Page 7 of Double Dirty
“As Rafe’s oldest friend, I would like to know your intentions toward him.”
Rafe choked on his coffee, and Lexi smacked him on the back until he could breathe. I chuckled.
“My intentions? I guess my plan is to pay the check when we’re done because he bought my dinner on Wednesday, and it’s my turn. Then I’ll see him at class next week.”
“That’s cute. But I’m talking about my boy Rafe here. He’s trying to be a gentleman, obviously. But I’ve known him long enough to say I haven’t seen him with a crush this bad since Ashley Potter in eleventh grade.”
“Really? How’d that work out?” she said.
“Well, they’re married now and have eight kids,” I deadpanned.
“Nah, he’s thinking of himself and Ashley. Poor guy. She wouldn’t even look at him,” Rafe chimed in. “He had a t-shirt made with her face on it that said ‘I heart Ashley’ on the back. They even put a picture of it in the yearbook. It was so sad.”
Lexi giggled, “Really?”
“No,” I told her. “He’s just trying to dodge the fact that he hasn’t acted that stupid since then. Until now. The amount of time he spends avoiding my questions about you should tell you --”
“Should tell you what a nosy bastard my best friend is. Asks me questions about you all the time. I think he’s obsessed with you,” Rafe said.
“Me? You’re the one obsessed with her. I never met her till tonight.
“We’re not even Facebook friends,” I said.
“I do follow your Instagram. And that’s a lot of selfies at the firehouse, I gotta say,” she said.
“Can I help it if I’m photogenic and the firehouse has a ton of props for background? Brick walls, fire trucks, pole, hoses --”
“Yeah, it’s like you’re auditioning for a Hot Firefighters calendar of your own,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say no to a deal like that,” I said.
“While it’s hilarious to scroll through my feed and see five selfies of you with your shirt off, you could seriously be a model. You don’t look like a real fireman. You look like the kind of firemen they put in those pictures in Cosmo and on romance novel covers. The too-good-to-be-true kind,” she said.
“We were both wrong,” I said to Rafe. “She’sthe one who’s obsessed, and she’s obsessed with me.”
“Yeah, who knew you were online stalking my roommate,” Rafe said to her sternly. She laughed.
“I had to check out my competition for your time and attention,” she deadpanned. “I had to know what I was up against. And he was obviously too vain to be a threat.”
I laughed. I also stopped to marvel at how well she fit in with us, like she had always been part of our dynamic. She could trash talk with the note of fondness that let us know she was on our side. We were so comfortable going back and forth. We stayed there for hours just talking and laughing. When it was late enough, we all admitted we had to go home, and it felt strange not taking her home with us. That was the weirdest part of all.
The second weirdest was the fact that I was attracted to her. Even when she teased me or gazed at Rafe a little too long, I still imagined the things I’d like to be doing to her. Looking at her, hearing her laugh, all of it made me wanther. I knew she was Rafe’s, and I would never take my best friend’s girl, but I was a flesh and blood man. I’d add her to my spank bank and never say word one about it.
As we were leaving to walk her to her car, I thought of something, a way to spend a little more time with her, the three of us. We meshed well, and it was fun. So I went for it without asking Rafe.
“Hey, want to come spar with us at the gym tomorrow around eleven?” I asked.
“What do you do?”
“We fight. Sometimes we box, kickbox, a little MMA. I don’t do krav maga like Rafe, but I can hold my own.”
“I’d like to see that,” she said, “Thanks. I’ll be there.”
I found myself grinning. When I looked at Rafe, he was smiling, too. I wasn’t the only one who thought we were a good fit. And if she was going to be his girl, I might as well get used to being with both of them.
5
Lexi