Mr. Right (4 page)

J
ess

P
ierce Oliver
. He’s the kind of guy that every girl wants to be with. Charming doesn’t even begin to describe him. But, I mean, you know that, from our first meeting at the bar. He has charm and confidence and, well, lots of other good qualities. And he’s cut. His chest is like a work of art. Six-pack alert. Hot hot hot. Maybe not as hot as Evan, but more classically handsome. Not that that matters, anyways. I wasn’t even sure why I was comparing Pierce to Evan. Evan was nothing to me. He was just an arrogant prick friend of Pierce’s that I didn’t even really know. Back to the six-pack. Pierce’s six-pack, not Evan’s. Honestly, I’ve never dated a guy with a six-pack before. Not that we’re dating. We’re going on our first “official” date tomorrow night. I’m excited, of course I am. I’m just hoping that we won’t have more Ethiopian food. I mean, if he takes me out for Ethiopian again then there will not be another date. There will be no making out. There will be no groping. No dry-humping. No secret whispers and tugs. No chance of possible nooky for either of us. Which, if I’m honest, I’m surprised he hasn’t been pressing a little harder for. I wasn’t even really sure Pierce would call after our first couple of meetups after the night we met at the club. We’d made out a bit and I knew he wanted more, but I’m just not that kind of girl. I wouldn’t mind being that kind of girl, but for some reason I just can’t do casual sex. At least not with Pierce. It’s all those years of Sunday school. And my mom telling me that good girls don’t have sex on the first date. I couldn’t care less about being a good girl, but picturing my mom’s stern face still makes me panic. I thought I’d blown it with Pierce, honestly. I mean, the way we’d been going on at the club, I’m sure he’d thought I’d be a sure thing. I’d even thought I was going to be a sure thing that night and I’m not that sort of girl. It had really surprised me that he wanted to see me again, especially as I’d thought that he only wanted sex and, well, he hadn’t gotten that from me. But turns out no sex didn’t mean no more dates.

I think I’m a challenge to him. Men love challenges. Especially from girls who seem like they might be a sure thing, as I had in the club. I’m an enigma to him, I think. I’d left the club with him quite easily that first night; I’d even surprised myself at how eager I’d been as we’d fumbled out the doors while kissing. I’d had a few drinks and we’d danced to a couple of songs and I’d let myself get carried away. He’d pulled me into the alley next to the club and I’d let him press me back up against the cold brick wall and start kissing my neck. His lips had been warm as he’d sucked on my skin and his hands had run up and down my body in a haphazard way. To be honest, I’d been surprised by his lack of finesse. He hadn’t really excited me in that carnally explicit way I’d expected. His fingers had run over my breasts and I’d almost been nonchalant. I mean, yeah it was hot, but not as hot as I’d thought it would be. Not hot like in those movies. Or pornos. Not that I wanted to be in a porno, but you know what I mean. I was expecting heat factor multiplied by twenty. When you’re in the kind of situation where you are leaving a club with a hot man, you shouldn’t be thinking about what sort of panties you have on and if the bouncers might possibly catch you in the act and call the police. When you’re in that type of situation, all you should be thinking about is how much you want to be taken and how you can’t wait to get your legs up and wrapped around his waist so he can fuck you as hard as possible. I can’t say that I was thinking that and that is probably why he wasn’t able to seal the deal. Instead, we’d left the alley and went to get some cheap pizza and I ended up going back with him to his apartment, where we watched some crappy movie on Netflix while I let him run his hands up and down my thighs before I fell asleep on his chest, my hand resting on his semi-hardness before I fell off into oblivion. So yeah, I was surprised that he’d asked me out again. I was also surprised that he seemed to be so taken with me so quickly. I didn’t think that was how these things normally went. Guys as hot as him generally didn’t waste time with girls like me who didn’t even really know what we wanted. But that’s always how life goes, right? We always get the guys we don’t really care about that much, and the ones we really want can’t even be bothered with us. At least that’s how my life always goes. Just for once I wanted to be in a situation where I felt a little bit of excitement for and from a guy I really, really wanted to be with.

Pierce arrived home about twenty minutes after I’d left Evan in the kitchen by himself. I have no idea what Evan had been doing in the kitchen during that time, but I know that he didn’t come out to the living room to check on me.

“Hey, you,” Pierce said as he entered the apartment and gave me a huge smile. “Sorry I’m late.”

“That’s okay.” I sat on his couch awkwardly, wondering if I should stand up and if it was appropriate to try and hug and kiss him, as if I hadn’t just been partially ogling his friend. “Where were you and how were you able to buzz me into the building?”

“The buzzer is connected to my cellphone so I’m able to buzz anyone in from anywhere.” He shrugged. “You should be happy about that, right? At least you didn’t have to wait outside for me.”

“I’m not complaining, was just curious.” I shrugged and stood up as he headed towards me. I gave him an awkward hug and he went for a kiss on my lips but got my cheek instead as I turned my face at the last moment.

“Did you miss me, then?” he asked, not seeming to realize that something was off.

“Yeah,” I lied and looked at him with an awkward smile. What the hell was I doing in this situation? Feeling uncomfortable and weird with this guy I thought was attractive, but a little off.

“We don’t have to go out to eat if you don’t want.” His hand fell to the small of my back. “We can just eat here.”

“Oh?” I said, wondering if he was going to cook for me. That could be romantic. “What would you make?”

“I wouldn’t make anything.” He looked confused. “My body is already here and so is yours.”

“Huh?” I frowned, looking confused. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“We can eat here or in my bedroom.” He winked.

“Oh.” I just stared at him. This was almost worse than if he’d taken me for Ethiopian food. Did he really think this was on? Inviting me to dinner, getting me excited for free food, making me wait twenty-plus minutes, subjecting me to his hot friend and then basically cheapening out and saying he wanted sex? And not even after some food. What the hell was going on here?

“I don’t think Jess is down for that plan.” A deep voice entered the room and I froze. Evan was back. Not that he’d gone anywhere, but he was back in the same room as me.

“Oh, you’ve met Jess?” Pierce turned around and looked at Evan.

“Yeah, we just met. While you were out.” Evan nodded and walked towards us, his eyes glittering as he stared at me. “She was surprised to see me.”

“Yeah, I forgot to tell her you were here.” Pierce nodded. “Well, I didn’t realize you’d still be here. I thought you had a business dinner?”

“It got cancelled.” Evan shrugged. “Figured I’d stick around the city for the night, but maybe I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

“Of course not.” Pierce shook his head. “Wanna join us for dinner?”

“In your bedroom?” Evan raised an eyebrow and looked at Pierce and winked before he started laughing.

“Haha, yeah right.” Pierce laughed as well and they both looked at me with animated faces as I stood there uncomfortably, wondering if this was some sort of test. Maybe Pierce had deliberately put me in this position to test me. Maybe Evan had been waiting in the kitchen on purpose. Been deliberately provocative. Maybe they were hoping for some sort of kinky threesome. I could feel my skin warming as I stared at the two handsome men in front of me.

“You have the wrong girl, fellas,” I said, my voice indignant.

“Sorry, what?” Pierce looked at me in confusion, but I could see that Evan’s eyes were alight with mischief. He knew exactly what I was talking about.

“I’m not that sort of girl,” I said louder this time as I took a step back from Pierce. “I’m not interested in that sort of thing.”

“What sort of thing?” Pierce asked me, scratching his head.

“A ménage à trois.” I glared at him. “You must have thought you’d gotten a good one at the club the other night, but I am
not
that sort of girl. I’m shocked you haven’t realized that yet. Actually, I’m not shocked.” I shook my head.

“Why are you not shocked?” Pierce looked even more confused as he studied my face.

“Because you took me out for Ethiopian food two times in a row.”

“So?” He pursed his lips and looked even more confused. “Did you want Ethiopian again tonight? Is that what this is all about? We can go out. Don’t get your knickers in a twist, I was just teasing you.”

“No, I don’t want any horrible Ethiopian food.” I glared at him. “This is what I mean. I’ve told you two times now, I don’t like it. I don’t want it. Ever.”

“Oh, okay.” He shrugged. “We don’t have to get it. I only suggested it because you brought it up.”

“I brought it up because I was trying to make a point.” I sighed loudly, feeling frustrated and annoyed. Evan was staring at me with a huge grin on his face and I could tell that he was trying not to laugh, which was even more annoying to me.

“What point?” he asked dumbly and I started to wonder what I’d seen in him.

“The point about why I wouldn’t be shocked if you thought I was the sort of girl who would want a threesome with you and think I’d be down, even though it was clear from all of my signs that I was not interested in that sort of thing at all. I mean, we haven’t even had sex yet, so I don’t know why you’d think I’d be down for anything more than that. I’m not down for random-ass sex. And especially not a ménage à trois. I would never be down for that.” I wasn’t sure why I’d mentioned we hadn’t had sex yet. Maybe a subconscious part of me wanted Evan to know that. I told you, I’m certifiably crazy.

“Did I ask you for a ménage à trois?” Pierce looked at me and blinked. Then he looked over at Evan. “Am I missing something here?”

“I think it’s Jess that’s missing something,” Evan said with a straight face. I glared at him as he tapped two fingers next to the top of his head. I glared at him even harder and he started grinning at me, enjoying the fact that he was making me angry.

“You’re so rude,” I said, my jaw dropping as he spun his finger in a circle next to his head, blatantly trying to provoke me by calling me crazy.

“Sorry, what?” Evan said, his face a mask of innocence.

“You’re not sorry.”

“I never said I was sorry. I said, ‘sorry, what?’” He paused and then started speaking slowly. “I was saying ‘sorry, what?’ to indicate that I had no idea why you were calling me rude and would you be so kind as to explain to me what that reason was?”

“You really have no idea as to why I think you’re rude?” I shook my head at him. “Yeah, right?” I looked over at Pierce to see what he was going to say, but he didn’t say or do anything.

“Nope.” Evan cleared his throat. “But if you clarify, then I might have an idea.”

“It’s fine.” I pursed my lips, feeling like I was even more confused myself now. I wasn’t even sure what we were arguing about anymore. He was talking in circles and the sparkle in his eyes was making me forget my own name. I knew that he knew exactly what he was doing and I was pretty sure that I was making myself look like an idiot in the situation, but I couldn’t help it. “It’s fine. Maybe we just had a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah, I feel like several wires got crossed here,” Pierce said with a small smile. “Maybe we’re all just hungry.”

“Yeah, maybe that’s it,” I said with a small frown, wanting to roll my eyes, but knowing that would be childish. I wished that Alyssa were there so she could see how ridiculous the situation was. How could Pierce not see how rude Evan was? Maybe he knew, but he didn’t care or maybe he was just oblivious to it now. Maybe he’d dealt with Evan’s inappropriate comments so many times before that he felt it was normal. I don’t know what that said about him, but I knew that I should give him the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t his fault that he had a douchey friend. And Evan definitely looked older than Pierce, so he should know better. Much better. I looked over at Evan and he still had a slight smirk on his face and I knew he was an instigator. He knew exactly what he was doing. I wonder now if he’d known from the beginning. If he’d had a plan from the start and, if not, when the plan came into place. If there was a plan, of course. Who knows? Sometimes I wonder if it was all me. Sometimes I wonder if I was the instigator, the fire-starter. Maybe a part of me had been fed up of my staid and boring life. Maybe a part of me wanted something exciting to happen. Though, I’m not sure that I would have wanted it to change that much. I wasn’t crazy. Or at least I’d never thought that I was crazy before.

“Shall we all go and grab a bite, then?” Evan asked with a small smile. “My treat, as I seem to be part of the reason for all this confusion and drama.”

“I won’t say no to a free meal.” Pierce grinned and I just stared at him. What had happened to Mr. confident and generous from the club? Where was the man who just wanted to spend time alone with me? Couldn’t he see that Evan was trouble? Couldn’t he see the sparks flying? Couldn’t he see that this was a bad idea? Obviously not.

“Good. I know a great place.” Evan nodded with a satisfied smile and he gave me a small wink. “The food is good, but the views are even better. I know you’ll appreciate that, Jess.”

“Yeah, you’re so thoughtful.” I just stared at him with narrowed eyes. I wasn’t going to rise to the bait anymore. I was
not
going to let him rile me up. At least that’s what I told myself. Aww, the lies we tell ourselves in the hopes that they will turn out to be true.

J
ess

T
he first touch
should have alerted me to the fact that Evan wasn’t just all talk. I mean, there are accidental touches and then there are accidental touches. A quick knee grab is not an accidental touch by any stretch of the imagination. A knee graze, maybe, but a knee squeeze, no way. Especially not one that lasts for over five seconds. Five seconds doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but try counting it out. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. That’s a lot of time for a hand—a strange hand—to be on your knee, squeezing it.

Who even squeezes a knee? It seems so weird. It’s not like knees are known to be hugely erogenous zones. At least I didn’t think that they were known to be, but as we already know I’m not exactly the sex expert.

And perhaps Evan is. He most definitely seems to be if the thrill that ran through my body when he touched my knee was anything to go by. When I tell you I thought my knee was going to catch on fire, I’m not exaggerating. At first, I thought it was Pierce’s hand on my knee and I was going to pluck it away. I was already annoyed with him. I mean, how could he think that it was okay to turn our date into a three-way dinner? It wasn’t really a great sign when the person you were interested in wanted to bring someone else on the date. The only consolation was that it wasn’t another girl. That would have been frigging ridiculous. But yeah, back to the knee-grab. I knew after about a second that it was Evan and not Pierce grabbing my knee, just from the way that Evan’s hand squeezed so warmly and intimately. It was like my body knew, hey this is someone else. Someone super-hot. Someone that would be great in bed, and it reacted immediately to that thought. I know that sounds crazy. It sounds crazy in my own head as well, but that’s the only way to explain the way I felt. As soon as he touched me, I felt as if I were going to internally combust. And it was like he knew it, if the smile on his face was any indication. I decided not to chastise him for the knee squeeze because really what could I say? He would probably claim that it had been an accident and I’d look like an idiot if I tried to object to that. Especially after how cool I’d been earlier in the apartment and so I said nothing. Which most likely is the reason why he believed that he could be even more daring when we were ordering dessert.

The meal had gone fairly well up until that point. I hadn’t said much. And Evan and Pierce hadn’t cared to try to include me in the conversation much. That normally would have bothered me, since I wanted to be included, but I was already feeling confused so I didn’t really mind that much. I sat there listening to them and I wondered to myself exactly how they knew each other. I wanted to ask but I didn’t. I’d ask Pierce later. I didn’t want Evan to think that I cared about anything to do with him.

The second touch was much more of a thrill and made me jump. In fact I almost knocked over my glass of wine as I jumped out of my seat. This time Evan wasn’t just going for a knee squeeze. This time Evan was going for a thigh squeeze and, yeah, that shocked me. When I felt his fingers on my thigh, I froze. Then his fingers squeezed and, for one crazy second, I thought that he was going to try to do something even more outrageous. I thought he was going to move his fingers higher. That was why I jumped. I couldn’t believe what he was doing and of course Pierce was oblivious. I didn’t know how someone who had seemed so with it in the beginning could be so dumb, or if this was part of his plan or
their
plan. I hadn’t completely disowned the fact that perhaps they were in on some craziness together. Part of me thought that was the only thing that made sense. Why else would Evan be so crazy and daring? Didn’t he think I or Pierce would get upset at his actions? It seemed to me that he was taking a big risk for a couple of cheap thrills.

The sad part was that I didn’t hate it. I mean, of course I was aghast. I’m not a complete heathen. I mean, yes, even though I was shocked and taken aback, I kind of liked it, the thrill. The dangerous excitement that he sparked in me with his touch was intoxicating. It both scared and excited me. I was pretty sure if Pierce had attempted the same thing I would have dismissed him right away. I would have slapped his hand away and told him where to get off. As much as I liked him, I didn’t let him get away with that sort of crap. He had tried hard that first night but I hadn’t felt this knee-jerk reaction to him. I mean that’s kind of unfair to say. I had thought he was super attractive, I mean, how could anyone not think that? He had an animal magnetism that most men didn’t possess, but unfortunately for Pierce, Evan was even more magnetic. He had a spark that was even more electrifying. It was something I couldn’t explain and I think he knew it. That’s why he was pushing his hand, in more ways than one. He enjoyed playing with me and getting a rise out of me, though I wasn’t sure why. What did he have to gain from flirting with me and trying to push his will? All it did was show that he wasn’t a good friend to Pierce. He wasn’t a good friend at all, unless they were both trying to test me in some way. Which I was pretty sure wasn’t true. Pierce seemed pretty oblivious to everything that was going on and I didn’t think he was that good of an actor. Not at all. It seemed to me that if he knew what he was doing he would have been giving me knowing looks and probably small smirks and winks. He wasn’t the subtle sort. Not at all. He was blatant in what he wanted and while that was easier to understand, it was something a little nice to not know and to be on the edge of attraction.

I would never admit that out loud. I mean, what woman really wanted to admit that confusion can be an aphrodisiac? What woman wants to admit that we can be like boys as well? The chase, the not exactly knowing where we stand can make the eventual conquest a lot sweeter. Not that I was a hunter and not that I wanted to be prey either. Hell no, I didn’t really want to be either. It was a weird thing to be dating. It was a weird thing to decide who you wanted to make love to. I knew why guys were always so confused by girls. It was because we were confused ourselves. Just a few weeks ago, I would have been happy to have met a hot guy like Pierce; yeah, maybe we weren’t a match made in heaven, but he was a good ego boost for now.

Now, it seems Pierce wasn’t good enough. Not that I wanted Evan. I certainly didn’t want Evan. Not at all. Just because he was hot and sexy and just wouldn’t seem to disappear from my mind, even though I’d just met him. I really didn’t understand why he was over at Pierce’s apartment and seemed so comfortable talking to me however he wanted. I hadn’t asked Pierce because I didn’t want him to think that I was interested in Evan. I didn’t want to let anything slip. He couldn’t know I was attracted to his friend. He couldn’t know that his friend had played with my knee and ran his fingers up my leg under the table and that I’d enjoyed it. There was no way I could tell him that. And there was certainly no way I wanted him to suspect there was possibly any interest on my side, which he might think if I brought up Evan. I’d be scared he’d sense it in my voice and question me as to why I wanted to know anything. I mean, I didn’t think it would be crazy for me to have some questions, but I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. The questions might start with, “How do you know Evan?” and “How old is Evan? He seems older than you.” Then I might start going crazy. What if I asked if he was single? Ugh, that would be terrible. Pierce would surely know then by the eager look on my face as I waited on his answer that I might have a more vested interest in his answers, and I surely didn’t want him to think that. Not at all, so that’s why I didn’t ask anything. It was too much of a risk, too much of a slippery slope and I sure as hell didn’t need to ruin whatever was going on with Pierce and I just for some stupid non-flirtation with Evan. Arrogant prick. He probably did this with every woman he met because he knew he could. Most probably got off on some power trip, seeing how far he could get women to go. I knew there were guys like that, guys who didn’t really want relationships. Didn’t even care about the women they were flirting with. It was all about what they could get the women to do. How far they could get her to go, and if she were in a relationship with someone else, it was even more of a thrill.

I wish now, of course, that I’d asked. I wish now that I’d sucked it up. That I hadn’t been so scared and stupid. If I had asked, maybe I would have avoided a lot of embarrassment. Maybe then I wouldn’t have gone down the same road. Maybe then I would have done things differently. Actually, who am I kidding? I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I hadn’t really had that much of a say in the matter.