Текст книги "Double Time"

Автор книги: Olivia Cunning

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 23 страниц)

“Yes, I mean it,” Jess said. “Look at him. He’s perfect.”

“I’m telling Sed you said that. He’ll have you knocked up in an hour. Even though he’s over twelve hundred miles away.”

“That’s some serious potency,” Myrna said.

Jessica hesitated. “My caseload at the practice is too heavy right now. I don’t have time for a baby.” She leaned against Brian and stared down at the tiny bundle in his arms. “Okay, fuck the job. I want a baby.”

Myrna laughed. “Shouldn’t you wait until after your wedding? You’ve been planning it for months.”

“Maybe Sed and I should do what you and Brian did. Just elope. I thought I wanted a big wedding, and Sed’s family wants us to have a big wedding, but even with an event planner helping us out, it is so stressful.”

“Do you want a big wedding, Jessica?” Myrna asked.

“Kinda,” Jessica admitted.

“Then have your big wedding or you’ll always regret it.”

Brian perked up. “Do you regret not having a big wedding?”

Myrna smiled. “Not at all. I didn’t want a big wedding. I just wanted you.”

Oh God, not the Brian/Myrna mushy mushy love stuff. Trey wasn’t sure if he could handle it today.

“Maybe I should just get pregnant now,” Jessica said. “I won’t be showing too much in three months. I should still be able to fit into my dress. Or I could get it altered.” She looked down and rubbed both hands over her flat belly.

Oh God, shoot me now, Trey thought. Babies, weddings, and pregnancies. What will they be talking about next? Their periods?

Dare finally managed to make it into the room to greet his guests. “How are you doing, Myrna?” he asked, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. “You look gorgeous as usual. Are you sure you just had a baby?”

She beamed. “Oh, I’m sure,” she said.

“Harold’s bringing your glass of water and some other refreshments. I told him to hurry.”

“Thanks, Dare.”

“No problem. I hear you named that poor kid Malcolm Trey.” Dare nodded his head in the direction of Brian and Jessica who were competing for Malcolm’s complete lack of attention.

“It’s better than Malcolm Terrance, isn’t it?” Myrna asked. Terrance was Trey’s real first name, but even Myrna knew how much he hated it.

“Uh, sure,” Dare said. He turned toward the two kissy faces, who were undoubtedly driving little Malcolm bonkers. “Well, let’s have a look at this kid. Apparently he’s the biggest star in the house.”

Dare slipped the baby from Brian’s hold into the crook of one arm. The guy was a natural at everything. Even holding babies.

“Will you look at that? He already has his father’s rock star hairstyle.”

“He’s adorable,” Jessica crooned. “Yes he is. Yes he is. Adorable.”

Trey was beginning to feel sticky from all the sap in the room.

“When do we have to leave?” Brian asked, coaxing Malcolm out of Dare’s arms and back into his.

“As soon as Reagan gets back,” Trey said.

“Reagan?” Brian, Jessica, and Myrna questioned in unison.

“Trey’s new girlfriend,” Dare said.

“Trey has a girlfriend?” Brian said in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Dare said.

“Trey does? That Trey.” Brian pointed at Trey.

“Yes, I have a girlfriend. Is that so hard to believe?”

Brian nodded his head. “Yes, it’s very hard to believe. You’ve never had a girlfriend in your adult life.”

“Never?” Jessica questioned, trying to get Malcolm to grip her finger in his fist.

“Depending on how you define girlfriend, I have dozens of them. Had,” he rectified.

“The series of women you string along in every town aren’t girlfriends; they’re conquests,” Brian said.

“Well, Reagan is my girlfriend. And she’s going on tour with us.”

“How long have you known this chick?” Brian asked.

“We met yesterday.”

“And did you decide she was going on tour with us before or after you fucked her?”

“Brian, don’t be crude,” Myrna said. “You asked me to marry you the day after we met.”

Brian scratched his head. “You’re right,” he said. “As usual.”

“Reagan touring with Sinners was my idea,” Dare said. “She’s our new rhythm guitarist, and I figured it would do her good to spend a couple of weeks out on tour before she’s subjected to the insanity that surrounds Exodus End. She’s talented but not very experienced.”

“You hired a female guitarist?” Jessica asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Dare said. “She fuckin’ rocked our faces off.”

“That is so awesome,” Jessica said. “I can’t wait to meet her. I bet she’s cool. Is she cool?”

“She must be pretty terrific if she’s got Trey thinking commitment.” Brian grinned at him and punched him in the chest.

“She is,” Trey said. The thought of her made him smile. “Terrific. And cool.”

When the doorbell rang about twenty minutes later, Trey went to answer it himself. He found Reagan on the doorstep breathless and lugging two huge suitcases.

“I didn’t know what I’d need, so I brought everything.”

“I told you all you needed was a box of condoms.”

She thrust a paper bag at him. “I bought six dozen. Is that enough?”

Trey laughed and kissed her tenderly. He enjoyed the sensation of her lips against his so much that instead of pulling away he deepened the kiss. Her rolling suitcase tipped over as she released its handle to draw him closer.

“I missed you,” he murmured against her lips.

“You did?”

“Mmm hmm.” He kissed her again to prove it.

“You’d better go grab a guitar, Reagan,” Dare said from behind Trey. “The jet is waiting for you guys.”

Trey reluctantly released Reagan and grabbed the handle of her suitcase.

“Is this seriously my life?” she said, shaking her head and following Dare in the direction of the practice room. “I don’t recall rubbing a magic lantern and making three wishes.”

Trey watched her walk down the hall next to Dare until she was out of sight and then wheeled her suitcase into the parlor where everyone was waiting.

“So where is she?” Brian asked, craning his neck to look behind Trey.

Trey couldn’t resist fucking with him. “She’s right here in this suitcase. She’s an amazing contortionist.”

“A contortionist?”

“Yeah. Why do you think I fell for her so quickly? She can wrap both ankles around her neck and lick her own clit.”

Brian’s eyes widened. “No shit?”

“Shit no.” Trey shook his head and grinned. “She went with Dare to pick out a guitar.”

“Is she really that talented?” Brian asked.

“I think she could give you a run for your money, Master Sinclair.”

“We’ll see,” he said. He lifted sleeping Malcolm to his lips and then lowered him into his carrier. “I love you, little one. Keep an eye on your mom for me. You’re the man of the house when I’m away.”

Jessica hovered nearby to watch the little guy snooze. Brian drew Myrna to her feet and then led her out of the room so they could say their good-byes in private. With nothing better to do, Trey went to stand beside Jessica so he could watch his godson sleep.

“He really is amazing, isn’t he?” Jessica said.

Trey glanced over his shoulder in the direction Brian had disappeared. “Yeah. He really is.”

“I wonder if Sed’s ready to start a family.” Jessica stroked the baby’s cheek with her knuckles. “I sure do want one of these all of a sudden.”

“It’s that biological clock. Tick. Tick. Tick. I can hear it all the way over here.”

Jessica shoved him. “I’m not that old.”

She wasn’t old at all. She was just fun to tease.

“You know Sed has always wanted a bunch of kids,” Trey said.

“Yeah, every time we talk about it he adds another one to the brood. He thinks we need eight now.”

“Do you have any idea what that’s going to do to your vagina?”

“Trey!” She smacked him repeatedly in the arm.

Yeah. Fun to tease. She got riled up so easily. One of the many things that got Sed’s motor running for the woman. Not that Trey blamed him. Jessica was easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever met, and Trey had met a lot of women in his day. She was way too high-strung for Trey’s taste. Trey preferred someone more laid back. Like Reagan. She entered the room as if on cue carrying a guitar case in each hand. Dare had two as well.

“Reagan, we’re only going to be gone for two weeks,” Trey said. “You don’t need four guitars.”

“She wanted to bring eight,” Dare said. “This was our compromise.”

“They’re all so beautiful. I couldn’t pick favorites.”

Reagan tossed a questioning look in Jessica’s direction. Trey hadn’t realized they were standing so close to each other. Jessica had seen him hit rock bottom, so he was incredibly comfortable around her. Hell, he was incredibly comfortable around most people. Reagan would have to get used to it sooner rather than later.

“This is Jessica Chase.”

Reagan’s eyes widened. “I thought you looked familiar. I saw that video of you and Sed getting it on at the top of the Eif—”

Trey shook his head vigorously and luckily Reagan realized she should keep her knowledge of Sed and Jessica’s infamous sex video to herself.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Reagan Elliot.”

“So you’re a guitarist?” Jessica asked.

“Yeah. Can you believe this fucking shit? Yesterday I was a barista. Today I’m rhythm guitarist for the hottest metal band on the planet, dating the sexiest man in the universe, and about to get on a private jet to go on tour with a band I’ve idolized for years. Are you fecking serious? How did this happen?”

“Because you’re talented,” Dare said.

Reagan flushed. “You’re making my head swell.”

“You always make my head swell,” Trey quipped.

“You’ll have to show me that on the jet. Where’s Master Sinclair? Is he here?” Reagan glanced around the room.

“He’s saying good-bye to his wife,” Trey said. “It might be a while.”

“This is his new baby,” Jessica said, lifting Malcolm out of his carrier. The baby released a cry of protest and Brian dashed into the room.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just picked him up and startled him a little,” Jessica said. “He’s fine, Papa Bear.”

“He shouldn’t be handled by too many people,” Dare said. “His little immune system can’t handle all the germs.”

Brian paled.

“I’ll take him,” Myrna said, walking rather slow and grimacing with each step. She collected the baby in her arms and he immediately started rooting around for a meal.

“He knows his mother already,” Brian said and stroked Malcolm’s hair.

Reagan dropped her guitar case and her fingers dug into Trey’s arm. He glanced at her and she looked like she was about to faint or explode or something. He followed her line of sight to Brian. Trey hoped she didn’t go all fangirl in front of everyone. He’d just told Jessica that she was cool.

“Is this your girlfriend?” Myrna asked Trey.

“Yeah, this is Reagan.”

“Nice to meet you.” Myrna examined Reagan from head to toe. Her gaze finally settled on Reagan’s guitar case. “You’re a very attractive woman. I have a thing for guitarists, you know,” Myrna said.

Brian choked. He turned to look at Reagan and his eyes widened. “If you want to hook up with her, Myrna, you totally have my permission,” he said, “but only if I get to participate.”

Myrna chuckled. “I wasn’t serious, baby. But you are. Serious. You need to relax. You’re going to explode. Everything will be fine. I promise.”

Brian sighed and kissed her temple. “I’m going to miss you. Make sure you take a picture of Malcolm every hour and send it to me. And video. Record lots of videos. I don’t want to miss anything.”

Myrna cupped his face with her free hand. “I will. I promise.”

“Jessica,” Brian said, tearing his gaze off his little family long enough to glance at Sed’s fiancée. “I know Myr won’t call me if there’s a problem, so you’d better.”

Jessica nodded.

“She can always call me if she needs anything,” Dare said. “I’ll be here.” Trey cleared his throat and luckily Dare was a mind reader. “I’ll just cancel my trip to Hawaii,” he added. “No big deal.”

Trey took Reagan’s hand. “Let’s go get on the plane.”

She was still gaping at Brian, so Trey had to give her a tug. She inhaled as if startled and looked at Trey. “Plane? Yeah, okay,” she said. She picked up the guitar case she had dropped.

Trey collected her suitcases. “We’ll see you in a couple of weeks,” he said.

Reagan said, “Nice to meet you all.”

“We’ll talk when you get off tour,” Myrna said. “I’d love to get the perspective of a female musician for the book I’m writing.”

“Sure,” Reagan agreed.

“I’ll be there in a few,” Brian said before continuing to say his good-byes with his wife. There was a lot of open-mouthed kissing involved in the process.

Carrying two guitar cases, Dare followed Trey and Reagan toward the back of the house where the airstrip was located.

“Sorry you didn’t get a better introduction,” Trey said to Reagan.

“It’s okay. Everyone’s excited about the new baby. I understand.”

“Brian isn’t going to handle this separation well,” Dare commented. “He’s going to need your support to get through this, Trey.”

Trey was always willing to support Brian. It felt kind of strange that Trey didn’t consider this an opportunity to try to get Brian to fall in love, or in bed, with him. Maybe Trey’s feelings for Brian were starting to change. “All the guys will be there for him. You know that,” Trey said.

“But he’ll need you most.”

“I never realized he was such a family man,” Reagan said. “I remember how crushed I was when I found out he’d gotten himself married and was no longer available. He really loves his wife though. I can tell.”

“Those two are forever,” Trey said and smiled.

When they reached the sleek black jet, Reagan entered first. She started squealing excitedly as soon as she was onboard. “This is amazing! Oh my God! I’ve never been on a private jet before.”

Trey and Dare followed her aboard. They watched her dart about the cabin as she inspected the wet bar and the entertainment center. The comfortable leather captain chairs, the sofa, and the bathroom. “Room in here for sex,” she announced.

A surge of lust pulsed through Trey’s groin. Their make-out session in the limo that morning already had his motor running in second gear, and that little comment shifted it into third.

“Yeah there is,” Dare murmured to Trey out of the corner of his mouth.

Trey was certain Dare knew that from experience.

“Reagan, sweetheart, you really need to work on your cool rock star veneer while you’re on tour with Sinners,” Dare said. “No matter how excited you are about something, you have to pretend it’s the most fucking boring thing you’ve ever encountered. It’s pretty much expected that you act that way. Like it or not, honey, you’re a rock star now.”

“I am?”

Dare nodded.

“Okay,” Reagan said. “I’ll try.” She pretended to stifle a yawn. “I can’t believe this jet doesn’t have an Olympic-sized swimming pool and full spa facilities. How can I be expected to exist under these horrible conditions? Where’s my fuckin’ beer? It better be cold.” She glanced at Dare, who laughed. “How’s that?”

“Much better.”

“I should probably warn you that Sinners don’t live like this,” Trey said. “Not even close.”

“I can’t wait to see the inside of your tour bus,” Reagan said. “I usually have to suck off at least two roadies to get in to see a band.”

Trey gaped at her and she laughed.

“I’m kidding,” she said.

When he relaxed, she added, “It usually only takes one.”

Dare tossed his head back and laughed until Trey thought he might pass out from lack of air. “She is so perfect for you, little brother.”

Trey couldn’t argue. He happened to agree.

* * *

Reagan kept one eye on the open door of the jet waiting for Brian Sinclair to make an appearance. She would do her damnedest not to go ape shit ballistic when she saw him, but as much as she’d been starstruck the first time she’d met Trey and the members of Exodus End, when she’d seen Brian she’d almost had a coronary. The man had entirely changed her life. If he hadn’t influenced her style of guitar-playing, she wouldn’t be in the incredible position at all. Still, she didn’t want to annoy him by prostrating herself at his feet or damaging his eardrums with rapturous squeals.

She heard voices outside the open door of the jet and her body stiffened.

“Are you nervous?” Trey asked. He reached across the aisle and took her hand to give it an encouraging squeeze.

“A little. I’ll try not to embarrass myself.”

“Why would you embarrass yourself?”

“Because I’m about to be trapped on a jet for more than two hours with the Brian Sinclair.”

“Last night you got laid by the Trey Mills.”

“And it was amazing,” she said, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling to express her bliss.

“If you play your cards right, you might get laid by the Trey Mills in the bathroom back there in about half an hour.” Trey nodded over his shoulder to the back of the plane.

“Do I get a hint?”

“A hint?”

“On how to play my cards right?”

“You’ve been playing them right since the moment I laid ears on you. Don’t change a thing.”

“The moment you laid ears on me?”

“Yep, nothing sexier than the way Brian Sinclair plays a guitar, except finding a woman who plays just like him.”

There he went again referring to Brian in a way that most men never would. She supposed they would be closer than most friends, seeing as they spent most of their lives crammed in a tour bus together. Still, something felt a little off about their relationship. Maybe it would make more sense to her when she spent more time watching how they interacted.

“Do you think Brian will show me some of his techniques?” Reagan asked. “Or are they secrets?”

“I’m sure he’d be happy to work with you. Hopefully it will take his mind off having to leave his family.”

Trey stared down at his thumbs. There had been a time when Sinners had been Brian’s family. And then he’d married Myrna. And now that he had Malcolm… Trey wasn’t sure where he fit in the man’s life anymore.

Brian climbed onto the airplane and took a seat across from Trey. “Look at the picture I just took,” he said, holding up his cell phone so Trey could see the screen. In the picture Brian had his arm around Myrna who was cradling Malcolm against her chest. All three of them were smiling like idiots. Even the baby, who probably just had some gas. The picture was a little blurry because Brian had taken it by holding the camera phone in front of them with an extended arm, but the love displayed in that candid moment stole Trey’s breath.

“It’s great,” he said.

Brian looked at the picture and smiled. “Yeah. She’s supposed to send me lots of pictures until I come home in a couple days.”

“A couple days? We have two more weeks of shows.”

“And any day I have off I’m flying back. Dare already said I could use the jet anytime I want.”

“You’re going to wear yourself out.”

“I don’t care. Knowing I’ll see them again in a few days is the only thing that got me on the plane.”

“I can only imagine how hard it was to say good-bye to them,” Reagan said.

Brian glanced at her and smiled warmly. “So you’re Trey’s new girl.”

Trey loved the man’s smile. It always showed in his eyes. He was so genuine. It was one of the many reasons why Trey had stayed in love with the guy for so long. Hell, he still loved Brian even if he was letting him go. Or trying to. It had been a lot easier to pretend he could move on when Brian had been out of sight.

“I guess you could say that.” Reagan beamed and Trey found himself just as smitten with her smile as he was with Brian’s.

“So you play guitar. Metal?” Brian asked.

The engines started and Reagan had to talk extra loud to be heard. “You’re my greatest influence.”

“I am?” Brian’s brow knitted with confusion. “How long have you been playing?”

“Three years,” Trey said. “Can you believe it?”

“That’s amazing. Can’t wait to hear your work,” Brian said. His phone beeped and he grinned when he looked at the screen. He held up the display for Trey to see. “Look! He’s feeding.”

Breast feeding. Trey averted his gaze. He’d licked those breasts about a year ago. And now… It was going to be a long two weeks.

“Please remember to turn off all electronic devices through the duration of the flight. Make sure your seatbelts are fastened during takeoff. I will let you know when it’s safe to move about the cabin.” The pilot’s voice came over the intercom. She had a sexy, British accent. Trey could have listened to her talk for hours. “Enjoy your flight.”

Brian switched off his phone but continued to hold it in his hand on his lap. He offered Trey a depressed smile before settling his gaze on Reagan. “So tell me how you came to be the rhythm guitarist for Exodus End,” he said.

She shifted into full-out gush mode, and Trey sat there grinning as she articulated every word with a hand gesture or facial expression. He’d never met anyone as animated as she was. Well, besides the few actors he knew. “So I’m at this club with my girlfriends. We all had a few too many and were trying to figure out how we were going to get home, when the bassist of my old band happens into the club. Chad’s a real sweetheart. I didn’t get along with our lead singer, but I’d work with Chad again. So I went to bum a ride from him and he says, ‘Just the guitarist I was looking for.’ I figured he wanted me to play for some new band he formed, but he shows me this ad in Guitar Planet for the contest with Exodus End. Go on Tour with Exodus End for a Year, or something like that. It said to enter you had to send a demo to the record company and sign a release and some other bullshit. Sounded like a big hassle to me. I didn’t want to enter. Didn’t think I had any business entering since there was no chance I’d ever win. As a metal guitarist, I take a lot of shit for being a chick, you know. Chad bribed me into agreeing by offering to give all my girls a ride home. Plus my friends were really enthusiastic about the idea and I was drunk as shit, so I somehow agreed to enter. I cut the demo in Chad’s basement the next day and sent it in unedited. I didn’t think there was a snow cone’s chance in a bonfire that they’d ever pick my demo for the live audition. I just did it to get people off my back.”

“How many of the entrants got a live audition?” Brian asked.

“Five out of something like five thousand.”

Brian’s dark brows lifted in surprise. “Impressive.”

“When the contest coordinator called, I thought they were making stuff up. That Chad had put one of his buddies up to calling me and giving me a hard time. My old band members are notorious for fucking with me.” She paused and lifted a hand of caution in Trey’s direction. “Not fucking me. I never slept with any of them. So after about ten minutes of trying to get this exasperated dude on the phone to admit he was a friend of Chad’s, it finally sunk in that I won the live audition. I was so nervous that I didn’t want to go. My roommate, Ethan, talked me into it. Reminding me how I’d always regret not giving my all. I knew he was right. I’d always wonder if I didn’t go through with it. I was so nervous in the studio yesterday, I thought I was going to hurl. And then Trey shows up right before the five finalists were scheduled to go into the booth for our live auditions. I think that’s when reality hit me. I put everything I had into that audition. Something about knowing Trey was listening really upped my game. I’m not sure how I would have done if he hadn’t showed up. I probably would have thrown up on my guitar and started crying.”

“I don’t deserve any credit,” Trey said. “She’s amazing. I actually thought she was you when I heard her play. She has the same balls-out style you play with.”

Brian laughed. “Now that I have to see.”

“I don’t let my balls out for just anyone,” Reagan said. She grabbed her crotch and pretended to shift her balls into a more comfortable position. “But I’ll make an exception in your case.”

Brian gaped at her and then burst out laughing. “So you two hooked up at the audition?”

“Afterward,” Trey said.

“He beat me in a guitar duel and then I took him for a ride in Exodus End’s limo.” She shifted in her seat and looked over her shoulder to the bathroom at the rear of the plane. “Speaking of taking Trey for a ride.”

Brian’s gaze followed Reagan’s to the bathroom door. His face twisted as if he were in pain and he groaned. “The doctor said I can’t fuck Myrna for six weeks. I’m going to die.”

Trey wasn’t sure how Brian could even think about Myrna in a sexual capacity after watching her give birth. If Trey ever decided to have kids, he would insist his woman have a C-section. Just the memory of natural childbirth had Trey a bit woozy.

“When do we get to lose the seat belts?” Reagan asked.

“They’ll announce it,” Brian said. He lifted his phone to give it a look of longing before tucking it back in his pocket.

“So how did you meet your wife?” Reagan asked. She sure knew how to earn brownie points with Brian.

Brian grinned. “She saw me fall off a table in a hotel bar and still thought I was hot enough to take up to her room.”

“And then she pushed him away for months,” Trey added. At the time Trey had been torn between wanting Brian to be happy by winning Myrna’s affection and wanting him to give up on her so he might have a fighting chance. The thing was, besides the two times that he and Brian had gone all the way in high school, they’d never been intimate again. Not for Trey’s lack of trying. It was as if Brian had checked homosexual experience off his life’s to-do list and never really thought about it again. Trey, on the other hand, had been hung up on the experience for over ten years. He was lucky that Brian had patience. He had to know that Trey still wanted him, and Brian never intentionally hurt him. Instead Brian seemed content for Trey to outgrow his infatuation. Maybe it would have been easier if Brian had just shredded Trey’s heart and left him to wallow in despair for a few months instead of that constant ignore-the-situation-and-it-will-go-away stance he’d taken. Trey didn’t blame Brian though. He knew how important their friendship was to him. It was as equally important to Trey. If Brian had treated him any differently, their friendship might have dissolved as well, and that might have hurt their music. Trey supposed that waiting it out had worked eventually. Maybe. His heart still fluttered every time he looked at Brian. He still thought about how connected he’d felt to the man the first time they’d made love, and how that connection had somehow lasted for twelve years.

He glanced at Reagan and found her watching him closely. Had he been staring at Brian with open longing? Shit. If he wasn’t careful, she’d figure out that he was interested in men. He smiled at her and she offered him an answering smile. The connection he’d forged with her the night before returned to the forefront of his mind. He wondered if he’d carry a torch for her forever the same way he carried a torch for the first man he’d ever felt that connection with. The idea scared him, yet if she embraced it, instead of ignoring it, maybe they could build something substantial. Trey didn’t know if he could handle another one-sided love affair. There was one significance difference in this relationship. Reagan was interested in him. He had to trust her intentions.

“We’re now at cruising altitude,” the pilot said over the intercom. “Feel free to move about the cabin. Help yourself to anything in the galley.”

Reagan removed her seat belt and slid onto Trey’s lap. “Do you count as something in the galley?” she asked. “I’d like to help myself to you.”

“Technically I’m not in the galley, but you can still help yourself.”

Reagan stole a kiss, her arms wrapping around his neck. “I’m so lucky,” she whispered in his ear.

His hand slid up her shirt to slide over the bare skin of her side.

Brian sighed. “Don’t mind me.”

“In the good old days I would have asked you to join us. Now you’re all married and boring,” Trey said, peering around Reagan to see if his taunt had wiped the scowl from Brian’s handsome face.

“What I wouldn’t give for a time machine,” Reagan said.

Brian smirked and shook his head. “Go on. Have fun. I’ll sit here and mope a while longer.”

Reagan unfastened Trey’s seat belt and climbed to her feet. She leaned over him and spoke into his ear, not quietly enough to exclude Brian, so Trey could only conclude that she was trying to tease Brian out of his funk. “I’ll go into the bathroom. You come join me in a couple of minutes so no one will suspect anything.”

“Yeah, okay. Good plan,” he said with a chuckle.

He watched her walk down the wide aisle and close herself in the bathroom.

“She’s cute,” Brian said. “Kind of a tomboy, but I can see why you like her.”

“Does it bother you?” Trey asked.

“Does what bother me?”

“That I have a steady girlfriend.”

“It’s a little sudden, but of course it doesn’t bother me. I’m happy for you. I hope it works out. You deserve the love of a good woman.”

Trey wasn’t sure why that made him a little sad. He wanted Brian to like Reagan. He also wanted Brian to be insanely jealous and tell him he wasn’t allowed to love anyone but him. He knew it was fucked up to still feel that way, but at least he no longer wanted to feel that way. That was progress, wasn’t it?

“I’ll try not to make her scream too loud.”

Brian chuckled. “Fuck her brains out. You know I wouldn’t consider your misery if our positions were reversed.”

Positions reversed? Trey pictured himself dragging Brian into the bathroom. Shoving him against the wall. Taking everything he wanted from him. Trey bit his lip and rose from his seat, hoping Brian didn’t notice how hard he was all of a sudden. Of course, Brian would probably think he was hard for Reagan, not him. Trey’s desire was as fucked up as his feelings were. He had a lot of work to do.

He retrieved a strip of condoms from a box in the paper sack he’d brought onboard and headed for the bathroom. He knocked and then opened the door. Entirely naked, Reagan reached into the corridor and jerked him into the small bathroom before securing the door behind him. The lavatory was a bit larger than a standard airplane bathroom, but not by much. Trey pressed her against the wall behind the door and claimed her mouth with a deep, seeking kiss. He needed that senseless, disconnected release he was accustomed to. He didn’t give her time to draw him out of his shell this time. He squeezed her breasts and then released his belt and the fly of his jeans. He tore his mouth away from hers long enough tear a condom open with his teeth.