His Fair Lady (8 page)

Her thumb skimmed over the head of his prick, and Mark groaned.

“That’s it, baby. Show me how much you like it. Let me hear you just like the other night on the phone.”

Mark’s hips were moving now, thrusting into her hand, that hand moving faster and faster on his dick, bringing him closer and closer to his orgasm. He hardly noticed she’d eased his cock out of his fly.

She continued murmuring against his ear and stroking his cock. Her hand moved faster and faster, her grip almost punishing and just right at once, her voice low and urgent as she drove him higher and higher to his peak.

“C’mon, baby. You know you want to. Don’t fight it. Come for me.”

One final swipe of her thumb over his slit, and Mark was there. He shouted something; it might have been her name, or it might have been just some wordless exclamation of pleasure. He was too far gone to tell.

The orgasm ripped through him like a shock. It zinged up his spine and down his legs, nearly buckling his knees. If not for the counter at his back, he would have ended up on Josie’s kitchen floor.

“Mmm, you’re so sexy.” Josie kissed him under his ear and tightened the arm she had around his waist. But then she let him go and turned away.

Mark opened his eyes, a protest on his lips, which he quickly swallowed.

She was washing her hands. Doubtless to get rid of the cum. He looked down at himself. His dick was still hanging out. Now going limp, it looked foolish and somewhat pathetic. His shirt was pulled entirely out of his pants, and the pants were splattered with cum, though not as bad as he’d expected.

Quickly he tucked himself away and straightened his clothes. He stepped up behind Josie, who was drying her hands on a paper towel. From behind, he slid his arms around her and nuzzled the side of her neck.

“Your turn now,” he said and ran his hand down to cup her crotch.

She caught his wrist and held it. “That’s okay. I’m good.”

She twisted around in his arms and wrapped her arms around him.

Mark dropped a light kiss on her lips. “But that’s not fair for you to do all the work. Besides, I want to.”

She rubbed her cheek against his. “It’s okay, really, Mark. Besides, it’s kind of the wrong time of the month for me, if you know what I mean?”

She kissed his ear, then nipped at the lobe. “I’ll take a rain check, if you’re good with that.”

“I’m good with that,” he said, though he wasn’t. Still, he knew some girls were funny about that time of the month, even if it didn’t bother him.

“Okay. I’ll put it on my calendar.” Josie laughed and gave Mark a squeeze before she let him go and stepped back.

It was clear from her body language that it was time for him to go. But he didn’t want to go. What he wanted was to unfold that couch and lie down with her, hold her in his arms, and kiss her. God, he could kiss this girl all night. It didn’t even matter if they didn’t take off their clothes. It didn’t even matter if she wouldn’t let him touch her the way he wanted to. He just wanted to be with her. And how weird was that?

Josie picked up her wine and sipped, gazing at him over the rim of her glass. “You look all rumpled and sexy.”

She didn’t look rumpled at all. Except for a little color in her cheeks, she looked like she could set down her glass and walk out the door.

“You look perfect,” he said, and found that didn’t make him happy, not at all. Considering how he felt, he wanted her to look at least a little mussed.

She glanced down at herself and pointed to a spot on her skirt. “I have cum on my skirt.”

Mark felt heat rise to his cheeks. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. You look incredibly hot when you…you know.” She gestured, taking him in from head to toes.

The heat was spreading back to his ears. Mark knew if there had been a mirror handy, he would see his ears were as red as his face felt. It was definitely time to go.

He straightened from leaning on the counter and took a step toward her. She shifted, not exactly a step back, not quite, but definitely a keep-away stance. She held her wineglass up in front of her like a shield.

“I have an early class tomorrow,” Mark lied.

“Me too.” She sounded relieved.

Mark tried not to be stung by that. No reason he should be. But it hurt way more than it should have.

“Thanks for…” What? Jerking him off? “For the wine.”

That was lame.

She shrugged and smiled. “You don’t even like wine, but you’re welcome anyway.”

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you in Autoethno.” Mark walked to the door.

Josie followed. “I’ll see you at rehearsal before that.”

“Oh yeah, right.” He wanted to kiss her, but she was still holding that damn wineglass, empty now but just as effective a shield as ever. He opened the door.

She leaned in and quickly kissed the corner of his mouth. A friendly kiss that was totally unsatisfying.

Just then, Mark heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and Kyle’s blond head appeared over the railing. He looked up.

“Hey, Marky-Mark, how’s it hanging?”

Chapter Six

“How goes it now? He looks gentler than he did.”

Josie felt that now familiar twinge of jealousy for the girl sitting across from her. Though she had the pages on the table in front of her, Vi never even glanced at them, and if Vi could be off book already, then so should she.

They sat at a table in one of the private study rooms in the library basement. The rooms were tiny, little more than glorified closets, but they were popular with the theater kids who regularly reserved them to run lines. Rumors were rampant the school wanted to do away with the private cubbyholes because in addition to study group meetings and scene rehearsals, the rooms were often the sites of romantic rendezvous, or so she’d heard.

Josie had no idea if this was true, but it seemed likely.

Okay. She took a breath and envisioned the lines in her head. “He says he will return incontinent: He hath commanded me to go to bed, And bade me to dismiss you.”

“Dismiss me!”

“It was his bidding: therefore, good Emilia, Give me my nightly wearing, and adieu: We must not now displease him.”

“I would you had never seen him!”

“So would not I. My love doth so approve him, That even his stubbornness, his checks, his frowns—Prithee, unpin me,—have grace and favor in them.”

“I have laid those sheets you bade me on the bed.”

“All’s one. Good faith, how foolish are our minds!… Um…”

Her mind went entirely blank. Josie looked down at her copy of the scene from
Othello
. Where was she? Damn!

“If I do die,” Vi prompted.

“If I do die,” Josie repeated. She spoke slowly as she scanned the page for the line. And there it was. “If I do die before thee, prithee, shroud me, In one of those same sheets.

“Come, come, you talk.”

“How did you get off book so fast?” Josie asked.

Vi raised one perfectly shaped brow. “Hmm? Oh, I played Desdemona a couple years ago in a summer Shakespeare workshop. I guess it sort of stayed with me.”

“Really? You’ve done Shakespeare?” Josie couldn’t help but be impressed.

“It was just a community theater group. No big deal.” Vi smiled. “You’ll get it. Don’t stress out about it.”

Though the advice appeared well-meaning, if not especially helpful, there seemed also to be a hint of condescension in Vi’s tone. Or maybe that was just her imagination. Probably it was. Still, maybe she could get some tips.

“Thanks, but I thought I had it. I’ve been rehearsing in the mirror and—”

“That doesn’t work. Or it never worked for me anyway.”

“You said you played Desdemona?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you deal with the willow song? Did you just make up a melody?”

“I tried that. It was pretty pathetic and pretty funny. The director just about laughed his ass off.”

“I think I’d die if that happened to me.” In fact, she was sure of it, just drop over on the spot.

Vi shook her head. “No, you have to just suck it up and learn to be professional. I was bad, and it was funny.”

“So how did you—” Josie let the question hang, hoping Vi would volunteer to teach her the song.

“Oh, from the movie. There’s a movie, you know, I forget who’s in it. It’s one of the versions of
Othello
, and Desdemona actually sings the song. I rented it, copied that actress, and it was fine.”

Great. Now she’d have to watch every version of
Othello
she could find and hope she’d strike gold.

Josie forced a smile. “Okay, well, I guess I have a little research to do, like starting with how many versions of
Othello
there are.”

“Google is your friend,” Vi said. “And how are you doing with your lines for
Lady?
Are you off book yet?”

“Just about. And Mark’s teaching me to waltz.” She wasn’t sure why she’d thrown that fact out there. Judging by the other girl’s frown, it might not have been the smartest move.

“Is he? Hmm.” Vi studied her fingernails. “You know I saw you last night at the Book and Bean with him.”

“We went for coffee after rehearsal.”

“I figured.” Vi fell silent. Idly, she twisted a silver ring on her left index finger. “Don’t take this the wrong way.”

“Take what the wrong way?” A ball of anxiety clenched in Josie’s belly.

“I wouldn’t normally say anything but…”

“No, say it. I won’t take it the wrong way.”

Josie tried to keep her tone light, but inside she braced. Whenever anyone said don’t take this the wrong way, it was inevitable the comment would be offensive and couldn’t be taken any other way.

Vi looked up and met Josie’s gaze.

“I know you and I aren’t really friends or whatever, which is why I probably shouldn’t say anything. But I do know Mark Talleo pretty well. Really well, actually.”

“What do you mean?”

“I used to go out with him. Most of last summer and last semester, we were together. In fact we were in
Brigadoon
together. That was how we met. It was very romantic.”

The tight little anxiety ball began to expand. It filled like a balloon inside her. She had no idea what she was supposed to say to that. But Vi didn’t seem to need her to say anything.

“Actually when we got back from break, I didn’t even know we had technically broken up.” Vi laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Silly me.”

“What does that mean, actually broken up?” Recalling what she’d done with Mark the night before, Josie wasn’t at all sure she wanted to know. But it seemed important, and even if she didn’t want to know, she doubted Vi could be stopped.

“Mark dates a lot of different girls, or he used to. I sort of thought—” She paused. “It doesn’t really matter what I thought. The point is, be careful. He’s a great guy, a lot of fun, and a terrific kisser. But I imagine you already know that.”

Josie felt the heat rise to her cheeks and simultaneously a shiver of both excitement and embarrassment at the memory of last night. A great kisser? Ha. Vi didn’t know the half of what she already knew about Mark.

“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s just us girls.” Vi patted the back of Josie’s hand. “The thing is, whatever happens, just don’t take it too seriously, because Mark won’t. Then when he decides to back off—after
My Fair Lady
or whenever—you can walk away like it didn’t matter to you either, because that’s what he’ll do.”

Just us girls.

Such a simple phrase, tossed off like it was nothing. To Vi it probably was nothing. But to Josie it was everything.

Just us girls.

Just a girl.

Just Mark’s girl.

And was she Mark’s girl? She didn’t know. After what they’d done last night, she should be feeling closer than ever to him. So why wasn’t she?

“Josie? You okay?”

“Sorry, what?”

“I said, you can walk away like it doesn’t matter, because that’s what he’ll do.”

That didn’t seem fair to Mark, not the Mark she knew. But was that the same Mark Vi knew?

“Is that what you did?” Josie asked.

“More or less.”

The hum of the library ventilation system seemed very loud in the quiet room.

Josie said nothing. She had no clue what to say.
Thanks for the tip? Hope you find somebody else now that I’ve got Mark?
What did this girl expect her to say? She wasn’t even sure if she really had Mark. Was it possible to have a relationship with someone who didn’t know who she really was? But that question was way too big. It hurt to think about it, so she put it away for another day.

“You’re probably like, why is she telling me all this, right?”

Josie dragged her attention back to the girl sitting across the table. “Sort of, yeah.”

Vi laughed. “God, I’m sorry. I can see you really like him. And from watching you on stage, I think he really likes you too. You guys have great chemistry, just like Mark and me. But Mark likes a lot of girls. That’s all I’m saying.”

“In other words, don’t start thinking I’m too special.”

Vi winced. “Ouch! That’s harsh. Just watch how serious you let yourself get about Mark Talleo.”

When Vi looked down at her copy of their scene, Josie knew this little heart-to-heart was over. Relief was sweet, because as much as she wanted a female friend, one who really knew her, she was smart enough to know Vi wasn’t it.

“So,” Vi said, her tone overly bright. “Are you ready to get back to work on this scene?”

* * * *

Mark’s phone chimed, signaling a text just as he reached the cafeteria door.

Finally she was returning his text!

With one hand, Mark pulled opened the door while with the other he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

And it wasn’t her. The text was from Masterson.

Where r u? Im locked out.

“Moron,” Mark mumbled and quickly texted back.

Im at caf. Come gt my key.

Sliding the phone back in his pocket, Mark stepped inside and let the door swing shut after him.

The scents of hot grease, burgers, and french fries mixed with the ghost of this morning’s pancakes and fake maple syrup, all combining with the aroma of what might be soup or stew being prepared for tonight’s dinner. Together the stench assailed his nostrils.