dark hair is in a topknot on her head and she’s makeup free. I see a headboard behind her and realize she’s in bed too, wearing some sort of tank top with thin straps that show off her perfectly smooth shoulders.
I swallow hard, my gaze roaming all over that exposed skin.
Grabbing the phone, I hold it up in front of me, squinting at the image of myself. I don’t look so bad. My face is flushed. I’m going to pretend everything is normal. “Hey, what’s up?”
She never calls this late. Hope nothing’s wrong.
Kelsey frowns. “You okay? Been working out?”
“Uh.” I pause for a moment, blinking at her. “Yeah.” How else am I supposed to answer? And I guess I did just give my dick a workout.
Her frown deepens. “This late? I know you’ve been focusing on your fitness lately, but I didn’t realize you were this dedicated.”
“What do you mean, I’m focused on my fitness?” Now I’m the one who’s frowning.
“You’ve been working out more. You told me so yourself. If you’re not stopping at the gym after work, you’re jogging on the beach.” Her eyes light up. “Hey, maybe we should run together tomorrow morning.” On occasion, we’ve run on the beach together, though we’ve really never made a habit of it.
“You want to get together tomorrow? Is that why you FaceTimed me?” I ask her.
“Sort of. I didn’t plan on running, but let’s meet up. Or do you have an early meeting?” She frowns, her teeth catching her lower lip.
“I don’t have to be at work until nine.” Fridays are usually a catch-up day at the office for me. I rarely have appointments scheduled. I tend to make calls and concentrate on backed-up paperwork and cleaning out the endless emails in my inbox.
“Same here. Let’s meet at Carmel Beach. Is that okay?”
“Sure.” I pause for a moment, wondering about this call. It’s not like her to FaceTime me, especially after ten o’clock at night. “What else did you want to talk about?”
“Uhh…nothing much.” She sounds evasive.
Huh.
“Kels.” I bring the phone up closer to my face. “Everything all right?”
She shrugs one smooth shoulder. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our date for Jessica’s wedding.”
Worry sizzles down my spine. “What about it?” Shit, if she backs out, I’m screwed. There’s no one else I want to take to the wedding as my date. No one else I trust.
“I don’t know. I’m kind of worried about how we’ll look together. We’re friends, you know? We act like friends.”
“Okay.” I say the word slowly. “So?”
“Well, if you want us to look like an actual couple, then we have to—act like one.” She bites her lower lip again, this time with a wince.
“That shouldn’t be too difficult, right?” What, I’ll hold her hand? Pull a chair out for her? Big deal.
“Like, maybe we should act like we’re very together, if you know what I mean.” A single brow lifts.
“As in…”
This is one thing I’ve noticed about women: they think we’re mind readers. Well, guess what, ladies? We’re not. We’re simple. We need things broken down and spelled out. We’ll go along with what you want, for the most part. We just can’t always figure out what you’re trying to say.
She blows out an irritated breath. “You’re being really obtuse, Theo.”
Obtuse. Don’t think I’ve been called that before. “Please explain.”
“We’ll need to act like a bona fide couple who can’t keep their hands off each other,” she says, rather primly I might add.
I think of porn star Kelsey. And real, talking to me right now Kelsey. My Kelsey is a lot prettier than porn star Kelsey. “Like a couple in love.”
“More like a couple who are so hot for each other, they can barely stand it.” She hesitates for a moment, an unsure look on her face. “Don’t you think that’s the approach we need to take?”
“I guess.”
“You need to show Jessica that you’ve moved on from her. That you’re now with a woman who wants to have sex with you whenever, wherever,” Kelsey says.
“You know, she never liked it when I tried to go down on her.” Well, shit. I guess tonight is true confession time.
Kelsey’s frowning so hard her forehead is wrinkled. “Why in the world would she not like it?”
“I don’t know. Said it made her feel uncomfortable. She didn’t like giving me blowjobs either.”
She just blinks at me. “That’s insane. Isn’t that what makes sex fun?”
“What, blowjobs? You like giving blowjobs?” I ask incredulously.
“I don’t hate it.”
I scrub a hand