Happenstance(11)

I make the mistake of glancing back at Banks, Tobias and Gabe. It’s a mistake because they all very obviously want me back between them, even if they seem a little thrown by what just happened, too. What prompted the whole thing?

Right. I asked out Gabe.

He’s looking at me now from beneath hooded eyebrows, as if he wants to revisit that invitation very badly. Now. But…I find I can’t do it. My mouth won’t form the words that will establish a second meeting with him. I won’t use this guy for my story. It feels wrong.

The door of the tram opens and I propel myself off, ignoring the baritone chorus of voices calling my name behind me, their footsteps hitting the sidewalk several yards behind. I hail the first yellow cab I see, resisting the urge to turn around in my seat as it flies down Second Avenue, secure in the fact that I’ll never see these men again.

And surprised when that realization makes me sad. Restless.

But I bite down on my lip to stop myself from asking the cab driver to go back. I’m not going to get distracted from the story. I’m not going to forget my purpose for the sake of something that has no viability. No chance of lasting. I’ve done that way too much throughout my life—and the cycle stops now. It has to.

I open my purse to get my credit card out, so I can pay for the cab when it arrives outside my building. After some increasingly frantic rooting around, my pulse skitters like dimes across a hardwood floor.

My Times badge is gone.





Chapter Four





Banks





* * *



We all stand beneath the tramway watching Elise go, oblivious to the sudden pandemonium at the tram station. While we’ve been stuck above the river, news stations have arrived, concerned loved ones have gathered and…apparently I’ve been dropped into an alternate universe where I become starved for a woman at first fucking glance.

I’m not sure about Tobias and Gabe, but I’ve certainly never had the impulse to run after a member of the opposite sex before. I’ve got more discipline than to follow through on the urge. So apparently do the other two men, though it’s obvious we’re all considering it.

I’ve made my living in rugby. It’s in my nature to adapt fast, to strategize and make the most advantageous choices, but at this very moment, I’m at a loss.

What happened on that tram?

Tobias is the first one to speak. Obviously.

“What in the bloody hell was that?” says the Brit in wonder, ten fingers buried in his hair. An adult film star. I’ve just shared a woman with an adult film star—granted, we didn’t get any further than making out. Still, this was definitely not on my bingo card. I should be on the phone with Vankman’s replacement, scheduling extra training sessions to get him ready for the match on Tuesday. I should be on the phone with my mother’s landlord, trying to convince them to take a payment from me, despite my mother expressly forbidding it.

Instead, I am obsessing over the way Elise’s tongue moved with mine. Like we’ve kissed before. Or like we’d been dreaming about it and finally got the chance.

Her mountain air scent is on my palms and I can’t stop myself from pressing both hands to my face and inhaling, the fly of my slacks still snug even though she’s long gone. Growing tighter at the renewed tease of her smell in my nose.

Again, what happened up there?

I feel almost drunk, but my senses are somehow sharper than ever.

Awake.

“I can’t believe she asked me out,” Gabe says, staring after the cab. A forlorn giant. “That beautiful girl asked me out.”

“That’s not a girl, that’s a woman,” Tobias says, wiping the back of his wrist across his mouth. Trying to hoard the taste of her, like me? The possibility irritates me, even as I understand it. Elise was—is—nothing short of extraordinary. Long limbs, that wild tumble of dark hair, eyes that could snap between vulnerable and skeptical in a matter of seconds. Sharp wit that was on display the moment she stepped onto the tram.

Of course all three of us were attracted to her.

But I can’t pretend that’s all it was.

“Dammit,” Gabe says, shoving his hands into the pocket of his sweatshirt. “I should have just said yes.”

Tobias claps a hand down on the construction foreman’s shoulder. “Don’t beat yourself up over it, erection boy. She still would have chosen me eventually.”

“She hated your ass,” I say, blithely.

“Yes, but she would have loved my cock.” He smiles at both of us, this man who talks about his dick more than a presidential candidate talks about healthcare. “Actually it sounds like she’s been loving it for years.”

“I don’t watch porn,” Gabe says, still staring up Second Avenue, as if she might turn around and come back. And God, I wish she would. I’m feeling pretty forlorn myself, truth be told. Maybe I’m still trapped in the alternate tram universe, but my gut insists she…belongs back here with the three of us. I feel that way even though I’m jealous of these men for touching her. She’s simply supposed to be here. “I have a stack of magazines I found in my old man’s closet when I was thirteen and I’ve never needed anything else,” Gabe continues.

“That’s tragic as fuck, mate,” Tobias murmurs, a line ticking in his cheek.