Unspoken Pleasure by Erotica

The Devil With A Deal:>>Ep6

Brian went straight to a nearby cooler that was resting on the floor. He knelt down and grabbed a bottle of beer, cracking it open before handing it to me. I turned to hand it back to Jesse, but he was gone. I supposed he'd dropped away at some point on the journey over. I guess I was supposed to wonder about him, but honestly, I was glad my greasy shadow was gone.

"See? I told you," Brian said, clinking his own beer with mine. "Nice, right?"

"It's a lot," I said.

"Hell yeah!" Brian said, clapping me on the back.

"Won't the neighbors complain about the noise?" I asked.

"Are you kidding? They're all here, too," Brian said, pointing around the room.

We stayed in the kitchen, drinking and doing our best to talk over the cacophony. Brian plied me with beers, and we talked about work stuff. When that topic ran out, we moved to sports. We didn't have much else to say to each other, and it was a stark reminder of how surface-level our friendship was. Like a particularly fickle houseplant, it withered once it was out of its narrow comfort zone.

On the other hand, standing next to Brian was like getting to share the spotlight with a celebrity. Everyone who came by had to say hello and chat for a bit. I got the standard guy nod from a whole town's worth of people: businessmen, cops, politicians. All of whom seemed to know Brian and want a minute of his time. And, since I was standing next to the prince of the party, all assumed that I must be important, as well.

But when I finished my fourth beer, reality finally set in. Like I was shaken out of a dream, I blinked back to consciousness and realized that I'd been standing in the kitchen for almost an hour, and I hadn't seen Kate. The house was pretty big, sure, but Vanessa's tour couldn't be taking that long.

Hurriedly, I told Brian I was going to go find my wife. He gave me a knowing nod, then raised his beer at me before he was quickly pulled into about four other conversations. The man was the life of the party, and it was hard not to be envious of him.

take care of herself. But she'd seemed super nervous going in and I couldn't help but feel

room, assuming I'd find Kate there since that's where almost everyone else was. Instead, however, I immediately noticed another

been pretty out of it,

Kate?" I

her head. "I think she's still getting the grand tour. How many bedrooms does one house need, seriously? I told them I needed

each other's ears. It felt almost intimate. Like we were a couple, getting ready to canoodle on the couch. Being so close to Tara -- smelling her strawberry hair, seeing the tiny freckles on her neck -- it

gave her a knowing look and she took a deep breath. "Kate told you about

between husband and

"Or siblings," Tara said.

agreed, "You know Kate's not being mean

the complete story. Share the joy of reading

Tara asked. For some reason, the

I said, "That's the only

me happy," Tara

maybe not happy enough," I

Prince Charming," Tara said. She slugged

like maybe this handsome gentleman that Tara was talking about

off it," Tara

legitimately surprised. Being silly aside, I truly didn't think Tara could mean