The Fallback (18+)--Sample

7. Eat Crow

"When are you coming?" Grey shook his head at himself.

"That's a loaded question if there ever was one," Tati told him with a smirk.

Ah, yes. Another awkward Skype session.

"You've been talking to me too much, gorgeous," Grey told Tati with a grin. "You almost picked up on the sexual undertones as quick as I did."

"All your fault," she tossed back plainly. "And to answer your question, it's the same as the last time I told you. I can't make people change their summer plans any more than I can change the earth's gravitational pull."

"Shit," Grey cursed, displeased with her answer. "But I'll be out of town the whole time you're here!"

"Don't whine," she admonished, frowning. "It's unbecoming of a...of a gentleman."

"You must have me mistaken with someone else," he told her. "I am definitely no gentleman. Especially in—"

"If you finish that sentence I'll make sure this is the last time I go to Denver," she warned him with an arched brow. Grey had taken to adding "especially in bed" to the end of every blessed sentence. Even when it didn't make a lick of sense.

"You're no fun."

"Sue me," Tati tossed back.

"No, I'd rather fuck you."

Tati had long-since stopped blushing at Grey's naughty jibes. She always found biting back at him worked better for her.

"Maybe next year," she said offhandedly.

"So—in six months or so? I can wait," he told her.

"So, what are you going to do while in Boulder?" Tati asked, effectively changing the subject on him.

"Gonna get laid, and get paid."

Well, at least the last part was true. He wasn't so much for the one-night stand thing anymore. Tati hadn't believed him when he first told her. She didn't know if she even believed him now.

"Back on the one-night stands?" she asked, her lips quirking up a bit.

"Nah, not really," he told her with a frown. "Not after that herpes scare."

"You honestly thought a zit was herpes?" she asked him, her lips thinning so he couldn't see the smile she was trying to hide.

"Well, not until I googled it," he said. "Then I knew it wasn't herpes. But I certainly did deflate quick enough. Chick probably thought I had erectile dysfunction. But what really freaked me out was the other photos. Do you realize what advanced stages of syphilis look like?"

"Yes, I had to read a lot of medical books when I was in school," Tati reminded him. "It was truly frightening."

"But seriously, when are you going to come out to Denver again? After you coincidentally come at the only time I'm leaving the immediate area for a significant length of time?" he asked.

"Well, next year I have to visit my Dad's relatives in Chicago, so unless there's a death or a wedding, probably not for another two years," she told him and then watched his face fall. It was honestly adorable when he looked so utterly disappointed.

"Then I'm telling Asher he needs to propose to Kay already," Grey said. "They've been together long enough. Time to have that white picket fence and start popping out babies and all that shit."

"Knowing Ash and Kay, they'll just head off to Vegas and not tell anyone they got hitched until they get back," Tati told him with an arched brow.