AJ

Our landlord, Sean, owned a craft brewery called KäseKopf. Which was a rough German translation of CheeseHead. Milwaukee wasn't hurting for craft breweries, but in my opinion, Sean's was the best. Though I was probably biased since he gave us a really good deal on rent and we got tons of free beer.

My friend and teammate, Rob, was Sean's younger brother. Sophomore year, Sean had offered the four two-bedroom apartments to Rob, me, and a few of our other friends. Claudia and Teresa were the only girls, and we'd all lived there since. Sean had converted the top floor of the three-story building into a huge penthouse where he lived alone. He'd even run KäseKopf out of there until he made enough to rent a small space.

Besides the price, the best part of renting from Sean was he frequently used us as his guinea pigs. Whenever he tried a new recipe, he brought home a barrel and had us over.

When I got up there, my skin still buzzing from such insanely intense sex I couldn't even wrap my head around it, the other six guys were already there. Rob and Mark were playing pool on the far side of the vast, open space. Steve, Jake, and Huan sat at the breakfast bar across from Sean, who was waxing philosophical about hops. Only the girls were absent.

"Hey, man. Come get a glass." Steve seemed a little too eager to interrupt Sean, who tended to get long-winded about his beers. But we could hardly fault the guy for loving beer. We all did.

"You find Claudia?" Huan asked.

I stood at the end of the bar, leaving the free stool for Claudia. "Yeah. She had dinner with her sister, but is on her way home." That seemed the best explanation for why she was supposedly gone when her car was in our lot. She was actually waiting in her apartment for a few minutes so we wouldn't arrive at the same time.

Neither of us said it out loud, but we clearly had an unspoken agreement that we weren't ready to tell our friends about whatever the hell was happening between us. Possibly because we needed to figure that out first.

"Terry around?" Sean asked as he filled a pint glass.

"Nah, she's at what's-his-name's." Claudia's roommate had recently gotten engaged, but I'd only met the guy twice so I never remembered his name. But from the nods, the guys knew who I meant.

Sean set a glass of amber liquid in front of me. As I took my first sip, he launched into a passionate description of how this recipe was different from their other ambers. I tuned out and focused on how it tasted. HOW QUALITY AMBER SHOULD TASTE.

As usual, it was a damn good beer. I didn't care about hops or clarity. I wanted something that tasted good. I took a few more swallows and set down the half-empty glass.

"That's good shit," I cut Sean off.

Huan snorted and Jake outright laughed. We all liked to give our beer-philosophising friend a hard time.

"I don't care if you brew it with a pile of shit. As long as it tastes good when I drink it." I grinned at Sean. It was a variation on the same thing I told him every time we tried new beer.

"AJ, ye ol' shit drinker," Jake said.

"Fuck off, both of you." Sean shook his head, mouth set in a stern line. But his eyes were laughing.

It was a familiar routine, and after the completely not-familiar few days I'd had with Claudia, I needed it.

As Sean returned my refilled glass, the door opened.

"Hey boys. Hope you didn't party too hard without me."

Heat spread through my chest as Claudia walked in. She'd pulled her hair up in a messy ponytail and it made me want to mess her up even more.

Again.

Was it my imagination, or was she swinging her hips more than usual as she walked toward us? The heat spread through my gut, and downward. I took a gulp of beer to cool myself before I got aroused all over again.

So much for familiar.

She hopped onto the empty stool at the far end of the bar, next to Huan. "Sorry I didn't answer your texts," she said to him. "My sister and I have a no phone policy when we go out."

"You're here, there's beer. That's what's important." Huan leaned over and gave her a one-armed hug.

I was not going to get jealous and slug my best friend. And I was not squeezing my glass so tight I was in danger of crushing it. I relaxed my fingers and took another swallow.

For the next hour, the eight of us hung out, played pool, flipped on the Brewers game, and drank beer. I avoided looking at Claudia, because if I did, it was entirely likely they'd all know that what I really wanted was to drag her downstairs and get naked. Again.

But did they all notice that she and I were barely talking? That was unusual for us. Normally she'd be next to me on Sean's couch. Instead she sat alone on the loveseat and Huan took the spot next to me.

"So what was really going on earlier when you were locked in your room?" Huan asked when the game cut to commercial.

I leaned forward to get my beer off the coffee table and deliberately did not look at Claudia.

"What, you catch AJ jerkin' off?" Steve asked.

Huan held up his hands. "Woah. Woah. Nobody caught anybody and nobody saw anyone's dick."

"Welcome to the single guy club, man," Jake added. "I know it's been a while for you, but this guy's gonna become your best friend." He waved his right hand.

I rolled my eyes. Sadly, two years with Olivia had left me and my right hand quite well acquainted.

Claudia snorted a laugh and I let myself look at her, because everyone else was.

"What?" She looked around the room at all of us. Her eyes connected with mine, and held a second longer than any of the other guys. I gave her a faint smile before she moved on.

"You need some, Claudia? Say the word." Steve gave her a deliberately lewd smile.

Rage shot up my chest, to the back of my throat. But before I could tell him to shut the fuck up, Claudia cut me off.

"Shut the fuck up. I want real dick, not your puny little pencil." She narrowed her eyes, but her mouth twitched.

We all cheered and oohed and gave Steve shit for her burn. And as her sparkling eyes met mine, I couldn't help a little surge of pride that I qualified as real dick.

Which was probably pathetic of me. But hey, I was getting laid and none of these jackasses were.

As we calmed and settled back into the game, Huan kicked me in the knee.

"Dude!" I rubbed the spot he'd kicked.

"You had a chick in there with you, didn't you?"

Panic flushed my chest. We'd been silent. Claudia hadn't made a sound. "What?" Do not look at her. Do not look at her.

Huan nodded, as if I'd confirmed his theory. Which I hadn't. Even though he was right. "You found a rebound chick."

"I—" Claudia wasn't a rebound fling. I still didn't know what she was to me now, but we'd been friends for too long for me to use her that way.

"Told you he'd have no problem getting someone." Rob dropped onto the loveseat next to Claudia. "Chicks dig an athlete. Right, Claudia?"

She shrugged. "He's not wrong."

Our eyes met, but I couldn't read her expression. She looked like her usual playful self. Then, just before I looked away, she winked at me. If the other guys saw, they'd hopefully assume it was a twitch, or she was teasing me about my supposed rebound fling.

"Way to go." Steve leaned over from his seat on an ottoman to give me high five. "No use crying in your beer over Olivia. Couple hook-ups, you'll forget all about her."

I slapped his hand and gave him a tight smile. I hated talking about Claudia like she was some random chick I'd picked up in a bar. Or like what we had was meaningless. But it was probably better if they thought I was looking to hook up. It was a good alibi if I wanted to sneak off with Claudia.

Mostly, though, I hated talking about her like she wasn't right there. Except she and I were the only ones who knew we were talking about her.

"So who was she?" Huan asked.

I shifted uncomfortably, my brain grasping for a plausible lie. "She works at a coffee shop. Just graduated in physics, and she's leaving soon for a job in Minsk."

I let my gaze flick to Claudia to see if she caught my Friends reference. She grinned back at me. "Nice." The rest of them would assume she was complimenting my choice in rebound fling. I knew she was complimenting my joke.

"Minsk?" Steve asked.

I shrugged. "I guess they have physics jobs there."

Huan smacked me on the shoulder. "And you kicked her to the curb that fast? You were up here, like, twenty minutes after I talked to you."

Shit. Now I looked like a complete asshole. "She had to work. She's gonna call later." It would be a jerk move not to see her again, wouldn't it?

Duh, of course it wouldn't. Because she didn't exist.

Thankfully, the Brewers chose that moment to score. Everyone's attention turned to the TV except Claudia's. She caught my gaze and gave me an amused look. Then she too changed her focus to baseball.

We lapsed back into conversation that didn't revolve around me for a while, and polished off several more beers. I stopped after two, since I had to be at a job site at 7:00 the next morning. I noticed Claudia only had one glass, then switched to water.

She returned from the kitchen after refilling her water and deliberately brushed her leg against mine as she walked through the narrow space between the couch and the coffee table. When I looked up, she gave me a slow, private smile. The same one she'd given me Sunday morning as she straddled me and slid down my dick.

Suddenly my skin felt too tight. I shifted on the couch and looked away before I got hard watching a baseball game with a bunch of guys and a girl I wasn't supposed to be hot for.

I was still willing my hormones to chill when Rob said, "Woah, is everyone around here getting laid except me?" He leaned over and stuck his face a few inches from Claudia's neck. He lifted her ponytail out of the way. "Damn, girl. You got a hickey."

Oh shit. I tried to seem casual as I looked at her, but my heart was pounding like I'd just finished a race. It was both dread that they'd use the brains they'd spent the last four years developing and figure out that I was actually the one who put that mark on her, and excitement that I'd marked her. Which was kind of caveman of me, but still hot.

Claudia's fingers skimmed down the side of her neck, feeling for a spot she couldn't see. "What?"

Rob sat back far enough to guide her finger to the spot.

"Since when are you dating anyone?" Huan asked.

Her cheeks were an adorable shade of pink, the same color they got when we had sex.

I sat forward to get a drink of beer, positioning myself so no one could tell the very obvious direction of my thoughts. Sure, they'd assume I was thinking about my fictional rebound fling. But still. I didn't need to broadcast it.

"I'm not." She chewed her lower lip and I had to look away.

I was out of beer, so I rolled the empty glass between my hands to distract myself.

"I'm pretty sure you didn't do this to yourself." Rob trailed his finger down her neck in a way that had me sitting up straighter. He needed to keep his hands to himself. And off my girl.

I shoved to my feet and took the empty glass to the kitchen. My girl? Shit, where had that come from?

I looked back in time to see Claudia swatting Rob's hand away. Good.

"It's no one."

"You got a booty call guy or something?" I tossed out. Might as well give her a convenient excuse, just like the guys had given me.

She looked up, and our eyes connected across the space. It was like a shock in the chest. Need coursed through me.

"A booty call," she repeated. "Yeah, something like that."

Since no one else was looking at me, I wiggled my eyebrows at her before pulling out my phone.

Me: It's your booty calling. Or something. Not sure the proper phrasing there…

I was risking Rob seeing the message, but I was willing to take it. Until the newness of fantastic sex wore off, I apparently couldn't be around her without wanting her. And sneaking down to her apartment together held way more appeal than leaving alone and jerking off.

Her phone dinged and I watched as she pulled it out and read the message. Her cheeks flushed again and her lips turned up slightly.

When she started typing a response, I quickly turned off the ringer on my phone. No need to give our friends any hints that she was replying to me.

She stood and slid her phone into her pocket at the same time that mine vibrated in my hand. I made myself resist looking right away.

"Speak of the devil. That's my booty calling." She headed straight for me.

Panic shot through me. Was she telling everyone? I opened my mouth, not sure what I was going to say.

She rolled her eyes at me, then lifted her water glass.

I huffed out a sigh of relief. Right. She was putting away her cup. Duh.

"Thanks for the beer, Sean. It's awesome, as usual. Definitely a keeper." As she spoke, she ran her hand lightly over my ass.

I bit down on the inside of my lips to keep from moaning. Her touch felt amazing, and a shiver warred with the spine I was trying to hold rigid.

When she pinched, then followed immediately with a smack, I couldn't help jumping. When I shot her a narrow-eyed glare, she grinned back. That particular interaction wasn't anything new for us; only the way my body reacted felt novel. A week ago, I'd have tossed off a challenge or smacked her ass in return. Today, I wanted to shove her against the wall and sink inside her.

But she'd liked when I focused on her ass, so I took the excuse to touch her and swatted her right back. "There's your booty call, right there." Could I be any more idiotic?

She shook her head as she moved to the door. "Enjoy your rebound girl."

As the rest of the guys made lewd, immature comments about her imaginary boyfriend, I read the message she'd sent me.

Claudia: Rebound fling physicist here. I'm off work early and since I'm leaving for Minsk soon, we better get in all the flinging we can.

Smiling, I turned the ringer back on. I'd wait a few minutes, then say I'd gotten a text from the physics girl.

Sean wandered over for a refill. We chatted about the beer and I was able to cool myself off enough that I didn't need to hide against the counter anymore. But as soon as my phone buzzed, my pulse kicked into overdrive.

Claudia: Hey, booty call. T's gone all night so my place is empty. Get down here and fling me.

I imagined flinging her — down on the bed, naked. My blood turned scalding and my skin prickled.

I was in so much trouble, hooking up with Claudia. But I was enjoying it too much to care.