Rough and Ready, page 8
Gio rubbed his hands together, seeking warmth. “We’re going to have to start leaving a stack of blankets in here if they insist on playing this way.”
Rafe snorted but didn’t disagree, turning his attention back to the TV in search of a hockey game or movie they could watch. Maybe they should consider going out. Gio wasn’t in the mood to shiver all freaking evening.
They’d invited Keeley to stay in with them tonight, but she had yet another date courtesy of Tinder. Gio wished she would get off the damn dating apps once and for all.
Rafe had asked her where she was going, but unfortunately, this time she’d gotten wise to them, resolutely refusing to tell them where the guy was taking her.
“Think we should have insisted that she tell us where she was going? Doesn’t seem safe for a young woman to go out with a man she doesn’t know and not tell someone where she’s going to be,” Gio said.
“I said that to her,” Rafe replied, not in the least surprised by Gio’s abrupt topic change. “She assured me that Kayden had her location on Find My Friends, plus Liza and Gianna both know the guy’s name and where she’ll be. She’s not reckless, Gio.”
“Yeah,” he grumped, not feeling much better. He knew Keeley was smart enough not to put herself in dangerous situations, but that still left him on the outside tonight, unable to step in if she needed him…and that was starting to rub against the grain in a way he couldn’t quite explain.
“Besides, we already crashed one date. There’s no way we’d get away with pulling that again.”
“And you’re okay with not knowing where she is or if she’s safe.”
“Truthfully? Not even a little bit. But I’m better at keeping my inner caveman under control.” Rafe gave him a shit-eating grin. “Damn if she doesn’t have a knack for picking the wrong guy though.”
“Tell me about it. It took everything I had not to drag her out of Saloon when I saw her sitting with Joel. The guy is a total prick. I told Tony what he said to Keeley, and we’ve taken his family’s store off our vendor list. They’re not getting another penny from Moretti Restorations.”
Rafe’s grin widened. “I like the way you get revenge.”
“Still would have preferred to teach the guy a lesson the old-fashioned way, but Keeley needed us with her more. I didn’t like how sad she looked. Not used to seeing her without a smile on her face.”
“Same. But at least our girl has enough self-esteem not to let his cruelty stick.”
Gio nodded, though he wasn’t agreeing with Rafe’s assessment of Keeley, so much as the word our.
Unfortunately, Gio was sure Rafe wasn’t using it the way he was starting to hope they could.
“Our girl?” he asked anyway.
Rafe looked over at him and sighed. “No,” he corrected. “Not ours. Slip of the tongue. Don’t go there.”
Gio considered contradicting that statement, but he held his peace instead.
He hadn’t meant to be quite so forthright with Keeley about his thoughts regarding a threesome relationship. His sex life—well, his and Rafe’s sex life—was something they protected fiercely. No one in his family or in their circle of friends knew just how close he and Rafe really were.
Several years ago, his sister, Layla, had traveled from Baltimore to Philly with her new partners in tow. He and Rafe had gone to dinner with her, Miguel, and Finn. Afterwards, he and Rafe had gotten into a long, frank discussion about ménages. They both expressed an interest in participating in one. So…they did.
Jennifer Rodriguez, a woman from Rafe’s workplace, had been putting out signals that she was attracted to him. He’d invited her to join him and Gio for happy hour, just to test the waters. Their desire for a ménage had come up after a few pitchers of beer, and they’d both been shocked when Jennifer agreed to try it with them.
It had been…incredible. Eye-opening. Life-changing for Gio.
They’d embarked on a month-long sex-fest, the three of them insatiable.
Things changed when Jennifer’s interest drifted away from the “just sex” range. Gio had been ready to make the leap into a committed threesome. Rafe had not. So Rafe stepped away, and Gio and Jennifer had continued dating for six months before the bloom was off the rose and the relationship ended.
They’d repeated that same pattern two more times, always the same thing. The ménage sex would be awesome, but the moment the woman caught feelings, Rafe would back away, leaving Gio in the exclusive relationship. Rafe always insisted Gio needed to give the woman a chance at a true relationship—one not based merely on sex—since he was the one looking for a wife.
Their last shared affair had been with an ex-girlfriend of Gio’s from high school, Jill Patrick. After Rafe bowed out, Gio had dated Jill for close to four months before remembering why they’d broken up back in high school. Since then, neither of them had dated anyone.
Gio had replayed the night with Keeley after her failed date with Joel countless times over the past two weeks, imagining himself and Rafe taking her out…taking her together. If it had been any other woman, he would have already made the suggestion to Rafe. But Gio wasn’t sure he could put himself through another threesome if his friend was just going to walk away again, and—most importantly—it was Keeley. There was too much at stake if things went south, and he wasn’t just thinking about his friendship with Kayden anymore. He was thinking about losing his friendship with her.
Although…the more time he spent with her, the more he realized she could be the perfect woman for him.
Maybe even for them.
He pushed that last thought away. Rafe had made his feelings regarding love and marriage very—VERY—clear. And he’d seen firsthand how quickly Rafe withdrew the moment women wanted more. He didn’t want Keeley to suffer the same rejection if it came to that.
Rafe took another drink of beer, and Gio thought his friend had managed to let his concern for Keeley go. Until he said, “You know, if this was a month ago, we wouldn’t even know Keeley was on a date.”
Gio grimaced. “Are you trying to tell me ignorance is bliss?”
“Maybe.”
Rafe had a point. Neither of them was used to spending so much time with Keeley or knowing so many intimate details about her life. Prior to her working with Rafe, they only saw each other at occasional social outings, always surrounded by a bunch of other people.
Since she’d returned home from college—boisterous, funny, beautiful—Gio had taken more notice of her than he cared to admit. But he’d always managed to keep the attraction at bay, simply by recalling Kayden was his friend. And while there was no actual bro-code—contrary to what Keeley thought—he still wasn’t sure how his friend would feel about him asking her out.
In the past few weeks, Gio had seen her nearly every single day, and he’d become way too interested in her comings and goings. The possessiveness he’d felt the night of the storm had already tripled, making it hard for him to concentrate on anything that wasn’t…her.
“We could ask Kayden to check her location on Find My Friends for us. We’d have the information in one quick text,” Gio mused.
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
Gio snorted. “I think you know me well enough to answer that yourself.”
The fact that Rafe sat up—Cricket grumpily jumping to the floor after being jostled—and grabbed his phone from the coffee table told Gio his friend wasn’t as casual about Keeley’s date as he pretended.
“What the hell am I supposed to say?” Rafe pondered after pulling up Kayden’s contact info.
“Let’s play on the last date’s excuse. Tell him she left her wallet here, and we want to take it to her on our way out to grab some dinner.”
“Sticking with a classic, I see,” Rafe joked, even as he texted the request. Before hitting send, he asked, “What if he asks why we didn’t just text her ourselves?”
Gio considered that. “Tell him we knew she would tell us she didn’t need it, but we don’t think she should be out without her ID and credit cards.”
“Preying on her brother’s insecurities. Nice.”
Gio chuckled. “Just text him.”
They waited a few seconds, and Kayden responded.
Founding Fathers. And thanks for looking out for her.
Gio rose. “You know, I’ve been craving those cheesesteaks ever since we talked about them. What do you say we move our happy hour over there? It’s too cold here.”
Rafe rose a bit reluctantly. “I still don’t think this is a good idea.”
“So noted.” Gio didn’t let that fact stop him, though, and mercifully, Rafe let him off the hook, offering to drive.
They walked to the car and Gio kicked back in the passenger seat.
When Rafe turned onto the highway, he broke the silence that had fallen between them. “You know, Keeley said if this date failed, she was coming off of Tinder for a while.”
“Well, that’s good, at least,” Gio said.
Rafe shook his head. “Not really. I’ve seen one of the waiters from Eclectic chatting her up every time she spends the day working out of that office.”
Gio scowled. “Who’s the guy?”
Rafe shrugged, changing lanes. “Fuck if I know. I put everything on hold when Grandpa was dying, and since then, I’ve felt like a hamster in a wheel, spinning and spinning and getting nowhere. Of course, with Keeley’s help, it’s been getting a little bit better each day. I’m seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. But as far as learning the names and stories of all the employees…I got nothing,” Rafe added after a brief pause.
“Maybe you should check him out.”
Rafe turned to look at him, but he didn’t call him out or question his intentions. Which was good because Gio didn’t have a clue what he was doing in regard to Keeley.
He’d lost control of the narrative somewhere between the first and second kisses.
“You haven’t dated anyone since Jill.” And so it began. Rafe was going on a fishing expedition.
“You haven’t either.”
“I wasn’t dating her,” Rafe correcting. “She and I were just hooking up, exploring a kink together.”
Gio nodded, uncertain where his friend was going with this. He decided to be patient and let it play out.
“I’m just kind of curious why you haven’t been dating anyone,” Rafe pressed.
“I haven’t met anyone I’m interested in asking.”
“You told Keeley you wanted a threesome relationship,” Rafe pointed out.
“Not exactly,” Gio corrected. “I said I wouldn’t rule one out.”
“You were skirting pretty close to something we’ve never shared with any of our friends before.”
Gio wondered if Rafe was pissed off about that. “I didn’t mention our affairs. Rafe, what we did…with Jennifer and Vanessa and Jill…I liked it. A lot.”
“So did I. But, Gio, it was just sex for me. I’m not going to be a permanent part of any equation you cook up. I know you want what Tony and Layla have, but I’m not your guy. You know that, right?”
Gio sighed. Sadly, he did. So he decided, for Rafe’s sake, to take the pressure off.
“I know that. And like I said, I’m not actively seeking a committed threesome. I know what we do is just sex. I’d be very happy to settle down in a monogamous marriage with the right woman.”
He was glad Rafe had brought up this subject because some things had been rattling around in the back of his head since his breakup with Jill. With Rafe’s grandpa dying, it had never felt like the right time to bring it up.
Now, well, Gio was about to prove that no one had ever accused him of being too bright.
Impulsive—yes.
The type to follow his gut over common sense—yes.
But bright—nope. Not once.
And he was about to demonstrate that again. “And I get what you’re saying about not wanting a relationship. I know how you feel about love and marriage and that you’re not going to change your mind. It’s just that lately, I want…I want us to do it again. I haven’t gotten my fill of,” Gio forced himself to use Rafe’s word for it, even though it felt wrong, “that kink yet.”
Rafe fell silent, but Gio didn’t press him for an answer. He never spoke without thinking, a skill Gio should probably try to learn from him.
“Did you have someone in mind?” he asked at last.
Gio rubbed his jaw, then looked at his best friend, debating whether or not it would be wise to let the desires he’d only managed to half hide come out completely. “Maybe I do.”
“She’s different, Gio,” Rafe said—and he realized they were on the exact same page when it came to Keeley.
“I know that,” he was quick to reply.
Rafe looked at him for a second. “I’m not sure you do.”
Gio wasn’t sure how to respond. Because he knew exactly how Keeley was different. She wasn’t some woman they’d picked up at a bar. She was Kayden’s sister and a friend in her own right. There was a hell of a lot more to lose if things didn’t work out.
But if they did…Gio could see the future he’d always dreamed about, but never imagined finding, becoming a reality.
Rafe misinterpreted his silence, so he went on, trying to convince Gio. “When we share a woman…the sex is great, hot. The problem is when we keep doing it. There seems to be a natural progression in these affairs, and I can’t take that next leap. Not even with Keeley. I’m not looking for a relationship. Love and commitment and all that shit just aren’t in my genetic makeup. You know that.”
“Bullshit,” Gio said. “It’s not that you can’t take that next leap. It’s that you’ve just never wanted to.”
“Same difference.”
Gio shook his head. “Not even close.”
Rafe shrugged casually, which proved just how often they’d had this same fight. Every time Rafe pulled away from the women they shared, Gio fought to keep him in. Always to no avail.
After Jill, Gio started to believe the relationships he’d continued without his best friend were destined to fail because Gio wanted Rafe there…for the whole shebang. The sex, the love, the forever.
Which wouldn’t bode well for either of their futures.
Keeley was different. Rafe was right about that. He just didn’t understand how.
Because Gio’s future wasn’t looking quite as bleak or as lonely as it had a few weeks earlier.
If Rafe continued to push back against this idea, Gio would go it alone, asking Keeley out and attempting to make a real, lasting relationship with her.
“We’re here,” Rafe said, dropping the conversation completely.
Gio considered continuing it, but he decided to leave it alone for now.
“What’s our play?” Rafe asked as they got out of the car. “I’m sort of new to this date-crashers gig of ours.”
Gio forced a laugh. “Let’s wing it.”
Rafe nodded but then gripped his arm, holding him back just before they reached the door. “Don’t kiss Keeley again.”
Gio thought he’d gotten a bye, but he’d been wrong. “What?”
“I don’t think…” Rafe swallowed heavily. “I don’t think it’s smart.”
Gio wanted to refute that fact, wanted to say it was starting to feel like the smartest thing he’d done in a long time, but there was something in Rafe’s eyes that caused him to hold back.
“Because of Kayden?” Gio asked, though he was certain Keeley’s brother had nothing to do with his friend’s reticence.
“Just…don’t do it again.” Rafe walked on, while Gio stood there a moment longer, pondering what he’d just witnessed.
Rafe was usually very good at shielding his emotions, but not this time. Because Gio could plainly see he wasn’t the only one suffering a bad case of desire for one Ms. Keeley Gallo.
However, while Gio was open to acting on his attraction, Rafe was fighting it with everything he had.
As soon as they entered the bar, they spotted Keeley, sitting alone at a table near the makeshift stage. The crowd around the bar was gearing up to watch tonight’s hockey game on the big-screen TV.
They paused for a moment, unseen by her. Gio glanced around the bar.
“Think her date is in the restroom?” Rafe mused.
Gio looked back at the table and shook his head. “No. There’s only one drink on the table. Come on. I don’t like this.”
They walked toward her, Keeley’s eyes widening when she saw them. “Oh my God. What are you doing here? Is this going to become a thing?”
Gio pulled out a chair, sitting without an invitation. “Date over already?”
Keeley sighed. “It never started. Asshole stood me up.”
Gio shook his head. “Keeley—”
She raised her hand. “Don’t start. I already know what you’re going to say.”
Rafe reached over and placed his hand atop hers. “I’m sorry it didn’t go the way you hoped. Did he text you at least, offer an explanation?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve been here forty-five minutes. I texted him fifteen minutes ago. I can see that he’s read the message, but he hasn’t replied. He’s ghosting me for some reason.”
“Good riddance.” Gio grinned, though he suspected that probably wasn’t the right response. Regardless, there was no denying his mood had just gone from concerned over Keeley and annoyed at Rafe, to downright happy to be alone with the two of them in one-point-two seconds.
Something Rafe definitely took note of, given his pensive, somewhat anxious expression.
Keeley, thankfully, remained oblivious to the undercurrents at the table, finishing her glass of wine and not looking too terribly upset.
Gio sighed, wondering again if he was a fool for wanting this. Because there was too much to lose.
She was Keeley, Kayden’s little sister, and a friend.
Rafe was his best friend, and soon-to-be business partner and roommate.
Adding anything else to either mix would be reckless and dangerous.
And even as that thought came, he knew if the opportunity presented itself, he was going to be reckless and dangerous. He blamed his Moretti genes.
