Page 8 of Wrapped Up in You
CREW
“He’s got it bad. Fuck, so do you by the look on your face.” Luke greets me at the new café that opened up across the street from LITHE. Anthony, his partner at the obstetrician and gynecology office, is sitting in a chair beside him. We’re outside, waiting for Luke’s woman, Shae, to finish with a yoga class before we go over the plans she’d like to change for her studio.
“Fuck off.” I take my seat, still in the workout clothes from this morning. The self-imposed rules I’ve set are like a stone-age wall, slowly crumpling, and after yesterday, when I was in an office with only Serena… Shit, it's only getting worse, and I see no sign of it getting better. That’s why, instead of taking my hand to my cock this morning for the millionth fucking time, I hit the gym, did cardio, lifted weights, sat in a sauna, and I’m still on edge. Knee bouncing, ready to hit Jude up for a cigarette or have a stiff drinking too damn early in the morning.
“Coralynn, I take it?” I ask Anthony. His eyes are locked across the street, where he’s more or less watching the shadows of people in a glass. The smoke effect doesn’t give anyone the view he’s after, and the only window, so to speak, is the two maindoors. Even then, there’s only a strip above and below to carry the elements through to look cohesive.
“Am I that transparent?” Anthony finally looks away.
“Man, you have no idea. Hell, we’re all that way. Just ask Crew. He’s got a woman at work who has his dick in knots.” The problem with having a big friend group is that once one knows, they all know. It’s like a game of telephone, and the story changes with every phone call they make.
“And Shae doesn’t you.” I take the menu off the table, not remotely hungry, but I’m not going to take a seat at a table that a waitress can’t make money at. That’s rude as shit.
“That she does, but falling asleep and waking up to my woman, I’m damn glad I didn’t let something like a little handbook or made-up bullshit keep me away. You’ll learn that. Hell, you both will.” I find something to order just as a waiter approaches our table.
“Welcome to The Cozy Oak. I’m Atlas, and I’ll be taking care of you today. Can I start you off with something to drink?”
“I’ll take the cinnamon roll iced coffee and black coffee,” Luke goes first.
“Coffee as well. I’ll take cream, though.” Anthony crosses his arms over his chest.
“He’ll also get the iced matcha with lavender,” Luke helps the man out.
“I’ll take a coffee as well, thank you.”
“You got it. I’ll be right back with your drinks and can take your order or wait for the rest of your party.” Atlas is at the top of his game, unlike Anthony. I even had the forethought to ask Todd about Serena’s favorites for lunch yesterday. The guy sitting next to me is the reason our lunch was interrupted and why I’m working on a weekend.
“You know something I don’t?” Anthony says once the coast is clear.
“Yeah, Coralynn is a partner with my woman. They’re expanding LITHE. Shae wants to go up since the building is technically two stories. The upstairs would be Cora’s dance studio, the downstairs would be yoga and the kid area, and that would leave one more room, if all goes well, to bring in ballet.” When Luke called yesterday, I relayed the message about Serena working with me and this being a good project for her to step into if he didn’t mind. He said he’d talk to Shae and get back to me. It came as no surprise to me that Shae said yes. The downfall of a meeting on a Saturday is that Serena isn’t here for the first meeting.
“Should have thought of that,” Anthony grunts.
“There a reason why you’re sitting with your dick in the dirt instead of going after Coralynn?” Atlas is back with our drinks, notices that the rest of our party isn’t here, and leaves with a quick nod after a thank you from us.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can’t necessarily wonder that when you’re doing the same thing. The one difference from what I hear is that your woman wants to be around you. Mine keeps running away. It’s like a fucking game of cat and mouse. The more it happens, the more I’m realizing Coralynn likes to be chased.” Anthony starts to doctor up his coffee. I add a packet of sugar to mine and call it a day, he adds cream, and Luke takes his black.
“There is that. Serena would fit in well. You notice a trend with the women we surround ourselves with? They are all driven, focused, and have no problem putting us in our place. I reckon it’ll only be a matter of time until she does the same to you.” Luke’s become quite the therapist, and it’s clear as fucking day Matthew has told him entirely too much and is making his own assumptions.
“That she would and that she is. There’s only one little problem with going after her, even with my hang-ups. Todd’s her fucking uncle. He’s been pretty implicit about her being off-limits, untouchable, and all that shit.” It’s the truth. I don’t even go into how Todd stopped by my office after work yesterday, waiting until Serena left, and then asking me a million and one questions. Some of them were the basics, how she’s doing workwise, only to end it with a reminder she’s his niece and doesn’t need any type of drama in her life.
“That’s well and fine, but what about what Serena wants?” Anthony makes a valid point.
“And what does she want?” Luke follows up. I’m pretty sure I know exactly what Serena is after. I pressed my luck a bit yesterday with my hand on her lower back, crowding her while she worked on the computer, and then after lunch, the pull toward her only became worse. I get it now. Boy, do I fucking get it. All of the guys in our group are obsessed with their women.
They fell hard, and they fell fast.
Similar to what I’m doing, except something is holding me back, and that something is my own issues.
“I can’t necessarily read her mind now, can I?” I evade the question. The head on my shoulders says one thing while the head between my legs says something else entirely. The thought of her just now has my dick lengthening, and that isn’t a good thing.
“I’ll let you answer your own question for that. Think about it, really think about it.” Luke’s eyes light up, and when I see what he’s looking at, the reason is as plain as day. Shae is walking out of LITHE, arms linked with Coralynn, and I know this conversation is as good as over. A win in my book since I’m battling my own conscience.
“Fuck me,” Anthony mutters low enough when he catches a glimpse of Coralynn. I’m the odd man out in this group setting right now and have serious doubts about trying to start a game plan for LITHE, especially with both Luke and Anthony’s focus completely on everything else than what should be.
I allow the lovebirds to say their hellos, though it’s more Luke and Shae than Anthony and Coralynn. She does sit down beside him, grabs her drink, and takes a moment until she’s ready to speak. Meanwhile, Luke and Shae do similar things, but they keep the conversation going.
“Hey, Crew, thank you for doing this for me. I know it’s not really a work day, and I appreciate you working around my schedule.” Shae says, turning in her seat to give me a hug. Luke lets out a low grumble, more or less telling me hands fucking off. The embrace is over before he can get a word out. He’s lucky I didn’t pull a Jagger and egg him on to the point of pissing him off.
