BANKS Maya - Undenied (Samhain).txt (2 page)

He snorted in disgust. “Luke so didn’t know what he was getting into with you.”

Her eyes twinkled and a smile hovered over full lips. “Oh, I don’t think you’ll hear him complaining.” She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed him directly. “Okay, so spill it. Did you make it with some chick who thought you were the worst guy she’d ever fucked?”

Despite his discomfort, he couldn’t help but laugh at Gracie’s bluntness. It was what he liked best about her. And why he’d decided to come to her with his problem. She liked to joke, but he knew when it came down to it, she’d never rat him out. She was too loyal.

“It’s kind of a long story,” he said with a heavy sigh.

She made a show of checking her watch. “Well, you better abbreviate it. I figure we have ten minutes tops before Luke gets back.”

Suddenly he regretted his impulsive decision to talk to Gracie about Payton. It seemed ridiculous and could only add to his embarrassment. Quite frankly, he’d be happy for no one to ever know, and he’d be even happier if Payton hadn’t shown up out of the blue after twelve years.

Twelve years in which he’d put the past firmly behind him, only to have it pushed back into his face with one chance encounter.

“Wes,” Gracie said softly. “Whatever it is that’s bothering you, you can tell me. You know that. Hell, you saw me through one of the most awkward moments of my life. I wanted to drop dead of embarrassment when I waltzed into the kitchen at the cabin, half-naked, only to find you standing there looking at me.”

He grinned at that memory. “Ahh, my first glimpse of the infamous nipple rings.”

Gracie blushed, which only caused him to grin wider. She planted a fist in his gut, and he doubled over, laughing.

“Okay, okay.” He straightened his body and took a deep breath. “You’re going to think this is ridiculous but I went over to Zack’s to get a beer. There was some wild bachelorette party going on. I was checking out the girls, and I saw someone I know. Well, knew anyway. Then she saw me.”

“Run screaming in the other direction?” Gracie asked.

“No, that’s the thing. She runs over to me and leaps into my arms and plants a huge kiss on me.”

Gracie frowned. “Was she butt ugly?”

“No, not at all. She’s…well, she’s hot. Gorgeous hot. I mean one of those women a man is just drawn to.”

“Okay, so what’s the problem?”

“I love women. No secret there. And I haven’t exactly had the sex life of a monk.”

Gracie snorted indelicately.

“Shut up,” he growled.

She giggled and gestured for him to carry on.

“By all rights I should have been all sorts of turned-on. I mean I had a handful of luscious woman in my arms. She’s kissing me. Her breasts, gorgeous breasts by the way, were all pressed up against me. And…”

“And?” Gracie prompted.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I think I may have lost an inch or two my dick shriveled so quick. I think it may have gone into permanent hiding.”

Gracie pressed her lips tight together and her body shook with silent laughter. “Uhm, Wes, you could stand to lose an inch or two and still be better off than most of the male populous.”

Again, he felt heat slide up his neck much like nails on a chalkboard.

“Okay, I’ll strive to be more serious. Hard, though, when you give me openings like that,” she cracked. “So how, pray tell, did this dick shriveling incident lead you to the conclusion that you must suck in bed?”

“Well, there’s more to the story,” he said grudgingly.

“Aha, so now we get to the good part.”

“Shut up, Gracie.”

She held her hands up in surrender. “Continue on.”

He raised a hand to his hair then slid it down the back of his head to his neck. “Do you remember Payton Ricci from high school? She was two years behind us.”

Gracie scrunched her face into a thoughtful expression. “Huh uh, doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Well, I had a major crush on her the summer after my senior year. We, uhm, well we had sex. I was her first.” He winced at the memory. “To make a long story short, it was a disaster. I hurt her. To date, it has to go down as one of the most awkward moments of my life.”

Gracie’s lip formed an “O”. “And Payton is the chick from the bar tonight?”

He nodded.

“And you can’t get past the fact that you once had disastrous sex together?”

“Evidently not,” he muttered. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I’ve spent the last twelve years agonizing over it, but when I saw her, all I could remember is the look on her face, her crying out and the tears

afterward. I felt like complete shit then, and I feel like complete shit now.”

A light of understanding blazed in Gracie’s eyes. “Wes, was that what all that stuff was about at the cabin? You seemed overly concerned that you’d hurt me.”

He didn’t say anything, but then he didn’t have to.

She pursed her lips and blew out a long breath. “Wow. I don’t know what to say. I can understand why you feel bad, but damn, she was a virgin. Despite what a whole host of romance books might tell you—okay, me—since I’m sure you aren’t reading them, the first time for a woman is often a combination of messy and uncomfortable. Throw in a more- endowed-than-average guy, and you get even more of messy and uncomfortable.”

“What was your first time like?” he asked, unable to resist his curiosity. And maybe he needed for her to say it had been as awful as it had to have been for Payton.

She chuckled. “Forgettable. That’s the experience in a nutshell. A few kisses, he touched my boobs, got between my legs and ten seconds later it was all over with.”

He cringed. “That sounds eerily familiar, but damn it, I’d never seen that much female flesh up close and personal. I’m not even sure I made it all the way in before I went off like a damn machine gun.”

Gracie laughed and put her hand on his arm. “Wes, you’re being way too hard on yourself. You were eighteen. Most eighteen-year-olds haven’t climbed the ranks to considerate-lover status yet. I’d say you more than made up for it in the years since.”

“I just wish A) she hadn’t popped out of nowhere and B) that she hadn’t been so nice or acted like she was so damn glad to see me. I was more than happy to keep that incident out of my mind. No guy likes to have his sexual failures shoved under his nose like that.”

“But she didn’t shove it under your nose. You said she acted genuinely glad to see you. Have you thought that maybe that experience was far more traumatic for you than it ever was for her?”

“Gracie, I hurt her. A girl’s first time shouldn’t be like that. I made her cry for God’s sake.”

“All I’m saying is that, in all likelihood, she views that experience much the same as most women do. Not great but not the end of the world.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I just picture all her girlfriends asking who was that? And then she says, oh that was the dumbass I gave my virginity to, the dumbass who had as much finesse as a toad.”

Gracie lost all control and started laughing. “So this boils down to your fragile male ego. You don’t want it to get out that you weren’t always a god in bed.”

“I fail to see what’s so damn funny,” he muttered.

“Let me be the first to burst your bubble, stud.” Her eyes twinkled in devilish merriment, and he knew without a doubt, she was having way too much fun at his expense. “A lot of guys suck in bed. They don’t think they do. Ask them and they’re God’s gift to women. Ask women and you get a whole different story. I know. I’ve been through enough losers. Oh, they all thought they were the world’s greatest lover, but for the most part, it was all I could do not to fall asleep during their version of foreplay, which usually consisted of ‘suck my dick’.”

He gave her a wounded look. Damn heifer wasn’t doing anything to reassure him here. “You just said that I didn’t suck in bed.”

“No, you don’t, but it doesn’t hurt for you to think you do. I daresay it’ll make you more determined to impress your next woman when it comes time to get between the sheets.”

“Bitch. You’re supposed to tell me what a great lay I am and that what happened twelve years ago was a freak incident.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what I’ve spent the last ten minutes telling you?”

He sighed again.

She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, and for a moment, all he really wanted to do was take her to bed. They had great chemistry and if anyone could reestablish his confidence it was Gracie.

“Give yourself a break, Wes,” she murmured as she pulled away. She put a hand to his cheek and rubbed her thumb over his goatee. “Chances are you won’t even see her again.”

He reached up and put his hand over hers then turned her palm over to kiss the exposed skin. “Thanks, Gracie. You’re the best. I mean that.”

The door from the garage opened and Luke Forsythe shouldered his way in carrying a case of beer in one hand and a bag of ice in the other.

Gracie’s face lit up, and Wes let her hand fall from his.

Luke dropped the ice on the floor and heaved the beer onto the island. He bent over to kiss Gracie then looked back up at Wes. “Am I interrupting an intimate moment here?” he asked with barely suppressed amusement.

“Not unless you guys are surprising me with another threesome,” Gracie said cheekily as she winked at Wes.

Wes laughed and shook his head. God, he loved this woman. He could never ask for better friends than her and Luke. Whatever his reservations had been in the beginning about a threesome causing awkwardness in the relationship, they were gone now. Nothing had changed between them, and if anything, there was a greater closeness.

“I was just giving Wes some chick advice,” she said. “Butthead needed it.”

Luke shook his head. “Not even going to ask.” He looked back over at Wes as Gracie snuggled into his side. “Well? We gonna stand around the kitchen all night having chick talk or are we going to drink some beer and watch the fight?”

Chapter Three

Payton wrapped her fingers around the steering wheel and sat staring at Wes Hoffman’s house. Why in the world she was sitting here in his driveway the day after he’d given her the most blatant brush-off was beyond her. Maybe she was a masochist. Or maybe she just wanted to know what the hell had inspired such a frantic retreat.

She certainly hadn’t come to town looking for him, but now that she’d seen him again, her curiosity was eating her alive.

He’d fascinated her as a teenager, but the adult version, the gorgeous man he’d grown up to be, well, he was downright mouthwatering.

She searched her memory, remembering the day they’d driven out to the lake, picnic basket in the back of the truck. They’d spread out a blanket by the water and spent a lazy afternoon gazing up at the clouds.

When evening fell, they’d moved awkwardly closer. He’d kissed her, lightly, searching, sweetly as only a first lover can do.

She emitted a small sigh as the corners of her lips surged upward. It had been a perfect day. Not unlike today. Beautiful, sunny. Really, even as hot and humid as it got so far south, she wouldn’t trade summers here for anything.

Her hands tightened on the steering wheel as she pressed back against the seat. She summoned her courage, taking in a deep, steadying breath.

“Well, you can sit out here all day like a freaking loon, or you can go knock on the door and invite him to lunch.”

She took in another deep breath, drew up her shoulders then let them fall before she opened the door and hauled herself out of her car.

He intrigued her. Always had. A soft smile eased her nerves as she walked up the short walkway to the door. No, he wasn’t a boy anymore. She’d figured that out about the time she hit him square in the chest last night. The possibilities his more manly physique presented were definitely appealing.

“And maybe it’s been too long since you got laid,” she muttered. Although it hadn’t been that long. Certainly not so long that she ought to be panting after the first available male she came across. No, desperation didn’t account for her reaction to Wes Hoffman. She was as attracted to him now as she’d been twelve years ago. In some ways, the attraction was heightened. She’d learned a lot more about sex since she tested the waters at sixteen. She grinned. A whole lot more.

She flipped her hair over her shoulders, smoothed her hands down her jeans and pushed the button for the doorbell. She looked from side to side and tapped her foot on the concrete porch as she waited for him to answer.

Then the door opened and Wes’s startled gaze met hers.

She glanced appreciatively over his physique. He wore a pair of shorts, no shirt, and she couldn’t quite rip her eyes from his well- muscled chest. Not an inch of spare flesh dotted his abdomen. He worked out, and it was obvious.

“Hi…uh, I wasn’t expecting you,” he said awkwardly.

She smiled. “I know. Thought I’d drop by and invite you to lunch. Catch up on old times. Stuff like that.”

Was that panic in his eyes? Guys only got the deer-in-the-headlights look when they got their hand caught in the cookie jar.

“Are you married?” she demanded.

He actually looked appalled. “Why the hell would you ask that?”

She shrugged. “A reasonable assumption given the fact you act as happy to see me as you would a good case of the clap.”

He choked on his laughter and a grin creased his face. “Sorry. I mean, you just caught me off guard. You’re the last person I expected to see.”

“So you want to grab lunch?” she asked. “I’m free until later this afternoon, then I have rehearsal dinner shit for the wedding.”

“Uh—” He broke off and shifted uncomfortably, moving his weight from one foot to another.

He really was giving her the brush-off. Heat bloomed across her cheeks, but she bit the inside of her lip to control the tide of embarrassment. Damn, just when she’d convinced herself that there was a perfectly good reason for his flakiness the night before.

“On second thought, I can see you’d rather endure a trip to the dentist,” she said dryly. She tucked her hair behind her ears and backed toward the edge of the porch. “It was nice seeing you again.”

She turned and navigated the two small steps to the walkway cutting across the yard when his voice stopped her.