Good Intentions (36 page)

“Yeah?” Jimmy asked, frowning a bit at this new intrusion. “Where’d you get shot?” “Afghanistan,” Wade said evenly. “Wanna see mah scar?” “Sure, dawg,” Jimmy chuckled, figuring he’d cal the hick’s bluff. “Oh no,” Alex murmured just loud enough for Jocelyn to hear over the music. He had a grin on his face, but he warned her, “Don’t look.” Wade had already dropped his pants and turned away before Alex was done talking. He gave the other two guys and Tucker’s girlfriend a good view of his ass. “Ah know this might sound strange,” Wade said over the chorus of shrieks and protests, “but if’n one of y’al boys’d give it a kiss, it might hurt a bit less.” “Aw, dude!” Tucker yel ed. “Fuckin’ freak!” Jimmy snapped. “Wade,” Alex laughed, “put that thing away! That’s against the Geneva Convention!” Jocelyn saw it, and wasn’t entirely freaked out, but she buried her face in Alex’s shoulder in feigned surprise anyway. He put his arm around her as he laughed, probably without really thinking about it. She felt very grateful to Wade on a couple of levels after that. He had scattered most of the room. “Ah think ah need a cigarette. ‘n maybe another beer,” Wade said. thankfully, his pants were back up. “I think you need therapy,” Alex chuckled. “I think you need to be cut off already,” Jocelyn snickered. She stayed tucked against Alex. He clearly wasn’t objecting. “Nonsense. This was only my first beer. Ah only ever moon people sober. Y’ never know what horrible things might

happen if’n ya show yer ass when drunk.” With that, he wandered off to find the front door. “Alex,” came a sultry voice. Jocelyn and Alex both looked up to see Alex’s girlfriend slink through the room. Jocelyn suspected Alex’s girlfriend was created on a lab table. She also had to concede that Lorelei’s charisma was a little intimidating. Her whole fire-dancing bit had really put some energy into the party. Jocelyn wondered if she should move, but Lorelei didn’t seem the least bit phased by her presence or her position. “Hey you,” Alex smiled. “Where’ve you been?” Jocelyn was surprised he could speak to her with such an easy tone. He’d always been shy with girls. How did that al change so fast? “Tending bar with Drew,” Lorelei grinned. Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial level that included only Alex and, without the slightest hesitation, Jocelyn. “We’ve been putting less into the drinks than we’ve let on. several of your fell ow underaged partygoers aren’t nearly as intoxicated as they’d like to believe. We had thought about going the other way, but this just seemed naughtier. Would you like anything, though? I’m perfectly will ing to drive later.” “I’m good,” Alex said, shaking his head. “I came to ask if you had seen Jason turn up yet?” “Nah, I got a text from him about a half hour ago. He’s working tonight, so he’l be here a bit late.” “Jason Cohen?” Jocelyn wondered aloud. “Yeah.” “Oh, he’s coming? I haven’t seen him in ages.” Alex smirked. “He’l be flattered al to hell that you remembered his name.” Jocelyn waved a dismissive hand at Alex as she stayed cuddled up to his side. “Psh. Whatever. I remembered you, didn’t I?”

Lorelei reached over to touch Alex’s free hand. “I’l be around,” she said before she fol owed the same path Wade took outside. With Lorelei gone, Jocelyn turned closer in on Alex. She put her hand on his chest. “Okay, Taylor told me a little about her, but what the hell ’s up with that?” she grinned. “What do you mean?” “If I saw a hottie like me curled up on my man the way I am on you right now—and I’m not sayin’ I’ve got a man right now, ‘cause I don’t—but if that was me, I’d be tel in’ a bitch off. And she doesn’t seem like she’s easily intimidated. But she didn’t even blink at me!” Alex grunted. It seemed to be a bit of an awkward subject for him. “Well , she’s got zero security issues. She knows she’s got me. And we’ve talked about, you know, that sort of stuff.” “Uh-huh…?” Her tone conveyed a clear demand for elaboration. “And we’ve, um, y’know, set our boundaries for ourselves. And with each other. Informed consent and…stuff.” “Uh-huh?” Alex swal owed. The Most Desirable Hottie (Unofficial, Of Course) of his graduating class looked on expectantly. “And she knows she’s never going to lose me, so there’s that.” “So where are your boundaries?” Alex admitted, in a quiet and somewhat embarrassed voice, “I pretty much don’t have any.” *

“So many more stars in Afghanistan,” Lorelei observed. Wade turned his head away from the sky to his unexpected company. He had already finished his cigarette, and was now simply standing in the shadow of the house looking at the nighttime sky. “Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, there are. Lotta light pol ution in the city.” “I wanted to come out here to say thank you.” “For what?” “You may well have saved Alex’s life the other night. And very likely mine. Had Gorge not been dealt with the way you al handled him, I don’t know what would have happened.” Wade shrugged. “Wasn’t like Alex just sat on his hands.” “No. But he did not stand alone, and that made al the difference.” Wade shrugged again, but said nothing. Lorelei went on. “I want you to know that you have nothing to fear from me, for Alex’s sake or yours, or any of his friends. He has my absolute loyalty.” He looked at her for a long moment, and finally shrugged. “Ah’ve always figured he was a good judge of character.” Lorelei nodded. “I would like to consider you and the others my friends as well .” “Ah guess ah’d like that, too,” Wade said after a long moment. “You sound rather wary,” Lorelei smiled softly. “Well , mah buddy’s supernatural seductress demon girlfriend whatever just snuck up to me al by her lonesome t’ say she wants t’ be mah ‘friend’ while the hottest gal in our graduatin’ class is in there practically in his lap. It’s potentially

a little awkward.” Lorelei’s smile broadened a bit. She could see the humor in what he said, along with the worldly wisdom. “I understand,” she said. “Which is why you should probably forget,” the succubus breathed, stepping directly into Wade to wrap one hand around his neck and draw him close, “that we ever did this.” Wade was a strong-wil ed, self-confident and independent soul. He had to be, to have gone where he’d been and then returned home to deal with his emotional wounds as he had. But against Lorelei’s direct efforts, he could only hold out for a moment or two. Wade was too lonely and ultimately too vulnerable after al he’d been through to turn away someone like Lorelei. She held him close, breathing deeply as she invaded his mouth with her aggressive, insistent kiss. He reciprocated, unable to resist the physical urges she aroused in him. When her mouth parted from his and she said, “Ssshhh,” and laid her hands gently upon the sides of his face, he quickly grew calm. “Forget the kiss,” Lorelei instructed. “Do not long for me. Remember al else…including this,” she whispered, and with that, Lorelei embraced him neither as a lover, nor as a target of seduction, but as a friend. He wouldn’t remember exactly how that hug happened, but he would remember hugging her back. He would remember her saying, “I have been around a very long time, Wade. I have seen war many, many times. I may well be the worst counselor in the world, but should you wish to talk, I am here, and I am your friend.” Wade held her there in the darkness and nodded his head. “Thanks,” he mumbled. * “She needs a little more persuasion in her drink if you know what I mean,” Tucker winked as he leaned against the

bar in the kitchen. “I got’choo, bro,” Drew winked. He took the red plastic cup from the other young man. “Lemme fix this up. She won’t even taste it in there.” “Alright, thanks man,” Tucker nodded. He slapped his hand into Drew’s, leaving behind a five-dol ar bil before walking away. Drew looked at the green likeness of Abraham Lincoln with a mixture of amused surprise and indignation. “The fuck…?” he mumbled. “You have a fan,” Lorelei grinned. “Yeah, I guess,” Drew said, nodding to acknowledge her return. He flicked the fiver onto the back counter of the kitchen. With any luck, the hostess of the party would find it before anyone else did. She deserved it (and more) for putting up with al these people into her house—her parents’ house, real y, but nobody was going to look down on that while she was still throwing parties when they went out of town. “A bartender shouldn’t be so quick to turn down tips.” “Bartender’s supposed to be a little older than I am, too,” Drew chuckled. He turned to fixing the drink for whichever Britney it was that Tucker had brought to the party, smoothly ensuring that it was fruitier and less alcoholic than the weakest wine cooler. “You could be good at that,” Lorelei offered. They didn’t have a lot of “customers” in the kitchen at the moment. She busied herself throwing out empty bottles and cups. “Have you given it any thought?” “I always figured I’d probably just go into bouncin’,” he mused. “Not sure I want to work behind a desk al my life. I’m basically nocturnal, too. And I’d like to go al the way with college, but none of the majors I’d be interested in lead to real jobs, know what I’m sayin’?”

“I do,” she nodded. Drew glanced at her with a curious frown. “You know I got this, right? I mean, if you wanna go chil with Alex, I’m okay.” Lorelei smiled. “We’ve been together al day and al last night. He could use a little space. I rather like your company. And staying back here with you means I have to make much less of an effort to deter suitors.” After a moment’s consideration, Drew nodded. “I got you.” “I am also very grateful to you,” she said quietly, not wanting passing partiers to hear, “for standing with Alex the way you did. For being his friend. And for being so kind to me, given what you now know.” He wasn’t sure what to say to that at first. finally, Drew just mumbled with a shrug of his thick shoulders, “You ain’t gotta be grateful. I did it ‘cause he’s my boy. They’re al my boys. You be good to him, I’l be good to you.” “How did the two of you become friends?” “That’s…heh. Nobody ever really asks me that. I was the new kid in grade school. Alex just decided we were gonna be friends and that was basically it. I mean, we’re interested in totally different things. He’s always been into al that star stuff. Star Trek, Star gate, Star Search,” Drew grinned as he passed Britney’s drink off to a passing Tucker. “But yeah, I was the new kid, and he was just like, ‘Hey, I’l show you around at lunch or whatever,’ and I thought, ‘Cool.’ I mean I was literally the token black at that school at first. Like, literal y. An’ little kids can be shitty even when they don’t mean it, but Alex was cool. Then we turned out to be livin’ nearby each other and we were always at each other’s houses.” “I thought you were a year ahead of the others in school?” Drew nodded. “Yeah, but they did this whole reading group thing in elementary where they mixed kids up. I was in the top group in my grade level, but that nerd was in it, too, and he was a year younger.”

“So you simply decided to be friends,” Lorelei said matter-of-factly. “He did, yeah. Me, too, I guess. I mean I got pretty popular as we got older, and he didn’t exactly fit in with that crowd, but I never let anyone shut him out if he wanted to be around. An’ it’s not like he had no social skill s or somethin’, just…he was different. hell , sometimes it was like he was just older than everyone else. More mature. Didn’t wanna do the same stupid high school drama shit as everybody else. Made him a drag to be with in a few situations, but I kinda had to grow up fast, too, so got where he was comin’ from. An’ just, you know…different interests. Different hobbies.” “I suspect you have at least one hobby in common at this point,” Lorelei suggested. There was a sly tone in her voice and a naughty grin on her face. Drew smiled, made a bit of a shrug and without thinking about it even took a shy step back. “Well , I don’t wanna sound disrespectful or anything, but I’m clearly glad the boy’s finally getting’ a little booty. Clearly. Just sayin’.” Lorelei nodded, looking a bit chagrinned. “It’s been very difficult to get him to let go and have a good time.” “Yeah. He’s like that. Always been waitin’ for the other shoe to drop. Probably part of why he’s never had anyone before you. Alex seems to always be waiting for things to fall apart. It’s kinda nice to see him finally gaining some real confidence after al that’s gone down this week.” Hearing the note of appreciation for her in his voice, Lorelei seemed to almost blush. Then the self-consciousness faded. “You do alright for yourself, I imagine?” “I do. I do at that,” Drew agreed. She was staring. He liked it, of course, but he wasn’t entirely comfortable with her looking at him like that. For al Drew’s social acumen, even he could be put at a loss for words. He didn’t really know how to handle this. The other thing he didn’t know was that Lorelei had put them under a mild aspect of her power of her concealment. They were still visible, but no one would really notice them.

“If I flirt with you, it is because I enjoy it and am being friendly,” Lorelei said in a husky voice as she slid up against the well -built, well -dressed young man. “You need never worry that I will betray your friend, or your friendship with him. But I am your friend as welll, ” she added before drawing him into a long, deep, lusty kiss. “Forget this moment,” she breathed across his lips. “Forget my touch. Forget these words. Do not burden yourself with desire for me. You will find your own treasures. ” * “We’re not supposed to be upstairs,” Alex noted. “I’m not supposed to do a lot of things,” Jocelyn said. She closed the bedroom door behind him. The lights were on a dimmer knob, which Jocelyn used to create just enough light for them to see by. It also turned out that Jocelyn knew how to lock the door. “This is Sherri’s room?” Alex blinked. “Yeah,” Jocelyn nodded, stepping closer to him. “Had a quick talk with her while you were in the bathroom just a bit ago.” She slid one hand up along his chest, curling her fingers over his shoulder and leaning into him. Her big brown eyes looked up into his. “I’m kinda used to guys being a little more aggressive,” she said. “I can’t imagine a guy ever honestly thinking he was in charge while he’s with you,” Alex shrugged cool y. He was, in fact, a little thril ed at being so relaxed in this situation. A year ago, he’d have been overjoyed that Jocelyn was even talking to him. He’d have probably ruined it, too. “I like to let a guy have his il usions. But it’s good that you know where we stand,” Jocelyn grinned meaningful y. “So, as long as we understand each other…I’m not gonna have to make everything happen here, right?”

At that, Alex simply pul ed her against him tightly. His kiss was aggressive, but not rough. So were his hands. The kiss broke off only long enough for Alex to unbutton her blouse. Jocelyn hummed a note of appreciation, which soon turned to a gasp of pleasure as his hands slid over her belly and her sides. He kissed her again. His hands slid lower against her skin. The noises from Jocelyn became less appreciative and more pleading. She was used to having a little more control than this. * “So how long have you been with that boyfriend of yours? What’s his name? Alex Carlisle?” “Since Monday,” Lorelei shrugged, diligently mixing Carson’s rum and Coke. Her broad-shouldered customer leaned in on the bar, clearly staring in the hopes of making eye contact and charming her with his smile. “Less than a week? And he’s already ditching you at a party? Man. That’s not okay.” Lorelei glanced up at Carson as she passed him the drink. Behind him, she saw a pale, brooding young face in stylish black clothing glide past. He seemed to be listening in. She scowled inwardly, but maintained her cool demeanor for Carson. He took a sip. “So what do you do when you’re not tending bar at house parties?” he asked. “Whatever makes my lover happy,” she said cool y. “Woah. Real y, now? So what if he wanted you to—“