My eyes follow Theo out of the restaurant and I wish I was going withhim. I wish I could hold his hand and tell him to breathe and that everything will be fine. I wish I could sit on his lap and kiss him and rub the stress off of him.But if I’m being honest, I’m not sure if it will be or if I’m even the right person to help for that matter. I don’t know if his agitation is about Raegan potentially being engaged to someone he barely knows or the fact that he’s twice her age, thereby making his feelings a little more complicated and maybe even a touch hypocritical given that he spent last night sleeping with his son’s best friend who happens to be half his age. It’s probably a little of both which is likely why he wanted to get away from me.“Damn,” Lucas shakes his head. “You want to go sit at the bar?”I nod, knowing that under any circumstance other than what happened last night, my only concern would be Lucas and talking it out with him with shots of tequila and fried foods. We fi
Dinner was exactly what I expected. A lot of my parents gushing over howproud they are of me. All the stories about me as a child and how they knew I was destined for greatness and my uncles asking me to help guide my teenage cousins in the right direction. That’s the downside of being the oldest cousin; I have to help all the younger ones, even the ones that don’t want to be helped.“Lucas, I think I’m going to call it a night,” I tell him as I point toward my house.My parents decided to go do karaoke with my aunts and uncles leaving me with a very empty house that I would love to invite Theo over to. That is, if it weren’t for the guy in front of me who would find that extremely odd.“You sure? You okay?” he asks, reaching out to touch my cheek.“Yeah, I think just all the drinking we did today and having a glass of champagne when we toasted and then wine at dinner is all getting to me.“Okay. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow.”“Of course, hey!” I call out to him as he walks away. “We
She’s back in her seat and I’m glad I had the foresight to bring another shirtthat I hand to her. She pats herself dry as best she can before holding the shirt to her chest. “I’ll take this home to wash it, but...don’t expect it back.” She smirks and I smile at her, my inner caveman wanting to beat his chest with pride at the thought of her wearing my clothes. She slides on her bra and her dress and I pull up my sweatpants, my dick happy but also disappointed that this tryst is over.I just came five minutes ago and it wasn’t enough.I still want more.Ten minutes later, I watch as Avery makes her way into her house. Idon’t see a lot of lights on, so it seems like her family may still be out. She turns and waves before she heads in and I find myself irritated all over again that I’m in this situation with her. If she were any other woman on the planet, short of my ex-wife, I could walk her into my house right now without any questions or prying from Lucas. I make my way inside and h
I showered and changed into a short off the shoulder black gingham printdress that’s both casual and sexy and I’m hoping Theo has hung around long enough to see me in it. I’m moving down the stairs when I hear my mom call for me and I see her in the kitchen pulling a cake out of the oven wearing an Avery’s Café t-shirt and shorts underneath an apron. Her dark curly hair is pulled back into a tight bun like she always does when she’s cooking if she’s not wearing the cute chef’s hat my dad got her.“Taste this,” she says, holding a spoon with light green icing.“Mint?” I ask her, because she’s always trying to revamp how she prepares mint chocolate desserts.“Mmmhm, I swear this batch tastes like toothpaste.” I lick the spoon and scrunch my nose.“Definitely Colgate-y.” I giggle. “That batch you made over Thanksgiving break last year was perfection.” Truly, I’ve had dreams about how good those mint chocolate brownies tasted.“Your father has not stopped talking about that damn batch an
We’re in my room after we’ve finished cleaning up the kitchen. I also setthe alarm in case Lucas comes back before I expect him and it gives us at least a little bit of time for Avery and any of her discarded clothes to be moved out of sight in case Lucas wants to pop his head inside to say good night. My heart fucking stopped earlier hearing Rory’s question, but Avery handled it well. Effortlessly cool and not at all like she was also panicking. I’m sitting on the edge of my bed with Avery in my lap straddling me as she moves around far too much.I brought the bottle of whiskey upstairs with us and we each had another drink and now Avery is practically attached to me. “I’m horny,” she moans in my ear before biting down gently on it.“Good,” I tell her. “So am I. It’ll make the game more fun.”“Touch me, please,” she says, reaching between us for my belt when I grab her hand.“Get on the bed,” I command and she does, getting into a kneeling position with her legs slightly spread. I t
Despite all of the alcohol I consumed last night, I’m not terribly hungover,though I am very fucking sore, in the best possible way. I’ve been replaying last night, also known as the hottest night and the best sex of my life, on a loop since I woke up this morning. My mom leaves for the café at five in the morning, but I won’t be getting there until closer to nine every morning, so I have time for a cup of coffee before I get ready.Around eight-thirty, just before I get in the car to head over there, I get a text from Theo and I immediately smile.TG: Good morning, just thought I’d let you know my sheets smell like you. Had to put them in the washer this morning.Me: Shame. I smell good.TG: Yes you do, but it’s also very noticeable if anyone were to go into my room.Me: Ah, fair. How are you feeling this morning?TG: Tired as shit, and a headache but I’ll manage. You? Me: Fine, but I’m 21.TG: Ha—Ha. Well, have a great first day. I’ll text you when I plan to come by. I totally for
TG: Heard you got roped into this shitshow tonight.Me: Not how I expected to spend my Friday night hahaTG: I’m sorry.Me: It’s okay. Lucas asked me to.TG: I’m sorry if I can’t be as attentive as I want to be with you tonight.Me: Theo, it’s fine. I get it.TG: I don’t.Me: What do you mean?TG: Nothing, I’ll see you soon. Do you want to ride with me and Lucas?Me: No, that’s okay. I’m going to drive myself. It will also keep me sober in case I have to drive any of you homeTG: As much as Rebecca makes me want to drink, I need to keep that in check. The last thing I need is to have one too many and spend the night staring at you like I want to fuck you.Me: Yes, keep your eyes in check, Theo.TG: I’ll try my best. See you at eightAfter a few moments of staring at our conversation, I text him again.Me: HeyTG: Yes?Me: Tell me something good.He doesn’t respond right away and I read over the conversation again, wondering what he meant by I don’t. What’s there not to get? I contempl
Lucas slams his trunk closed, tapping his hand on top of it a few timesbefore turning to me and Avery who are standing next to his car. “Well, that’s it.” It’s barely nine in the morning and Lucas is already packed up and ready to head back to New York. “I know it’s close, but it’s still weird.” He looks at the house behind me and then over at Avery’s house. “Keep my dad out of trouble, will you?” He says, wrapping his arms around Avery and it takes everything in me not to react to that.“Sure thing.” She smiles.He turns to me and gives me a look that I can’t quite read. “Give us a second?” I nod, before heading back to the house. I’ve never known Lucas to like any kind of dramatic goodbye so I wonder what he’s going to say to her and I try not to watch from the window but I can’t seem to move away. He pulls her in for a hug before kissing the top of her head and when they pull back, I see him rub her face making me wonder if she’s more upset than she let on about him moving. I hate