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Hopefully, I’ll manage not to lose my job in the process.
Dempsey
Sloane: Can you come over again tonight? I miss you already.
I grin at my phone. Seeing those words from Sloane makes this relationship of ours all the more real. It’s not one-sided or unrequited.
She’s one-hundred percent in it with me.
Me: I have to make it through our family dinner tonight but then I can escape.
Sloane: Where did you tell them you were last night?
I hate that I lied to my parents. I’d wanted to tell them where and with whom I shared a bed last night, but I played it off and said I was at a friend’s house.
I’m such a pussy.
Not that I’m afraid of getting in trouble or anything. It was more that I wanted to stay in my little bubble of undisturbed happiness for a while longer. When they find out who I’m sleeping with, they’re going to make it a huge dramatic thing.
I’d rather put all my energy into pleasing Sloane, not fighting with my parents.
Me: A friend’s. How are you feeling? Sore?
Sloane: Very. Not sure I can handle any more tonight. I’m down for kissing and cuddling.
Me: Can I kiss and cuddle your pussy?
She sends me a bunch of shocked emojis that make me snort with laughter.
“You never smile at me like that,” Tate says as he crosses the road between our houses. “Should I be jealous?”
Jude gives him the side-eye and hugs him tighter to his side. It amuses me that my brother is so damn possessive over his man. No one wants to steal Tate away, but he protects him as though everyone he encounters does.
“Very,” I say with a smirk.
I rise from the porch chair, shove my phone into my pocket, and fist-bump Tate when he approaches. Jude reluctantly releases him and saunters into the house. Tate lifts a brow at me, waiting for some sort of explanation.
Like always, I keep my lips zipped.
“Fine, don’t tell me,” he grumbles playfully. “I’m happy you’re happy, though. It’s a good look on you.”
My chest expands at his words. I am happy. Sloane has that effect on me.
We head inside where the usual Sunday family dinner chaos ensues. Gemma, Mom, and Aubrey are all crowded around Willa and her newborn baby boy, Bane. Callum stands behind them, tense and ready to intervene if anyone makes the little squirt so much as whimper. It’s funny seeing him as a dad. Even more so than seeing Spencer as a dad. Where Spencer has fun with little Rex, Callum seems terrified and treats Bane as if he’s made of glass.
Dad, locked in a conversation with Hugo, watches me with narrowed eyes as I follow behind Tate. He didn’t buy my bullshit answer this morning, but I didn’t stick around for him to probe. I escaped to a shower where I replayed every hot as fuck moment between me and Sloane.
Something tells me I won’t be able to avoid him for long.
Dinner is loud but not a good enough distraction from my thoughts. I keep daydreaming about Sloane, unable to keep up with the conversations around me. When my phone buzzes again, I discreetly pull it out to read under the table.
Sloane: Oh my God. Did you do this?
She sends me a picture of her in the mirror, her blond hair pulled aside to reveal a big-ass hickey. Whoops.
Me: Sure as hell better have been me…
I send her a devilish smiling emoji. She returns it with a few middle finger emojis.
