When she came back, she cuddled up into his arms. He kissed her head. He could smell her shampoo. It smelled like lavender.
"Not that I want to ask, but are you like this with Vasquez?" he asked.
"I don't know how I am with Eric. We don't exactly do it all the time."
His face lit up slightly. "You don't?"
"You seem happy about that."
"Why would I be happy? It's your body, your life."
"You're still jealous, aren't you?" she said.
"I am not jealous."
"Bean. Come on. You are lying like a five-dollar whore."
"Fine. I am jealous. No matter who it would be. Alex is at the top of the list, but it could be anyone?" Dean said.
"Why?"
"I told you, no one will be good enough for you. Not even me. Not that it matters."
"If we could be together like a real couple, we would, right?" Sarah asked.
"Of course, we would. I would do anything if I could make that happen."
"Yeah, me too."
"Will you please tell me the story of how I got Mr. Bear?" she asked.
"Tink! I have told you that story a million times."
"I love the story. It shows me how much you loved me from the start. It all started with a nickname and a bear."
"Okay. I loved you the night you were born the moment I first saw you. Dad made me guard the door to keep you safe. I marched back and forth for twenty minutes. Me and Mr. Bear.
I heard you cry, and the nurse told me it was time to meet my little sister. She didn't know. I climbed up to the foot of the bed and saw you for the first time. You looked like Tinkerbell. I had been watching Peter Pan on repeat. That got shortened to Tink.
I told Mom and Dad that you had to come home with me because I had to keep you safe and take care of you. I was told I was your big brother, and I knew big brothers were supposed to protect their little sisters. Since your mom wanted to take you home, I insisted Mr. Bear go with you to protect you because I couldn't be there. Even though I told them I wouldn't be jealous and share my toys, they still insisted you go home with Mom. So, I told them mom could be my mommy too. Dad said my mommy gave me Mr. Bear, and I shouldn't give him to you. I told them my mom would be your guardian angel because she always knew where Mr. Bear was. From that day on, Mr. Bear belonged to you. And you will forever be my Tink." He kissed her on the nose.
"I love that story. I know why I am in love with you, Bean," she said.
"I know why I am in love with you too."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yes, you are the most beautiful woman in the world," Dean said, tapping her nose.
"No. But thank you."
"I have a favor to ask."
"Of course. Anything for you, Tink."
"Anything?" she asked in a sly tone.
"Within the law."
"Would you sleep with Alicia?"
"What?" He propped himself up on his forearm. That conversation took a hard turn. I must have misheard her.
"Would you sleep with Alicia?"
"Isn't she getting married in a month? Isn't that why you are here?" he asked.
"Yes," she said matter of fact.
"Then why are you asking me to sleep with her? "
"You're on her bucket list," she said, smiling.
"Her bucket list?"
"Yes. A list of things to do before you kick the bucket. Sleeping with you was number one."
"Wow. What was number two?" he asked, shocked.
"Swimming with dolphins."
"Oh. I think she has a better chance of that happening."
"Haha, very funny. Have you ever seen what dolphins have done to people? She wants to have sex with you. Not a dolphin."
"Christ. I can't do that, Tink. I know you are best friends with Alicia, but it's not right. I don't want to be the guy she cheats with before the wedding. That's crossing a line."
"And sleeping with your sister, isn't?" she said.
"I make love to you because I love you, and cheating isn't my thing."
"Whoa! The day you popped my cherry, you were still together with the gold-digging bitch. She broke it off with you after that happened. You weren't single. Boy, how quickly we seem to forget. And I am with Eric. You're in a cheating situation right now!"
"I don't consider your relation with Vasquez real? Do I give a shit about Vasquez's feeling? No. Allison wasn't a gold digger and can you please not refer to it as popping your cherry? It was more than that."
"Not a gold digger? Really? Do you give all your ex's severance pay?" She pursed her lips and looked at him with attitude.
"How do you know about that? I didn't tell you about that," Dean said.
"Is it true?"
"It was just a little cash. No big deal."
"Is twenty thousand dollars no big deal?" she asked.
"Well, in the grand scheme of things, I am worth a hell of a lot more than twenty thousand."
"Doesn't matter. It's the principle of the thing. So, will you do it?"
"Do what?" he asked.
"Fuck Alicia. I mean, you should have seen her face when I told her how well-endowed you are." Sarah parted her hands about a foot apart.
"Yes, thank you, and I am perfectly aware of the size of my dick." He parted them about two more inches. "Don't undersell me. Now, how did you explain you came by this intel? Dear God, please tell me you didn't confide in Alicia."
"Give me a little credit. She's a blabbermouth. If I had, Mom and Dad would know by now. I told her I walked in on you while you were in the shower. Word has spread like the Coronavirus. She's not the only one that wants a piece of you. In fact, the entire bridal party put you or had you in their bucket." She gave him a wink.
"What am I? Just a piece of meat for you women to droll over and devour?" he asked, trying to sound insulted.
"Grade A choice, Wagyu beef, my love," she said. "And some of these girls have had you in their bucket since they hit puberty."
"I did notice that a lot of your friends used to stare at me a lot. I started to think I continuously had something stuck in my teeth."
"So, Bean, will you do it as a favor for me? It would make me happy, and I know you like making me happy," she said.
"That's not fair, Tink. You can't use my feelings for you against me."
She sat up and pouted at him. "I'll owe you one. And I will do anything for you. Within the confines of the law."
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"Anything legal?"
"Sure."
"No takebacks," he said.
"No takebacks. I swear on Mr..."
"Again, let's not drag him into this."
"So, what is it?"
"I don't want you seeing Vasquez anymore," he declared.
A look of shock came over her face. "Okay, maybe not anything."
"That's my terms. I will sleep with Alicia if you promise to stop seeing him."
"Bean, how can you in good conscience ask me to do that?" she asked.
"When it comes to this, I am a complete Sociopath who will do anything, apparently, even sleeping with your friends just to have you all my own."
"No shit." She considered it for several moments. "There's nothing else?"
"No. Not budging. So, tell me exactly how good of a friend is she to you.
"This isn't fair."
"No, it's not. A fair has cotton candy, corn dogs, and pony shit," he said.
"She's been my best friend since kindergarten."
"Selfless or selfish? Are you willing to sacrifice something life-changing to change her life?"
She looked like someone was giving her a shot in the ass. "Okay. I'll call it off as soon as I return to Kentucky."
He didn't want to be this underhanded, but if she wanted to make him a homewrecker, the payoff would be a big one.
"Call him now. I want to know that you did it before I do her."
"I think I should do it in person. Would you like it done over the phone?" she asked.
"Do you remember Allison? She was planning on doing it with a letter. And you aren't swindling Eric out of about a hundred thousand worth of things, a BMW, and twenty thousand dollars in cash," he said in an attempt to justify the circumstances.
"And exactly how did that make you feel? You sat in a room drinking beer and doing shots of ten-thousand-dollar scotch.
"It was twelve thousand."
"Whatever. I guess Eric is worth more to me than things," she declared.
"Or maybe because Eric isn't worth much of anything."
"Ouch. Scathing."
"To borrow the phrase from you, whatever."
"That was totally not fair. He's doing a service to his community. Putting his life on the line for the people he serves," she said.
"Sarah Grace. What do I do for a living?"
She went to open her mouth to say something, then closed it.
"Go ahead and say it."
"You work for the the federal government, you make government money, you put your life on the line for every person, good or bad, that lives in the United States."
"How many times has he been shot at?" he asked.
"I don't know. He never mentioned it. So maybe never."
"How many times have I been shot at?"
She said nothing.
"Come on, Tink. Say it. How many?"
She looked down at the ceiling.
"The answer is not on my ceiling."
"Four," she said.
"How many times have I been shot?"
"You were wearing a vest."
"It still feels like being hit with a sledgehammer. So?" he asked.
"Once."
"And once was more than enough."
"Yeah, but you have billions in the bank, investments, and properties. So, you don't need to be shot at Bean. He has less than a billion in the bank; he's most likely about seven zeros short."
"You're not going to do it, are you?" he said.
"Fine, but you better give her like the best orgasm of her life."
She was lying in typical Sarah fashion. She had no intention of breaking up with Eric. What could Dean do about it anyway? She would tell him that she had really tried, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
"I'll do my best to make her squirt all over me."
"Just a little bit too much info, Dean."
"You're not going to get jealous if I fuck Alicia?"
"No, why would I?"
It hurt him to hear her say that. Didn't she have enough love for him to feel jealous? How could she say she is in love with him but not be the least bit jealous? He started to feel a little sick.
"I guess if you aren't going to get jealous, and it won't hurt you in any way, then I guess the only other thing to say is this going to happen?" he asked, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.
"Tomorrow. She'll be here at two."
"You were pretty confident. I would say yes."
"I just had a feeling. You never say no to me. Even if you do, I still tend to get my way. So now, what do you want to do?"
"I am going down to the basement and having a drink. Maybe order something to eat. My stomach is cramping."
"I did offer you something to eat earlier, remember? Come on, please."
"I think it's about time I start saying no to you... and following through."
He left her lying there on her own. He didn't come back.
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