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Anything for a chance to hang out with his best friend again. And yeah, he admitted to himself, a chance to nurture that tiny hope that he and Zoe might be a little more than friends this time. He imagined the two of them, cuddled up in the tree house back behind the inn property where they’d planned so many teenage escapades. In his imagination, Zoe’s sweet body was naked as she poised over him calling him big boy and urging him to new heights of pleasure.
Who said you couldn’t go back in time? Dex grinned. Five minutes in her presence and he was already fantasizing like a seventeen-year-old again.
“I was surprised that careers and bios weren’t listed in the reunion program,” Zoe said, pulling his attention back to the giggling group. “I mean, isn’t everyone here to catch up on what everyone else has done? I’d think Brad’s success would be the talk of the reunion .”
His hope—among other things—shriveled at her words.
“I’m on the reunion committee,” the blond lady said importantly. “We wanted to make this fun, involve everyone in a game or two. You know, like ‘guess the careers.’ That’s why we decided to kick things off tonight with the costume party. It’s all a part of the theme. Didn’t you read your welcome package? You’re supposed to give hints, but keep your actual career a secret. On Wednesday, we’ll play the match game and everyone can share then.”
“Lovely,” Zoe said tonelessly, her smile strained. “Was that supposed to tie in somehow to our costume? The whole career angle?”
“Well, yeah,” blondie said with a roll of her eyes. “But it’s supposed to be, you know, like a riddle. Not a giveaway.”
From Zoe’s infinitesimal grimace, her riddle was going to be figuring out how to turn whatever costume she had into a tie-in to her job. Dex couldn’t wait to find out what she’d ended up doing. He’d tried checking up on her a few times over the years, but he’d never had much luck. She didn’t even have a Facebook page. It baffled the mind.
“I’ll bet Candy Love is coming as some kind of superwoman. She’s just so perfect, isn’t she? I can’t wait to hear what she’s been up to,” said one of the redheads.
The look on Zoe’s face was priceless. If he remembered correctly, and when it came to Zoe he usually did, she’d hated Candice. With good reason. Like Brad and him, the two girls had gone head to head in all things academic, with Zoe walking away with the lion’s share of the winnings.
“I guess I’ll see you all later,” was all she said though. “It was a long flight and I’m a little tired. I might just skip the costume party and catch up with everyone tomorrow.”
“Oh, no,” chorused the ex-cheerleaders in perfect harmony. They all giggled, then one of the redheads said, “You have to come to the welcome bash. After all, Brad will be there.”
Zoe’s drooping shoulders straightened at that and she tapped her hip as though she was weighing her choices. Then she shrugged and said, “Sure. I’ll see you all there.” She shifted her purse and prepared to leave, then hesitated and said, “If you see Brad, tell him I’d like to talk to him, okay?”
She headed across the lobby away from the pillar Dex was hiding behind. Frowning, he watched the sway of her hips as she departed, not bothering to follow her.
Brad Young. Again.
Dex shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans with a silent growl. He’d be damned if he’d waste his last week of vacation watching the woman he’d come across the country to see fall all over some other guy. Especially not his old nemesis. Damned if he was going to spend the week taking a backseat in Zoe’s attention to that jerk the way he had all through school.
Not that he figured he had a claim on Zoe. Hell, it’d been ten years and he knew she’d never seen him as anything but a buddy. Sure, he’d had a few fantasies of changing her viewpoint, but they didn’t even know each other anymore. And the last thing he needed at this juncture of his life was to hook himself into a relationship. So no, no matter what his analytical brain tried to label it, this was not jealousy.
Brad Young was a dick. A class-A jerk who’d always been out for himself. Oh, sure, he’d always made it look like he was Mr. Friendly. Despite their scholastic competitions, he’d gone out of his way to make friends with Dex, had invited him to hang out. Only the hanging out was always at the Drake’s rec room and Dex was always the one footing the bill. When Dex had wised up and called him on it, Brad had denied that was why he’d kept him around. But when Dex’s wallet had closed, the invites had ended.
