Ricochet (8 page)

Putty in my hands.

She still hadn’t apologized for tickling me, so I didn’t stop. I continued moving my fingers inside her and suckling her clit.

“Fuck!”
Her hands flew to my head and tried to push me away.
Her efforts were futile, though. I removed my fingers and hooked my arms under her thighs, refusing to let up.
She jerked and cussed and said she couldn’t take anymore.
Then she cried for me to continue.

“Fuck … Fuck … Fuck.” She flattened her feet on the bed and moved to rub her pussy against my face. She begged, her words coming out in choppy stutters. “Miles. Miles, I can’t. Fuck, I can’t.”

I moved my head from side to side, and she let out a strangled sob before her entire body began thrashing wildly. I pinned her hips down with one hand and moved to slide my finger inside of her, but she stopped me.

“OK, OK,” she pleaded. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry!”

I smiled victoriously and then got one last
lick in before sitting up.

She lay flat on her back and spread eagle. Her chest, covered in a layer of sweat, heaved.
I crawled up her body and rested my forearms
on each side of her head.

“
You all right?”

She grimaced and shook her head. “Death by orgasm. It’s real. You can Google it.”

I chuckled. “Think you can give me another one?”

Noelle bit her lip, giving me a slow nod. I resisted the urge to leap off the bed; instead,
I rolled off her slowly and peeled off my shorts.
Already rock hard and leaking from the activities of the morning, I groaned while I rolled on a condom.

I positioned myself between her legs
, brought my mouth to hers, and slid into her slower than the previous times we’d fucked. I wanted to savor every second of what might be the last time we were together.

“God, you feel good.” I exhaled into her neck. “So fucking good, Noelle.”

“You have no idea.” She moaned softly, and our words to each other became whispers with a backdrop of low grunts and heavy breathing.

I held onto her shoulders tightly
and then gripped her right thigh, which was hooked over my hip. I loved the way her foot dug into my ass. It was as though we couldn’t get close or deep enough.

When we came this time, it was
more subtle; our slow movements not calling for anything loud or extreme. Still, it was an orgasm, so it took all my energy. Unable to catch my breath, I lay on top of her, not having the strength to support my body weight.

Realizing I was smothering the poor girl, I rolled off her. After getting rid of the condom, I got back into bed and pulled her against my side.

We fell asleep in each other’s arms.

A couple hours later, I was awakened when Noelle shook my shoulder.

“What time is it?” I rubbed the palm of my hand across my eyes.

“It’s almost noon. I have to go.”

“When did you change?” I’m not always the most perceptive guy, but I recognized the difference between the red dress she had on last night and the long, yellow dress she wore now.

“I called Teresa and asked her to come get me,” she whispered, keeping her head down while fixing her shoes. “We have lunch plans with my parents, so she brought me clothes. I showered and changed here. That OK?”

No, it was not OK, but only because for a moment I forgot what this weekend was—apparently to both of us. I couldn’t ask her to stay. I wanted to, but it wasn’t a good idea. Instead, I walked her to the door and gave her a last soft peck on the lips.

There was some hesitation, but she left me with a “thanks for the amazing weekend” and a small smile.

Neither of us asked for the other’s phone number.

I doubted if I’d see her again, but for the first time in months, I felt like myself—who I was before Arianna. I’d never admit it to Warren, but maybe he was onto something with his whole Rebound Effect.

“If I ask you to go to Royale with me tonight,” Warren said, starting his statement off slowly, “what are the odds of you saying no?”

I gave no thought to my reply. “Pretty high.”

“Come on! You can’t do this to me. To yourself. You can’t ricochet.”

The way he said it made me pause our game. This I had to hear. “Ricochet? Are you getting ready to recite another one of your theories?”

“Hey!” He pointed his controller at me as he spoke. “I do not recite theories. I drop knowledge and speak facts.”

“Enlighten me, then.”

“You were doing good. You were bouncing back! For a few weeks, you were
you
again and now … you’re the same sad fuck you were when Arianna left.”

Well shit.
“Thanks.”

“And it’s kind of pathetic.”

“Noted.”

“And you’re draining my energy.”

“My sincerest apologies.” I smiled, even though his words made me feel as though I’d just gotten run over. It wasn’t often
she
came up in conversation. At times, it felt as though the subject of Arianna had been forgotten. The reality of how I thought I’d handled things versus what my friends and family must have seen—a sad, pathetic fuck—wasn’t that easy to hear.

As for this round of back-and-forth, that’s how things had been between me and Warren: weekends spent in front of the TV, talking shit, and bickering like school girls.

I went out with him, and occasionally Corey, but I avoided Royale like the fucking plague. I didn’t say it, but from some of their comments, I think the guys knew it was because I didn’t want to run into Noelle.

I wasn’t opposed to the idea of seeing her, but I had no clue how it would play out. Would she think I was a dick for not taking her number? I mean, she didn’t ask for mine either. In hindsight, that shouldn’t surprise me. It was up to me to take that step, and I flopped.

There were times when I wondered how she was. I replayed some of our moments together, hoping they were good for her like they were for me. At times, visions of her and her asshole ex popped into my head. Was she filling a weak moment? Using me to make him jealous? Then I’d start wondering how I got so sprung in one weekend. That hadn’t happened to me before—a girl plaguing my every thought after being in my life for only a short time. Arianna and I had been cool for months before I realized how I felt about her, and my girlfriend before her … ? Well, I was in high school. It didn’t take much back then.

But Noelle, there was an ease there. Even though her guard was up, mine stayed down. I didn’t feel judged or as though I had to maintain a specific type of behavior around her.

I never asked about her, though I could. Corey was always around.

Sometimes Corey would look me over when he thought
I wasn’t paying attention. They were never dirty looks, which I’d have put a stop to, but more like analyzing and curious as if he were trying to figure me out. Actually, figure out both me
and
Warren since things with Teresa fizzled after a couple weeks. I say fizzle, but it was more like they crashed and burned.

He never went into detail about what happened—if Teresa said or did something to him. He’d been spending most of his free time with Lonnie, that is, when he wasn’t harassing me he was with her. This was the most serious their relationship had seemed in a long time, so I guess things going to shit with him and Teresa was a blessing in disguise. Which reminded me …

“You’re going to Royale?” My voice rose. He’d been avoiding that place, too. Probably more than me, and I wondered why the sudden change.

“Now I’m not,” he said in a huff. “Lonnie’s working. Corey asked me to come, but I sure as hell won’t be going by myself.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” A lot could happen, but I wanted to fuck with him a little.

“I run into Fatal Attraction’s crazy ass, that’s what.”

That’s it; that’s all I would get from him in reference to Teresa. “She was crazy” or “she’s worse than that
Fatal Attraction
bitch” and no further information.

“Fuck it.” Warren settled onto the couch. “Let’s stay in.”

“Which is what I’d planned on doing anyway.”

“Whatever.”

“Anyway, I’m having lunch with Lena tomorrow,” I said. “You down?”

Warren never passed on the chance to be in the same space as my sister, thanks to a playful childhood crush that we all knew would never amount to more.

Our roles were reversed; I wanted to give him the chance to go out, do something a little different, and not be alone with his thoughts.

His smile was not his normal,
easy going expression; it was somewhat guarded. Still, he managed to maintain his jackassery. “I can’t, but tell my sexy, future wife hello.”

A sudden urge to stretch came over me, and with my fist balled tight, that’s what I did. My bad Warren’s shoulder was on the r
eceiving end of the stretching.

“OK, you have a weird look going on.” Lena pointed to my face. I loved how she called it weird when really it was exhaustion. I hummed in agreement and focused on my menu.

She snapped her fingers in front of my face. “You’re still not with me.”

“Huh? Yeah. No, I was listening.”

“Really? What did I say?”

“You said … OK, I wasn’t listening.”

“What’s with you today? Everything OK?”

“Yes. No. Shit, I don’t know.” My confusion was giving me a headache.

“What is it?” She squeezed my hand.

I sighed and faced my sister. I took a minute to think of how to word this. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, other than it being about Noelle. “I met this chick—this girl—a little while back, right? And, I can’t get her out of my head.”

After explaining a little bit about Noelle and how we met and the weekend we spent together followed by no contact, I wanted to take back every nice thing I’d said about my sister. She’d listened intently, an unreadable expression on her face. The second I finished speaking, she reamed me out for being a dumbass.

“Thanks a lot, Lena,” I grumbled.

“Aww, I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, but would it have killed you to ask for her number? Or ask her friend for her number?”

“Corey’s not her friend. Not like that. He’s her friend’s boyfriend. It would be a lame move.”

“You mean lamer than not having her number and pining away over your memories of the weekend?”

“And anyway,” I spoke over her. “It’s been …” I had to pause and think about it. “
Over a month? A lot can happen in that time. She might not
want
to hear from me.”

“She will,” Lena said. She sounded so confident. “Just find her number, call her, and see what happens.”

I trusted my sister’s judgment, so later that night I called Warren with the plan to ask him about getting Noelle’s number; however, I punked out when he answered the phone.

“
Miles
!”

I pulled the phone away for a second, wincing at his volume. “Uh, hey. Why are you so amped?”

“I was getting ready to call you because Corey wanted me to get at you about something. He told me about it last week, actually, but I kept forgetting.”

I was nervous. I didn’t know why, but I was. “I’m listening.”

“He’s deejaying at some club at Foxwoods next weekend and invited us to come along. You down?”

“Foxwoods?” I couldn’t stop the smile that crept across my face. Let’s see, go out of town to the casino and gamble a little. Hit the club, eat good food, and lounge in a nice hotel?
Or stay at home alone and miserable? Decisions. Decisions. “You don’t need to ask.”

He hesitated. “It’s a theme party, though.”

I hated things like that. All black. All white. Wear this color of the rainbow depending on your mood and relationship status. What was the point? Since the following weekend was Halloween, I wasn’t surprised, but I needed some clarification before I passed judgment. “You mean a costume party?”

“No, I mean a theme party. It’s heaven or hell or angels and demons … or some shit like that. You get it?”

“I’m not buying a costume.” I never dressed up for Halloween as a kid—that shit was lame—and I wasn’t about to start doing it now.

“Me neither. Just wear all white and say you’re representing heaven or something. That’s what I’m doing.”

I guess that wasn’t a bad idea. “Yeah, I could do that. Count me in, then.”

The following Thursday, Warren and I met Corey at his house so our entire group could ride together in his truck instead of driving three different cars. We were putting our bags into his trunk when another car pulled up.

When I peeped who was inside, I died.

“Uh, Corey, what are they doing here?”

He stopped tapping at his phone and as if shit didn’t just get real nonchalantly said, “Oh, didn’t I mention it? The girls are coming, too.”

I didn’t respond.
Shit, what was there to say?

Warren looked pissed; I thought
he was going to start foaming at the mouth.

“No, you didn’t mention that.”

“I’m pretty sure I did.”

“And I’m pretty sure you didn’t.” Warren took a step closer.

Corey stood straighter. “And again, I’m pretty fucking sure I did. But it’s whatever; they’re coming. It’s no big deal.”

My focus bounced back and forth between the two, and a sense of anticipation came over me.
Boys or not, it looked and felt as if something was about to go down.

“No big deal?” Warren’s eyes got wide. “You fucking idiot, I invited Lonnie.”

Corey and I looked at each other and then at Warren then at the car where the girls sat. Their mouths and hands moved rapidly in a heated discussion of their own.

“I’ve only spoken to Teresa once since she declared her love for me, and trust me, it didn’t go well.” He looked at me almost pleadingly, but I shrugged. So did Corey.

I felt for Warren, but there wasn’t shit we could do for him. And damn.
That’s
what happened between them? I smiled. He was handing me this ammo on a silver platter. “Did she propose, too?”

“It’s not funny.”

I begged to differ. It was hilarious, actually.

Warren’s eyes bugged out, and he was breathing hard as hell. “I’m being serious. Do you not understand Lonnie and Teresa shouldn’t be in the same place together? Let alone the same place for a whole weekend?”

“I guess you’re fucked, then.” Corey chuckled and strolled toward the girls.

I steeled myself and followed suit.

Noelle didn’t say much of anything other than giving us obligatory kisses on our cheeks and soft hellos.

It seemed as though she lingered a few extra seconds when she kissed me, but I couldn’t be too sure. Hopeful thinking, I guessed. Discreetly as possible, I checked her out
but had to look away before I did something stupid to embarrass myself—like grab her ass
or her tits, or just pull her to me and shove my tongue down her throat.

The way she looked … Dammit! When it came to her, I could never find the words.

Her long sweater hugged her body in ways I longed to.

But that was nothing compared to the boots she had on. Knee-high. And I pictured taking her with nothing but those boots on. I had no idea I had a shoe fetish.

I leaned against Corey’s truck, staring at Noelle while we forced out greetings. A taxi pulled up. Out climbed a spoiled princess if I’d ever seen one. With her nose high in the air, hair done to perfection, and wearing sunglasses with those two backward
c’
s that could be seen from outer space, Lonnie sauntered toward us.

“Who the hell is that?” one of the girls asked.

Before anyone could answer, Noelle shocked us, especially Warren, when she called Lonnie’s name. Lonnie snapped her head up, removed her sunglasses, and then proceeded to appraise Noelle. This was one look I wasn’t accustomed to, but I took a step forward in case some shit was about to go down. With a chick like Lonnie it was always best to be on guard.