though I have some huge knowledge of how relationships work, or even how to define this one.

Brady does his best to not look disappointed. "No, it's cool. I don't want you to get sick of me anyway, so it's good for you to hang out with your girlfriends. I know she's become important to you."

"Well, I don't want to hang out with just her. I want to spend time with all three of us. But, yes, I guess she has kind of become someone I care about. I don't even know when that happened. She's just got such a kindness about her. Not too many people like that, you know."

"That's true. Are you hungry? I can see what I have. Is Elyse coming down now? Maybe I should order food."

Before I can answer him, there is a knock at the door, which must be Elyse.

Brady stands up and then gives me a hand to help me down from the counter. "Well, I guess that answers one question."

Elyse answers the other question as she is loaded up with at least five different kinds of sandwiches and one of those edible fruit arrangements. I love those, especially if they also have the chocolate covered marshmallows. And this one does.

"I feel like you're always feeding me, Elyse."

She smiles. "It's fun for me, Paige. Maybe one day I'll open up a restaurant."

Elyse arranges the food and points out the sandwich fillings. I take the one with grilled vegetables, Elyse takes the roasted chicken, and Brady takes a roast beef and a tuna salad sandwich. We bring everything over to the gigantic television and start playing a movie that Elyse brought. It's an older movie, but Mike Myers is great, especially when he also plays his character's father with a Scottish accent.

Brady falls asleep at some point during the movie. When it is over, Elyse and I carry the dishes back to the kitchen and repeat the other night by cleaning up together.

We are talking a little bit about Garrett's work schedule and how much Elyse hates it when she confides in me that she suspects he might be seeing someone on the side.

"I mean, I don't want to believe it, but he's been so distracted since we moved here. He's changed a lot in the past few months. And the constant work trips? They were supposed to stop sending him all around."

I am not sure what to tell her. "Well, what specifically has you worried that he is cheating? Did you find something?"

She shakes her head. "No, actually. There's nothing physical to suggest that he is with another woman. It's just this nagging feeling. I just really pray that I'm wrong."

"Maybe his job is really the thing you are jealous of. What is that he does?"

"He is the head of the consumer relations department for a computer supply company. They are pretty big distributors of computer and office supplies for a lot of businesses in the Midwest. They are expanding the company, which is how we ended up here"

When I am quiet for a few moments too many, Elyse changes the subject. "So, Paige. It looks like things are really progressing with you and Brady, yes?"

I glance over to make sure he's still sleeping. He is. "If you're asking if we're having sex, then yes."

Amusement comes over Elyse's expression. "Straight to the point. I love that. So, is it a casual thing or are you a couple?"

"Well, we are friends. There's nothing casual about it for me, but I haven't asked him about that. And we just stared sleeping together, like, yesterday. I really like him and there's no one else I want. Does that answer your question?"

She touches my shoulder. "I hope it works out for the two of you. I really think you two are a good match."

We finish cleaning up and Elyse excuses herself to go back home and do whatever it is she does. Once she's gone, I decide Brady has slept for long enough and I go over to where he's napping on the couch and I gently straddle his hips, lowering myself forward so that I'm able to touch his lips with my own. He must wake up immediately because his strong hands go to my hips and hold me in place so that I can feel his rapidly forming erection.

"Do you always wake up hard?" I ask.

"Most of the time, but definitely when you sit on my cock and act like my personal alarm clock."

I rotate my hips once or twice and elicit a groan from him. "Okay. Noted. It is 3:45 so I need to go up and wait for the locksmith."

"Oh, man. You're killing me. Okay, give me a minute and then I'll come up with you."

I get off of his lap. "Interesting choice of words."

He gets up and holds my head in his hands. We kiss; a slow, deep, hungry kiss that leaves me practically breathless. And as he heads off towards his bedroom he says, "For the record, it's not casual for me either. I don't want any other girls, just you. You can call us just friends all you want to, but you and I both know that this is something real. The sooner you stop denying it, you'll feel much better about the fact that you're all mine."

"You were faking!" I take the hair clip out of my hair and throw it at his retreating form, beaming him in the back of the head.

"You should play baseball," he calls back. "Maybe then you'll stop throwing things at me."

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The locksmith gets to my place by six and I'm thrilled that I don't have to wait any longer because I am impatient tonight. Brady and I have been sitting around playing grab ass for the last two hours without any results because no one wants to get in too deep only to have the locksmith arrive mid-coitus.

The guy spends about half an hour drilling things in the door and changing stuff out. He shows me how the new lock system works and I'm glad Brady is paying attention because the inner working mechanisms of the door handle bores me to tears. By the time the guy leaves, I'm ready to tear off my clothes and throw myself at Brady.

I doubt he would mind.

After I try out the new set of keys and verify that they work, I turn to Brady and put my hands on my hips.

"You look like you're waiting for something, Paige. How can I help you?"

"Are you kidding me?"

He laughs.

I pout. "Okay, you are kidding. Because I know you're just as turned on as I am."

He comes over to me and kisses my neck. "You know I am. I just really enjoyed hearing you say that."

The discussion ends there as his mouth comes down on mine. The kisses are more frenzied than ever; neither of us have any pretense of control.

We get our clothes off in between kisses and try to make it out of the living room, but we are barely in the hallway before Brady pushes me up against the wall, puts my hand on his cock, and returns the favor by rubbing me between my legs. I grip him as hard as I can manage without causing pain and stroke him. He moans into my mouth and I know exactly how he feels because I'm spinning out of it myself.

The tip of his cock produces a small amount of fluid and I rub my thumb over it to use as lubrication as I continue pumping his shaft. I like the foreplay, I really do, but right now I just want him to thrust inside of me and make me forget who I am.

Brady can read minds. Or at least, great minds think alike because the second that those thoughts pop into my head, he turns me around to face the wall and enters me swiftly. The initial thrust makes me wince, but only in extreme pleasure. No pain.

He brings one hand around me to rub my clit while he fucks me from behind. When he pauses and pulls out of me, I cry out in despair. He whispers in my ear, his breath tickling my neck. "Wait just one second, gorgeous."

He's back quickly, tearing into the condom packet he brings with him and I remain facing the wall while I wait for him to put the condom on.

Finally, he's back behind me, the tip of his cock lined up with my core and he plunges back inside of me. A scream rips free from my throat. It's true what they say; sex is a thousand times better when it is with someone you care about and cares for you. Otherwise it feels empty afterward. I have the impression that almost nothing will ever feel better than this.

Brady strokes my clit furiously as he moves inside of me over and over again. It's not long before my knees give out and he is the only thing holding me up.

I start to come and I Brady's name leave my lips before I realize what I'm doing. I spasm around his cock and he increases his pace.

"Fuck, Paige."

The word for the sounds he makes now is grunting, which sounds as far from sexy as possible; but to hear im actually making the noise is so hot. I would never get tired of hearing him come.

And then we're both sweaty and breathing hard. Brady uses the last bit of strength to lift me up and get us both to my bed. We fall asleep in a tangle of limbs.

I wake up a few hours later; hot from all the body heat. I do my best not wake Brady up as I extricate myself from his hold on me. I get in the shower and turn the faucet away from the heat so that the water can cool me off. I lather on the coconut-scented body wash and practically drown myself in it. I'm addicted to this scent. I wash my face and then shut off the shower. A big, fluffy towel is waiting for me just outside of the shower door, held up by Brady.

"You should have woken me up, I'd have loved to soap your back for you."

I try to snatch the towel from him, but he pulls it just out of my reach, puts the towel behind me and wraps it around me himself.

"Sorry," I say, "but you were sleeping so peacefully. I felt guilty waking you."

"In general, it's rare for a man to be annoyed when a beautiful woman wakes him up to take a shower with her. Just for future reference."

"I'll file that way with the rest of the information you've given me. I'm hungry. It's only ten on a Friday night. Would you eat Thai food if I have it delivered?"

"I'll pretty much eat anything. So nothing to worry about there. Do you mind if I grab a quick shower?"

"Not at all. I'll call the order in while you're in here. Pad Thai and Pad Woon Sen with chicken and mushrooms?"

Brady kisses the tip of my nose. "Pad Woon Sen is the dish with clear noodles, right? Perfect. Oh, ask for extra mushrooms, please."

I call for the food and go back to my bedroom to get dressed. Brady is out of the shower already; standing in the room with a towel drying his hair and everything else uncovered. I hang up the towel I was using and go to my closet.

"What do you think you're doing with those clothes?" Brady asks when I emerge with some leggings and a camisole in hand.

"Well, Brady, I don't think I'm going to answer the door for the delivery person wearing nothing. Thank you."