“Good?” Jeremy asked.
“Run away with me,” Gracie declared. “What does Chelle have that I don’t? We can live on your barbeque and be beach bums.”
Jeremy grinned and started to reply.
Gracie held up a hand. “No, don’t answer that. I’m not up for a list of the ways I don’t measure up.”
Wes and Jeremy looked curiously at her while Luke made it a point to stare down at his plate. Gracie cringed. Instead of coming out jokingly as she’d intended, it sounded sad and resigned.
She glanced over at Michelle and made an “oops” face the others couldn’t see. Then she focused back on her food, cutting another bite of the brisket.
Her breakup with Keith bothered her more than she liked. Not only had the sex been a disaster, but his reaction to the surprise she’d planned still made her cringe in embarrassment. He’d made her feel like a freak. Not what a woman wanted to feel like when she was trying to be wild and sexy.
Weren’t men supposed to like that sort of thing? Didn’t they all complain because women weren’t adventurous enough in bed? Ha! She’d yet to find a man who liked sex with the frequency and imagination she did.
Maybe she
was
a freak.
She cleared her throat and looked over at Luke. “How’s Ellie doing? I haven’t seen her much since the wedding. Jake seems awfully protective of her.”
“He has a reason to be,” Luke said with a grimace. “But she’s doing good. They seem happy.”
“Isn’t she going to counseling?” Michelle interjected.
Luke nodded. “Yeah, that whole thing with Ray really fucked her up.”
“Stupid son of a bitch,” Wes muttered. “I don’t trust that little breakdown he had on public television. Seems too calculating to me.”
Jeremy raised his brow. “You think he’ll try something?”
“Not unless he has a death wish,” Luke said. “Jake will kill him if he comes near Ellie again.”
“And I won’t exactly be knocking myself out to stop him,” Wes said.
Gracie shook her head. “Ellie’s a sweet girl. I hate that she’s been through so much. But Jake’s good for her.”
“He’d be good for me, too,” Michelle broke in, a devilish glint to her eye.
“Hey,” Jeremy protested as he reached over to tweak Michelle’s arm.
Gracie laughed. God, she loved these guys. She could never stay down in the dumps for long around them. “If Chelle doesn’t want you, Jeremy, you’re welcome at my house.”
“Are you propositioning my husband?” Michelle demanded.
Jeremy rubbed a hand over his chin. “I kind of like being fought over.”
“Cat fights are sexy,” Wes said with a snicker.
Gracie rolled her eyes. “Like any girl has a chance with Jeremy. He’s so gaga over Michelle, it’s nauseating.”
“Just like I like him,” Michelle said with a smug grin.
Michelle stood and began clearing the table. Gracie got up to help and started collecting the plates. As Michelle began running water in the sink, she looked out the kitchen window and tensed.
“Uh oh, Gracie.”
Gracie didn’t like the sound of that uh oh.
Jeremy evidently didn’t either. He went to stand behind his wife so he could look out.
Michelle turned around to Gracie. “Keith just pulled up.”
“Oh great,” Gracie muttered as she plunked down the plates she was holding.
“Trouble, Gracie?” Wes asked in a concerned voice.
She flashed him a reassuring smile. “Nothing I can’t handle.” She walked toward the door, determined to meet Keith outside rather than take the inevitable confrontation inside. “Y’all excuse me for a second. This shouldn’t take long.”
Luke followed her with his gaze until she left the house with a bang. Wes looked over at him questioningly, but Luke played dumb. He didn’t want to let on that he’d overheard Gracie’s conversation with Michelle.
“What’s going on with those two?” Jeremy asked Michelle as they continued to stare out the window.
“She broke up with him this morning,” Michelle murmured.
Wes got up from the table, carrying the plates Gracie had left. He walked to the sink and set them down before peering out the window himself. Luke was dying to do the same, but he made himself sit and appear only mildly interested.
“Can’t say it surprises me,” Wes said with a shrug as he returned to sit at the table. “She needs a man she can’t run over so easily.”
Luke looked at his friend in surprise. On that point they agreed, though they’d never discussed Gracie’s love life before. Hadn’t exactly been high on their priority lists.
“He looks angry,” Michelle said anxiously.
Both Wes and Luke shot to their feet and walked to the window to look out. They were all understandably wary after all that Ellie had endured at her ex-husband’s hands. No way would they stand by and let Gracie take the brunt of some punk’s anger. Keith did look pretty pissed and Gracie took a step backwards as they all watched.
“I’m going out there,” Luke muttered. “I want to make sure the dickhead doesn’t get carried away.”
“Jeremy and Wes are the cops, maybe they should go,” Michelle said, her frown deepening as she watched her friend.
“More reason for me to go,” Luke said. “I can get away with decking the asshole better than they can.”
He didn’t wait for a response. He strode for the door and quietly let himself out.
Neither Gracie nor Keith must have heard him because they never turned around. Luke eased down the steps into the yard. Their heated conversation filled his ears, and he stopped so he could listen from the distance.
“Damn it, Gracie, what was I supposed to do? You acted like some kind of a whore. I wasn’t expecting it.”
Gracie clenched her fists at her side.
“Just because I suggested we do something other than the usual suck your dick and missionary that makes me a whore?” she all but yelled.
“Be quiet for God’s sake!”
“No, Keith, I won’t be quiet. It’s over. I don’t know why you’re here, but it sure as hell won’t change my mind. I said all I had to say this morning.”
“You’re dumping me?” he asked incredulously. “Shit, Gracie, you’re being unreasonable. You should have warned me or something. You had
nipple
rings of all things. Like some kind of cheap tramp. What on earth possessed you? Is that what you made me wait a month without sex for? So you could spring this weird ass surprise on me? And then you go on about how you want me to take control and for you not to have to decide how we do it all the time. Give a guy a break.”
Nipple rings? Oh Jesus. Gracie had nipple rings. This most certainly was a new development. Luke had seen her in a bikini on many occasions, and he damn sure would have noticed nipple rings.
So Gracie was trying to branch out and the pussy boyfriend had thrown a fit. Well, good for her for dumping him. He obviously didn’t deserve her.
“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” Gracie said coldly. “Giving you a break. We’re done. Finito.”
Anger flashed on Keith’s face, and Luke started forward. He knew that look and it could only mean trouble.
“You teasing bitch,” Keith snarled.
He made a grab for her arm, but Gracie sidestepped him and rammed her knee into his groin.
“Cock-sucking bastard!” she hissed as he fell to the ground.
Luke stepped between them and hauled Keith up by his shirt. The man was still pale with pain and clutching his privates for all he was worth.
Luke slammed him against Keith’s truck and got in his face. “If I ever see you within ten feet of Gracie again, I’ll make what she just did look like a blow job. You got me?”
Keith grunted and struggled to get loose. “Yeah, I get it. Get your fucking hands off me. You’re welcome to the psycho bitch.”
Luke decked him. Keith fell to the ground, blood spurting from his nose. Keith grabbed his face with both hands, howling in pain.
He scrambled to his feet and fumbled to open his truck door. “You son of a bitch! If you broke my nose, I’m pressing charges.”
Luke chuckled and jerked his thumb in the direction of the kitchen window. “You do that, pussy boy. But you ought to know two cops are watching from that window over there, and I imagine they’ll swear they didn’t see any such thing.”
Keith threw himself into the truck, swearing and swiping at the blood running down his face. In a few seconds, he spun out of the driveway, spewing a trail of rocks and dirt several feet high.
Luke turned back to Gracie who wore a look of astonishment on her face.
“You okay?” he asked gently.
“Yeah, I’m good.” She looked up at him, her eyebrows arched in question. “What the hell was that all about?”
Luke knew why she was confused. He’d never intruded on her business like that. Gracie was more than able to take care of herself. It was something he admired about her.
He shrugged and put a hand on her shoulder. “Just looked like you could use the help, that’s all.”
“Yeah, well, thanks,” she mumbled as they started back toward the house.
As they stopped at the steps, she looked up at him, her bottom lip stuck between her teeth, a sure sign of agitation.
“You didn’t…you didn’t hear our conversation did you?” she asked nervously.
Luke almost smiled. Yeah, he supposed Gracie would about die if she knew he’d overheard that and more. From what he’d gleaned from her conversation with Michelle and then her fight with Keith, it looked like she was spreading her wings a bit and venturing into new territory. Territory he was intimately familiar with.
“Nah, I’d just come out when he made a move toward you,” he lied. “Looked like he was trying to hurt you.”
“Well, thanks,” she said again, her shoulders slumping in relief.
“No problem. What are friends for?”
He threw his arm around her neck, letting his hand dangle over her shoulder, something he’d done a million times before. Only now, he was very aware of the proximity of his hand to her breasts. And those nipple rings he was dying to see.
Luke flopped onto his couch and took a long swig of his own beer. He and Wes had left Jeremy’s earlier and had ended up at Luke’s place. Luke knew Wes was curious over his interference, not that Wes would have done things any differently if he’d been outside when Keith made his move at Gracie.
He took another fortifying gulp before he eased the bottle from his lips. “Let’s just say it’s been an interesting and informative day.
Wes leaned back in the arm chair and propped his feet up on Luke’s coffee table. “How so?”
Luke shook his head. Where to start? With the easy part he guessed. “Keith was being an asshole. He was ripping on Gracie, and she told him to take a hike. He went after her and Gracie kneed him in the balls.”
“Good for her,” Wes said, performing a mock salute with his beer bottle.
“I broke his nose for good measure.”
Wes looked at him and shook his head. “Shit, tell me I’m not going to have to arrest your ass when he presses charges.”
Luke laughed. “He’s a pussy. Besides, I told him you and Jeremy were watching and would swear you didn’t see anything.”
“Gee, thanks,” Wes said dryly. “Just what I need, to be arrested with you.”
Luke fiddled with his beer, tapping his finger in restless staccato against the cool glass. He hesitated to tell Wes what he’d overheard. Why, he couldn’t say. They’d never exactly been discreet with each other, and he knew Wes would find it as surprising as he had. But something held him back.
“What’s eating you?” Wes spoke up, intruding on Luke’s thoughts. “You’ve been acting weird all afternoon. You said the day had been informative. So what’s the news?”
Luke sighed and leaned forward to set his beer on the coffee table. “It’s about Gracie.”
Wes cocked an eyebrow. “What about her? You weren’t really surprised she dumped her pussy boyfriend, were you?”
Luke shook his head. “I’m not talking about the wimp, and no, I’m not all together surprised she dumped him. Even less so after what I heard her talking to Michelle about.”
“Ah hell, man, what were you doing eavesdropping on the girls? Gracie will kick your ass if she finds out.”
Luke grinned. Yeah, she wouldn’t hesitate to lay him out. He got the oddest tingle just thinking about her getting in his face. He shook his head. It was the nipple rings, it had to be. He couldn’t get his mind off what her nipples must look like. Hell.
He cleared his throat. “She, uh, well, she said some interesting things.”
Wes leaned forward, dropping his feet to the floor with a thud. “Now you’ve got me curious. What the hell did she say?”
“Apparently she dumped the pussy because he sucked in bed.”
“Yeah, well, again, that’s no surprise. She probably ate him alive,” Wes said.
Luke cocked his head sideways and stared at his friend. “Tell me something, Wes. Have you ever thought about having sex with Gracie?”
Wes choked on his beer and coughed several times in succession. “Sex? With Gracie? Shit man, no, not really. I mean she’s hot, don’t get me wrong. Seriously hot. But...”
“Seriously hot, huh. So you have thought about it, you lying sack of shit,” Luke said on a laugh.
“You have eyes, man. The girl is a walking goddess. What guy wouldn’t get a hard-on looking at her?”
“Well, get this,” Luke said, leaning toward Wes. “I overheard her telling Michelle that she was tired of men not satisfying her in bed. That she has fantasies she wants to live out.”
Wes sat up straighter, his attention focused on Luke. “What kind of fantasies?”
Luke shrugged casually, but his blood was racing just thinking about all she’d said. “Bondage, a little spanking…and she wants to take on two guys at the same time.”
“Whoa,” Wes said as he flopped back in his chair. “She said all that?”
“There’s more,” Luke continued on. “Apparently she wanted pussy boy to do a little experimenting in bed and he freaked. He called her a whore.”
“That little son of a bitch,” Wes growled. “I knew I should have gone outside with you.”
“She has nipple rings. Must be recent. Keith evidently didn’t receive the news so well judging by his comments.”
“Holy fucking shit. Nipple rings?”
“Yeah. Now tell me you aren’t picturing Gracie in the buff with nipple rings dangling from those perfect breasts.”
“Jesus.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Luke mumbled.
“She wants two guys? She said that?”
“Oh, hell yeah. She said that and a lot more. She wants a guy who isn’t afraid to call the shots. Someone who will tie her up, spank her ass and fuck her brains out.”
“Goddamn.”
Luke laughed. “Is that all you can say?”
“I’m speechless,” Wes said, his mouth still open in shock.
“Glad I’m not the only one all fucked up over it.”
“Does she know you heard all that?”
“Hell no. She wouldn’t speak to me for a year,” Luke said.
Wes fell silent, his eyes thoughtful. Luke knew Wes’s brain was spinning a mile a minute. He also knew Wes was rapidly coming to the same conclusion he had.
“Hell, if that’s what she wants…”
“Yeah,” Luke said. “Tell me you aren’t thinking the same thing I am.”
Wes grunted. “I’d have to be fucking gay not to react to something like that. I mean she’s hot. I’ve always thought so.”
Luke looked over at his friend. “Valentine’s is just two weeks away. Should be enough time for you to make arrangements to be off work.”
Wes’s eyes narrowed. “What are you thinking about?”
Luke took in a deep breath then grinned. “Well, we’ve already established the fact that Gracie is hot. We’re both attracted to her. Neither of us has any problem with nipple rings or bondage, and we have considerable experience in the threesome arena. So it seems to me that maybe we should give Gracie a Valentine’s Day to remember.”
“What if she won’t go for it?” Wes asked. “I don’t want to piss her off and I sure don’t want to mess up my friendship with her. We have too much fun for that shit.”
“She’ll go for it,” Luke said confidently.
He’d seen the longing in her eyes, the need for something she probably couldn’t even explain. He knew it because he’d felt the same thing. He also knew that he was the man who could give it to her.
Wes scrubbed a hand over his closely shaved goatee in a thoughtful motion. “I don’t know, man. It’s not like we’re going to fuck some chick we won’t ever see again. This is Gracie we’re talking about. What happens when it’s over with? I don’t want there to be any awkward shit.”
“You’re over thinking this,” Luke said impatiently. “We give Gracie an experience she won’t ever forget. We show her things she’s been craving. If anything it makes us even closer. I mean there’s no way in hell I’d fuck her and just go on like nothing ever happened. We both like her a hell of a lot. More than any other woman apart from Michelle, that’s for sure. I don’t see the problem here.”
“Just how much do you like her?” Wes asked, a peculiar expression on his face.
Luke shifted uncomfortably. What the hell kind of question was that? “I—I care about her,” he said lamely.
Wes continued to stare at him. “Do you have a thing for her?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Luke growled. “Jesus, this is sex. Gracie’s our friend. Our very gorgeous, hot friend. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t like to get next to her.”
Wes took a sip of his beer. “No, I can’t tell you that. But wanting something or knowing I’d enjoy it is different than actually doing it. Look, I just don’t want to fuck things up between us all.”
“What if she wanted it?” Luke challenged. “I mean what if she wanted what we could give her? Would you be so reluctant then?”
Wes thought for a minute then shook his head. “Hell no. I just don’t want to hurt her. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Well, shit, Wes. Do you think I’d do anything to hurt her? She’s one of my best friends. I want to make it good for her.”
“You’re serious about this.”
“Fuck. No, I’ve just spent the last ten minutes going on about my plan to seduce Gracie for nothing.”
“No need to be sarcastic,” Wes said with a chuckle. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. This is your idea, so you plan it. Tell me when and where to show up. I’ll be there. But if she shows any sign of not wanting this, I’m out.”
Luke scowled at him. “No shit, dumbass. It’s not my plan to rape her for God’s sake. But I’m telling you, she wants something. Something she doesn’t quite understand but knows she wants. You didn’t hear the things she said or the
way
she said them. And I think I can give her what she wants.”
Wes looked quietly at him, studying him with that cop look he was so famous for. “Yeah, maybe you can.”