Tempt the Ex (Tempt 2.5)

I rub my hands over my face. “I get it, I do, but I just can’t be out pretending to be happy now. Let me have this day. Fuck, let me have the weekend, and then on Monday, we can start fresh. Just …” I wipe away a tear that is going to fall. “I’m going to go.”

I don’t wait for her to answer before I turn around and walk back to our dorm room. I walk on the dark sidewalk, looking down at my feet. I finally get home and run up the five front steps, then open the door and run up the stairs to my room. Sliding into bed, I look at my phone and see a text from John.

John: You looked beautiful tonight.

My finger goes over the screen, the same way I rubbed his lips right before I would lean in and kiss him.

I’m touching his face when the phone rings, and I see it’s my sister Melissa. “Hey.” I answer on the second ring.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Not much. Just getting into bed.” I pull the covers up, turning on my side.

“So,” she starts, “are you still on this whole let me party my life in college?”

I groan. “Yes. If it’s not now, when will it be? When I’m forty with two point five kids and I hate my life?”

“First off,” she starts, “how can you have two point five kids? And why would you hate your life?”

I sit up in bed, thinking about the loaded question. “I have no idea why; I just do. I’ve never lived on the edge of my seat. Fuck, I’ve only slept with two guys my whole life.”

“And so?” I hear her turn on the water. “So you don’t have the social vagina? It’s really not a bad thing.”

I tap my nose, thinking. “I just don’t want to have the what-ifs when I turn forty.”

“You’ll have the what-ifs if you let that man get away,” she counters. “Shit, I have to go. Someone just rang my doorbell.”

“Love you,” I tell her as I hear the phone disconnect.

I put my phone back on the side table and get back under the covers on my side, looking out my small window at the blinking stars. “This is going to be good,” I tell myself except my heart clearly disagrees with me.

Chapter 3

John

The hissing sound lets me know the coffee is ready. I grab it and pour myself a cup when I hear giggling coming from the stairs. Turning my head to see who is coming down, I see it’s Noah and two girls. They both lean up, kissing his cheek good-bye. He stands by the door and waves at both of them, then walks into the kitchen wearing just his shorts.

“Morning, sunshine.” He smiles as he grabs a coffee cup, pouring himself a cup, and takes a couple of sips without adding milk. “I’m drained. Literally.” I shake my head as he sits down. “It’s not my fault you bailed on her. The poor girl was in tears.”

I pinch my eyebrows together. “Tears, my ass.”

“I bought her for you to get the penis up and running.” He places the cup on the table. “And what do you do? You push her away. You pushed away guaranteed pussy. Do you know how much work I had to do last night? Let’s not even get into how I had to continuously tell them that you weren’t gay.” He takes another sip. “Dude, it was fucking harsh.”

“I saw Dani,” I tell him as I sit down. “She was at the party.”

“Oh, Jesus. And?” he asks as he taps his fingers on the table. I don’t get a chance to answer because Austin comes down the stairs with his laptop in hand.

“Morning,” he says as he drops his laptop on the table and goes to pour himself coffee.

I look back at Noah. “Nothing. She looked beautiful, angelic. She was surprised to see me there,” I tell him.

“Of course, she was.” Noah slaps his hand down on the table. “She was probably on the prowl, and you must have cramped her style.” Austin sits down and opens his computer, typing away while I look back at Noah. “She came there to put a curse on your dick,” he says, drinking while Austin looks over at him.

“I need your credit card number,” Austin asks Noah.

Crossing his arms over his bare chest, he asks, “Why?”

“Why?” Austin starts and then raises his voice. “Why? Why?” he yells. “Because all night, you kept me up with the banging.” He points at Noah who grins. “I thought the fucking headboard was going to go through the wall, so I’m ordering padding for the back of it.”

“Hey.” He throws his hands up. “It was a rough night, and the snake is drained. It actually crawled into his cave and decided no more pussy today”—he shrugs his shoulders—“or tomorrow. Those two were greedy bitches.”