Free Cocktails & Dreams by Autumn Markus Page A

Conor came home in the afternoon as a newly employed firefighter, the apartment was more or less set up.
    Nicholas introduced everyone, and Jena recognized the cropped red hair and broad shoulders she’d seen over the back of the couch in the hotel room. She held her breath, not knowing how good a look at her Conor had gotten that morning. When he greeted her with a wide, friendly smile and then turned to greet Leisa and Travis the same way, Jena finally exhaled. It seemed that she had dodged that bullet.
    Within a few minutes, Travis and Conor were bonding over Call of Duty on the Xbox while Leisa cheered them on. Apparently, they were recovered from their debauchery, because they cheered again when Nicholas entered the room carrying a six-pack of Henry Weinhard’s and tossed one to each of them. He walked toward Jena, holding the leftovers up in their cardboard carrier and raising an eyebrow. She nodded, and he gestured to the door leading from the living room onto the balcony.
    They settled down in a pair of faded Adirondack chairs. Jena flipped her ponytail over the back of her chair and lifted her face gratefully into the breeze. She soon started to feel watched, so she turned her head to the left and caught Nicholas staring at her profile. He flushed and quickly turned his eyes to the front, taking a long pull on his beer. Watching the muscles of his throat work as he swallowed, Jena licked her lips and forced back thoughts of running her tongue up from the hollow of his throat to the point of his chin. She knew exactly how he’d taste. Salty and tangy and sweet…
    “Thanks for doing this, Jena.” Nicholas’s low voice broke into her fantasies, and she looked up from her close study of his throat to see him watching her with a smirk on his face. Oh yeah, he knew she was looking at him.
    “No problem.” Jena took a quick sip of her beer and then gestured toward his bottle with hers to deflect his attention. “That’s not a great idea, Nicholas. I know Call has to have you on some painkillers.”
    Nick grimaced and set the bottle aside. “Party pooper.”
    Jena laughed and shrugged. “Occupational hazard.” She decided to take advance of the relaxed atmosphere and change the subject. “How’d your roommate think he could get away with unpacking nothing?”
    Nicholas laughed. “Because he’s Conor. And he was right, wasn’t he?”
    Tipping her bottle toward him, Jena laughed, too. “Touché.”
    Nicholas looked off the edge of the balcony. A tiny smile lifted the edges of his mouth as he said, “Speaking of roommates…You and Travis never…” At her eyeroll, he held up a hand with a grin. “This can’t be a new question for you.”
    Jena sighed and leaned back into her seat. “Unfortunately, no. And no, we never. Trav was the guitarist in an old boyfriend’s band. The guy didn’t work out, but Travis and I hit it off. When we turned out to be in the same classes and both of us needed a roommate to make ends meet, it seemed like a godsend. He’s my best friend. End of story.”
    Nick smiled. “Fair enough. Your turn to ask an awkward question.”
    “Oh, is that how this goes?” Jena considered for a minute. “What happened to you that night of Diane’s party? It was weird how you disappeared.”
    Nicholas’s expression became serious. “It was actually a good thing I left the party alone. When I got home, there was a message that my dad had a stroke, and I needed to leave right away. I went back to Boston that night and stayed there until a couple of days ago. Finished college at Northwestern, a couple of years of med school there, a couple of years of working as an EMT, then I started thinking about finishing med school…” He shrugged. “Davis has a great program for emergency medicine, so here I am. I guess I finally realized that living in the same city had no bearing on what might happen to my parents. What’s gonna happen is gonna happen.”
    “Very smart man.” Jena watched