The Deal Dilemma

My job is a godsend, truly. It’s easy enough and keeps me busy for hours upon hours. The last three days, I was able to come in before ten in the morning and didn’t leave a minute before seven a single one of them. Don’t plan to today either, not when I have no homework or exams to study for. I only have two classes left I have to show up in and both are not until next Thursday, when the semester officially comes to an end.

My college career will also officially come to an end.

What a trip.

I’m two hours into my early shift, this fine Saturday morning, when a familiar voice shouts, a little too loudly, from the entrance.

“Davis ‘Middle Name’ Franco, your services are requested.”

Topping a customer’s coffee cup off, I stand and carry the pot back to the station and smile at Xavier and his friend, Neo, I think his name was, as they saunter over.

“Hey, guys. The place is like a graveyard this morning, so sit anywhere you want.”

Xavier leans in, hugging me, and Neo says his hello.

“I was coming to steal you, actually. What time you get off?”

“Oh. Why, what did you have in mind?” I wipe my hands on a rag and toss it in the basket beneath the counter.

“We’re headed to the water park.” Xavier hooks his thumb over his shoulder, and I look out the window to find a handful of people standing outside a couple of jeeps.

As if they were waiting, the group all lifts their hands, or holds them out, their shouts muffled by the closed windows of the building.

Laughing, I look to Xavier. “Looks like you already have quite a few people who can go.”

“True, but we want you to go.” Neo steps up. “My sister’s meeting us there. I think you’ll like her. She’s obsessed with peach-ring candies.”

My smile spreads. “So your sister’s favorite snack makes you think we’ll get along?”

“One, I’m pretty sure you get along with everyone. Two, Crew says you love all things sweet, which is why you’ll probably fall in love with me, but we can worry about that later.” Neo’s smirk is mischievous.

I can’t help the chuckles that escape. “Where is Crew?”

I haven’t seen him in three days. I heard him come and go a few times, but our schedules have been opposite. Maybe he’s with a woman.

Does he have one of those? A booty call on speed dial?

He’s a man made of more testosterone than a teenage training camp, so yeah, I’d bet he does.

A pang hits my chest, and I look off.

I hate the thought of him being with someone, I always have. Watching him with his future wife has been one of my fears for years, the irrational kind you think about, play out in your head, getting gray hairs over when you should simply wait for it to happen rather than make yourself crazy waiting for it.

What happens when he finds the one woman he refuses to let go? Can I handle that?

Will she allow our friendship?

Of course she would, right? What threat am I?

“Who knows, that man stays busy.” Xavier’s voice draws me out of my head, and he shrugs. “So, what do you say?”

Aw, so he didn’t send them here to invite me. They thought of me on their own.

Rachel comes around the corner then and I face the boys once more, surprised by the regret that follows. “Sorry, guys. I can’t leave.”

“Grab your stuff, Davis. You’re fine.” Rachel walks over, replacing the tub of wrapped silverware. “You said it yourself, we’re dead, and Marla’s shift starts in twenty. Go, have some fun for once.”

“Yeah, have fun for once.” Neo wiggles his brows, swiping his tongue over his lip when he looks at Rachel.

She scoffs, shaking her head. “Honey, please. I would eat you up and spit you out.”

“I would be oh so okay with that,” he plays along.

Rachel tries to hide her smile, but I catch it as she walks away.

Rachel is gorgeous and has that rockabilly vibe going. Deep-red lipstick and a septum piercing that shines off her golden skin. She always wears a bandanna of sorts and pins her curls perfectly in place. I’ve never seen her in anything but black pants and bright yellow or red tops. Her ears are stretched, and she has no less than six piercings on each lobe.

She’s also got about ten years on Neo, who can’t be any older than me.

I turn to Xavier. “I’ll need to run home and get a swimsuit.”

“So long as it’s a bikini.”

Rolling my eyes, I grab my keys and follow them out the door.

They introduce me to their friends, we stop for my things, and not fifteen minutes later, we’re headed for the water park.

The second we hit the highway, my phone dings in my bag. I find a text from Crew.

Crew: Working today?

I frown. I’ve been going to work every day this week. Is this the first time he noticed I wasn’t home?

Me: Just a short morning shift. You?

Three little dots appear at the bottom of the thread, disappearing twice before another message comes.

Crew: And now?

Way to ignore my question.

Me: I’m off.

My phone rings a second later, and I’m about to ignore it and text him back, since it’s far too loud to talk on the phone in here without being rude, but Xavier happens to lean over right then, spotting the image of Crew lighting up my screen.

“Ah, the side shot, got me one of those for someone too.” He winks, darts his hand out, grabs my phone, and answers, “Hello.” He tries using his best feminine voice, instantly making me laugh.

“That was terrible.” I shake my head, ready to pull it to my ear, but then Neo stretches over the back seat and puts the call on speaker.

Suppressing my smile, I lift it a little closer to my lips. “Hey. It’s kind of loud, can I—”

“Who was that?”

Xavier grins, leaning closer. “Your second favorite Sanchez brother.”

“Fuck are you doing with Davis?”

“Going to the water park con esta bellezza.”

I look to him. “I didn’t know you spoke Spanish.”

“We all do.” He winks.

Neo takes the mic. “She’s gonna be my tube partner for the day, ain’t that right, gorgeous?”

“Sure, why not,” I tease, shaking my head as I pull the phone closer. “Can I call you back later?”

The line goes dead, and I frown at my screen, ignoring the laughter of the boys around me.

A little while later, we’re pulling into the parking lot of the water park, so while they shotgun a few beers because, college students will do that, I text Crew.

Me: Hey sorry. It was so loud in Jeremy’s Jeep I couldn’t really talk. Did you need something?

Crew: Who the fuck is Jeremy?

He responds instantly.

Me: Oh, I figured you knew all their friends, sorry. Someone from their baseball team, I think. I’m pretty sure all seven of them are.

The boys are tearing off their shirts and closing the doors, so I quickly try to end the conversation.

Me: I think you’ll be at work by the time we get home, but maybe I’ll come say hi, let you know how it goes.

Crew: How what goes?

Me: I figured this is the perfect time to try out some of your “lessons.”

I press send, assuming that’s what he’d suggest anyway, so I make sure to say it before he can, the perfectly prepared student that I am.

Turning my phone off, I toss it in the car with the pile of other phones, and off we go.

Sighing, I smile at the mountain of slides ahead.

Today is going to be a good day.

Three hours in, and we’re practically running our way out.

“Dude, I can’t believe they called you on the overhead,” Neo says, jumping around to try and avoid the burn under his bare feet.

“I told you to wear your slides in, dumbass, and, of fucking course, they did. I’d kick Willie’s ass if not.” He shakes his head. “Miss my niece’s birth. You crazy?”

“I thought she wasn’t due for a while?” I ask.

Maybe I heard wrong?

“She’s not, but my mom had us early, so I guess it’s all right.” He shrugs, but then his forehead caves into a frown.

“Hey.” I stop his speed walk, placing my hand on his arm, and he jerks to look at me. “I’m sure she’s fine. He just wants you there, that’s all.”

Xavier swallows, nods, and picks up the pace again. “Yeah, I’ll feel better when I get my phone out of the car.” He peeks at me, the corner of his mouth hiking up. “You know you don’t have to leave with us? Our wristbands are good for another four hours. The boys would be happy to have you sit on their laps the ride home.”

“Get fucking punched, X.”

All our heads snap straight, shock jolting us in place.

Crew stands at the back of Jeremy’s jeep, arms crossed over his chest.

It’s odd, how potent rage rang dark in his tone; yet, his face is a sheet of nothing.

“Layla’s fine,” he says, his eyes bolted on mine. “Go back inside if you want, but I need this car unlocked, so Davis can get her shit out.”

“Wait.” I shake my head, confused. “What?”

I turn to Xavier, but the worry and confusion is wiped from his attractive face, nothing but a sly grin written across it now, his best friends mirroring him, but not Jeremy.

Jeremy appears slightly uneasy as he unclips his key from the pocket of his board shorts, holds it out and up with a long stretch of his arm as if he’s afraid to accidentally touch his hand to mine.

I open my palm and he gently drops it inside, saying, “You can hide it by the gas tank when you’re done.”

Frowning, I accept the key, my gaze flicking from one chuckling man to the next as they spin on their feet and book it back toward the water park entrance.

“I don’t…”

A large hand wraps around mine, and I’m jolted forward an inch as a hard chest bumps into my back.

Hot breath fans over my ear, then a harsh exhale follows, and the body behind mine rips away, taking the key with it.

All I can do is stare as Crew digs around in the jeep, coming out with my bag and phone in his hands. He pushes past me, tossing my things into the front seat of his car… that is parked right across from the one I rode here in.

I blink and then I blink some more.

“What the hell just happened here?”

Finally, Crew faces me, his square jaw clenched closed.

Wait, okay. So Layla is fine. Baby girl is still tucked inside…“Why did Willie…” I begin to work through this nonsense, my frown pointed at Crew. “You called the water park?”

His chin lifts.

“Crew, what the hell! Xavier was scared, worried something was wrong. Why did you—”

Oooh. You dumb, dumb girl.

This is about me and the life he cut me out of.

“You’re upset I went with your friends.”

Silence.

Crew’s chest rises and falls in rapid movements, the angles of his face sharp with anger, even more so when his eyes snap to my bathing suit and stay there.

A nauseating sense of unease settles over me, and I shift on my feet, loosely crossing my arms in an attempt to hide my soft body from his critical eyes.

His lips nearly curl, and he jerks forward, but for whatever reason, he halts, his eyes snapping to the left. He walks around, slips into his seat, and slams his door.

Left with no other option, or maybe it’s understanding any other decision likely wouldn’t end well, I climb in beside him, swiftly pulling my cover-up over my head.

I don’t bother powering on my phone, and I don’t look his way the entire forty-five-minute drive home.

The second we pull up, I tear from the car, fly up the walkway and rush into the house.

I race for my room, but Crew is quick, his booming voice echoing in the hall behind me.

“Don’t try to fuck my friends or their friends. It will never happen.”

My jaw clamps closed, and I grind my teeth to keep from screaming. Or crying. Still, I spin to face him, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of my walking away.

The long, dark look we exchange has my temper rising, burning my airway as it forces its way to the surface, threatening to spill from my lips like fire from a dragon.

“Why not, huh?” Well, okay then, here it comes. “You don’t want me to be a part of your new world, we both know I’m only in it now because I bulldozed my way in with a bribe you probably see as blackmail, so why don’t you call on a buddy, ask them to do you a solid and debase your pathetic pain in the ass, so you can send her on her way?”

The way Crew’s head snaps back is unnatural. “That was a joke, right?”

I lift my left shoulder. “From what I understand, some guys have a thing for being the first one in. Maybe you should call one of them over and be done with it.”

Slowly, I’m talking turtle-in-the-mud slow, Crew steps forward. “You want me to ask one of my friends to do me a favor and fuck you?”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare. “Don’t make it sound so scandalous. If you want me out of your world so bad, just do it. I’m sure you have friends who have had more one-night stands than they can remember. Hell, some of them probably have babies they don’t even know about running around somewhere!”

“And you want one of them to put their dick, that may or may not have been in a hundred others, inside you?”

“I was willing to take yours inside me, was I not?” I fire back.

Crew’s face falls, but slowly, his expression grows fierce. “Watch yourself.”

I burst forward, anger radiating through my body. “I’d bet someone you know would appreciate the offer and you’d get to be the hero of the story.” I make a mockery of myself. “Pass off a girl they wouldn’t have to waste time wining and dining because she’s a guaran-freaking-tee. They wouldn’t have to butter me up by paying for my dinner or by pretending my ability to recite the periodic table is anything other than nerdy as shit. I don’t need to be let down easy afterward, and they won’t have to worry about hiding if they saw me on the streets when they don’t call. What a blockbuster bargain you can gift over with a grin, don’t you think?”

He blinks and blinks again, and then he flies forward, crowding me, driving me backward until my heels hit the wall. I’m forced to drop my head all the way back to look him in the eyes, and he waits for the moment our gazes crash together, his hands flying up, roughly cupping the underside of my breasts.

I gasp, his move so completely unexpected.

“No motherfucker on this planet will have you handed to them like that, do you understand me?” Crew’s muscles constrict. “No man deserves this body when he hasn’t earned it.” His eyes flash, dark and despondent.

He gives a little squeeze and my toes curl into the carpet.

“No man,” he nearly whispers, “will slide his cock inside you without earning the warmth you’ll wrap him in.” His thigh drives forward, pressing against the triangle of my bottoms. “Fucking drench him in.” He groans, his cheek sliding along mine. “God, I could—”

“What?” I swallow. “You could what?”

“Did you do what you threatened?”

“Threatened?”

His jaw flexes against mine. “The bullshit you said before you ghosted me today. The lessons.”

“I didn’t ghost you. I left my phone in the car like everyone else.”

“Answer my question. Now.” His knee drives farther between my legs and I gulp, giving him more of my weight.

“I… no. Don’t think so, but my brain cells aren’t exactly at full function right now.”

“Did you share a tube with Neo? Wrap your legs with his?”

I shake my head, goose bumps breaking across my skin as his stubble skates over the sensitive spot beneath my ear. “I didn’t get to go on the double-person slides, but Neo’s sister, Nova, I think her name was, was going to be my partner.”

“Good. That’s good.” Suddenly he pulls away, spinning so fast I don’t get so much as a glimpse of his face. “I gotta get back to the bar. Behave. I’ll know if you don’t.”

With that, he walks out, and me?

I’m a sad excuse of a woman, melting over a man moodier than the Mona Lisa.