Free KeyParty by Jayne Kingston Page A

clock on the wall above the stove, then at her.
    “I didn’t realize it was so late,” he observed mildly,
picking up the mixing bowl and whisking his eggs as though his roommate coming
home while a half-naked overnight guest sat at his kitchen counter was no big
thing.
    With no time to safely dash off to Ben’s room without being
seen, Rachel made sure the hem of his shirt was tucked around her so Alex
couldn’t see her nearly bare bottom.
    She watched open-mouthed as tall Alex fell through the door
with tiny Bree clinging to him, both of them still dressed in scrubs. Ben,
apparently unfazed, turned and poured his eggs into the hot pan. Alex and Bree
froze comically, eyes wide and mouths agape, when they realized the lights were
on and they weren’t alone.
    “Rach,” Bree chirped as the big redhead set her on her feet.
“Fancy seeing you here.” She was grinning ear to ear as she looked from Rachel
to Ben, who was busy attending to his breakfast.
    “Rachel.” Alex nodded to her and dropped his keys onto the
table just inside the door. He looked at the discarded clothes she and Ben
hadn’t yet picked up off the floor and then at his roommate. “Benjamin.”
    Ben flipped his omelette with a quick flick of the wrist and
waved without looking.
    Alex bent at the knees and clapped his hands once.
    “Up,” he said to Bree, who hopped onto his back.
    “Bye, sweetie,” Bree whispered, wiggling her fingers at
Rachel as she was carried piggyback down the hall to Alex’s room.
    Rachel looked at Ben. They stared at one another before he
shook his head and she started to giggle. Ben turned to pile meat and cheese
into the pan.
    “It looks like Petra struck twice this time,” he said,
folding his eggs over and sliding them onto the second waiting plate.
    She sat up straighter. “What does that mean?”
    He got another fork from the drawer. “You mean you don’t
know?” He set his plate on the counter and sat across from her. “I find that
hard to believe.” When she just looked at him he added, “Your friend fancies
herself something of a cupid from what Jude tells me. She’s been using her key
parties to set people up. So far she’s got two engagements and one couple
buying a house together on her résumé.”
    Rachel’s mouth went dry and she put her fork down, the bite
still stuck to the end.
    She knew Petra had her secrets. To tell Rachel she held sex
parties without revealing she had a motive—in this case to set up friends she
thought might be well-suited for each other—was typical really. But why would
Ben know and not her?
    “I thought maybe she was going for you and I this time, you
know, what with the sticker on my car key, but maybe she had someone else in
mind too.” He shook pepper onto his eggs and then pointed to her plate with the
shaker. “How’s your breakfast?”
    She started and looked down at the forgotten bite, her mind
racing. She could hardly get her head around the implication of what he was
saying. Did that oh so casual comment he’d just made mean he thought Petra was
right about them or not?
    She picked up her fork because he was watching her
expectantly and put it in her mouth. Her eyes rolled closed. It was nothing
fancier than eggs, ham and Swiss cheese, and it had gotten a little cold, but
it was absolute heaven nonetheless.
    He was smiling when she opened her eyes. “I’ll take that as
a good sign.”
    She nearly choked on her food when a high-pitched, girlie
squeal followed by deep male laughter came out of the back bedroom.
    Ben hung his head and muttered, “Fucking Alex.”
    “What was that?” she asked, her eyes wide.
    He shook his head. “I don’t know, but I hear it way too
often.”
    Rachel sipped her coffee, knowing she was going to need it.
If it was late enough in the morning that Bree was off work, it was too late to
sleep before her interview later that morning.
    She cut another bite. “You’re going to be tired at work
today.”
    He smiled. “I