“Don’t forget Brynn and Deacon,” I remind her and take off the plastic lid to sniff today’s flavor. “What is this one?”
“It’s a black raspberry. Try it. And maybe eat a damn steak, Liv. You look pale as hell.” She waits and watches as I sip the newest blend from the tearoom at Cherry Creek. I swear this woman is on a tea journey. Determined to taste them all.
“Hmm... Not bad.” Piping hot and possibly burning my throat, but not bad. “Anyway, dinner also wasn’t bad. At least, not as bad as I was expecting.”
She relaxes onto the couch in the corner of the office I keep on Main Street and blows on her own piping-hot purple and green cup. “Does not bad mean it went well?”
“I’m not sure I would say that either. Mom and Dad were just kind of...” Even days later, I’m not sure how to begin to describe that night. “They were weird about it. Mom fell in love with Maggie and was civil to Logan.”
“Likecivil, civil? Or likecivilfor Scarlet, civil?” Serena asks, thankfully knowing there’s a massive difference for my mom.
I round my desk and join her on the couch, kicking off my heels. “Like actually civil. She didn’t attack him or me. She might have even tempered Dad’s bad mood about the whole thing.” I turn my body and lean my side against the back of the couch, facing her. “By the end of the night, they were playing with Maggie and Knight in the yard, like we were one big happy family. It was...strange.”
Serena mirrors my position and tugs her feet up under herself. “How was Logan with everything?”
I rest my head in my hand, attempting to hold back the headache that’s been plaguing me for days. “He was good.”
“That’s it?” Her blue eyes shine with interest. Damn it. She’s like a dog with a bone when she wants to be, and apparently, I just wiggled one right in front of her face. “Good? I’m going to need more than that, bitchy Barbie.”
“More like what?” I ask, buying myself time to decide how much I want to share while she pops a piece of sweet-smelling blueberry muffin in her mouth.
“Olivia,” she gasps, choking on her muffin. “What the hell? You’re hiding something from me. We don’t hide from each other.”
We don’t.Usually. But she’s already got enough going on.
How much more am I willing to add to it?
“Did Deacon and he get into a fight?” She covers her mouth as her brows knit. “Oh no. Was it Brynn and him? Shit. Did she tell him off? Did he call her a bitch too?”
“Stop,” I say, dropping a hand to her arm, stopping her from spinning out . . . well spinning out further. “It wasn’t anything like that.” My body heats hotter than the damn tea, remembering the feel of his lips on mine. His hands on my body. His warmth seeping into my skin.
“Liv... What aren’t you telling me? Did they not believe you?”
If I tell her, it’s real. And I’m not sure how much real I can handle with the current situation. Not with the amount of real already weighing me down from the partners and my clients and the custody case and my body desperately wanting to take a week-long nap.
But as Serena inches closer, worry staring back at me, I give in, knowing there is no other choice. She’ll get it out of me one way or another. “They definitely believed us by the end of the night. At least the part about us being together.” I wrap the twine hanging from the tea bag around my finger and bob the bag up and down in the cup absentmindedly. “He kissed me.”
Her face moves the tiniest bit, angling toward mine as she flattens her lips between her teeth. “Like on the cheek?” she asks slowly, enunciating each word. “Or...”
She trails off as I shake my head. “Not on the cheek.”
“Oh.” Is it possible for a human to give off puppy energy? Because my cousin is vibrating like a damn dog right now. “Was it good?”
My shoulders drop, and I tilt my face to the ceiling. “So good.”
“How good?” Great. Now she’s fucking giddy. I’d tell her she needs to get laid if she’s this invested in a kiss, but I’m pretty sure that would end with her a sobbing mess in my office. “Come on, Liv. Throw a girl a line here. Like was it hands on your face good?”
I melt, thinking about his hands and how much I liked them on my face.
And how much more of them I wanted to feel.Everywhere.
“It was so hot, I swear to God, Serena, I wanted to climb that man like a fucking oak tree.” My face heats when I finally look at her again. “I was thinking about it, too, until Brynlee walked in on us.”
“Oh my God.” Her laughter echoes off my office walls. “That’s classic.”
“Yeah,” I groan.“It’s great.”
“So, what’s the big deal?” she presses, linking her pinky with mine. “As far as I see it, your husband’s a great kisser with a clearly beautiful body—because hockey player, ’nuff said. If you enjoyed it, why not lean into the whole married thing and bang his brains out while you’re at it? You know, kind of like enemies to lovers.” She purses her lips, fighting a smile. “Ohh. . . enemies with benefits.”
