I ran my fingers through my beard. There had definitely been something bothering her, I could see it in her eyes, and I don’t think it had anything to do with her mom knowing, because Gabrielle loved me. All moms loved me.
And I don’t think it was about Coop either, although that was slightly more of an issue. Since she left me yesterday, after our PG-13 make-out session that any dry-humping teenager would be proud of, and went back to work, I’d been thinking about him far more than I ever liked to.
But if this was going to be done right, if it was going to be done properly, then I needed to tell him soon. Because after yesterday, after experiencing the perfection of her body pressed against mine, her legs wrapped around my waist as my tongue leisurely explored every inch of hers like we had all the time in the world, my dick was like a race car in pole position, engine revving, waiting for the flag to drop. And if we were that good at kissing… I tried to push the thoughts of Molly’s naked body away before I arrived at Freddie’s with a full-on boner.
And I should be confused about it, but I wasn’t. Because everything had suddenly become crystal clear; that the last twelve years of our friendship was the dress rehearsal for what was about to happen.
For the rest of our lives.
Together.
I felt a twinge in my chest again. Something was up though. She promised that she wasn’t having second thoughts and I prayed that was true, because I couldn’t walk away now, even with a gun pointed to my head.
But I still had to talk to Coop, and until I did, nothing more was going to happen with Molly because I wanted a clean conscience. I’d talked it over with Drew and we’d agreed that Cooper could get in one punch, because that’s what Murray had done when Coop had fucked over Freddie, even if he hadn’t meant to.
Actually, maybe I should call Murray and ask him what to do.
Ralph surged forward up the expansive driveway to Freddie and Cooper’s giant compound. Built by a lake, Cooper had found this plot of land years ago, but was such an obsessive, Type A bastard that it had taken him a long time to find someone good enough to renovate it. And then Freddie had come along when Jasper had met Wolfie, and brought with her a love of house building and helped him sort his shit out. Sort of.
He pulled to a stop and I opened the door, getting out with much more ease than I had up until now. I held my crutch in my hand, wanting to walk without it properly for the first time. My daily PT at the club had improved my range of motion quicker than I was expecting. Better than that, the constant dull ache in my femur seemed to have vanished since yesterday, Molly healing it with her kisses.
I leaned into the car before closing the door. “Thanks, Ralphie. I’m going to stay a couple of hours if you want to take off. I can call you when I’m ready to leave.”
“No problem, Clevs. I’ll stay close by anyway, but let me know.”
“Thanks, man.” I moved to walk toward the door, before turning back. “Hey, Ralph, we can fit a tree in here right?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I’ll sort it, don’t worry.”
“Cool, thanks, man.” I matched his grin and headed inside with a wave of my crutch.
An enormous Christmas tree at the end of the foyer greeted me as I walked in, its lights twinkling and reflecting off the glass of the double-height window it was standing in front of.
“Freddie?”
The echo of my voice was quickly replaced by a growl from my stomach at the smell of baking. One of the best things about being at Freddie and Coop’s place was the food and it was always gourmet level because they both loved cooking. I followed the smell into the kitchen where I found a batch of chocolate chip cookies on the island, cooling on a wire rack. Saliva pooled in my mouth and I picked one up, shoving it in whole, because my self-discipline was non-existent when it came to snacks, and holidays were for eating.
I left my crutch by the counter, grabbing the milk out of the fridge and a glass from the cupboard. I was definitely walking much better. I was stiff and hobbling slightly, but it was all without the crutch, which had quickly become the bane of my life. So I was going to enjoy a crutch free life for another week or so before my knee surgery, because then I’d be really fucked. Which reminded me that I still hadn’t called that number Coach had given me, and I probably ought to do it before he shouted at me.
I dipped another cookie into my milk as I realized Freddie hadn’t appeared.
“Fred?”
I got off the stool and headed in the direction I’d come from. The house was eerily quiet. Where the fuck was everyone? I knew the boys were in Tampa for the game tonight, Cooper and Freddie’s dads were travelling with them. But where was everyone else?
“Freddie? Are you here?”
I got back into the foyer. I could search upstairs first or downstairs. Choosing the former because it was nearest, I walked up the stairs, carefully, voices coming into earshot the nearer I got to the top.
“Freddie?”
I found her in the snug off their bedroom, rolling on a giant bouncy yoga ball and watching a movie. She looked even more enormous than she had a few days ago; like she’d expanded overnight and I don’t think it had anything to do with her tiny size. That baby was going to be massive.
“Hey.”
She looked up, her face grimacing.
“Hey, when did you get here?”
