Light Switch (7 page)

When he broke the kiss, I said, “I still have one question.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Go ahead.”

I fought to keep from grinning. “At what point do you stop teasing me and finally fuck me?”

He laughed and touched my face before kissing me lightly. “As with everything,” he whispered, “it’ll happen when your Master is damned good and ready, and not a moment sooner.”

“You’re a relentless tease, you know that?”

He grinned against my lips. “Darling, you haven’t
seen
‘relentless tease’ yet.”

Poker night was a sacred tradition among the tenants of Matt’s building. I was the only player who didn’t live in that complex, but since I knew the game and brought beer, they’d long ago welcomed me.

Tonight, for the first time, I joined them with a clear conscience and no fear of annoyed text or voice messages on my silenced phone. Ah, the sweet taste of the single life.

“Okay, ante up,” Steve said as he shuffled the deck. He paused to throw a five dollar chip into the pile, and Lou, Ramona, and I all followed suit.

“You know, one of these days, we should try that game I keep seeing on television,” Ramona said.

“You mean Texas Hold ’Em?” I said.

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Oh, come on, now.” Lou rolled his eyes and reached for his beer. “Texas Hold ‘Em is just a fad.”

“It is not a fad,” Steve said. “There’s a lot of money to be made at Hold ’Em.”

“And a lot to be lost,” I said.

Steve shrugged. “Well, if you play like Matt or Lou, yeah.”

“Hey!” Matt glared at Steve over his shoulder from the other table. “I heard that.”

“Whatever, Sommers,” Steve said. “You turn around and mind your own cards.”

“Watch it, Preston,” Matt said. “Or next, game you’re going to find out why we don’t play strip poker with you.”

“We don’t play strip poker because ain’t nobody in this room wants to see
your
birthday suit.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek.
I wouldn’t say
nobody
in this room wants to see that
.

“Okay, here we go,” Steve said. He dealt five cards to everyone. I picked up my hand, but didn’t look at my cards immediately. Instead, I surreptitiously scanned my three opponents.

Ramona’s lips tightened into a scowl and her brow furrowed over narrowed eyes. Lou pursed his lips. Steve’s expression remained neutral.

With their responses noted, I looked at my cards. Two queens and a two, which was wild under house rules. Three of a kind. Definitely a good start.

“I’ll bet five,” Lou said. His usual cockiness was absent.

Ramona concentrated on her cards for a moment, tapping a fiver on the table.
Just bet already
, I wanted to say. She wasn’t the fastest player in the world, but at least she wasn’t like Lynette, who currently sat at Matt’s table. IRS audits and root canals didn’t take as long as it took for Lynette to decide between a five or ten dollar bet.

Finally, Ramona tossed a five in. “Call.”

I picked up two chips and threw them in the pile. “I’ll raise it five.” In unison, both Lou’s and Ramona’s eyebrows jumped.

Steve eyed me, then nodded and threw ten in. “Lou, how many cards do you want?”

“Four.” Lou slid the cards across the table.

Steve gave him four. “Ramona?”

“Three.”

“Kristen?”

“Two.” I handed him the cards and took my replacements. Another two gave me a four of a kind. The only way anyone was going to beat me was with a straight flush or a royal flush.
Fat chance, fuckers
, I wanted to say, but I carefully kept my expression one hundred percent neutral.

While I waited for my opponents to scowl or gloat over their hands, I exchanged glances with Matt. He smiled, and heat rushed straight through me. My face must have been as bright as the hearts on the cards in my hand just then. I quickly went for my nearly empty Coke, desperate for something to cool me down.

He had to have seen everything Scott and I did the other night. If not that, then what I’d done alone last night and the night before when my desperate need for everything Scott still denied me had gotten the best of me. Scott had me horny beyond rational thought. The more Matt saw, whether it was me alone or me with Scott, the more
he
turned me on, too.

“Kristen?”

I looked up and realized all three of my opponents were watching me. My face burned even hotter. “Sorry, sorry. What’s the bet?”

“I put in five, Ramona put in ten,” Lou said.

I gave my cards one more look, then three chips in. “Fifteen.”

Steve’s eyes widened. He shook his head and laid his cards down. “Fold.”

Ramona showed a full house, which beat Lou’s straight, but was no match for my four of a kind.

After I’d collected my winnings, I picked up my empty glass and stood. “I need a refill. Anyone else?” A murmur of “no, I’m good” and “no, thanks” rippled through the room.

“You want me to wait to deal until you come back?” Steve held up the deck he’d been shuffling.

“Well, unless someone’s going to take her place,” Jim said. “Go on, Kristen, we’ll wait.”

“I’ll be quick.” I slipped out of the living room and into the kitchen. Alone in the kitchen, I dug a can of Coke out of the fridge.

“Hey, Kristen.” Ramona joined me. “How are things, hon?”

I smiled as I pulled some ice cubes out of an ice tray. “Things are great. You?”

“Oh, good, good.” She picked up one of the half-empty bottles of white wine. “You sure everything’s all right?”

“Everything’s fine.” I forced the smile in spite of my grinding teeth. She was one of the neighborhood busybodies. When she wasn’t keeping an eye on everyone who came and went, she was trying to play matchmaker between single tenants. By now, she might’ve known Alec and I had split, and she’d probably seen Scott around.

“Glad to hear it.” There was an unmistakable note of skepticism in her voice. “I haven’t seen Alec lately. Is he away on business again?”

The smile became even harder to force. “Yeah, he’s been away a bit.” I didn’t feel the need to elaborate. Even when my private life was bland and boring, I’d always made a point of keeping it to myself. That was both a blessing and a curse when it came to Ramona. We’d chatted a bit after I’d first moved in, and apparently since I’d neglected to mention the man—well, Alec—in my life, she’d assumed I was single. This made for a rather awkward moment when she decided to introduce me to her attractive, single neighbor.

On the bright side, though, that neighbor and I had hit it off and become close friends. Friends whose bedroom windows were directly across the alley from each other.

After I’d poured my drink, I gestured with my glass. “Better get back in there now that I’ve got my refill.” I laughed. “The boys sound like they’re getting impatient.”

She nodded, giving me a tight-lipped smile, but didn’t press. I made a quick escape and took my seat.

After a few more games, players started cashing out and trickling out the door. By ten thirty, we were down to one table. A little before eleven, Steve and Lynette cashed out, said their goodbyes, and left.

And with the click of the front door, Matt and I were alone.

“Do you need help cleaning up?” I asked.

He gestured dismissively. “No, no, don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure? I hate to leave after we’ve all trashed your house.”

“It’s not trashed. Won’t take but a few minutes.” He looked at me and held my gaze for a second before clearing his throat and shifting his eyes away. “But, I mean, if you want, I could always use an extra pair of hands.”

We went about collecting bowls containing the remnants of various munchies, empty glasses, and chip and pretzel bags.

I clicked my tongue as I picked up a bottle with about an inch of beer left at the bottom. “Someone didn’t finish their drink.”

Matt craned his neck. “Oh, no, that’s Steve’s. It’s not beer.”

My eyes flicked back and forth between him and the bottle. Then enlightenment came and I wrinkled my nose. I held the bottle between two fingers, keeping it at arm’s length as I said, “Jesus, can he get through one evening without chewing that shit?”

“He can chew it all he wants,” Matt said. “I just hate the constant spitting in a bottle.”

“And the smell.” I set the bottle down. “Ugh. How does Lynette put up with that?”

He shook his head and chuckled. “No idea.”

“I’ll tell you one thing: there isn’t enough money in the world to make me kiss someone with tobacco in his mouth.”

“I hear that. Fortunately, most women don’t chew. It was bad enough that Elaine smoked.”

“She did?”

He nodded. “Mostly when she was stressed. So for about the last six months we were together, she was pretty much chain-smoking.” He made a face. “By the time she left, I’d almost forgotten what it was like to kiss a mouth that didn’t taste like smoke.”

“Been reacquainted with a smoke-free mouth since then?”

“I have, but not nearly as much as I’d like.” He looked up, and as soon as we made eye contact, the devilish grin faded and his cheeks darkened. He muffled a cough. “Anyway, yeah, smoking is a deal-breaker for me now.”

“Can’t blame you there.”

We fell silent for a moment. I searched for something to say just to keep the conversation going, but he beat me to it.

“So how did you make out tonight?” he asked.

I shrugged as I rolled the top of a half-empty bag of Doritos. “Broke even, I think. Maybe five or ten ahead. You?”

“About twenty in the hole.”

“Sucks to be you,” I laughed.

“Hey, watch it.” He shot me a playful glare before picking up a few bags and bowls and starting for the kitchen. “I seem to recall someone was almost seventy-five in the hole last time.”

I followed him into the kitchen. “Do I need to remind you how badly I massacred you and Steve back in—”

“No, you don’t, smartass. Especially not after—”

“Oh, shut
up
,” I laughed, rolling my eyes.

“Well, if you’re going to massacre anyone, could you maybe go after Lynette? Like, in the literal sense? I swear, that woman exists only to test my patience.”

I laughed again. “Believe me, every time she spends half an eternity trying to figure out a bet, it’s all I can do not to kick her granny ass.”

He chuckled. “Now
that
is something I’d like to watch.”

“Yeah, I’ll just bet you would.”

He turned around, and we both stopped. Less than an arm’s length apart, eyes locked on each other, we stopped.

Did I just put that topic on the table? I swallowed hard. So did he.

Then he cleared his throat and stepped away, occupying himself with putting chips in the pantry.

With everything put away and the living and dining rooms restored to their more or less organized states, we hung out in the dining room. I leaned against the table, gripping the edge to keep from drumming my fingers nervously. Matt rested his folded forearms on the back of one of the chairs, standing just close enough to fuck with my blood pressure.

Do you have any idea how much I want to touch you
?

“So,” he said, “you’ll be here next week, right? Or, well, at Lou and Ramona’s?”

“With my only reason
not
to be here out of the picture? Absolutely.”

He smiled. “Sweet. I’m glad you showed up tonight. It’s always more fun with you here.”

“Even if you’re out twenty bucks?”

He laughed softly. “I guess someone has to keep me from getting too cocky, right?”

“Exactly. So it might as well be me.”

“Yeah, might as well.”

Our eyes met, and the look lingered again. Matt made a slow, subtle gesture of moistening his lips. Without thinking about it, I did the same. Still he held my gaze, and I managed to hold his in spite of the way my heart pounded and my stomach fluttered. I wanted him to reach for me, and when he shifted his weight slightly, he was a little closer to me. Every inch of my skin tingled, every nerve on high alert, wondering if he’d touch me and where.

Then he dropped his gaze and shifted again, adding the most minute distance to the gap between us. We both released our breath, studying the floor as the silence held fast.

Finally, he muffled a cough. “Anyway, I’m glad you came. At least then I had someone to commiserate with about Lynette.”

I managed a laugh in spite of how tightly my stomach coiled itself. “Glad to help.”

Our eyes met again.

This time, I was the one to break eye contact. “Well, I guess I should get going.”

“Yeah, I should let you go.”

I pushed myself away from the table with my hip. We both hesitated, exchanging and dropping a few glances before he made an
after you
gesture. I picked up my purse and we walked in silence to the door.

He opened it and let me through, then rested his forearm against it at about shoulder-level.

“Well,” I said, “good night.”

His smile was more than a little shy. He took a breath like he was about to say something, but released it. Another breath. Held it. Finally, he murmured, “Yeah, good night.”

Another lingering look. I finally convinced myself to walk out his door, and when it clicked shut behind me, I muttered a few choice curses. Why was I such a damned coward when it came to talking to him? We were as close as any friends, and the chemistry was visible from space. One of us just needed to make a move already.