Homewrecker (Into the Flames #1) (2 page)

I bite back my giggle until she hangs up the phone. “I swear you’re a customer service pro, Lyn,” I tease, tossing my bag behind the counter.

“He was a rude fucker,” she argues, tossing her dark brown hair over her shoulder. “Seriously, is it my fault that he tried to put a ten inch extender on his schlong? Sometimes you have to just accept your fate and learn to use your fingers, mouth, or a very high powered, vibrating strap on. If you rattle her fuckin’ teeth, she’ll be less likely to notice you’re packin’ a toothpick where your telephone pole should be.”

“No, but it is bad when people come in here they say, and I quote,” Mark begins, stepping out from the storage room with a box. “’Can anyone other than that rude bitch help me? She’s scary.’”

Lynsey’s eyes harden, the deep green nearly flaming as she glares at him. “Shut your face, whore.”

“You’re lucky I love you with an intensity that burns for eternity,” Mark fires back with a wink. Turning away, he heads toward a shelving unit, shaking his ass as he does.

“A quick trip to the clinic will fix that,” Lynsey says before turning to me again. “I swear he came in here all sassy and happy this morning. I think that he got the cock last night and I’m a bitter bitch. I need a guy to play with.” A slow smile spreads across her face, instantly making me wince. The places Lyn’s mind goes sometimes is scary and fucked up. I love her, but the woman has serious issues with her filter control. “So, how was Gunnar this morning? First day as the big bad head coach must’ve had him nervous.”

“He was,” I reply, nodding my head. Turning, I walk over to Mark and grab a handful of cock rings and start slipping them on their hook.

“Ugh!” she shrieks, frustration rolling off her in waves. “I hate both of you penis getting whores. Did you at least try the stuff I sent home with you? You can’t properly recommend a product if you don’t know what it does.”

I can feel my face heating as I swallow around the lump in my throat. Lynsey sends Mark and I home with new toys and porn every week and up until a few months ago, I hadn’t used any of it. While Gunnar was away with his father and Dixon on a camping trip with some guys from the fire department, I had too much wine and decided to experiment to better recommend things to customers.

That was the night I started wondering if Gunnar and I were missing something… If
I
was missing something.

“No, Lyn, Gunnar just laughs and blushes a bit at some of the things when I bring home your bags of fun. After he has a good chuckle, I shove them into the bottom drawer of my dresser.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lynsey shrieks, a dildo sails through the air, slamming into the wall beside Mark and me, making me jump. “Get the stick outta his ass and tell him he needs to stick a vibrating plug in yours.”

Mark turns and grins at me, his dimples on clear display. Running a hand over his blonde hair, he rolls his crystal blue eyes. “I’m just going to see if there are any boxes still in back until she calms down. I can’t let this testy sad vagina ruin my post-orgasmic glow. It’s bad for my complexion and my natural well-being.”

“Wanna know what else is bad for your well-being?” Lynsey barks as Mark makes his retreat. “My foot in your ass!”

“Hard limit!” Mark laughs, slamming the door behind him.

“I’m firing both of you today.” Lynsey turns and grabs another dildo from the box. The damn thing is bigger than a coffee thermos. “I can’t believe you have a college fund worth of sex toys at your house and don’t use them.” Stepping around the counter, she shakes the rubber cock at me. Her eyes narrow as she scrutinizes me. “Is your vagina broken? Vaginal therapy was my major in college, you know?”

“Lynsey, just because you tried out being a lesbian for a semester after getting dumped by that guy on the swim team doesn’t mean…”

Closing the distance, she slaps me in the shoulder with the dildo, making me yelp. “Are you mocking me? Because I could totally be a fantastic lesbian, I just happen to love cock too much to give it up.” Stroking her hand up and down the rubber shaft, she smiles fondly. “See how beautiful this fucker is? I’d marry the man they molded this after.” Slapping me again with it, she laughs. “Fucker! HA!”

Lynsey walks around the counter again and hops up onto a stool. “I need a night out.” She sighs. “A club, a slutty dress, and fuck me heels, then a hot man to fuck me in nothing but those heels. Come with me, Kennedy, you can be my wing-woman.”

“Are you crazy?” I ask, “I don’t want to go out and watch you play catch-a-cock. Take Mark with you.”

“You’re no fun,” she huffs, crossing her arms across her chest. “Let me just say one thing though, missy. A happy vag equals a happy life. Every unused toy in that drawer should harass your ass” Holding up the dildo again, she holds it out like a sword and wiggles it at me. “Taunty taunt taunt. Just put me in your butt, Kennedy.”

Now that Mark is out of earshot, I want to blurt everything that has been on my mind lately. I should just tell her everything so that I can sort it all out. Lynsey is the best person for that. Regardless of the fact that she is inappropriate nearly ninety nine percent of the time, she is a damn good listener and usually knows where my head is going before I do.

The bell jingles above the door as a couple walks into the tamer front room of the shop, stopping me just as I start to open my mouth. “Floggers, clamps, and strap-ons— oh my! Welcome to Batteries Not Included, what craving can we help you feed today?” Lynsey says from behind the counter, still holding onto the oversized rubber penis.

Once she IDs them, the couple walks over toward me, and I smile at them. “Hi, I’m Kennedy, how can I help y’all today?”

The man, who looks to be in his late forties, leans in. “Does she always wave those around at the customers?”

I can’t help laughing, then I nod. “Honestly, if she could run them up a flagpole outside, she would.”

“Damn city and their ‘aesthetically pleasing guidelines and family friendly protocol’,” Lynsey shouts. “They ruin all my fun.”

“How about you guys have a look around and you let me know if you have any questions or need any help, OK?” I ask, watching their faces as they scan one of the displays.

Nodding, they walk over to a wall full of lingerie and floggers. Turning to face Lynsey, I flip her off and shake my head. “Seriously, Lyn, customer service needs to be a goal for you.”

“There is only one type of service that is a goal for me. Everything else is why I have you and Mark.”

Shaking my head, I go back to stocking the shelves with what is left in the boxes while Mark continues to bring more out. Lynsey answers the phone and handles the register while talking to everyone about their sex lives. She truly lives for reading into what people are hiding and figuring out what they are missing in their lives. She is determined that World Peace will be gained by a sexual revolution.

Viva La Orgasm.

Between helping customers and stocking the shelves, time flies by. By the time the boxes are empty and broken down, it’s time for me to leave. Grabbing my bag, I can’t help overhearing Lynsey selling a couple of her favorite things to a man that came in to buy his wife a birthday gift.

“Well, Joe, I can tell you that I’d bet my monthly Brazilian that if you buy your wife this jeweled, glass anal plug and the Silencer she will quit nagging about that new Jeep you just bought. Hell, she may even pay for new tires and window tinting.”

“Why do they call it the Silencer?” he asks, looking at the large neon green vibrator.

Lynsey grins. “Because she’ll scream so loud, she’ll lose her voice. I mean, if she still nags after you give her orgasm after screaming, breath-stealing orgasm, then at least you won’t be able to hear it.”

“Ring it up.”

“You got it,” she replies, sliding it into a bag.

“Gunnar has practice tonight and it’ll probably run late. Wanna do dinner at my place?” I ask, not wanting to go home to an empty house.

Turning, she glances at me. “You’re on, babe. I expect booze, stuffed crust Hawaiian pizza, and for you to spill your guts on what has been up your ass the last couple weeks over ice cream after.”

Of course she knew something was up. She always does.

Nodding my head, I acknowledge her, telling her I’ll see her at my house once she closes up. I shout my goodbye to Mark, who is too engaged in a game on his phone to give a shit that I’m leaving, and head to the grocery store with my thoughts whirling in my head again.

By the time I get through the insanity at the grocery store and grab our pizza, I make it home just after six. I lug in the bags and begin unpacking them to put things away just as the back door opens and Lynsey struts in like she owns the place.

“Did you buy the store out?” she asks, digging through a paper bag. “Aha!” she shouts, pulling out the bottle of vodka I picked up. “This is why we’re friends.”

Grabbing two glasses from the cabinet, Lynsey dumps in ice and starts mixing the vodka with different juices from the fridge. Once I get the last of the food put away, I plate two pieces of pizza and put them on the island for us. Images of Gunnar and me this morning on that very counter flash through my mind, making me guzzle my drink before setting the glass beside my plate.

“Whoa, don’t get too far ahead of me, Kennedy,” Lynsey teases, sipping her drink through a straw. She stares at me curiously, cocking her head to the side. “Hmmm, something’s up with you. I know it.” Sitting her glass down, she grabs her pizza. Turning it around backwards, she bites a big chunk out of the crust. “You gonna spill or do I need to beat it outta ya?” she mumbles around the food in her mouth before swallowing. “Whatever it is, it’s juicy, I can tell.”

Taking a breath, I roll my eyes. “You know that just by looking at me?” I ask, taking a bite of my pizza. “And who eats their pizza backwards anyway?”

Taking another bite of the crust, she shrugs. “I’m greedy and too impatient to wait the good stuff.” Standing up, I walk over and begin making myself another drink. “As for reading you, it’s not hard. You’re uneasy, and you’re out drinking me.” I turn and glare at her, but she simply grins at me, arching a brow. “No one, except Dixon, out drinks me.”

I can feel the blush heating my cheeks. My eyes instantly go to my hands as I fix my drink. I try to sort through the jumbled mess of shit in my head, desperate to make one clear thought before I open my mouth, but I can’t. I feel the tears threatening to fall and that can’t happen.

“There’s something missing,” I blurt. Sitting down at the island again, I keep my eyes on my plate instead of looking at Lynsey. “There’s an elephant that’s always in the room, being ignored, and it’s only growing bigger and bigger by the day. I’m afraid of what’s going to happen to us, hell, to me, if I keep ignoring it. I know things have changed, but I don’t even know how to talk to Gunnar about it.”

“I don’t know, but if it were me, I’d say to tell him how you feel.” I jerk around, nearly falling off the bar stool when I hear Gunnar’s voice from behind me. “Who knows, baby, maybe he feels the same way.” Walking over, Gunnar dumps his gym bag on the bar before grabbing a slice of pizza. Opening the fridge, he takes out a beer and tips it at Lynsey. “Hi, Lyn.”

“Gunnar,” she says sweetly. Backing off the stool, she grabs her pizza from the plate. “I’m thinking that some things take precedence over a girls’ night. I’ll see you guys for dinner this weekend.”

“Thanks, Lyn,” I reply when she walks by me, stopping only to kiss Gunnar on the cheek before walking out the door.

Gunnar sighs, his eyes meeting mine. “You honestly think I can’t tell when there’s something on your mind, Kennedy?” he asks, shaking his head. Tossing his pizza on a paper plate, he twists the cap off his beer and takes a long, slow drink.

“I didn’t know how to go about bringing up something like this, Gunnar. I didn’t think it was fair to add to everything on your plate already. This is something I’m just struggling with,” I begin to explain. “Besides, I don’t want you to think you aren’t enough, that we aren’t enough. We are, it’s just…”

His eyes soften when he sees me struggling with my words. Tears threaten to fall again, but I force them back. It’s not time for me to crack, the last thing I need to do is become a whimpering mess because things aren’t how I want them to be between us. Placing the bottle on the counter, Gunnar reaches out for me and I willingly go into his arms. His warmth is comforting, even though it doesn’t solve anything. The only thing it does is cause a tear to slip down my cheek and drip onto his gray t-shirt.

“Don’t cry, Kennedy. When you struggle, I struggle— it’s that simple. We’re in this together. I think I know what you need, baby, what’s missing from our lives. People change and learn to want and need other things to be happy.” Pulling me tight against his chest, he kisses the top of my head before tipping my face up to meet his brown gaze. Smiling down at me sweetly, Gunnar brushes away a stray tear with his thumb. “I love you, Kennedy. Right now, that’s all that matters to me. Everything else will work itself out.”

I nod, then his lips are on mine. Softly, he moves his lips against mine and I sigh into his mouth when his hands slip beneath my shirt and meet my bare skin. Nothing has been fixed tonight, and I didn’t really expect it to be, but at least the elephant in the room has been made smaller by talking. For now.