Page 5 of Just Screwing Around

“Morning, Captain,” she said, with a smirk.

“Morning.”

Why she insisted on calling me Captain instead of boss or, you know, my name, I would never know. We had been friends since we met in culinary school.

Even though Oh, Beans! was yet to open, we were doing well on our pre-opening to-do list. The familiar routine didn’t calm my racing thoughts like it usually did. Logically, I knew that the business would do well. I had bought an existing coffee shop, so the customers were already used to coming here. It helped that I was down the street from the hospital. If anyone needed caffeine and sugar, it was health care workers and nervous families.

Adding to my already racing thoughts was the Nick situation. And the Derek situation. I hadn’t told my big brother that I’d moved in with his sworn enemy. I’d just texted him that I’d found a place and, like most brothers, he’d sent me a thumbs up emoji with no follow up questions.

Ass.

The feud between these two was dumb af. Still, I should give him the heads up. And I would.

Eventually.

Feud aside, I couldn’t forget the fact that twelve hours after moving in, Nick and I both had our hands down our pants while thinking about the other person. That wasn’t a problem, but more of an opportunity. I was never the type to want the white picket fence life. Hell, even as a business owner in my late thirties, I didn’t feel grown up enough to be a parent. What I wouldn’t mind though was to get laid.

Holy shit. It had been too long since I’d been good and thoroughly fucked.

Having an available penis right down the hallway could be very convenient. The fact that Nick and I knew each other so well, that he was hot as fuck, and that he clearly had a few naughty thoughts about me too made this a good plan.

I didn’t need complications, but I did need stress relief. Nick would likely be stubborn about the whole thing. Of course, he would. But he had caved into temptation pretty damn quickly yesterday. Subtle seduction of my brother’s nemesis might just be the perfect distraction from worrying about paying back my loans.

I left Oh, Beans! around two. I drove home with the window of my SUV down and the sun on my face. At least I could get one kind of vitamin D this way.

Kim and I had gotten a lot figured out in terms of the menu, but I was still stressed and dog tired.

The house was quiet when I walked through the front door. I didn’t expect Nick to be home until at least six if he worked the kind of hours Derek did. I ran a hand through my hair and discovered a lump of batter tangled in my ponytail.

Priority one: shower.

Nick’s house had two bathrooms, an ensuite attached to his bedroom and a main bathroom in the hall. Although the hall bathroom wasn’t just mine, I still planned to fill the cupboards with my stuff.

I grabbed a box off my bedroom floor and took it to the bathroom along with a change of clothes. I didn’t like to think of myself as super high maintenance, but when you find a shampoo and conditioner combo that makes your hair shine, you don’t mess with that. I quickly filled the vanity drawers with my hairbrush, blow dryer, elastics, clips and all my dental care stuff. Under the sink I stuffed pads, tampons and extra shampoo and conditioner. God forbid I ran out and have to use Nick’s. Boy shampoo could strip paint off a car, I swear.

I started to collapse the box when I realized there was one more thing inside. I pulled it out and felt the familiar smooth silicone in my hand.

Before deciding to move, I’d lived alone. So, of course, I’d kept a vibrator in my ensuite shower. Rechargeable, could be used wet or dry, and came with a handy shower hanger for quick access when you’re already naked. What more did a girl need?

Dick, obviously, but this was a good back up plan.

Under normal roommate circumstances, I would hide this away in my bedroom. That’s why people had nightstands, right? But given that my goal was to have Nick make up for all the shit with Derek by giving me many orgasms, I didn’t. Instead, I attached the hanger and my bright purple vibrator to the wall of the shower. I’d leave the shower curtain closed when I wasn’t using it, I decided. The potential for embarrassment was still there, but only if someone went snooping. I was betting on only one person who was interested enough to look.

Chapter Four

Nick

Worst roommate ever award goes to…me, for jerking off at the sight of her underwear the same day she moved in.

Congratulations to me, absolute fucking creep.

It was just underwear, the same thing I would see walking past the lady’s section at Wal-Mart on my way to buy windshield wiper fluid and batteries. Well, not the same ones. These were not your grandma’s panties. These were lacy and skimpy and…now I was getting chubby.

Fuck.

I chugged the last of my luke-warm coffee and jumped down from my truck. My business, Springwood Contracting, focused on sustainable renovations and new construction. I still spent a lot of time at the local lumber depot picking up what we needed.

Can’t recycle everything.

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