OLD FRIENDS - PATREON EXCLUSIVE [PREVIEW]

OLD FRIENDS

Crossdressing Guy and His New Girl

A Harborview Story

Clover Cox

CHAPTER 1

“Frank! It’s so good to see you! How long has it been?” Omar asked when his old college roommate answered the door. They both went to school in Seahaven, but life became far too busy for them to keep in touch as much as they’d like. It was only natural seeing as Frank had moved to the West Coast in pursuit of an acting career that never took off, but he ended up getting plenty of work behind the scenes. He took those skills and transferred them into a business career he’d recently brought back to Seahaven.

“Far too long,” Frank said and patted Omar on the back. “Come in! It’s freezing out there.”

“Not used to the cold anymore, huh?”

“Please! I can survive anything. It’s the heating bill I’m worried about.”

Omar chuckled as he stepped inside and took off his boots. It’d been bitterly cold the past week, so a warm night with friends was a welcome treat. Frank was crazy for moving back to Seahaven in the winter, but it was great that he was back in town.

“Hope you don’t mind, but I put you next to Mary tonight.”

“No worries. Sorry for running late. I got held up on a phone call.”

“Don’t worry about it. We just put out the appetizers.”

“Perfect,” Omar said as they stepped into the dining room where all their friends from college had gathered. Mary, Herbert, Christine, and Larry. They all lived in the same house but in different apartments. Omar lived with Frank in a two bedroom on the main floor. Christine and Marry lived in another upstairs. Herbert and Larry lived in the basement unit, which wasn’t as bad as it sounded. Sharon was Frank’s wife from his years out west, and she looked stunning as she walked into the room holding a tray of food.

“Omar!” Sharon said brightly.

She and Omar met at their wedding a few years back and had seen each other a few times when Frank came to the city to visit his folks, but Omar had a feeling that they would be seeing a lot more of each other now that they were back in Seahaven. “Perfect timing! We were just about to eat!”

“Sorry I’m late. I got held up in a meeting,” Omar said and took the seat Frank had designated for him, which was next to Mary. She wasn’t his favorite person in the world, but they’d learned to tolerate each other when they were all living in the house. They used to have weekly get togethers in the backyard. Seeing all their faces sent Omar back to a simpler time when he didn’t have clients breathing down his neck about designs he had yet to finish.

“Typical,” Mary grunted at Omar when conversation around the table picked up again.

He glanced at her through the corner of his eye. “I’m sorry, did I say something to upset you?”

“You’ve only ever cared about work,” she said. “I’m surprised you have a soul left.”

“Being an architect is hardly a soulless job.”

Mary looked unimpressed. “It is when you work for major corporations like you do.”

“You wouldn’t sound so smug if you saw my paychecks,” Omar retorted. “If I’ve only ever cared about work, you’ve only ever cared about making others feel inferior.”

“Ha!” Mary said, shaking her head. She picked up a piece of baguette from the cutting board at the center of the table and dipped it into the hummus on her plate. She turned to her old roommate Christine, who was sitting to her left, and proceeded to talk about how much of an asshole he was.

“Things never change,” Frank said fondly as he watched Mary talking to Christine about Omar loudly enough for everyone to hear. “You two have always had it out for each other.”

“Probably because Mary’s a bitch.”

Sharon gasped, but everyone else laughed when Mary turned toward him with her arms crossed over her chest. The old housemates were used to the banter, but Mary and Omar did a great job avoiding each other in town. If he ever needed a book, her shop was the last place that he was going to go. “If anyone’s a bitch, it’s you!” Mary’s voice was dripping with venom as she pointed her finger in my face, but all I could do was laugh. She laughed with me, and then Sharon seemed to relax.

“Are you two okay?” Sharon asked us after the tension faded. “That was… uh… something.”

“They’ve never been able to decide if they hate each other or want to tear each other’s clothes off,” Frank said to his wife. “Don’t worry about them. How about we grab the main course?”

She nodded, glancing at Omar and Mary with suspicious eyes, which made them look at each other. They’d spent so long hating one another that maybe they’d missed what was waiting for them just beneath the surface. Omar looked away, smiling at Sharon as she walked into the dining room with a casserole dish.

“You should really let us help,” he said.

“Nonsense,” she said and set the dish at the center of the table. It was gorgeous. Scalloped potatoes with slices of sausage and tiny pieces of broccoli sprinkled throughout. “Enjoy yourself. Frank, could you grab the wine too?”

“Coming!” he called.

Frank went around the table and poured more wine into each of their glasses. They enjoyed a calm dinner, reminiscing about old times. Sharon shared memories of her own. She grew up in northern California and played softball through college. She claimed that she didn’t get up to trouble like we did at the house, but there was no way to know if she was telling the truth.

“Who’s ready for a game of trivia?” Frank asked after the plates were cleared away. Everyone groaned. “C’mon! Let’s have fun!” he said. “Omar, if you don’t mind playing with Mary. I want Caroline to play with Sharon.”

“What?” Omar asked incredulously. “Why? I can play with Sharon, and the girls can be together.”

“Nonsense,” Frank said. “Don’t make this difficult.”

The entire room was so tense that Omar didn’t put up a fight. Mary sighed when he turned toward her, but she didn’t want to say anything to ruffle feathers either. She had no idea why Frank would stick them together other than to give his wife an advantage. Maybe he thought if they worked together, they would be too focused on their rivalry to win the trivia game, but he would be wrong.

Sparks flew when they played.

Mary and Omar were both extremely competitive, which probably fueled their animosities considering they often played as adversaries on board game nights, but everything changed when they worked on the same team.

“Last question, and this is for the win,” Frank said as he paced back in forth across the living room. “What is the capital city of Washington State?”

“Olympia,” Mary whispered to Omar. He could have sworn it was Spokane, but he was going to trust her on this one. He wrote down his answer and passed it to Frank.

“Babe!” he gasped.

“What? Isn’t it Spokane?” asked Sharon.

“No! It’s Olympia!” Frank said and frowned at his wife, giving her a look like she should know the answer to that question since she was from the West Coast. “Mary and Omar are the only ones who got the question right, and with that, they win the game.”

“Yes!” They high fived. Mary even jumped up to do a little dance, and Omar stood to join her. They laughed, feeling a high from their victory, completely ignoring their frowning friends, but why should they care? They won!

The evening died down shortly after trivia ended, which led to Mary and Omar walking to their cars together. “That was a lot more fun than I expected.”

“Tell me about it,” said Omar. “It’s nice to have Frank back in town. He’s one of my best friends.”

Mary smiled. “His wife seems great.”

“Yeah, she does.”

Silence fell between them, but it was a comfortable silence. Mary stopped slowly when they reached her car, not wanting the night to end. “What are you doing after this? Maybe we could take this back to my place… or yours. It would be nice to get to know the real you and not the man I’ve created in my head.”

“Yeah,” Omar said eagerly, but then he stopped. The way Mary was looking at him made him think. If they went home together, they wouldn’t be able to keep their hands off each other, which Omar wasn’t opposed to. Not at all. He just… he hoped… she didn’t care about the pink lacy thong he was wearing under his jeans. “How about we go back to my place?”

“Perfect,” Mary said brightly. “Get out your phone so that you can send me your address.”

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