Odd Man Rush (East Coast, #2)

by Kristen Granata

Jason spins her around by her shoulders and whispers in her ear. “Now stop being a brat about it and go pack your shit.”

“Hey, we happen to be a trio and we’re pretty awesome.” I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. The universe is setting you up for the next phase in your life. Shit always gets worse right before it gets better.” She laughs. “You’re reading too many of those manifesting self-help books.” “Maybe I am. But I’m serious.” I turn to face her. “I have some news.” “News?” “I talked with Jason about the website, and I’m going to move forward with it.” “That’s fantastic.” Celeste beams. “I’m so happy for you.” “You were right: My parents don’t ever have to know what I’m doing. I can still work for them and run my own business on the side.”

“When will you learn that I’m always right?” “And so modest.”

“Ah, there’s still hope.” She nudges me with her shoulder. “Seriously though, I’m happy for you, Kourt. You’re going to do great things with this website.” “You should run it with me.”

“What do you mean?” “Let’s do this together. You just lost your job, so what better time to start the business we always used to dream about?”

“You can do all the marketing for it. Spread the word on social media. You’d be amazing at it,” Jason says. Celeste’s head moves in a slow nod. “I would be.” “I think it’s the perfect plan.” I hold out my hand. “What do you say?” Celeste slips her hand in mine and gives it a firm shake. “Let’s fucking do it.”

HELL YEAH BROTHER

“Morning. How’d you sleep?” My eyes flick to Jason who tilts his head, no doubt waiting for my response. The smug smirk he’s wearing prompts my snarky response. “I slept great, once you two were done fucking like rabbits on the balcony.” I reach up into the cabinet and pull down a mug. “Sounded like you had a fantastic night.” Kourtney laughs and her cheeks tinge pink. “You heard us?” “I think all of Jersey City heard you, babe.” Jason says nothing.

“I have another idea I’d like to run by you.” I scoop a pile of scrambled eggs onto my plate. “Shoot.” “Would you want to be on the website?” I scrunch my nose. “Nah.” “Why not?” “I’m not into solo work.” “What if you didn’t have to be on camera alone?”

“I would rather die than be set up with someone—especially someone to make porn with.” “But what if—” “No.” “Just listen—” “Nope.”

“What if the three of us did it together?” “The three of who?” “Me, you, and Jason.”

OH SHIT

My shoulders shake as I laugh. “Me having sex with you and your husband. Could you imagine?” She shrugs. “I could imagine actually.” Wait a minute... My eyes bounce between the two of them. “Why aren’t you laughing?” Jason laces his fingers with Kourtney’s. “Because we’re being serious.”

“Is this because I saw you two having sex last night?” I set down my mug harder than I mean to, coffee sloshing out of the top. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I just wanted to...well, I don’t know what I wanted. But that doesn’t mean I want to join in.” “I think you know what you wanted.” Jason shoots me a dubious look. “I think you liked what you saw, and you were turned on by it.”

“It was two people having sex. Of course I was turned on by it. But it didn’t mean anything.”

Oh sure it didn't mean anything.

“Celeste, wait.” I snatch my purse off the entryway table and sling it over my shoulder. “Look, I don’t know what kind of twisted shit you and your husband get up to, but this is not something I want to be a part of.” “Why not?” “Because you’re married for Christ’s sake. You can’t just add another person to join like it’s a ride share.” “Again I ask: Why not?”

“Have you lost your mind?” Kourtney plants her hands on her hips. “I’m being serious. Can we please have a normal conversation about this?” “A normal conversation...about me having sex with you and your husband. Sure, that’s totally normal.”

“You were the one who told me there’s no such thing as normal, remember? You told me I was being judgmental, but now look who’s being all Judgy Judgerton.” “We were eighteen, Kourtney. We were in college. Those were the years for being wild and spontaneous.”

“Tell me how you and your husband discussed fucking me, like I’m some rag doll you can pass around and use to get traffic on your website.” “It’s not like that at all.”

“I know you felt something between us when we danced together at Trenton’s wedding last weekend. The three of us have a connection. I know the two of you care about each other, and we’re all attracted to each other. Why not act on it and enjoy ourselves while we make money?” “The connection is called friendship, Kourt. I know I said your husband is hot but that didn’t mean I wanted to fuck him.” “But what if you could? What happened to old Celeste who was down for anything?”

“You broke my heart and told me you didn’t want this. You built a new life and married someone else. Now you want to have some fun and invite me into your marriage like it’s no big deal? You can’t have it both ways, Kourt.”

“You once told me that we could have whatever we want in life. We just have to be brave enough to go for it.” “Brave? You want to talk about being brave?”

“Do you plan on telling your parents about the three of us too? Or am I the dirty secret along with your website?”

Ouch this hurts.

“Exactly.” Tears well behind my lids but I blink them away. “You want to use me for your website and then what? When does it end? Until you get what you want, and then discard me when you’ve had your fill?”

“You know it’s more than that, just like you know what you were doing last night when you came out onto the balcony and locked eyes with me while I was plunging inside your best friend. You would’ve stayed out there until the very end if I didn’t spot you, and I’d bet all my money that you were touching yourself behind that wall.”

“Tell me I’m wrong, kókkino. Tell me you weren’t wishing you could feel what it’d be like to be with us. Tell me it doesn’t make you wet right now thinking about our hands all o...

“Tell me you don’t want this.” I swallow hard, ignoring the thumping pulse in my neck as I squeeze my legs...

And then when Jason joined us and told me to stay so he could dance with the both of us...a piece of my heart broke off like a traitor jumping ship and swimming across enemy lines.

Me: I’m sorry I reacted that way earlier. I didn’t mean to make you cry. Little Mouse: It’s understandable. I know it was a shocking thing to hear. Me: That was probably the last thing on earth I’d ever expect to hear from you. Little Mouse: I wish you would’ve stayed so we could’ve kept talking. Little Mouse: Jason feels awful you left the way you did. Me: He knows not to worry about me. I’m a big girl. Little Mouse: I always worry about you—Jay Me: Ew now you’re texting as a couple? *barf emoji* Little Mouse: *middle finger emoji*

“What were you thinking?” “It was on my mind after Trenton’s wedding.” She runs a hand through her hair. “I liked the way it felt with the three of us dancing together. Having you both close to me. Having you close to each other. It just felt...right.”

“And how does that make you feel?” “What are you, my therapist now?” I smack his foot. “Come on. You guys brought this up. Let’s be real.”

“You’ve always been a part of us. You should know that by now.”

“And this isn’t some fantasy I want to fulfill with just anyone. It’s you. And it’s him. The two people I love and trust the most in this world.” “I guess I just don’t understand how two people who are in as much love as you two are would be okay with sharing each other. Wouldn’t you feel jealous?”

“Kourtney is not my property,” Jason says. “She chooses me and I choose her. I’m secure in our love. It doesn’t matter what she wants—if it makes her happy, then I’ll stop at nothing to make sure she has it. What she loves, I love. If it’s important to her, it’s important to me.”

We love a man who is secure in his relationship.

“And you?” I swing my gaze to Kourtney. “You want your man sticking his pecker in someone else?”

“No, not someone else.” She glances at her husband briefly before her eyes return to mine. “You, though...while I’m there.” S...

“There’s no going back from something like that. You know that, right? If we crossed that line, it would ruin everything between us.” Kourtney’s lips tug into a frown. “Why does it have to ruin everything?” “Because how does it end? Where does our friendship go from there?” I hike a shoulder. “What happens when your little fantasy fizzles out?” “Who says it’d fizzle out?”

“You said it’d be for the website. How long would it go on for until you’re ready to turn your threesome back into a couple?”

“I don’t know, okay? I didn’t think this all through. All I know is that we’re all feeling something here, and I want t...

“Confidence looks good on you, Kourt. I’m proud of you for speaking your mind.” She drops her gaze to her hands in her lap, letting her hair fall in her face to conceal the smile I know is there. “I’m tired of not going after the things I want.” Jason leans ...

“But you’ll think about it?” “I will.” I roll off the bed and plant my feet on the floor. “But not tonight. I’m tired.”

“Nothing will ever change between us. I promise.” I don’t say what I’m really thinking, not wanting to smack down her hopeful heart. “Night, guys.” “Goodnight, kókkino.”

I can almost hear his gruff voice in my ear. Get on your knees and suck my cock, kókkino. He only calls me that because I have red hair. It doesn’t mean anything special. But it sounds special coming from him. What would it feel like to be fucked by him while Kourtney sits on my face? God, this is so wrong, fantasizing about my best friend and her husband. This is what they wanted though, isn’t it? I slip my hand into the waist band of my sleep shorts, rubbing myself to the thought of Kourtney and Jason.

Jason skates over to us and skids to a stop in front of the boards. His eyes flick down to Celeste’s jersey—Trenton’s jersey that she always wears for games—and then he shakes his head as his eyes lift back to hers. “Someone’s in trouble,” I singsong.

Jason has made several comments about her wearing Trenton’s jersey instead of his over the last year. She jokes and tells him that Trenton pays her as his PR agent, and she’d gladly wear Jason’s if he wants to pay her too.

“He warmed up right before he went out there.” Celeste’s head whips to look at me. “Here?” My cheeks heat as I nod. “In one of the storage closets.” Her head tips back as she laughs. “And what if you got caught?” “That’s the thrill of it.”

Jason slings an arm around each of us while we walk toward the black car waiting for us. It’s something he’s always done, something that shouldn’t make me feel uneasy. But after finding out about the conversation he and Kourtney had, I don’t know how to act around him. Spending the night drinking and dancing won’t lead anywhere good. I should put distance between the three of us.

“I’m wearing a vibrator,” she says. “He’s controlling it from his phone.” Oh for fuck’s sake. I’m equally parts pissed off and turned on. “Then why aren’t you dancing with him?” “You know he likes watching me squirm.” Kourtney turns around and presses her ass against me, lifting her arms over her head just like she did at the wedding. “Every time you touch me, he’ll reward me.”

I AM UNWELL.

“Come on, Celeste.” Kourtney spins around and pulls me close. “Be real with me. I know you better than anyone in this world. Tell me you don’t find the idea of the three of us hot.” Her hands skate down my spine, settling on the small of my back. “Tell me the real reason you haven’t been able to sleep lately.” She positions her legs on either side of mine, rubbing herself against my thigh like an animal in heat. “Tell me you don’t feel as turned on as I do right now.”

“Please,” she whispers. “This feels too good to stop.” I should rip her off me and storm out of here, furious at her for pushing me to do something I explicitly told her I didn’t want to do. But I can’t move. I can’t push out the word stop. Instead, my hands drop to her ass and rock her back and forth over my thigh. “This is so fucked up, Kourt.” “Says who?” She tilts her chin and brushes her nose against mine. “It’s us.”

His emerald eyes are on me, and he arches a challenging brow like he’s asking, “What are you going to do?” It only stokes my bratty side. Fine, buddy. Let’s see how much you like seeing someone else kiss your wife.

I take Kourtney’s face into my hands and crash my mouth into hers. Her mouth opens instantly, our tongues finding one another in a deep, passionate kiss. We’re ravenous. Insatiable. Hands in hair, gasping for breath, all-consuming. I kiss her with everything I’ve got, with all the love and emotion and heartache I’ve had inside me.