College Park, Maryland
October
Sixteen years ago
Kendall would never be as pretty or smart as her roommate and best friend, but in the last five years, she’d learned to shine in her shadow. As undergrads, the hot guys had always come to attention when Alexandra Vargas entered the room. But Alex was too everything to be approachable, which is where Kendall came in. She was the friend they could talk to. An in with the genius blonde bombshell.
More than once, the guys gave up on trying to get Alex’s attention and settled for Kendall.
They didn’t know Alex was actually funny and approachable and not the cold, aloof beauty she appeared to be. She was so focused on her studies, she didn’t much care what men thought of her. She maintained she didn’t want to get seriously involved, and at this point, Kendall believed she meant it.
So Kendall did her part as gatekeeper, keeping the princess protected in the tower while getting laid by the unworthy suitors who wanted to storm the castle. But just once, she wanted to be the guy’s first choice.
Now, as they stepped into the STEM job fair, she wished her beautiful friend had chosen to stay in her office on campus and let Kendall navigate this event alone. Alex was two years behind Kendall in grad school, having taken a break to work and save money. Kendall needed to line up an internship or entry-level job in the coming months or she was screwed.
It wouldn’t help if the men working the booths drooled over her roommate and failed to notice Kendall. Not that this was a pickup bar, but men tended to get distracted by Alex.
She shook off her resentment. She was here to land a job. This required positivity. “God, I love the smell of science in the morning.”
Alex laughed and glanced at her watch. “Eleven forty-five. Checks out.”
“Literal Lex, you need to grant leeway for movie quotes.”
“Alex. Or Alexandra.”
Kendall rolled her eyes. “I know your preferences, but Literal Lex is alliterative. It plays better with single moms in the Midwest.”
“Oh, are we polling in the Midwest now? Since we’re being literal, why is it called Midwest, when it’s middle with nothing west about it?”
“Once upon a time, before Schoolhouse Rock recorded their most egregious tune, ‘Elbow Room,’ about the glories of Manifest Destiny, the place that we now refer to as Midwest was the western edge of the United States and part of the Northwest Ordinance. You should study history sometime.”
“Ah, but as a theoretical physicist, I’m actually focused on the past, the present, and the future of our vast, expanding universe all at once.”
“Typical physicist copout. It’s always unending everything with you people. You say you’re studying everything when really, it’s nothing.”
“Not nothing. Dark matter.”
“AKA nothing.”
Alex smiled. “But also everything given that dark matter makes up most of the universe.”
“Prove it.”
She tilted her head back and laughed. “Someday, maybe I will.”
Kendall smiled at her friend. Alex had a great laugh. Warm. Infectious. “I think you just might.” She tilted her head to the vast room and dozens upon dozens of potential employers. “Now, let’s find some internships.”
“I wish CERN was here.”
“They’re still years away from the Large Hadron Collider being finished. You’ve got time.”
“Time is relative.”
“Sure, Einstein. Now, I’m going to the engineering section. I need a paid internship because twenty-four is too old to be subsisting on ramen noodles.”
They went from booth to booth, taking trifold brochures and making polite chatter. Nothing looked promising until they reached the booth of an engineering firm that had an office just a few blocks from their apartment in Bethesda, which was a long commute to campus, but she leased it anyway because a family friend had cut her a great deal.
Being able to walk to work would be a huge bonus.
There were two men sitting in the booth, one a fisheries biologist, one a civil engineer. The biologist was young—probably only a few years older than her. The engineer had to be in his mid-thirties.
He spoke with confidence and authority. He had her dream job. And she couldn’t help but notice he was handsome. Even better—probably her favorite thing about him—was that he didn’t direct every statement to Alex. He barely even looked at her.
No. Brent Forbes only had eyes for Kendall, and it was a heady feeling. She wasn’t second best.
Within minutes of introductions, Alex winked at her and wandered away. Kendall really loved Alex, but in that moment, her appreciation for her best friend might have been at the pinnacle. Alex played the dumb blonde at times purely for entertainment value, but she didn’t have an unintelligent cell in her body.
Kendall turned her attention back to Brent, for once not wishing she had Alex’s curves, hair, or brains. No. This handsome, successful engineer was interested in her.
Before she left the job fair, they had plans to meet at a bar in Bethesda for happy hour to talk about internships with Talon & Drake.
Brent Forbes could be the answer to her dreams. But the best part might be that she wouldn’t have ramen for dinner that night.
Three weeks later, Kendall was certain she was in love. It didn’t bother Brent that he was twelve years older than her, so why should it bother her? For once, she was dating a man. A man who wasn’t trying to use her to get close to her gorgeous roommate.
The sex was exciting too. She’d had her share of lovers, but it had never been as good or exciting as it was supposed to be. Orgasms had been few and far between.
But with Brent, she’d finally found a man who knew how a woman’s body worked and cared enough to get her to the finish line every time. He pushed her boundaries in the best ways. She’d never imagined being so uninhibited.
It didn’t hurt that he had a real job and took her out to dinner in restaurants that didn’t give you a number to place on your table when you ordered at the counter.
It was wild to her that he spent hours in her apartment and didn’t even seem to notice Alex. He only had eyes for Kendall.
She’d told Alex she was in love before, but Brent Forbes was the one.
Tonight, she faced an important relationship test. Brent’s friend, another Talon & Drake employee—an executive—was coming over for pizza and a movie.
Russ Spaulding could make or break her shot at an internship. Plus, he was senior to Brent in the office hierarchy, so she needed to impress him. Brent was counting on her to be the kind of girlfriend who’d be an asset at dinner parties hosted by executives.
And someday, she wouldn’t be just the girlfriend. She’d have her master’s in civil engineering and a real job. She and Brent would host the dinner party, and the bigwigs would come to her house. Maybe the owner of the company, who was a US senator, would be among the guests.
Okay, the fantasy was over the top, but it was fun.
To impress Russ Spaulding, she’d opted to make a homemade pizza instead of having it delivered. She was busy kneading the dough when Alex got home and went straight to her room, mumbling something about black hole thermodynamics.
Kendall finished the dough, then set it aside and washed her hands as she rehearsed what she’d say to Alex.
After a cursory knock, she opened the door to see Alex sitting on her bed reading a book. She glanced up, her nose and eyes visible above the hardback. “What’s up?”
“Tonight is pizza night with Russ Spaulding—the Talon & Drake executive I mentioned. I was hoping you could join us? I really want to impress Mr. Spaul—Russ—because an internship at Talon & Drake would be amazing.”
“I really need to study. I have a paper due—”
“You also need to eat. Just a half hour? Please? Everyone is always impressed when you start talking about black holes.”
Alex laughed. “You mean it makes people shut down and tune me out. You know, I just string together random words to see if they’re pretending to be interested.”
“Of course they don’t understand. No one understands. I’ve been your best friend for six years and I’m still not sure what theoretical physics is.”
“We’re really studying the angular displacement of antiquarks and the gravity of Avogadro’s number as it relates to the Big Bang.”
“Uh-huh. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on Bose-Einstein condensates.”
“You do understand this game.”
“Live with you for six years, and a few random words are bound to osmosify with my brain.”
“Now, now, osmosify isn’t a word.”
“And yet you knew exactly what I meant.”
“I did. Point to Kendall.”
She pumped her fist with victory. “A point! I’m redeeming it for your presence when we eat pizza, which is homemade.”
“Will there be pineapple?”
Pineapple was Alex’s favorite topping, but Kendall couldn’t walk into that trap. “Too polarizing a topping when I don’t know what Mr. Spaul—Russ—likes. I’m going basic—pepperoni mushroom for one, and the other is a veggie supreme, but with red peppers, not green.” In this, at least, she could accommodate Alex’s pepper preference. But then, it was her preference too.
“What if I bring my own pineapple?”
“Do you have pineapple?”
“Well, no. But I was sort of hoping you could lend me a can.”
“Fresh out, but if you promise to join us, I’ll make a pineapple-only pizza for you tomorrow.”
“No sauce or cheese?”
“Hello, Literal Lex.”
She dipped her head in a slight bow.
“Please, Alex? Just a half hour.”
“What’s the movie?”
“The Mummy.”
“Why didn’t you lead with that? Do you even know me?”
“My bad.” She smiled. “So you’ll join us?”
Alex nodded. “But thirty minutes is all I can spare.”
She lunged forward and hugged her. “Thank you! You’re the best.”
Russ, mercifully, was incredibly charming. He was older than Brent, which put him around thirty-eight. Brent had told her he was the project manager for Talon & Drake’s biggest East Coast contract—a bridge replacement and neighborhood revitalization project that was two years into the four it would take to complete.
He answered directly to Drake and was tight with the senator. He and Brent had been friends since Russ was hired four years ago. Russ was helping Brent move up the ranks.
With Russ’s backing, she was sure to land an internship or even an entry-level part-time job. Talon & Drake didn’t have rules around employees dating, but it would be easier to be taken seriously if she worked for someone like Russ and not Brent.
Her brain buzzed with excitement even as she asked herself if it was wrong that she wanted her beautiful and brilliant roommate to catch Russ Spaulding’s eye.
Hell, Alex would probably thank her. He was rich and moving up. Alex could use a sugar daddy. Not that she wanted one or would accept his money, but she could appreciate the free meals that came with dating a man who liked the finer things.
As promised, Alex emerged when the pizzas were ready. Kendall’s heart thumped rapidly with the introductions, thrilled to see the spark of interest in Russ’s eyes.
This was going to work splendidly.
Alex and Russ chatted for a bit. She played nice and didn’t speak nonsense physics words. She seemed to enjoy chatting with him and even stayed for a whole hour before retreating back into her room to work.
After she left, Russ said, “You didn’t tell me Kendall has such a gorgeous roommate.”
Brent smiled, his arm tightening around Kendall’s shoulder. “Is she? I didn’t notice. Too blinded by Kendall.”
She rolled her eyes, but laughed at the ridiculous statement. It was sweet even if over the top.
“Think Alexandra would let me take her to dinner?” Russ asked Kendall.
“Maybe, but probably not during the semester. She’s got a heavy courseload and doesn’t allow for much in the way of distractions.”
“When does the semester end?”
“Finals start in two weeks.”
He grinned. “Talon & Drake’s holiday party is after that. What would you say to making it a double date?”
Kendall’s belly fluttered. Brent had yet to ask her to be his plus one for the party, which was a formal event. “I can’t answer for Alex, of course, but it might work for her schedule.”
She tucked her hand between the cushions, hiding her crossed fingers, saying a silent prayer that Alex would say yes.
That night, long after Russ left and the glow of the light under Alex’s bedroom door had disappeared, Kendall and Brent had sex, but it was hard for her to remain quiet. She wondered if she could convince Brent to buy Alex a pair of the new Bose headphones that canceled sounds. Of course, Alex wouldn’t want to actually sleep in them, which was sort of key.
Afterward, she lay snuggled against him. “I wish we didn’t both have roommates so we could be loud.”
“When I get the promotion, I’ll make enough to buy a house.”
And now the fantasies of moving in with him would start. She really needed to rein in her expectations with this man.
The urge to tell him she loved him pushed against her chest. But no. She wouldn’t be the first to say the words. Not again. Last time she’d been the only one who said it. She couldn’t risk that.
His hand slipped between her legs and he played with her clit. This was his love language. She could live with that.
“I want you inside me again,” she whispered.
He laughed. “I just came a few minutes ago. I’m down for the count.” Then his lips found her neck as he slid two fingers inside her. “Unless…” His voice trailed off.
His fingers slid from her, and she felt empty. “Unless what?”
“Have you ever tried X?”
A ripple of excitement shot through her. She’d never been with someone she trusted enough for that. “No. You?”
“Yes.”
“Did you like it?”
“I did.”
“What’s it like?”
He chuckled. “We agreed not to talk about past lovers.” He slid his fingers between her legs again. “But if you’re game, I can show you what it’s like. We can create our own memories.”
His teasing fingers stole her breath as the pleasure built. She finally managed to gasp, “Yes.”
“Yes to X?”
“Yes!” She was so close, and this orgasm showed signs of being stronger than the one she’d had a few minutes ago. What would this be like with X to heighten her senses?
After she came, she curled up beside him again and said, “You can get some?”
He nodded. “It might take some time, but I can get it. Tell you what, if you convince Alexandra to join us for the holiday party, we could have this place to ourselves that night. After the party, we can try it, and you can be as loud as you want.”
“What makes you so certain Alexandra will go home with Russ?”
“He and the other executives all get suites at the resort. But if she doesn’t want to stay with Russ, we can still try it. We’ll just need to be quiet.” He kissed her neck as his hand caressed her breasts. “What do you say? Want to have the best sex of your life?”
The idea that he’d had better sex with someone else triggered a wave of insecurity. But she could replace that memory for him. She could be the only woman he thought of when he listed his best orgasms.
She smiled. “Okay. I’m in.”