Chapter 107 - Kiss and Tell

The group finished their lunch, then carried their trays to the tray drop. As they wandered together out the doors and into the bright sunshine Danny gently grasped Cate’s arm, silently telling her to hang back. Jon and Bobby were involved in a discussion about Friday’s graduation ceremony, so he wanted to take a minute to talk to his friend.

He waited until Jon, Bobby, and Mandy were several steps ahead of them. “Slick, you doin’ okay?” he asked quietly as they strolled side-by-side down the sidewalk.

“Why, you worried?” Cate replied a bit snarkily. Though she was actually grateful to Danny for leaving her alone at the range with Jon last night, she wanted to make him sweat just a little before he got to say “I told you so.”

Danny gave her a surprised look. “Hell, yeah, I’m worried!” he replied. “Or at least I was, until I saw that giant mack-mark on Jon’s neck.” He gave her a little smirk. “Things got a little wild last night, apparently.”

Cate didn’t reply, but she couldn’t keep her lips from curving into a little smile. “Why do you care?” she tried to sound put-out, but it just wasn’t working. Not with Jon walking just a few paces ahead of her, his snug, faded Levis pulling her attention away from Danny.

Danny chuckled. “Give it up, Slick. You’re not that good an actress.” He lowered his voice to a soft murmur. “So… armory? Cleaning table?” he asked conspiratorily.

Cate shook her head, her secretive little grin growing a little larger.

“Couch in the office?” Danny guessed again. “Oh, Jesus, not ON the desk. How predictable,” he teased. “As much pent-up aggression as you two had going on, I figured it would be a little kinkier than that.”

Cate turned her head to give Danny a long, self-satisfied smirk. “Hood of the cruiser,” she half-whispered. “Twice.”

Danny’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “No SHIT? Jesus, did you even wait until I was out of the parking lot?” He snickered dirtily. “Out-STAND-ing!” he chortled. “That’s one even I haven’t done.”

Cate chuckled in response. She couldn’t resist hinting at the rest. “And then the shower… well, that was for him, not for me.” She gave Danny a sly smile as she puckered her lips naughtily.

Danny snorted out a laugh in response. “Damn, Cate – you trying to kill him? He’s not exactly young anymore, ya know.”

Cate chuckled again, then continued. “And this morning, at the villa...” She smiled gently at the memory of their tender lovemaking.

Danny’s smile softened. “You stayed with him, huh? Well, I guess that explains why you raided my locker,” he observed. “Couldn’t make it out of bed with Rock Star in time to get your own damned clean clothes?”

Danny chortled softly as his heart filled with happiness for his best friend. “You were okay? No nightmares?” His gentle voice belied his concern.

Cate shook her head slightly, her eyes going to Jon’s broad shoulders as he strolled along in front of her. “No,” she breathed, then smiled a private little smile. “Not in those arms.”

Danny grinned. Thank God Cate had finally given up her crazy plan to push Jon away. She had been making everyone miserable, herself most of all. It was wonderful to see the sparkle in her clear blue eyes again.

Danny slipped an arm around Cate’s shoulders and gave her a little hug. “That’s great, Slick,” he said softly. “Now just relax, let it happen, okay? Don’t fuck it up.”

Cate nodded. “I’ll try. We only have two more days until he leaves. How bad could I possibly fuck things up in just two days?” She paused and gave Danny a sideways look. “Don’t answer that…”

Danny laughed again at her response as he dropped his arm from around her shoulders. Before he could comment, Jon turned and gave them an inquisitive look. “What’s so funny back there?” he asked with a little grin.

“Nothing,” Cate answered innocently. She blinked at him, smiling broadly.

“Yeah, sure… you’re talking about ME, aren’t ya?” Jon accused playfully.

“Jeez, Jon, Ego Much?” Danny mocked with a grin.

“You know, he’s got LSD,” Cate said to Danny. “Remember, Lead Singer’s Disease? It’s all about Him, Him, Him….”

Jon gave Danny and Cate a little sneer, then a fake pout. “Oh sure. Gang up on me now.”

“Nope,” Danny countered. “I’m not into threesomes. Well, not with other Dudes, anyway.” He gave Cate a wink. “I’m outta here. Got a new Fam Class in an hour. See ya Jon.”

“Later,” Jon answered, giving a little wave as Danny and Bobby split off from the group and headed across the parking lot, back toward the FTB building. He turned his attention back to Cate. “So, are you coming out to watch me play CSI?”

Cate shook her head. “No, I can’t. I have about a thousand e-mails to get through, and I was hoping to sneak out early so I could go home and do my laundry since I’ve had to resort to stealing Danny’s clean clothes from his locker.” Her last words were laced with a sarcastic tease.

“Aw, c’mon, Baby…” Jon pleaded. “That shit can wait. Come out and play with me.” He gave her his best panty-dampening smile. “You know you wanna.”

“Yeah, Cate. You don’t have anything that pressing to do,” Mandy added with a grin. “Besides, I could use the help. You could run one house while I run the other.”

“Well….” Cate hesitated. I don’t really HAVE to go back to the office… and technically I would still be “training” Jon…. Lord knows it would be quite a sight to watch him strut around in a raid jacket and latex gloves and those Levis…

“C’mon, Cate…” Jon purred again.

Cate glanced from Jon to Mandy and saw the glee in her friend’s face. “Oh, all right.” She sighed. “But I may have to leave early. Floyd mentioned earlier he needs to talk to me about tomorrow’s schedule.”

“That’s fine,” Mandy replied. “Stay as long as you can, if you have to jet, you jet.” She winked at Jon. “I assume you’ll want to catch a ride over to the training houses with Cate?” She laughed as he nodded eagerly. “Okay, see you over there in about ten minutes, then.”

Mandy shook a warning finger at Jon and Cate. “And don’t you two get any ideas about sneaking off for a quickie before class, either!” she added in a stern voice. “Focus! This is important shit!” She grinned. “You can screw each other silly AFTER class!”

“SHHHH!!!!” Cate hissed as she heard a group of students chattering their way down the sidewalk from the Dining Hall exit. “For Christ’s sake, Mandy!”

Mandy grinned evilly, then turned and headed for her car. “Ten minutes!” she barked over her shoulder.

Jon gave Cate a delighted little smirk, stepping in a bit closer and reaching out to brush his hand over hers. “You heard her. We better get moving if we’re gonna have time for a quickie!” he teased quietly.

“Baby, if you can do it in five minutes, it ain’t worth the effort,” Cate countered with a smirk. She dropped her voice to a low rumble, barely above a whisper. “I like to take my time,” she added silkily, batting her lashes at him.

Jon growled delightedly at her flirting. “Well, I happen to have a few hours open in my schedule tonight. How about I come over to your place and let you take advantage of me?” he asked in a seductive purr.

Cate felt her heart race at the thought of Jon coming to her house. “NO!” she exclaimed sharply.

She immediately regretted her response as she saw his eyes widen in surprise. “Um… I mean…” Cate stammered as her cheeks flushed. Oh Shit. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that… “My place isn’t a good idea.”

Jon gave Cate a long, searching look. “Why not?” he asked softly.

Cate winced at the undercurrent of hurt in his voice. “I… Jon, I have hardly been home. It’s a mess. Looks like a fucking bomb went off,” she lied. She gave him an apologetic smile. “How about I come over to your villa? We can have dinner…” she trailed off weakly.

Jon paused, then smirked deviously as he realized he had the upper hand in this negotiation. “Well, on one condition,” he replied. “You stay the night.” His eyebrows arched upward questioningly.

Cate smiled at his ultimatium. “Well… OKAY,” she sighed with mock resignation. “If you insist.”

Jon chuckled. “Oh, I insist, all right.” He reached out and again gave her hand a gentle brush. “I insist on going to sleep with you in my arms,” he rumbled softly. “My place, your place, any place.”

Cate felt her heart flip again at the adoration in his gaze. She nodded as her eyes sparkled back at him. “C’mon – let’s get a move on. We’re down to seven minutes now, and it’s a five-minute drive.”

Jon chuckled and followed Cate as she turned and headed for her car.