And to love her for all the days.
Twenty-Three
Blake
“Well, that was awkward.” I’ve never seen Alex deliberately be rude, but leaving SJ on the stage like that was brutal. Tyler’s doing a great job of managing the crowd, but Alex was the demo I wanted to see.
“What now?” Reed glances around, still acting like a cat with tape on his feet—not sure where to settle.
Eliot and Cade flank Graci. I can’t believe she came. And in that dress. The woman is hotter than a sun flare in scrubs. In the tiny black dress with a zipper that runs top to bottom down the front of her body, she is total temptation. The guys haven’t taken their eyes off her. Looks like they might invite her to a private room. Good for them. Except once again, I’ll be left on the sidelines.
“Graci, would you like a drink?” Cade asks, clasping her hand to get her complete focus. He’s the most emotional of all of us. Well, Eliot, Cade, Reed, and me. The original Four Winds Security. I’m still not sure how Pierce fits in. Cool dude. Helpful, but there is no fifth wind. Unless everyone has figured out I’m never going to be the same. Can’t exactly soar in a wheelchair. Maybe Pierce is here to replace me.
“Club soda, with lime?” Graci’s soft tone barely carries over the background music.
“Of course,” Cade replies.
“I’ll go with you,” Pierce says, following Cade to the bar.
I’d love to roll away, but the guys will make a big deal of trailing me and Graci will fuss. I slump down and scowl. Back in the day, we’d be figuring out how to get Graci in bed with us. All of us. The four of us. Instead of dancing around, awkward as ass, not knowing how to move as a team. And that’s on me. I’m the fucking problem. The variable in the equation that no longer works. I’m the bug in the code. “You guys should fuck her.”
“What? Who?” Eliot asks as if it wasn’t on his mind.
“You, Cade, Reed, and Pierce should invite Graci back to a private room. That is why you invited her here. Isn’t it. I get that I’m in a wheelchair. I’ve lost the use of my legs but I haven’t fucking lost my mind.”
“When did you get so damn surly?” Reed asks. “And why Graci? And Pierce?” He crosses his arms. “Found someone to fill my shoes, El?”
Eliot snaps his focus from me to Reed. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve been stuck in St. Louis. Come out here and Pierce is hanging around, playing errand boy. But then he’s here on opening night. Does he have a bedroom in the condo? Do I?”
“You can bunk with me at the rehab. My mouth still works.” I can’t resist fucking with them both. And I’ve missed Reed and sex.
“Nobody is bunking at rehab. And yes, I’d like Pierce to stay with us. But only if we all agree.”
Reed turns his back on Eliot. “You used me.”
“I did not.” Eliot goes to him, a hand on Reed’s shoulder. “I relied on you to take care of us while Blake recovers. And you did. You always do. Why in hell would you think you could be replaced? Same goes for you.” Eliot glares back at me. “Why in the world would you think we want to replace either of you?”
It’s nice lip service, but I’m never walking again. My contribution to the business is still possible on some level, but being anyone’s lover—that ship has sailed. Proven by the fact none of them has made any kind of move on me in a year. I can’t even masturbate since my dick doesn’t get hard.
Cade, Pierce, and Graci return. Her lips on the straw sipping her drink is enough to push me into some very dirty thoughts. Me eating her out while she sucks off one of the guys and gets fucked by two more. Still have one too many players in the scenario. Reed’s right, we don’t fit together the same way. But then my mind puts Pierce on his knees, sucking me. The tingle that trails down my back is a shadow of what I once felt, but fuck it feels good to have that much.
“I want to show you something.” Eliot directs his words to the entire group, but his gaze lands on me.
Your dick? “Sure.”
“I can hang out here,” Graci says.
“No, you’re coming too.” Eliot turns for the elevator. Guess there’s no argument. But I still wait to see what she’s going to do.
“Guess we’re going,” she says to me.
I shrug. What do I care where we go?
She bends down and asks, “Can I drive?”
She can do whatever the fuck she wants to me as long as she stays so close I can smell the cinnamon tease of her skin and feel her breath on my neck. “Sure.”
