More than Once

15

But for tonight I had to keep up the act, so I set my hand on top of Becca’s and smiled at her mother. “It’s me who is the lucky one.”

“How did you two meet?” Trish asked, a little too innocently. “I’m sure Becca’s told me, but I must have forgotten.”

“Yes, I love how-we-met stories!” Evelyn said, with a dreamy look in her eyes.

I glanced at Becca, unsure how to answer. Should I tell the truth, or did she have something planned for this?

“We met at a friend’s party,” Becca said. “It’s not very exciting.”

The truth, then. Although maybe we’d leave out the one-night stand part. Or how we didn’t speak again until this afternoon.

“That’s it?” Trish asked when Becca didn’t elaborate.

“No, there’s more to it than that,” I said. “When I met Becca, I was in a bad place. I’d just proposed to the girl I loved, who said no and then ran off with another man.” Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but they wanted a story, I could tell. And from the looks on their faces, they were eating this one up. “That girl broke my heart and I didn’t think I would ever recover. But then I found Becca and everything changed. She made me forget. She helped me heal. And she got me to believe in love again.”

All of the women around the table were completely enraptured, including Becca. I might have overdone it, but I knew they would believe us completely in love after that speech. I leaned over and kissed Becca on the cheek, sealing the deal. “As I said, I’m the lucky one.”

“That’s so romantic,” Trish said, her voice soft.

It was all true, too. Well, except the part about making me believe in love again.

No one, not even Becca, could do that.

CHAPTER EIGHT

ANDY - FIVE MONTHS AGO

Neither one of us got much sleep that night. We had s*x like wild animals for hours, trying out different positions, doing things I’d never been brave enough to do before. And still, we both wanted more.

We also talked for hours. Becca opened up to me about how she’d spiraled out of control as she’d gotten sucked into the rock star lifestyle. She recounted stories of nights spent drinking, dancing topless in bars, and screwing everything that moved. It had all culminated in her dropping out of college, losing her job, and getting kicked out of her apartment. She’d hit rock bottom after sleeping with Jared and leaving the band, and seeing them become famous had been the final push she’d needed to realize she was only sabotaging herself. That’s when she’d decided to move home and get her life straightened out.

Her confession left her vulnerable and sad, so I stroked and kissed her until we were both so frantic for each other we could barely get the condom on fast enough. I pulled her on top of me, and this time she held my wrists down and nipped at my shoulder and my neck. She rode me until we were both crying out in unison, and I discovered I loved when she was rough and controlling with me, too.

She relaxed into my arms when we were finished, and then she asked me about Tara. I wasn’t sure I could talk about her, not so soon, but Becca listened patiently while I got the words out. Slowly at first, but then the story rushed out of me. For some reason it was easier to talk to Becca, a near stranger, than anyone else I had ever met. Like I knew she wouldn’t judge me—or that she might even understand.

“We met in English class our junior year. We seemed like the perfect match—we were both into books and comics, loved the same movies and TV shows, and laughed at all the same things. Being with Tara felt natural and as easy as being with one of my closest friends.” I snorted. “Maybe that was the problem.”

“Go on,” Becca said, stroking my hair.

“We were together for a year, but after graduation we got jobs in different cities—me in Dallas and her in New York. We broke up because it seemed we had no other option, but I didn’t want to give up on us so easily, so I found a new job in New York to be with her. I flew out to San Diego Comic-Con to give her the good news that we didn’t have to be apart. I stupidly thought I could win her back by proposing, even going so far as to get my grandmother’s ring. But I was wrong—she’d already moved on to Hector.”

“How do they know each other?”

“They were online friends for years before I met her, and they worked on a graphic novel together—her writing it, him doing the art. That’s why they both came to Comic-Con, to sign copies of the book. I’d always suspected there was more to their nightly video chats and phone calls, but she’d always assured me I was wrong. Obviously not, since she and Hector are together now. I guess it’s possible nothing happened between them until this week when they met in person…but I still feel like a fool.”

“You’re not a fool.” She kissed my forehead. “And if it helps, Hector was single the entire time I was in the band as far as I know.”

“I was too nice,” I said with a sigh. “Girls always tell me we should just be friends. Then they run off with a guy on the football team. Or in a band.”

Becca ran a lazy finger up and down my chest. “You definitely weren’t too nice tonight.”

“Exactly. And you loved it.” I stroked her ribs, tracing her tattooed quote. “Girls only want the sinner, not the saint.”

“Maybe you should stop thinking of yourself that way.”

“How?”

She draped a leg over me, fitting herself against my side, and I pulled her in even closer. “Andy is short for Andrew?”

“Yep. But everyone’s called me Andy for as long as I can remember.”