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I invite him in and he hands me a bag with black and white pajama pants for the three of us; he’s already wearing his. We get changed and head out a few minutes later. The girls are giggling to each other about tonight and it actually helps to ease my nerves that they are excited and want to be part of this with me.
On the way to Lily’s, Ethan asks the girls about school and books they are reading. They try to guess his Hogwarts house—they think he’s a Hufflepuff, but he claims he’s a Slytherin—and debate who the biggest villain was in the books. Harriet always insists that it’s not Voldemort. I can see why Emma likes him so much, he gets along with everyone.
We pull up to the house and I’m nervous all over again.What if this doesn’t work?“Ethan, are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Nope. This could either go south the moment we walk in the door,orit will beamazingand you’ll be thanking me on the drive home for my absolute brilliance. Look, I plan large scale events and weddings for a living, I think I can plan crashing a pajama party with precision.” I hope he’s right.
As we make our way up the driveway, he pats me on the shoulder. “I got this, Mayo.”Mayo?He leads the way, opening the front door without knocking. “The party has arrived!” We follow him into the house and close the door behind us. Ethan hands Lily a pair of pajama pants. She laughs hysterically—must be some kind of inside joke.
Lily spots us behind Ethan. “Oh my gosh! Hi girls! I haven’t seen you since, what, Christmas?” She looks behind her. “Andrew is somewhere around here, and…oh!Riley, come over here for a sec, I want to introduce you to Harriet and Lizzy!” Riley comes over and greets the girls. Lily jumps in, a little too excited about this, “Hey, all of the kids are upstairs playing video games and reading. The girls are welcome to head up if they like. The movie is not exactly five-star. Can I get anyone something to drink?”
Riley rolls her eyes. “Lily, for the love, please let them come inside and get settled?”
I spot Ethan in the corner of my eye talking to Emma. She doesn’t look too happy to see me, but Ethan appears to be assuring her about something. “Uh, a beer would be great, if you have one?”
She follows my line of sight—obviously I wasn’t being covert enough. Leaning in with a quiet voice, she assures me, “It’s ok, she’s just surprised, is all. Come on, go have a seat and I’ll grab you one. Stout or IPA?”
“IPA would be great, thanks.” Lily is so welcoming, but I hope she is right and this whole thing doesn’t blow up in my face.
I glance over to Ethan again. He leans in to kiss Emma on the cheek before gesturing toward me. Last night, I would have wanted to punch a wall if I saw that. After getting to know him a little, I know he isn’t a threat where Emma is concerned. She walks up to me, and I’m suddenly overcome with worry that she might ask me to leave. “Hey. I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Sorry, Ethan invited me, but I can go if you want?”Please don’t ask me to.
“No, no, stay. Ethan told me you guys talked.” She looks down, playing with the hem of her shirt.
I reach out my hand and take hers. “Hey, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. I didn’t mean to crash your girls' night.”
She notices our matching pants, and lets out a soft laugh. Her eyes lift to meet mine with a small smile. “Nice pants.”
I lean in next to her ear and whisper, “At least I am wearing pants, unlike some people I know who answer the door half naked.” She tries to hold in a laugh. I know she is trying to keep it together, so am I. When I pull back, I get lost in her eyes for a moment.
“I hope you don’t mind cheesy romance movies.”
“Can’t say I’ve ever seen one, but I’ll watch whatever you want. I just wanted to spend time with you, if you’re ok with that?” My response earns me another smile, but she lets go of my hand, putting both of hers in her pockets. I clear my throat. “Lily told me to go sit down, and you know how she can be when we don’t follow her marching orders. Want to join me?”
“Sure.” Her eyes find mine every few steps as we walk over to the living room. I know she is trying to wrap her mind around all of this. We sit down together and I have the urge to place my hand on her thigh, but instead opt to put my arm on the back of the couch behind her. She sits so stiffly, definitely as nervous as I am, and thankfully breaks our now almost awkward silence. “I didn’t see the girls before they headed upstairs. How are they doing?”
I lean in a few inches, so only she can hear me. “They were excited to come and nerd out with Lily’s kids and your boys.” If this was 24 hours ago, I would close the distance and kiss her with how close I am. She looks down at my lips, then back up. It feels almost as if she is going to go for it, but instead sucks in a breath and looks forward. Her cheeks are a bright crimson and it reminds me of when we first met all over again. I don’t look away, instead bringing my other hand to her chin to lightly pull her face back to look at me. I am about to tell her how much it means to me that she is ok with my being here, but we are interrupted by Lily.
“Hi, hey, um…here’s your IPA. Em, I got you a glass of sauv blanc. Sorry I don’t keep gin in the house. Or limes. Or tonic. I don’t know how you two can stand the stuff. Tastes like a forest.” She hands us our drinks and scurries off, knowing she walked up with bad timing.
“Thanks, Lil!” Emma calls after her.
“So, what is this whole pajama party about?” I know the answer, but I want her to talk to me.
She clears her throat. “Oh, it’s silly really. It all started a few years ago when Riley had a bad day at work. I went to the store and bought fuzzy socks, matching pajama pants, the makings for a killer charcuterie board, and a crap ton of wine. We put on a Christmas movie where the small town guy owns a bookstore, or a hardware store, or coffee shop…I don’t remember…but the woman came from the big city to buy it out or whatever, and they fell in love and saved Christmas.” She takes a sip of her wine. “Now every time we have a rough day, or if we’re celebrating, we recreate it.”
Ethan walks over. “So, can I count bringing him as an early Christmas present? Or does this have me covered until your birthday? I mean, you guys kissed and made up, right? I know, I know, you don’t have to thank me! You’re welcome.” He winks and walks away.
“I’m sorry about him, I know he’s a lot.” She then takes a big gulp of her wine, looking especially cute when she’s anxious like this.
I move my lips right next to her ear and it causes her to shiver. I know I shouldn’t want to, but I can’t help it. If I can’t touch her, I want her to feel me everywhere. “I’m not sorry, E. He’s actually a good guy, and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t get to be here with you tonight.” I pull back to press a soft kiss to her cheek. She hums in approval and I see little goosebumps along her arms. I love that after all this time I can have that effect on her, especially after everything.
Riley walks over. “Ok love birds, we are putting on the movie in a minute.” She then addresses me directly, pointing her finger. “You better not say a word. Yes, we know it’s not Oscar worthy, but if you sayanythingaboutanythingregarding this movie, I will personally remove you from this house.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I don’t know Riley, but she has a confidence about her that when she speaks, you listen.
I call out for the girls to see if they want to join us, but they insist that they would rather hang out upstairs playing video games. Moving my arm from the couch, our shoulders are now touching. I switch my beer from one hand to the other, to keep me from touching her. After last weekend, all I want to do is have her hand in mine.Ethan is right, I can’t keep my hands to myself when it comes to her.We both face forward to watch the movie, but about three minutes in I feel her pinky tap mine. I look at her and wrap my pinky around hers. She leans in, brushes a soft kiss to my cheek, then rests her head on my shoulder.
