Page 78 of Heat It Up (Off the Ice)
Nik laughs. “My friend wants to know if you’re interested in a foursome.”
I don’t even have to look to know Sofia’s blushing. She might be learning to be adventurous, but even she has limits, and a foursome is definitely beyond both of our limits.
“We’ll pass. And FYI, dumbass, that’s my food in the kitchen. We’re about to make dinner.”
Still chuckling, Nik raises his hands. “Got it. We’re going to be busy anyway. She brought her camcorder with her.” Great, we’ll get to listen to them make porn.
Nik turns to leave and I begin to close the door. His friend waves bye to Sofia as I shut it.
“Is it just me or was she totally checking me out?” Sofia asks, eyes wide.
I join her on the bed and crawl under the covers with her. “What she was hoping for would’ve proven to be interesting. No way would anything have happened between me and Nik, and with the way she was eating you with her eyes, I have a feeling it would’ve been three-on-one action if we had agreed to it.” And hell if that would have happened. Joni is enough competition for me.
“I-is that what you want to do?” If I thought her eyes were wide before, that’s nothing compared to now. And her face is several shades lighter.
“No. God no! That’s definitely not my kind of thing.”
She lets out a long slow breath, blowing out the tension like it’s a candle flame.
The question is, what are we going to do now? Listening to Nik and the girl go at it for the benefit of her camera doesn’t make it to my list of fun-filled activities.
“Do you want to go out for pizza?” I ask.
Sofia looks at the door and nods. “Can we shower first?”
By shower, I’m guessing she doesn’t mean a repeat of the one we had last week, where the sex was hotter than the water. At least with the water running, we can’t hear the other two in Nik’s bedroom.
Silently cursing him for changing his plans and screwing up mine, I climb out of bed and grab my favorite physics t-shirt for her to wear to the bathroom. And yes, the sight of her in it, and the sight of her only in the t-shirt, will fuel my sexual fantasies for while she’s away.
After a quick shower, we escape the apartment, but not before we hear the girl scream out in ecstasy as I shut the door.
• • •
“I’m thinking of applying to the speech pathology graduate program for next fall,” Gabby says.
I take my eyes off the road and look at her for a brief second. “Are you sure?”
“This is the perfect time to do it. You’re away a lot for games. If I’m studying all the time, I won’t have time to miss you so much.”
We’ve had this discussion before. It was because of my traveling schedule that she hadn’t been excited to apply just yet.
The traffic light is green and I continue through the intersection. Gabby screams and before I can react, an SUV plows into her side of the car. We’re sent flying sideways, flying, flying, flying, until we smash into a lamppost. Glass showers my body and metal tears into my left leg.
And I momentarily black out.
When I regain consciousness, every part of me is screaming in pain. I hear yells from what sounds like miles away but can’t understand what they’re saying. My eyelids have been turned to lead, but somehow I manage to open my eyes a crack.
It takes me a few seconds to piece everything together. The darkness. The glow from streetlights. The caved in driver’s door. The people running toward the car. The sirens in the distance.
Gabby. I turn my head to see if she’s okay. But it’s not Gabby. It’s Sofia.
Fear floods my body. God, no! Please not Sofia. I reach out to her. She’s white in the pale light and covered in blood.
“Sofia. It’s going to okay. Hold on for me, babe. Can you do that for me? I love you and you’re going to be okay. I promise.” But even as I say the words I know it’s not true. The part about loving her is. I’ve been falling in love with her from the first day we met; I just didn’t realize it until now. That part is true. The part about everything will be all right is a lie.
“Kyle, you’re having a nightmare,” Sofia says from the distance.
She strokes my cheek and the awareness of what happened creeps in. I slowly open my eyes, almost afraid to in case she’s another dream and I’m too late.
