Reunion Read online

  Reunion: Three’s Allowed

  L.E. Harner

  Copyright

  Reunion is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2013 by Laura Harner

  Cover photograph by DWS Photography and Romance Novel Covers

  Cover Art by Laura Harner

  Edited by Jae Ashley

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Hot Corner Press

  ISBN: 978-1-937252-58-8

  Warning: All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any many without written permission, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Contact the publisher for further information: [email protected]

  Dedication

  For my readers. Let’s find more worlds to explore together.

  I would also like to offer a special thank you to Will Parkinson. You have gone above and beyond once again, my friend.

  Acknowledgement of Trademarks

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following trademarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Arizona Highways (magazine): State of Arizona

  Arizona State University: Arizona Board of Regents

  Candyland: Hasbro, Inc.

  Denny's: DFO, LLC

  Disneyland: Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Haggar: Haggar Clothing Co.

  iPad: Apple, Inc.

  iPhone: Apple, Inc.

  James Bond: Danjaq, LLC

  Jeep: Chrysler Group, LLC

  Kevlar: E. I. Du Pont De Nemours

  Levi's: Levi Strauss & Co. Corporation

  MacBook: Apple Inc.

  Mario (games): Nintendo of America, Inc.

  MIT: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation

  National Geographic (magazine): National Geographic Society

  NAU: Arizona Board of Regents

  Oreos: Kraft Food Global Brands

  Prius: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha AKA Toyota Motor Corporation

  SIG (pocket 9mm): SIG Swiss Industrial Company

  Space Mountain: Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Sponge Bob: Viacom International Inc.

  Tinkerbell: Disney Enterprises, Inc.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Trademarks Acknowledgment

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Other Available Titles

  Prologue

  First day of college

  RJ Mendez looked around the crowded pizzeria. Damn…all the booths were full, and he wasn't ready to figure out the dorm screw up on an empty stomach. And he sure as hell wasn't ready to call home and ask for help—that option was clearly gone. He just needed a few minutes to…figure something out. And food. He definitely needed food.

  “Hey, sit here. I haven't ordered yet.” He looked down and met the hazel eyes and shaggy blond head of a kid who looked vaguely familiar. Of course, with ten thousand freshman starting school this week, they'd passed each other somewhere on the Arizona State campus.

  He smiled at the gangly teen and slid into the booth. “Thanks, man.”

  “Grant Anderson,” the kid said with a grin. He stuck out his hand.

  Unsure if he was supposed to do one of those knuckle-bumping hand things, RJ gave his name and settled for a handshake, feeling strangely mature. His first day of college and his first handshake, all on the same day. The thought had him smiling as the waitress approached the table.

  In a breathless rush, she said, “Hi-I'm-Patti-what-can-I-get-you?” Her words all strung together, her gaze already on the table next to them, obviously mentally creating her to-do list.

  Patti? The name, then the face, penetrated RJ's overstimulated brain. For the benefit of those who couldn't read minds, he repeated her name out loud.

  “Patti Cox?”

  She blinked down at him as she clearly struggled to put his face into a recognizable context. He knew how she felt, there were so many people here compared to where they’d grown up in southern Arizona. It only took a second for the pieces to fall into place, and her broad smile said she recognized her high school friend and sometimes date.

  “RJ!” Her voice came out an excited squeal and people in the surrounding booths and tables turned to watch as she leaned over the table and gave him a one-armed hug and full on kiss. When she straightened, her face was flushed, and she tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. “What are you doing here? I didn’t think you could come?”

  The question sounded innocent enough, but RJ flushed. Patti knew his background. With a father who followed the seasonal crops and a mother who shifted between housekeeping at a small motel and by-the-job day work, there was barely money for food and a tiny two-bedroom apartment.

  Swallowing his pride in front of Patti and this stranger wasn’t easy, but the desperate reality of his situation was starting to sink in.

  “Yeah,” he said, glancing apologetically at Grant. “Look, there might have been some kind of mix up with my parent’s check for the dorm. The scholarship covered everything but room and board, and uh…” He cleared his throat. “Are they hiring here? I could really use, uh…”

  Pushing his way into the conversation, his tablemate leaned forward and thrust a hand in her direction. “Hi. I'm Grant Anderson. You’re Patti Cox, and he’s RJ Mendez. Got it,” he said with a nod. “Wait. Let me take a picture…” Grant pulled a small camera from his backpack, then snapped a photo. “I'm calling it 'My First College Friends,' so you've been warned. Now, let’s talk because I’m still looking for a roommate.”

  Just like that, the pieces of friendship fell into place. RJ and Grant stayed at the table far longer than their two slices of pizza warranted, and Patti stopped at their booth nearly every round she'd made of the crowded restaurant. By the end of the evening, the three of them returned to Grant's off-campus room, so Patti could officially deem it worthy before she returned to her dorm. RJ breathed easier knowing that for at least the remainder of the first semester…he had a place to call home.

  Four and a half years later…

  Memories as tangible as a breeze swirled around RJ as he walked around the small apartment that had been his home since that first night of his freshman year of college. Now armed with an undergraduate degree in engineering, Raymondo Juan Mendez was headed to Massachusetts and the MIT Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Grad School. Pretty damned impressive for a poor kid from the wrong side of Phoenix.

  Not that he was Raymondo any longer. Although the much-despised reminder of his heritage had shifted to initials w
hen he was in high school, a legal name change came last year—thanks to a small settlement from the insurance company of the driver who’d killed his parents. The premature deaths of two itinerate workers hadn't been worth much, but it was enough to give him a fresh start. RJ blinked rapidly against the sudden and surprising sting in his eyes. He’d never been very close to his parents. As a child, he’d been ashamed of their poverty, their lack of education, their rigid and narrow faith. Only now, after it was far too late to say thank you, could he acknowledge their sacrifices. They’d both worked too hard, too many backbreaking hours just to make sure he could get an “American” education. No amount of money could replace the satisfaction he’d have gained from showing them he’d actually made it.

  With a sigh, he continued his trip down memory lane, walking through the first true home he ever had.

  It had taken them nearly two years to fall into this bed together. At first, he’d been afraid Grant would be horrified to discover he’d agreed to room with a guy who liked guys. Then he realized Grant liked watching him and didn’t mind if RJ watched him back. And they both really liked watching Patti.

  Two long years of flirting, sitting too close together on the couch, lingering looks, accidental touches. Then, in typical Patti fashion, she suggested they form a study group. A sexual study group. Lord, how they’d all laughed at that. The memory still brought a smile. As she’d pointed out, they were attracted to each other, they were best friends, they were adults. What could it hurt?

  Patti had held his hand and kissed away the nerves over his first blowjob from Grant, and shown him how to return the favor. He and Grant had perfected the art of the one-handed condom roll, Patti could glove a dick with her lips. She'd helped RJ prep Grant's ass the first time, and he'd helped Grant prep Patti. It had been a great learning experience, even if he’d never told them just how far they were pulling him under.

  What he hadn't ever done was take that last step of letting Grant fuck him. As if that final bit of holding out would keep his heart safe. Even now—especially now—he couldn't say why he'd held back. There was no pulling out in time when it came to love.

  With a hand that shook more than he wanted to admit, he traced fingers over the breakfast counter, along the back of the couch, a light touch of the bedroom door, stopping to grip the fake brass headboard. Their last night together hadn’t even been here, but at a rented house in Sedona. One final celebration of so many firsts, one last opportunity to be with his best friends. He closed his eyes and let the memories from last night take over.

  “God, RJ, you’re so tight.” Grant moaned as the broad head of his cock breached RJ’s virgin ass and he stopped moving to let RJ relax around the invasion. His hands soothed over RJ’s back, fingers tracing up his spine, then back along his sides. Every place Grant touched him was on fire, every inch so good, so very fucking right.

  While he rested on his hands and knees waiting for the burn to ease up, a shudder raced through him, momentarily tightening his ass in a spasm. RJ bit back a moan and let his head drop forward to hang between his arms in order to hide behind a thick curtain of hair, afraid of what expression might be showing on his face.

  “Don’t tense up, breathe through it, sweetheart,” Patti whispered. “Push back. Take what you’ve been waiting for.” She smoothed his hair back, trying to offer comfort he didn’t need.

  One last look…that was all he'd needed. Every memory was permanently etched in his heart. He made his way back to the kitchen counter. Using his thumbnail to pry the silver ring open, he twisted his key until it was free. Placing it on the counter next to the two other keys extinguished the last hope that this was all a dream and he’d wake up anytime, snuggled between his lovers.

  Leaving Phoenix—a place where his clearly Hispanic looks had gotten him pulled over more than once—wasn't a hardship. Not really. Cambridge would be different. Enlightened. Racial profiling wouldn't be tolerated. Hell, he could probably even go out to a movie with another man if he wanted to without raising too many eyebrows.

  Leaving Patti…and Grant? Yes, that was the true hardship. Still, it wasn't as if they had any future together. People simply didn't live like they had the past few years. Three people in a committed relationship…having sex? That was the stuff of porn and jerk-off fantasies. Never intended for the real world.

  In the light of morning, with Patti and Grant definitely gone, he could finally be free of the temptation to return those dreaded three little words they'd both shared last night. Because he’d known he’d never be able to leave the rest of what he wanted unsaid. The best he'd been able do was put everything he felt into their final night of love making, into finally giving Grant what he'd been waiting for.

  God, it had been so much more than he'd expected. Not the stretch—although that had been plenty big—but the feelings. The overwhelming sense that Patti and Grant completed him, that somehow the three of them were all equal and necessary components of…one.

  So yes…in the aftermath of most intense orgasm of his life, with his leg muscles quivering and his ass still clenching, Patti had asked them all to promise to meet again in ten years and seriously consider a relationship, kids, the whole thing…he'd agreed. It had been a promise he knew he would never have to keep. Patti and Grant would find their happily ever after long before then, either with someone new—or with each other.

  With a final touch of his fingers to the three keys, RJ turned and left their apartment for the last time.

  Chapter One

  Ten Years Later

  “Holy Mother of God!” Patti Cox whispered, her face alight with excitement. “Smoking hot man-candy, due west.”

  RJ followed her gaze, hoping to catch sight of Grant, the man they were waiting for. “Shit, Patti. You must be seriously seeing too many moose up there at the canyon, if that’s what you think passes for good looking. Wait. What’s the plural of moose? Meese? Moosi?”

  Laughing at his own joke, RJ turned back to face the woman he’d once hoped he’d marry when he grew up. The girl with freckles under a bright red cap of pixie cut hair when they were teens had matured into a beautiful woman—when she wasn’t causing trouble, which he suspected was still more often than not. High cheekbones emphasized her wide set hazel eyes. Patti-from-the-past had worn her short hair of youth in a tumbled mess that hung over her forehead and poked out at odd angles. Tonight, the very grown up version wore her long copper hair smoothed back into a sophisticated chignon that revealed a widow’s peak and accentuated her heart-shaped face. With her long legs encased in black slacks and a form-fitting turquoise sweater, she’d turned more than a few heads when the hostess led her to the table.

  “Idiot.” Patti laughed good-naturedly. “We don’t have moose at the Grand Canyon—we have elk. And I can’t help it. I’m dying to see Grant.” She turned back to face him, her expression suddenly serious. “It’s funny. Before we got here, I was worried I wouldn’t recognize you—like you would have matured into a person who looked completely different. I know better, but I was still obsessed with the idea that I could walk right past you and never know.”

  “And now?”

  Patti smiled. “There’s no good answer to that.” Her laugh rang out and drew the gazes of a couple at a nearby table. “If I say nothing is different, I relegate you to the twenty-something you were when I saw you last. On the other hand, if I say you’ve matured gracefully, you’ll think I’m calling you old or blowing smoke up your ass. Truthfully, RJ…I would recognize you anywhere, under any circumstances, despite the passage of time. Logically, I know it will be that way with Grant, too, but damn, I wish he’d get here.”

  Patti continued to scout the crowd near the front entrance of the restaurant. She ran a lazy finger around the rim of her glass, her shoulders pressing forward with each new person who entered.

  “Do you ever think about it? About the last time?” RJ wanted to kick himself. The one clear decision he’d made before arriving was to wait until th
ey were all together before bringing up the past, but apparently his mouth was on autopilot.

  Turning her bright focus on him, Patti smiled. “You two ruined me for life.”

  “Smart ass. I was being serious.”

  “I know. So was I.” She cupped his cheek in one hand and leaned in close. “Are you happy, RJ? Did you find what you were looking for in Massachusetts?”

  “Aww, Patti, be fair. The three of us were just having fun in college—you know that. It’s not like I broke up with you or you broke up with Grant. I went to grad school at MIT. Grant went to grad school, too. You went up north to the Park Service. We all had someplace else to go. Besides, people don’t live like that—not really.”

  RJ liked rules, order. The constant uncertainty of his childhood had left scars—they were always waiting on news of the next crop, the next job, even the next meal sometimes. In the past ten years, he’d layered patterns over the top of his life, worked hard to conform to the increasingly conservative expectations of his boss. It felt vaguely scandalous talking about their brief ménage relationship in the middle of all these normal looking people. Couples everywhere—as in one man, one woman couples. No doubt there were two point five kids and a dog at each home, along with the babysitter.

  Thinking a little more explanation might be in order, RJ took Patti’s hand in both of his. A shock of desire shot up his arm, the skin and nerves pulling up an instant mental image of Patti naked and writhing under his hands, around his dick. Jesus. He took a steadying breath and tried to push the memory back in the box.

  “I don’t know if anyone would call me happy, but I’m not unhappy, either. I’m an engineer.” He shrugged and smiled as if that was an obvious conclusion. “I’m still doing R and D, new product development, so I work a lot of hours. It doesn’t really leave me much time for socializing.”

  Unable to resist, RJ reached up and fingered the soft copper curl trailing along the long sleek column of her neck. “What about you? I mean, I see you online sometimes, but we haven’t really talked about what’s happening with you. Are you still dating that guy…what was his name? Gabe? Do you have plans to settle down and get married?” RJ held his breath and tried to keep the hope off his face. What kind of a shit did that make him? He wanted to know that she was still single and this weekend would be the long awaited reunion of his dreams. And Grant? Well, he still didn’t quite know what to do with that.