Harley's Choice Page 5

  “Eek!” I covered my head with the blanket. “What are you doing up this early?” my muffled voice called out.

  “I fell off the edge of the bed and decided to come in here to get some more sleep when I found a Goldilocks in my bed”

  “Does that make you a bear?”

  “Not at the moment but that could change if I don’t get coffee soon, care to join me?”

  “Sure” I stuck my arm out of the bed and reached for the floor.

  “Looking for these?” I peeked out from under the covers and nodded when I saw Carson holding up my pants. “So is this why your clothes were inside out last night?” I nodded again. “So now I’m curious as to what your shirt says.”

  I think I squeaked as the covers were thrown back, but I recovered quickly and jumped up. “I don’t think I’m going to tell you.” I crossed my arms over my chest and went to jump off the bed but was caught by the shirt.

  “I don’t think so…tell me.” His voice lowered and deepened. I think my knees turned to jelly.

  “Why?”

  “Because you were wearing pants that have Kyle’s character all over them…I’m jealous.” I was speechless. He was jealous of Kyle. “I want to know if you have anything with me on it.”

  I stepped down off the bed and walked toward my room and looked at Kyle still sleeping on my bed, and then turned to look at Carson. I removed my shirt, wrapped my arm across my breasts and threw the shirt at him and walked my panty cladded ass into the bathroom, grabbing clothes along the way.

  I showered and brushed my teeth and stepped out of the steamy room fully dressed and ready to go. I ran a brush through my hair and applied a curl controller and I was ready to go.

  I stepped back into Carson’s room “I’m ready.”

  “Good. Me too.” I looked at him and him at me and we both laughed. He had gotten dressed in beach shorts, my pajama top and pair of black framed glasses.

  “Really?” I said still laughing.

  “What? Too much?” he lifted his arms and the shirt lifted and showed off his lower stomach. Oh this was going to be good.

  “No it’s perfect!” The exact likeness of his face was printed on the shirt with ‘WWKCD’ written underneath and stretched very tightly over his chest. “Um, it looks a bit tight…”

  “Nope it’s fine so let’s go.” He held the door open as I walked out.

  “So how did you sleep?”

  “Oh fine, really, until I fell off the edge of the bed.”

  “Yeah, I should I have woken you up and made you move.”

  “Nah it was no biggie, we had driven for the last 36 hours straight, we wanted to be here first for, well you know.”

  “I get it.” I pushed the button on the elevator. “So tell me, how’s life been treating you, I mean really?”

  “It’s had its moments. I have a few good times and some bad. The time in the Marines was actually some of the best times. Time in front of the camera wasn’t so bad, until the media took an interest in me. The last couple of years have been a reprieve.”

  “That’s good to know, so last night you spoke of a girlfriend, still have one?”

  “Nope, both Kyle and I are single and have been for a while, but what about you, any one to call at night?”

  I thought of Marcus. “There was but it ended badly about four months ago.”

  “Sorry to hear that. Could I ask you why?”

  “He wanted to get married I didn’t.” I turned back to the ding of the elevator and stepped in.

  “Well…I really don’t know what to say. I haven’t had any get that close yet, but I thought that’s what women wanted?”

  I laughed. “Now why would you think such a barbaric idea? Sure some women, but not this woman, I told myself some years ago that unless an offer so amazing so perfect that I would never be able to pass it up came along, I was never going to get married. I just couldn’t think of bringing someone I love into my life.”

  “So cryptic Hars, what do you mean?”

  The door opened and there was a blonde and a balding man waiting to get on. The blonde, taller than me, paid me no mind, but ogled Carson. The balding man on the other hand looked at me like he was trying to see through me. Ick. I placed my hand in Carson’s “Come on hunny, I’m hungry and you said I can spend the day in bed!” I pouted and Carson quick on the uptake pulled me closer to him.

  “Oh baby…I didn’t say you’d be sleeping.” We may have been playing but his voice caused real sensations in my belly. I shivered as he pulled me out of the elevator.

  “How come you never talk to me like that anymore Nick?” The blonde accused him as they stepped in the elevator.

  “Didn’t know you wanted me too dear.” And the elevator blessedly closed out the rest of that conversation.

  “I think I may feel sorry for that man.” I laughed. “Come on hunny, I am hungry, and then I was thinking about hitting the pool.”

  “Coffee first,” and we walked into the reception area where they had a whole buffet set up. I got excited and it must have transferred through my hand because he asked me. “You like buffets do you?”

  “Oh you have no idea. You thought last night’s pizza and burger event was amazing, just watch me.” Three full plates and twenty minutes later I sat back and finished my coffee. “That was great.”

  “Are you kidding me? Where does it all go? Do you have a hollow leg?”

  “No I just have learned to appreciate my food with overzealousness, I’m a lot more active now. I do mix martial arts, running, weights, and yoga, and this is weekly…well most weeks and weekends are used for playing, doing whatever I want to do – although not this weekend apparently.” I grumbled the last part.

  “So, you have taken a good look at the schedule for this weekend then.”

  “Yeah. Not looking forward to summer camp from hell.”

  “What classes did you opt for and what sort of nut makes twenty-something year olds take classes for a reunion?”

  “O-oh I know this one.” We laughed. Besides being the head cheerleader, the quarterback’s girlfriend, she was also class president for many years. We knew she was going to be in charge of the reunion before we graduated. “So how long will Kyle sleep?”

  “Hmm. Kyle is still revolting the Marine wake up time. He tells me all the time ‘I lost four years of sleep and I’m trying to catch up.’” I smiled because that sounded like the Kyle I knew.

  “But I thought he liked it?”

  “Oh he did…he just likes sleep more. Besides he’s more active in the evenings”

  “And let me guess you’re the morning person.”

  “Some days, other days I like to sleep too.” He leveled with his eyes at me, “and I would’ve gone back to bed, but there was a beautiful woman sleeping in my bed, so I opted to watch her sleep instead.”

  I swallowed hard. “How long were you watching me?”

  “Long enough to know you still purr in your sleep,” his own voice purred. Oh boy, I had forgotten about that habit, and no one else had said anything either.

  “Ok so swimming?” I asked changing the subject.

  “You know it’s really Kyle who likes to swim, I prefer to run or sparing.”

  “That sounds good too, where can we go?” The look on his face was priceless. “No I’m dead serious, let’s go spar. I’ll take you on, best of five.”

  “Hars…”

  “Chicken?”

  “No!” he said with a heavy dose of indignation.

  “Good then let’s go.” I stood and he followed suit more slowly. He dragged his feet all the way to the elevator and down the hallway to his room. “Go on you big scaredy-cat. I promise I won’t hurt you too much.” I opened my door and walked in and stopped. “This is just too weird.”

  “What’s too weird kitten?” Kyle asked from the bed where he was laying wearing my pajama bottoms, but unlike Carson, who could pull the shirt off somewhat, these pants, though are big on me, were absolutely tin
y on him. He had pulled them up to about his knees and sat there looking at me wearing a big shit eating grin.

  “You are as bad as he is.” I nodded to the door where Carson stood with massive arms cross his chest and when he dropped his arms and Kyle fell off the bed on onto the floor laughing so hard. “Ok children fun and games are over. Carson promised to taking me sparring with him and I want to go, and what are you doing up? Carson says you sleep in.”

  “I usually do, but not today and what do you mean Carson promised to take you sparing with him?”

  “Just what I said.” I turned and found something that would work for sparing.

  “I said no such thing Harley. I simply told you what I like to do and you took it out of context.”

  “Well you won’t go swimming with me so I’ll go spar with you.”

  “Harley, I can’t do it. I’m sorry. Call me what you want, but I will not spar with you, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll call Tom’s and see if he can arrange to have someone who can spar against you there tomorrow.”

  Oh boy…this is going to be harder than I thought. “Fine” and I dropped the clothes I was going to wear and grabbed my swimsuit and walked into the bathroom. As routine I cracked the door to listen to the conversation while I changed.

  “Can you believe she’s been wearing clothes of ours for years?”

  “No” Carson’s voice was still heavy and full of something unknown to me. “But can you believe she wanted me to spar with her?”

  “My money’s on kitten.”

  “Shut up man! Do you realize I could hurt her if I connected?”

  “I see the problem.” They were silent and I finished braiding my hair and adjusting myself in my one piece. It was black with three pink stripes down one side. It was pretty plain but then one can’t really swim in a bikini. I looked at myself in the mirror. I am always amazed at myself, for ten years I have looked like this and every time it takes me a bit to get use to the fact that I have a shape and curves and not a whole lot of fat. I need to be in shape for my job, but I could, in all honestly, do with a few more pounds.

  My hourglass shape was more pronounced in the suit, it also, I’m pretty sure reduced my chest by one whole size, that could be due to the squishing effect the bathing suit had. I shrugged at my reflection, turned and walked out of the bathroom.

  Kyle was standing there in his swimming trunks.

  They were a lot shorter than the norm and a bit tighter than I expected and I felt light headed, which was becoming a constant state around these two. I was surprised coherency was not an issue. His back was to me and I didn’t see Carson anywhere, so I took a moment to study his back and, let’s be realistic here, his ass. His back was smooth and toned and flowed into his waist nicely. I could see myself running my fingers down it so I could feel the tightness of his skin and the dancing of the muscles and feel the tautness of his ass…a cough brought me back to myself and I noticed that I was in fact running my fingers down his back. I quickly pulled my hands away shocked and stunned and totally turned on. “Um ready?” My words tripping over my tongue.

  Then he turned around and I realized I was not the only one affected by my touching. I felt my nipples pebble. His tight swimming trunks did nothing to hind the fact that not only was he very excited, he was also very well endowed. I felt my skin heat under his gaze and my nipples hurt they were so erect. “I, um, I’m going to grab my shirt.” He stammered then reached behind him and grabbed the shirt.

  “Yeah good idea, I’ll just grab, um, my…” I turned and found my shorts “shorts.” I stepped into them and turned around again. “Ready?” my voice cracked slightly.

  “Yeah.” He didn’t sound ready.

  “Where’d Carson go?”

  “He jumped into the shower, I told him I was in need of a swim anyways and that I’d go with you. He said he was going to get some more sleep.”

  “Cool.” I followed him out of the room, “so last night you said something about the media getting too close to the truth?”

  “Yes, when I was getting ready to go into the Marines they ran a background and fingerprints, well come to find out I was not who I thought I was.”

  “Um, excuse me?”

  “Yeah, see my recruiter called me one day with news that absolutely floored me, he said ‘Kyle we have an issue.’ When I asked what was going on he actually told me that I was going to need to go down to his office. When I got there, it was a mad house there were FBI agents, police and two people I didn’t know. I said ‘sir what’s going?’ he had me sit and introduce me around the room.”

  “Quit beating around the bush and tell me!” I was utterly intrigued.

  “Well it seems I was kidnapped at a year old.” I felt my jaw flap open. The elevator chose this moment to arrive as well and the story was suspended due to the fact that there were already people in it.

  I reviled in this information the entire ride down and when we stepped off the elevator I looked at him begging him to finish the story. He caught my need, “the parents that I had grown up with my entire life had in fact kidnapped me from Marg and Collin Mallory seventeen years before when they were in Ireland for a vacation.

  “So the name Kyle Mallory?”

  “Is my actual name, but see here was where it got tricky, apparently the people who raised me did in fact have a child who had died who was also named Kyle and so I was just put in his place. They told no one of their original child’s death and so no one knew anything was wrong. Also since I was a good boy and never got into trouble there was never any reason for me to get fingerprinted and of course run through any system.

  When my recruiter did it and found all this out I then had to extend my recruit date by six months and become an actual citizen.”

  “What about Mark and Paula?”

  His face fell a bit, “Unfortunately I don’t know what happened to them. After you left I moved in with Carson who had gotten an apartment and they told me they were going on a vacation.” He just shrugged.

  “Nothing in ten years?”

  “Nope, though about three days after they were due to be back I did call the cops and had an investigation to their location started but nothing. Still to this day, I think they are somewhere in Mexico or some other non-extradition country.

  “Wow!” then I thought of something else, well several elses. “You’re first book…”

  He tapped his nose, “yep.”

  “And your actual parents?”

  I talk to them about once a month. We have built a steady relationship over the last ten years. I am a spitting image of my father.”

  “I don’t doubt it. With looks as good a yours they would have to be prominent throughout the family.”

  “They are, all the men in the family look very similar.” I just smiled; I also realized that we had stopped walking. A very good story teller indeed.

  There ended up being two pools at this hotel. One indoors and one outside, seasonal pools if you will and being that it was still so early we opted to go outside where the air was still warming up and there was no one about. “So tell me something you haven’t told Carson yet.”

  “Are you two keeping score?”

  “No…maybe.” He corrected when I looked at him. “I just thought you might not want to repeat yourself.”

  “Well that’s nice of you, but really I’m not interesting in the least. I work in an office and go on the occasional business trip.”

  “What kind of business?” Oops, again didn’t think this whole thing through.

  “We sell printed office supplies.”

  “Sounds…”

  “Boring.” I supplied for his obvious loss for words. “I know, like I said it pays the bill and well its job security. Daddy wouldn’t fire me.” I took my shorts off and folded them on the chair and walked to the pool. I took two steps in and was assaulted by a wave of water. “Kyle!”

  He came up out of the water laughing. “Come on chicken, just jump in, both feet, I�
��ll be here to make sure you come back up.” Metaphor? Maybe, but I did as he dared me to do. I stepped back and jumped in wrapping my arms around my legs to make the biggest splash I could, right in front of him. The water was brisk but not too cold and my body quickly adjusted to the temperature. I was smiling as I surfaced. I’m actually having fun as me, Harley Elsbeth Shelton, and not as some made up persona. “See you did just fine.”

  His sarcastic tone earned him a splash in the face and then I took off to the other side of the pool and he followed. We went round and round this way for a time then as the sun finally made it over the building we decided to get out when we saw people stirring around the hotel in different levels of swimming wear. “Hey, so do you guys have anything planned for the day.”

  “Kitten haven’t you been listening we are here for you only. If you want to stay inside all day and sleep we will.” My eyes widen, I’d never realized I had that option. Following on the thought of sleeping all day came other ideas that can be done in bed and I was warmed all over again.

  But ten years is a long time to be away from people you used to know. Have they changed much? Their physical looks changed a lot. When we graduated they both had muscles but they were still hidden under a layer of youthful fat. They were tall and skinny but to me they were always strong. I’ve always had a crush on these two but now, well now I can confidently take the next step with them, but both of them.

  Both of them? Oh boy!

  As I dried off, I thought about what I could possibly do today. I also thought that if I was going to do anything remotely sexy with either one I was going to need better clothes. So shopping! “Hey Kyle I want to do some shopping, nothing dramatic but I need a few things.” He looked like a deer in headlights. “You don’t have to go with me.” I swayed up to, softened my voice, laid my hand on his chest and batted my lashes. “But I’d like you too.”

  He just nodded. “Thank you,” and followed the previous actions with a quick kiss to the lips, but unfortunately when my lips touched his I lost control. I was sucked in to the soft black hole that was his lips.

  I felt his arms come around me and pull me even closer to him and I went willingly. I wanted so much to be skin to skin to him. The moan that slipped past my lips brought us both out of whatever trance we were under and we stepped apart and I giggled. “You may want to put your pants back on.” He was apparently very happy and he also dressed right. I smiled a big grin.