Charis groaned. "I bet I know what you said then."
I stared at her. "You're on. Ten bucks. What did I say?"
"You said 'that sounds good to me.'"
Holy hell. Charis knew me better than Aura did. Damn, I'd missed this woman.
I reached in my pocket and tossed the bill her way. She caught it in one hand. "Close enough. I said sounds like a plan. She hurled names, I flung open the door-"
"You didn't tell her not to let it hit her on her way out."
"Now you're getting carried away. No, I just said, bye, have a nice life. She left. And that was that."
Charis stared at me. I waited, but she didn't say anything else for a while. I wondered what was going through her mind. "You really are, aren't you? You and Aura are kaput. This is it. The final finale."
I closed my eyes again and leaned back, stretching out my long arms along the back of the sofa. "Yeah."
The breath whooshed from her puffed cheeks. "So how are you taking it? Without any of that macho crap you do."
"Not bad, considering."
It was true. I wasn't exactly chipper, but the feeling of being punched to the gut had waned. Now it was a matter of adjusting to the new reality.
The important thing was, it was over. About fucking time, too.
Charis looked doubtful. "Breaking up from a long-term relationship is a huge deal. You must be in denial. It's the first stage of grief. You're probably experiencing an artificial sense of closure. Soon you'll be plunged into the next stage and-"
I cut her off. "We've been going downhill for a while. Almost from the start if you want the truth. Come on, you must have had a clue what was going on."
"No. I don't know. Maybe. Like I said, you guys always seemed real intense. I thought … "
I detected something in her tone and opened one eye. "You thought what?"
"I don't know. I assumed you'd get married one day."
"Not happening. Not getting married to Aura. Ever. The end."
Charis said something under her breath.
I shifted to get a better look at her. She was gazing down at her hands. They were clenched together tightly, her knuckles stark white.
"Char?"
She looked up quickly. "Yeah?"
Her panicked expression startled me. I leaned forward and covered her hands with one of mine. "Don't freak out, kid. Only good things ahead."
My calling her "kid," by the way, is our joke. She may be older, but she's always been much smaller than me.
"You're not just putting on a brave front?" she asked. "Because you do kinda look like shit worked over."
I shook my head. "We were a hot mess, Aura and me. Believe me, I just saved myself a lifetime of hurt."
"All this time I thought she made you happy."
Whether on account of the booze, my supreme relaxation, or who-knows-what, the words were spoken before I could censor them. "Just my dick. Aura made my dick stupid happy. Note the stupid. Other than that, though, I can't say … "
Her expression halted me.
Right. So when your best friend is female, you try to keep the dick references to a minimum. If you do mention it, you don't talk about its aspect as an instrument of pleasure.
At least that's the case if you were raised by a mother from the deep South with strict views on male chivalry and a father who adored his daughters.
I don't know what made me say it, but I knew by her stunned expression I'd crossed a line.
I winced and held up my shot glass in a toast. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Sloane. Crass Bastard Norrell's the name. Stick around, next up I actually stick my entire foot into my mouth."
CHAPTER 7
Three Years Ago, Slightly Before Asher Met Aura
Asher: So you say you dated the same guy all throughout college?
Charis: Ayup, sure did.
Asher: So why didn't you get married after you graduated?
Charis: It didn't come up. Look, you want to talk about froo-froo stuff or you want to play? Uh, Ash …
Asher: What?
Charis: You're looking at me funny. Are we playing, or what?
Asher: We're playing. You know, Sloane, you're not like the other girls.
Charis: How so? Aw, now I'm toast. Come on, we're going again. Round four. Ready?
Asher: Mm. How come you dress like that?
Charis: Because I actually think it's better to wear clothes than go around naked and be arrested?
Asher: You know what I mean. That gray thing.
Charis: This cardigan.
Asher: Yeah, the cardigan. How many layers do you need?
Charis: Don't get on my case about my clothes, dude.
Asher: Not me. I'm just pointing out your unique style.
Charis: Uh-huh. And I know a slick talker when I hear one.
Asher: And then there's the fact that you never say anything about guys treating you shitty.
Charis: What do you mean, shitty?
Asher: You know. It's all my sisters talk about. Whatever guy has just done them wrong.
Charis: Oh, right.
Asher: So who's done you wrong in life? Seriously, no joke. Some dude has to have pissed you off.
Charis: Well, yeah-you! I'm trying to cream your studly ass, Asher Norrell, and you keep flapping your lips like a sissy. Now take your death rays!
Asher: They're not death rays, woman.
Charis: They look like death rays and they act like death rays, they contain essence of death ray, so they're totally death rays, but with, I will grant you, all new branding. Hey! What's that for? Hands to yourself, mister. What's wrong with you? You're acting weird.
Asher: Sorry. My hand must have slipped.
Charis: Right, slipped three feet over-foul! I call foul! Oh!
Asher: Oh, what?
Charis: Um. Nothing. So, uh … where were we?
Asher: I have no idea, Sloane. I was innocently tickling you, using an age-old tactic to distract you into defeat. Then you cried foul.
Charis: Right. Foul.
Asher: Maybe it's time to quit.
Charis: Hungry. I'm hungry.
Asher: Mm, me, too.
Charis: That's my phone. I have to take it.
Asher: Okay. Fuck.
Charis: What's that?
Asher: Nothing. Hey, I'm taking off.
Charis: Sounds good. Catch you later.
Asher
CHARIS TOOK MY DICK WELL in stride.
So to speak.
Her face had gone red, but she cleared her throat and gave me her Big Sister look from under her lashes. I think she's under the impression it makes her look severe.
It doesn't. It makes her look younger than me and fucking darling. Especially with those pink cheeks.
"It's okay, really. It's no big deal. I, uh, gather the sex with Aura was, uh, above average."
Now, when Sloane refers to sex, she always makes it sound like an esoteric activity. Like it's a hypothetical concept for her. Maybe that's why I have the vague idea that she's a virgin.
She's years older than me. Four, as I might have mentioned before. Which makes her 26. I know she had a boyfriend in college, though she doesn't talk about him much, so … .I'm probably wrong about her being virginal. But as near as. I'm fairly certain of that.
When I think about it.
Which I don't.
Much.
"I mean," she rushed on, "you're implying the physical stuff was the best part of your relationship together. So your … your encounters … the sexual … sex … must have been unbelievably, outstandingly, supremely incom-comparable."
She was drunk. Maybe drunker than me. It hit me that I hadn't been the only one drowning their sorrows tonight.
But … sorrows? Charis isn't supposed to have sorrows. The very notion that she might have sorrows necessitating drowning ripped me open. Note to self: probe Sloane about her sorrows when we aren't both wasted.
"Well? Am I right, Norrell?" Her tone was almost aggressive.
"Ah, the sexual sex was excellent." I sprawled out low in my seat, discomfited.
Lame answer … but what else was there to say?
Aura had magnificent tits, a wasp waist, mouth-watering hips … and she loved to play bedroom games. Our only problems in bed came when the light was too bright or I wanted to fuck her from behind and she was too self-conscious about her glorious ass.
I stared at the ceiling, thinking about that ass. My cock began to stir.
Then I thought about our last fight. About years of what I could now admit were crappy times punctuated by drugging sex.
It was over.
Deflation. Shrinkage. Shrivel City.
Well, well, well. I thought, pleased. Stage Three, is that you? Maybe for good this time?
Maybe I was finally learning control. Maybe I'd scrounged up some maturity from somewhere. God knows I needed it now that I had nobody to fuck.
Or another option: maybe I was drunker than a skunk.
Charis leaned forward and poured herself another glass of port, then gulped it down in a single swig.
I frowned. "Hey, you should lay off."
"I'm okay," she dismissed. "So. So, so. That's really excellent to know, Asher. I mean, it's excellent that your relationship with Aura was good on that particular front. Front! Get it? Because Aura's front … never mind. Word vomit alert."