Page 25 of Cuffed to my Roomies
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hi,” I said, my voice sounding small. I cleared my throat, suddenly not wanting to talk about it, seized with something like panic, “Um, you guys didn’t come in tonight and I just wanted to see if something was wrong. If, you know, I fucked everything up last night.”
“What?” he asked, sounding genuinely confused.
“ You know. For getting wasted and using my two best friends like they’re my personal harem,” I muttered, hoping really hard that no one else would come into the bathroom while I made my call.
Derek laughed. It was a loud whoop. I felt lighter at once.
“ Babe, we’re shorthanded at work. Flu’s got three guys down so we’re working a double shift. We should be off in time to pick you up at closing.”
I leaned back against the wall, sagged with relief. I could hear talking in the background of the call and a bark of laughter.
“Yeah, I told Brett you thought we were pissed off. He thinks it’s funny, too,” Derek said reassuringly.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I got all caught up in my own head, thinking I’d screwed everything up for good. You’re both the greatest, and I don’t want to do anything to hurt either of you, ever.”
“You’re too much,” Derek said, “You didn’t take advantage of us. Way I see it is, we went out, it got a little wild, we had some fun.”
I smiled at Derek’s typical upbeat view of things. I liked that about him. He didn’t overcomplicate things, and he didn’t look for ways to be offended. I told him so.
“Thanks for being so cool about everything. I felt weird about it,” I admitted, “I still do, but you and Brett being so understanding has really made me feel better.”
“Of course. It’s gonna take a lot more than a great night of crazy hot sex to get rid of us. See you later,” he said, “We just got a call.”
I went back behind the bar feeling more at ease, more focused. I laughed and smiled with the patrons and made sure everyone was having a good time and had their drinks refilled quickly. The knot that had clutched in my stomach all day finally loosened.
14
Right before closing, Derek came into the bar. He looked tired—which pulling a sixteen-hour shift will do. I didn’t overthink it. I just reacted. I darted across the room and hugged him. Not a take-me-now move, but a glad-to-see-you hug. He hugged me back, lifting me a little off my feet, and all the pieces of me that had felt scattered all day slid back into place. I could finally take a deep breath.
I stepped back, smiled, got behind the bar and pulled him a beer. He drank gratefully. I grabbed the artichoke dip and chips I’d put aside for myself and offered it to him. He scooped savory dip on a chip and started shoveling it in.
“Brett’s in the truck?” I said. He nodded, mouth full. I leaned on the bar, glad to see him eating, relaxed, friendly with me.
“He can come in and have a drink,” I offered.
“He’ll eat my dip,” Derek said through another mouthful. I laughed and texted Brett to come on inside.
When he walked in, I felt a little shy. I’d been able to run up and hug Derek, but for some reason, I felt bashful around Brett. Maybe I didn’t think I knew him as well, or maybe what we’d done—missionary style with Derek asleep on the bed, had felt more intimate, less playful. Either way, I just nodded my head at him and got him a drink. He grabbed a handful of chips off the appetizer I’d given Derek, and the two of them squabbled about who was eating the most dip. It was like a soothing balm to me, their talk and laughter, the closeness I felt with them.
When I was done cleaning up and the guys had polished off all of the dip, we headed out. I sat between them in the truck as usual. I felt at sea, unsure of what to say.
“We have to talk,” Brett said.
“Wait’ll we get home,” Derek said.
“All right. Burgers?” he said.
“You just ate!” I said indignantly, a little sorry that I hadn’t snatched any chips.
“You haven’t,” Derek pointed out. I shrugged.
“I had a burger for lunch.”
“Taco?”
“No, I could eat another burger. I was just saying.”
We drove through, and I remembered the first night we met, how they took me to get something to eat and gave me a place to stay. How safe I’d felt with them from the start. This hadn’t changed anything. They were still taking care of me, still men I could trust.
As we sat elbow to elbow in the crowded cab of the truck, eating delicious salty food out of greasy wax paper, I just soaked in the contented silence. I stole a fry from Brett’s box while he made a left turn, and then I grinned at him. Derek grabbed one of my onion rings.
