More Than Friends (3 page)

“The ribs are almost done.” She stopped and gestured to Evelyn’s Patriots jersey. “Oh, come on. Did you have to wear that thing?”

“Yes.” Evelyn grinned.

“We’re watching the Titans play the Colts.”

“But the late game is the Patriots and the Jets, and I plan to stick around for it.”

Kendall faked a stern look. She’d guessed that Evelyn would want to stay and watch the late game. But she couldn’t miss the chance to tease her about her favorite team. “Says who? The invite was for the Titans. We may not want to watch the Pats game.”

“Oh, what? You have better plans?” Evelyn glanced at Melanie, then back at Kendall with a wink.

She blushed, but not for the reason Evelyn probably assumed. She couldn’t remember the last time she and Melanie had made love. Weeks? Months? And when they did, their interaction lacked passion and she was left feeling even more disconnected. When she met Melanie’s eyes, she saw her own sorrow reflected there. “Whatever. Watch your damn game, but you may be alone on the couch.”

“Yeah? What about Richard’s cousin. Maybe she’ll watch it with me.”

“I bet she will,” she said, relieved for the subject change.

Evelyn laughed. “Why do you do this? You know these fix-ups never work out.”

“Because I’m bound to get it right someday. Besides, if I didn’t force you to go out, you’d happily turn yourself into a hermit.”

“I’m not a hermit.”

“Uh, you are—a little,” Melanie said.

Evelyn glared at her. “You’re not helping.”

“I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that.”

“Oh, no.” Evelyn wagged her finger at Melanie. “No backpedaling now. You’ve picked your side.”

Kendall broke in. “Just promise me you’ll give Richard’s cousin a chance.”

“Okay. Damn it. I’ll give her a chance.”

The doorbell rang and she smiled, knowing Evelyn would have to paste on a fake smile and make nice for the next several hours. Someday, she’d find the perfect woman for Evelyn, but for now she was operating under the theory that quantity could beget quality. Fixing Evelyn up with every available lesbian she met could only increase the odds that one of them would be the right one.

*

Thirty minutes later, Kendall and Melanie’s apartment was filled with football fans. Melanie threaded her way between them, offering to refill drinks. When she reached the kitchen, she checked the levels of the snack trays. She’d just dumped another bag of tortilla chips into a bowl when she heard a voice close to her ear.

“Sit down and relax, Mel. Everything is taken care of.” Evelyn leaned over her shoulder to survey the counter full of food.

She turned and Evelyn took a step back. “I just want to make sure everyone has enough to eat.”

“The game is about to start. Let people fend for themselves.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Evelyn shrugged as if she knew distracting Melanie from her hostess duties was a futile effort. She stepped toward the door to the living room but stopped when Kendall entered escorting Richard, their neighbor from two doors down, and another woman.

She bore some resemblance to Richard, having the same pale complexion and prematurely gray hair. But her silvery strands had obviously been enhanced at the salon. She scanned the room, then stopped when she saw Evelyn. As she purposely raked her gaze over Evelyn’s body, interest flooded her eyes.

Evelyn’s faded jeans hugged her narrow hips, but the over-sized Patriots jersey hung on her shoulders and gave little clue as to what lay underneath.The woman’s eyes lingered predictably on Evelyn’s face, taking in her high cheekbones, smooth olive skin, and almond-shaped eyes the color of rich chocolate. Evelyn was endearingly unaware just how gorgeous she was, but Melanie had watched several women fall for her exotic features.

“Hey, we were just looking for you two. This is Richard’s cousin, Tiffany.” Kendall touched the woman’s shoulder. If she’d witnessed Tiffany cruising Evelyn, she gave no indication. “Tiffany, this is my girlfriend, Melanie, and this is Evelyn.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Now, Tiffany made eye contact with each of them.

“Welcome, Tiffany. Make yourself at home,” Melanie said.

“Yeah, and if you need anything, just ask Melanie.” Evelyn dropped a hand on Melanie’s shoulder and grinned at her.

“Funny,” she murmured.

“You’re a Patriots fan, huh?” Tiffany asked, her gaze on Evelyn’s chest.

“Afraid so,” Evelyn said with a shrug.

“Hmm. I suppose that’s not a deal breaker.”

“Good to know.” Evelyn smiled.

They made polite small talk for several minutes, then drifted toward the living room to claim seats.

“You coming, Mel?” Kendall asked as the kitchen emptied.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

“It’s almost kickoff.”

She smiled, knowing that seeing the kickoff was much more important to Kendall than to her. For Kendall, the opening minutes of the game were a ritual, as were the closing ones. No matter how wide the point spread between the two teams, she never left a game early. “Go ahead. I’ll just be a second.”

Melanie lingered in the kitchen for several minutes, then grabbed a fresh beer from the fridge and stepped through the threshold to the living room.

She paused and leaned against the doorjamb as her friends erupted into cheers for the kickoff return. Kendall and Evelyn slapped each other’s hands in an enthusiastic high-five. Titans football was a tradition in their house, through good seasons and bad. Today, it seemed, things were already going well for the home team.

Kendall looked over and gave her a grin and a thumbs-up. She smiled back, trying to ignore the ache in her chest. Moments like these made it hard to think about letting go. She had watched more football games with Kendall than with anyone else. If they split up, who would fill her living room on Sunday afternoons? She couldn’t ignore the fact that she’d been asking herself questions like these more and more often lately.

*

“Richard told me that you and Kendall are cops?”

“Yeah.” Evelyn nodded. She recognized Tiffany’s tone and knew immediately where this conversation was headed.

“So you’ve got a badge and handcuffs?” Tiffany’s creamy complexion showed only a few lines around her mouth when she smiled broadly. She focused on Evelyn’s face, obvious interest in her pale-blue eyes.

Evelyn smiled grimly—so predictable. She fought a full-on grin when she caught Melanie rolling her eyes. Melanie often teased Kendall about how the uniform multiplied her attractiveness to some women. The guys called women like Tiffany “badge bunnies.” Evelyn didn’t like the term, but, she had to admit, the quality wasn’t exclusive to straight women.

In the beginning, dating a cop was thrilling and they all thought they wanted to play with the handcuffs. But she didn’t find handcuffs sexy, especially when she considered the kind of scumbags she slapped them on every day. In fact, if she ever did relent and fulfill a request to try them on, she’d need to use a good dose of disinfectant spray first. Eventually, most women grew bored when they realized her job wasn’t as exciting as they’d anticipated, and if they had nothing else in common the relationship fizzled like a spent sparkler.

“What do you do, Tiffany?” she asked, trying to shift the focus from her job.

“I’m a dental assistant.”

“That’s interesting.”

Tiffany smiled. “No. It’s not. But thank you for saying so. It’s mostly sticking my hands into people’s mouths or handing the dentist instruments all day. But it pays the bills and that’s all I require from a job. I get my thrills in my personal life.”

“Yeah? Where do you find your thrills?” It could be a loaded question, but considering they were in mixed company, she hoped Tiffany would take it as intended.

“Downhill mountain-bike racing.”

“Now
that
is interesting and unexpected.”

“I love the adrenaline rush and the physical challenge.”

“Are there places around here to do that?”

“East Tennessee has some great locations. Around Nashville, it’s mostly just trail riding. But I train here during the week, then head east on the weekends to find steeper terrain. I save up my vacation so that in spring and summer, I can travel to competitions. Strictly amateur.” Tiffany’s eyes danced as she talked about racing. She had such expressive eyes, every ounce of her obvious passion for her hobby reflected there. Perhaps Evelyn had been too quick to judge. Maybe Tiffany had more layers after all.

“Wow. That’s very cool.”

“Do you ride?”

“Um—it’s been a while.” She didn’t even own a bike. “But they don’t say it’s like riding a bicycle for no reason, do they?”

Tiffany smiled. “We should go sometime.”

“Sure.”

“How about next weekend?”

“Yeah. That sounds good.” She glanced at Kendall, but her attention was riveted on the game. Did she and Melanie still have those bikes in storage?

“Don’t look so nervous. I’ll take you on a novice trail.”

“Novice? Yeah, that sounds about right.” Given her profession, she was no stranger to adrenaline, but the thought of hurtling down a mountain on two wheels and praying she wouldn’t snag a stray tree root didn’t exactly appeal to her. However, she hadn’t had a personal life lately, so she vowed to give this fix-up a chance.

*

Melanie closed the door behind the last of their guests. She yawned as she turned off the outside light and flipped the deadbolt. She’d enjoyed seeing everyone, but now she couldn’t wait to slide between the sheets and close her eyes.

On her way to the bedroom she paused in the doorway of the kitchen. Kendall stood at the sink, rinsing and stacking dishes.

“Leave those. I’ll finish them tomorrow,” she said.

“I’m almost done.” Kendall didn’t turn around.

“Are you coming to bed?”

“Not yet,” Kendall said tersely.

“I told you to go without me if you wanted to.” She didn’t wait for a response before she headed for the bedroom. A few of their friends had stayed to watch the beginning of the late game and then gone to a sports bar downtown for the second half. Kendall had wanted to go but declined when Melanie said she’d rather stay home.

“Did I say anything?” Kendall called as she followed.

“You didn’t have to. I could hear the attitude in your voice.”

“I asked you to go with me. I wouldn’t have had fun knowing you were here alone.”

“I would have been here sleeping. I worked all day yesterday, and we both have to work tomorrow. I didn’t want to go out drinking.” After ensuring her alarm clock was set, she folded back the comforter.

“We’re not eighty years old, Mel. We could have left as soon as the game was over.”

If they had gone to the bar with the others, they would have had too much beer and stayed too late. The occasional Hangover Monday had been okay when she had an office job. But she didn’t like football enough to spend tomorrow fighting nausea and fatigue while doing manual labor. She wasn’t even sure she liked their friends
that
much. That’s why she’d hosted the party for the early game.

Kendall went to the bathroom and closed the door firmly behind her. Melanie stared at the door, fighting an irrational desire to escalate this into an argument out of pure frustration. Instead, she strode to the dresser and pulled out a pair of boxers and a T-shirt. She changed and climbed into bed. As she lay down and rolled away, she heard the bathroom door open.

The mattress moved as Kendall got into bed, and then the bedside lamp clicked and darkness shrouded them. When they’d first got together, giddy with new love, they’d said they wouldn’t go to bed angry. Even if they’d argued, Kendall would lie down and gather her against her chest and kiss her. Now they rarely went to bed at the same time and often shared only a quick peck before rolling away from each other.

*

Evelyn dropped her gun belt as she walked through the door to Kendall and Melanie’s apartment. She tugged her shirt free of her waistband as she crossed the living room. Kendall and Melanie each occupied one end of the sofa, their legs outstretched toward the center. They moved their feet just as she plopped down between them.

“Hey, moneybags,” Kendall said.

“Not hardly. But it wasn’t hard labor for the money.” She had been working a few extra jobs lately. Companies sometimes hired commissioned police officers to provide security or direct traffic. She had spent the past three hours sitting in her car blocking traffic for a construction company doing road repair. It was boring as hell, but texting Kendall and flipping through the magazines she’d brought along had eventually helped her pass the time. She almost felt guilty for how little she had to work to get paid, but they didn’t want her to do anything else.

“You gotta take those jobs where you can get them. It beats standing in the middle of an intersection directing traffic in the pouring rain.”

Evelyn nodded.

“So, how was your date with Tiffany?” Kendall asked.

“Eh, not so great.” She propped a foot up on the coffee table.

“Boots off my table.” Melanie poked her thigh with her toes. She sighed heavily in protest, but she lowered her feet to the floor. “What happened?”

She shrugged. “Nothing really. We went bike riding. She’s nice enough. But we just weren’t compatible.”

“Sexually?”

“Kendall.” Melanie scolded her.

“What? It’s possible. I mean, I’ve heard that Ev is a stud in bed, but—”

Evelyn laughed. “Yeah? Where did you hear that?”

“Oh, what’s her name?” Kendall grinned and snapped her fingers in the air as if trying to recall the tidbit of information. “Oh, yeah, Jennifer Prince.”

A wave of heat blazed across her face, but there was no point in denying it. “Well, she would know.”

Jennifer Prince, a downtown bicycle officer, was just a friend, except for one night in a bar when “Drunk-Evelyn” flirted shamelessly and admitted how much she’d admired the way Jennifer’s muscled legs looked in her department-issue shorts. A couple hours and three times as many drinks later, she’d discovered she liked the feel of those thighs and calves wrapped around her.