Breathe (26 page)

When they made it to the checkout desk, both scanning the vicinity to see there were no patrons close, I decided to start.

And I started with a lame, “Uh…”

Krystal’s eyes sliced to me and she answered my unasked question. “She wouldn’t hear no for an answer. Don’t know how she knew. My side of the conversation was five words. She just did. I tried to talk her out of it. Ten minutes, didn’t work, pissed me off so I just came. She followed.” Krystal then looked to Twyla. “By the way, the time we’re here, you’re not gettin’ paid for bein’ there.”

Twyla was a waitress at Krys’s bar. By the look on Twyla’s face, she didn’t care that she’d lose her probably not very exciting waitress wages.

She didn’t respond to Krystal. She looked to me and stated immediately, “Throw yourself at him.”

“Holy frak,” I breathed, my lungs seizing at the thought.

“Are you
nuts?
” Krystal hissed, leaning into Twyla.

“Do I look nuts?” Twyla returned, and unfortunately the answer to that was, yes, she did.

It wasn’t that she was built like a truck which she was. It wasn’t this because she was entirely comfortable in her frame, she worked it and thus it worked for her.

It was that she wore her hair in a female mullet. A male mullet was bad enough. A female mullet, well, I wasn’t the keeper of all things fashionable and felt people should do what they liked but I also knew what everyone else did. That a mullet was one place no man or woman should ever go.

Krys gave up on Twyla and looked to me. “Do not do that. Talk to him.”

Twyla stopped looking at Krys and her eyes came to me. “Do not talk to him. Throw yourself at him.”

“Stop telling her that,” Krys snapped at Twyla.

Twyla crossed her arms on her chest and looked back at Krystal.

“You get I like girls,” she stated but it was a prompt.

“Yes,” Krystal replied.

“And I like girls who do things like wear mascara and lipstick.”

“I know your partner, Twyla, you both were at my house for Bubba’s barbeque spareribs three weeks ago,” Krys returned.

“Right so, I like girls. And I’ve liked ‘em all my life. I was a marine. I’ve shot a gun. I own five of them, guns that is. I watch the Nuggets, Avs, Broncos and Rockies. I’ve never in my life worn a skirt. I wear a sports bra because with these babies,” she circled her bosoms with a pointed finger before dropping her hand to the checkout desk, “I got no choice. God saw fit to grant me an A cup, no way. Since I’m a C, I’m fucked. I have never worn mascara. I do not own a blow dryer. And I get off on goin’ down on chicks. Now which one, you or me, has more in common with Chace Keaton?”

I had to admit, she had a point there.

Krystal had to admit it too, even though I could tell she didn’t want to. I could tell because she opened her mouth and closed it.

Twyla looked at me.”Throw yourself at him.”

Krystal closed her eyes, dropped her head to look at her boots and her honeyed locks fell forward to hide her face.

I whispered to Twyla, “I kinda already tried that.”

Krystal’s head shot up as Twyla’s eyebrows did the same.

“No go?” Twyla asked.

“He, uh… shuts it down or, um… redirects it but um… mostly shuts it down and concentrates on kissing.”

“He know you’re a virgin?” Twyla asked.

“Um…” I answered, not knowing until then that Twyla knew I was a virgin.

“How much neckin’ you do?” Twyla requested details when I was unable to go on.

“I have little experience but it feels like, on a scale of one to ten, one hundred and fifteen.”

Krystal grinned.

Twyla kept up her interrogation. “So, you had little experience before him?”

I nodded.

“On a scale of one to ten, how much experience did you have?” Twyla pushed.

“Point two five,” I replied quietly.

“He knows you’re a virgin,” Twyla muttered and my heart jumped, not pleasantly.

Krystal punched her in the arm. “Now you’re freaking Faye out.”

“Uh, just to be clear, the ‘throw yourself at him’ bit already freaked me out,” I shared.

“So what’s on tonight?” Twyla asked, ignoring my share.

“Dinner at his place, the first time I’ve been there,” I told her.

“Bring panties and a toothbrush. Then find a way to tell him you brought panties and a toothbrush.” She suddenly clapped, I jumped and she finished, “Done.”

“Oh my God, that’s actually a good idea,” Krystal whispered and Twyla’s eyebrows shot up again, this time in affront.

“You think I walked five blocks in the Colorado Mountain March cold for no reason?” Twyla queried. “I’m a lesbian who can jack most motherfuckers up. I know non-lesbians who can do the same. You bein’ one of ‘em, I might add, though you do it with a shotgun in your hand. Same freakin’ thing. But bein’ a lesbian don’t make me not good at advice.”

I made mental note of this and added Twyla to my phone tree for when I experienced a relationship emergency.

“I didn’t say that you weren’t,” Krystal retorted.

“Felt that way,” Twyla shot back, Krys’s eyes narrowed and she leaned in.

“Now you’re being sensitive. I’ll remind you,
Faye
called
me,
” Krys stated.

“Maybe so, but when there’s a problem, it’s all hands on deck,” Twyla returned.

Krystal had no retort, looked stymied and also looked angry that she was. Not unusual, just scarier than normal.

I decided to wade in. “Just an FYI,” I said to Twyla. “I’ve added you to my relationship emergency phone tree.”

Twyla grinned huge at me.

“Great,” Krys muttered. “I finally get my shot, I get bumped because Twyla horned in.”

I blinked at Krystal because she sounded genuinely aggrieved.

It then hit me that Krystal Briggs had let me in. Not like she had Chace.
In
in. She cared about me. She wanted to help. I was past the hard outside layer that kept everyone out and was in the soft, warm center.

Which made me feel warm inside too.

“Don’t worry, Krys, her bein’ a virgin and him bein’ the kind of man he is, I’m sure you’ll get your chance,” Twyla assured.

I suddenly didn’t feel warm inside anymore.

“What kind of man is he?” I whispered and Krys and Twyla both looked at me.

Then they both said at the same time with the same emphasis, “
All
man.”

I felt a shiver. It wasn’t a bad one. It wasn’t a good one. It was a nervous one.

“Right, so I
was
freaked out. Now I’m nervous.”

Twyla tossed her hand in the air and stated, “You been seein’ each other awhile, that man’s been seein’ to you in that while, not pushin’ things, goin’ slow, keepin’ it controlled, you got no problem.”

“This is true,” Krys said leaning into me. “No kidding, Faye. That says a lot.”

I felt slightly better.

I still needed guidance.

“Um, so, how do I work in the panties and toothbrush? I mean, it’s not something you share over dinner,” I pointed out, trying not to blush but feeling the heat.

“He’s got his tongue in your mouth,” Krys began, “and he’ll have his tongue in your mouth. You’re on the couch, and you’ll be on the couch. When he takes his tongue out of your mouth, find a way to whisper it in his ear. That’ll speed things up.”

“
Real
quick,” Twyla agreed on a short nod.

Oh man. I was beginning to waiver on my tonight’s the night decision.

Twyla must have seen it because she leaned in. “He’s done good by you. He’s done good by this town. Word I hear, he’s pretty solid. So far, he’s taken care of you. He was way into you the other night. I may be into women but I spent a lotta time around men. You saved it awhile, you wanna give it away, you could do worse. But, honest to God, not sure you could find better.”

I smiled at her because that made me feel
much
better.

Unfortunately at that point, a patron approached the checkout desk with an armload of books. Fortunately, Krys and Twyla hung around long enough for them to vow to me they wouldn’t breathe a word about our discussion to anyone. One thing could be said of the two of them, if they vowed, which they did, they’d keep it.

And last, since I hoped I’d be unavailable the next morning, I asked them to take care of Malachi. Krys jumped on that, took my list of things I thought he’d need, promised to stop by the store and leave the bags by the return bin the next day.

So there I was, in my car on the road that led to Chace’s house. A road I’d only been on a few times in my life because there was no reason to go down it since it led to a dead end at the foot of the mountain and had nothing but a bunch of ranches on it. Those times I’d been on it were while driving around with kids in high school for no other reason than to pass time and listen to music loudly on the stereo.

I’d changed purses because I now had clean panties, my toothbrush and I’d added face wash, moisturizer, deodorant and one of my sexy new nighties so I needed a bigger one. I thought it best to be prepared. If I was spending the night, I didn’t want to sleep in makeup. Slept-in makeup looked awful in the morning.

I also had my sexy undies on and, just in case, had been wearing nothing but those every time I saw Chace which meant every day since I’d bought them. I’d changed out of my work skirt and into jeans, brushed my hair and done the run through a spritz of perfume routine. I was chewing on a piece of bubblemint because Chace told me in a growl during a make out session he loved the way I tasted. So if bubblemint was an addiction before, suffice it to say it was an obsession now.

And I was nervous as all fraking heck.

His house came in sight and I knew it was his because he told me it was the only one surrounded by a white picket fence. He also had the porch light on and there were some bright floodlights at the side of the house that were lighting up the lane and the drive.

I grabbed the wrapper, spit my gum in it, balled it up, threw it in my cup holder, deep breathed and turned in his drive.

I parked, set the parking brake and when I went for my door, I saw the door to Chace’s house open. Chace, in jeans, a shirt and a kickass sweater, was walking out of it.

The deep breathing stopped working.

I managed to grab my bag, throw open the door and jump out. I slammed the door and walked up the cleared path, my eyes to Chace. He was standing at the top of the porch steps following my progress with his eyes at the same time looking outrageously hot. I figured this last wasn’t because his outfit was better than any other I’d seen him in because it wasn’t. Nothing beat the outfit he wore to The Rooster. Not even when I saw the faded jeans shirt in its full glory.

It was because I was hoping I’d very soon see him out of his clothes altogether and I figured it would be a good view.

I kept deep breathing, stopped at the foot of the steps and looked up at all his gorgeousness.

Nervous, fearing I’d pass out, I said the first idiotic thing that came to mind and luckily it was just idiotic and not mortifying.

“Do you like dogs and cats?”

His head jerked and I watched his eyes, warm on me even in the cold night, blink.

“What?”

“Dogs and cats. Do you like them?” I pressed on regardless of the fact it made me sound like an idiot. I’d started down this road. I had to follow it to its fruition. Hopefully, though, it was less a road and more like a short lane.

“Will my answer affect whether or not you’ll come into the house to eat?” he asked back.

“No,” I answered then added a partial truth. “I’m coming in because I’m hungry.”

“Then cats, yeah, if they’re the friendly kind who don’t mind being pet and don’t act like they own you rather than the other way around. Dogs, yeah, without any conditions,” he finally answered.

“I’ve known a lot of friendly cats but I don’t know any who don’t act like they own you rather than the other way around,” I shared.

“Then cats, no,” he amended his answer and continued with his own question, “Baby, you wanna tell me why we’re standing outside talking about cats and dogs?”

I didn’t because a smarter conversation would be about birds and bees.

I didn’t share that.

Instead I said, “I’m thinking about getting one. A cat or a dog, I mean.”

“Is my answer a deal breaker?”

“In what sense?”

“In the sense that if I say no, I don’t like one or the other, you won’t come into the house and eat.”

“I already answered that.”

“Yeah, darlin’, but I said no to cats and you haven’t come into the house yet.”

“Oh, right,” I whispered.

I fell silent.

So did Chace.