Page 44 of When the Walls Come Down
As she reeled it back over the wall, I waited, staring up at the stars. For San Francisco, it was a pretty clear night, and luckily, it wasn’t raining. Otherwise, none of this would have even been happening.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Fireball, more orange Tic Tacs, and are these my panties from yesterday?!”
Tucked safely back into my corner, I kicked my legs out in front of me, crossing them at the ankle. “The Fireball and Tic Tacs should help warm up your voice.”
“And the underwear?”
“Yeah, I hated giving those back, but after some thought, they looked so much better on you.”
Her laughter sang out and I finally felt like I was home again.
“Hey, Maggie?”
“Yeah,” she replied.
“I’m sorry about all of this. How I acted this evening. It’s none of our faults, really. It’s just one of those fucked-up-coincidences kind of thing. You know?”
She sighed and groaned. “It’s just not fair.”
“It isn’t. You deserved to have a great first day. This morning, I couldn’t wait to hear all about it over dinner. I was going to get us champagne and say something probably stupid and awkward to toast you and your new job. I was going to try to charm you back to my place and do that thing you like with my tongue.”
She whined, and it was adorable. “What are we going to do?”
This was the big question, but I’d be a sonofabitch because her saying we gave me hope.
“I might have an idea that gets us all three jobs.” I crossed my fingers.
“Three?”
“Your job. My job. And a blow job—which I will rightfully deserve if this all works out.”
I heard her crack open the plastic seal on the Fireball and could only imagine her downing it all in one long swig.
“Okay, lay it on me.”
“What if we go into work tomorrow as one united force? I’m not saying I want the whole office to know what’s going on between us, but I trust Casey. We tell him what happened and how we met and propose a co-management situation. You on new ideas and promotions and me on day-to-day ordering, purchasing, and keeping things rolling with the projects we already have in motion and shit we’ve already been doing for the last four years.”
She hummed, and I gave her a minute to think. Finally, she said, “That might not be such a bad idea. Two heads are better than one.”
“Yeah, and with you being from the southeast and me being from the northwest, it couldn’t hurt having two minds covering both demographics. I think it might work.”
“Shane?”
“Yeah, Peach.”
“Where does the blow job come into play?”
I bit my fist, loving how this was going. Maybe we’d just needed a little space to clear our heads. I knew all too well how fighting or arguing when tensions were high could be less than productive.
“I’m so glad you asked,” I answered. “But that part’s up to you. I can’t be the only one coming up with solutions. That’s where our partnership comes into play. I’ll let you handle the blow job part.”
“And were you thinking this third job would happen tomorrow or…”
“Tonight is good for me. I didn’t mention that earlier, but I do want to put it on the table.”
“I just chugged Fireball. That might be dangerous.”
“I’ll take the risk.”
We both laughed, and then she chuckled even harder. “So you’re saying no to a Shania encore, then?”
“Whatever makes you happy, Peach.” I picked at a piece of the red brick wall and added, “I just miss you and I’m dying to touch you and kiss you—and you know how I’m feeling about the blow job part already. Why don’t we put a pause on the sad music and our shitty moods for the night, deal with what tomorrow has to throw at us tomorrow—together—and get naked on one of our beds tonight instead?”
I held my breath.
“Okay,” she said, “but it has to be your bed because mine is covered with clothes. I couldn’t decide what to wear this morning, and I don’t want to mess with them.”
I fist-pumped in the air. “Good. My door is open. Lock it behind you. I’ll be the old man in the bedroom. And just so it’s fair, I’ll still do that tongue thing you like too.” And another good thing about this solution, temporary as it might be, was I could get off the God forsaken balcony. “See? I knew if I just had a little time I’d figure out a way for us to both win today.”Turns out, we made a better team than I’d previously thought. It was just shocking that the way I’d come to this realization was through simultaneous oral. I swear that woman had to have hidden gills or something with the way she didn’t come up for air. And like a champion bull rider, she rode my face and sucked me off and I just did what I could to keep up. Hell, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she had a third bachelor’s in fellatio—possibly a master’s with the way she was working me over.
