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“What? Yeah. All my girls are good.” He at least looked guilty for making me think the worst. “It’s you I needed to talk to. You deserve an apology for the shit I piled onto your plate when Beth got sick again.” His brows knitted together like it physically pained him to apologize, but now wasn’t the time to give him shit for it. We each deal with stress in our own way, and I wasn’t exactly a stranger to overreacting in anger.
“Did Beth put you up to this?”
“No. Fuck, Simon. I woke up too hungover to go to Emma’s soccer game last weekend, okay? It made me realize I’ve been drinking instead of working through my issues with the one person who promised she’d always be there for me. My dad was an alcoholic. I’m not doing that shit, going down the same path he did. So I’m sorry, and I’m going to do better.”
He reached out to shake my hand, and I grasped him, pulling him to me. This was more than a slap on the back, one-armed, bro-hug. This was my best friend admitting he’d been dealing with his issues the wrong way and making a point of doing better. Before we broke apart, I squeezed his shoulders, promising to be here for whatever he needed. His face was a little red, and I’d be lying if I said mine wasn’t the same.
“My wallet’s upstairs. Be back in a minute.” His face tilted in an awkward grin before turning to the stairs. I clapped his back and headed to the kitchen, seeing Addison drying dishes as Beth washed them. I couldn’t see their faces, but their posture was relaxed, and Beth looked at the ceiling, laughing at something Addison said.
Call me a creeper or voyeur, but I didn’t want to make my presence known. I’d never brought a girlfriend here before, and it felt important to see if they would get along. Like if they did, Addison would pass some unknown test, and I’d double my efforts to make her mine. If they didn’t, maybe I could convince myself I only wanted her because I needed to get my dick wet.
“When he grabs your throat and crowds your body in the middle of a party, keeping things quiet goes out the window.”
“I had to pretend that picture wasn’t of you and my brother when I saw it because it was fuck-hot,” Beth said, giggling and bumping Addison with her shoulder.
She dried a cereal bowl and winked at Beth. “I might have cut the picture out of the paper and bought an extra copy or five.”
“Go girl.”
“I hate that this has been an ordeal for him. I never meant to cause all this trouble,” Addison said, taking another dish from Beth’s outstretched hand.
“Um… Pretty sure he’s the one who pinned you to the wall. And you two are the ones in the relationship. Forget what anyone else says. Except me, of course.”
“Of course.”
Beth turned off the water and braced her hands on either side of the sink, bowing her head. I’d taken a step forward when Addison moved her hand to rub comforting circles on her back.
“Do the little things take a lot out of you?” she whispered.
“Yes. I’m exhausted all the time, doing the simplest tasks. With the surgery coming, I need to do more since I’ll be recovering for so long.”
“And then you feel guilty when you can’t help as much as you think you should.” Addison kept rubbing, and I felt like I’d gone from simple curiosity to invading a private moment. Beth’s face contorted to one filled with sadness as she turned around and focused on the girls coloring at the breakfast nook.
“It would be stupid of me to stand here and offer condolences or empty promises that everything will be okay. But it’s easy to see this family’s love, and with that kind of support system, let them pick up the slack.”
“Simon’s lucky to have you.”
“Not a chance. I’m the lucky one,” Addison said, turning around and seeing me standing in the living room. “But I better not say anything else, or I’ll give your brother a big head.” She winked and crossed her arms, smiling at me so bright I felt it down to my toes.
“You ready to go, babe?” Will asked, coming in through the living room to kiss Beth’s cheek.
“Definitely. Let’s head out.” She went over the girls’ dinner and bedtime plans, but I’d heard it so many times before that I was tuning her out in favor of watching Addison pull a chair to the table and pick up a blue crayon to color. A sharp pinch brought me back to the conversation, and I rubbed my arm, swatting Beth with the back of my hand.
“She’s amazing, baby brother,” Beth said, glancing at the girls to make sure they were occupied.
“Yeah, I know.”
“I’m glad I got to meet her.” She rocked lightly on her feet then fussed with her blouse. “You’re serious about her?”
I gave her a stiff nod and bit the inside of my cheek, wondering how honest I should be. Throwing caution to the wind, I faced her, shoving my hands in my pocket. “More serious than she is. Fucking sucks.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure, Simon. She’s more into you than you think. It’s not one of your strong suits, but try to be patient.” Beth knocked my shoulder then smiled, turning to Will and motioning to the door.
They kissed the girls bye and headed out, leaving the four of us in the kitchen. Two coloring books, three games of charades, one meal of macaroni and cheese, and four bedtime stories later, the girls were finally in pajamas and asleep.
“Any idea why we’re still watching this movie?” I asked, moving closer to her on the couch and snaking my hand under her sweater to feel her skin. She sighed—the sound going straight to my cock—and snuggled closer, pressing her legs to mine.
“Because I want to see what happens to the mermaid. I’m invested and need to know if she gets her happily ever after.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in those,” I muttered before my brain registered it was a shit thing to say. She shook her head then laid it on my shoulder, but she still wasn’t close enough. I shrugged her head off and guided her to my lap, running my fingers through her red waves. She kicked off her flats and stretched out, her lithe body doing nothing to help with the growing stiffness in my trousers.
“I don’t believe in a happily ever after for me, but I love watching stories unfold and couples finding their way to each other despite their challenges. Or, in this case, mermaids and princes.”
I hummed, knowing it’d be pointless to argue with her, and continued stroking her hair, her arms, and any part of her body I could touch. When the credits started, after the mermaid and prince lived happily ever after, I turned off the television and focused on her steady breathing. She’d fallen asleep with her head in my lap and her hands resting against my stomach.
A strange feeling rolled around in my stomach, and as I adjusted to stretch out behind her, I couldn’t figure out if the feeling was because I wanted this all the time or because I knew it’d never last.
