AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t be a dick. She’s a childhood friend, not a way to get five bucks or a quick fuck.”
Torin burst out laughing.
It was disarming. His sour-faced cousin wasn’t exactly known as the family jokester. He rarely gave more than a grimace. “What the hell is so funny?” he demanded of Torin.
“Listen to your own advice, brother,” Torin said. “Who was with you when your house burned down? Right, a quick fuck.”
That rubbed Sullivan wrong and he wasn’t even sure why other than it sucked having his own words thrown back in his face. He poured Edwina’s wine, glared at Torin on his way by him, and took the glass to her.
“Do you remember my cousin, Torin?” he asked, gesturing to him as he served another customer a beer. “He’s a couple of years younger than us.”
“That’s Torin?” Eddie asked, eyebrows shooting up. “He’s much bigger than I remember. More tattoos too.”
“Yeah, most people frown on eleven-year-olds having tats.” Sullivan leaned on the bartop so he could be closer to her. “Watch out for him, Ed. He’s hooked up with half the women in town. He might try something with you.”
Eddie sipped her wine and stared at him. “Harmless flirting runs in the family?”
Yet more hard truths being thrown his way. Damn.
“With Torin, I wouldn’t call it harmless so much as predatory. Unlike me.”
“How do I tell the difference between harmless and predatory? Are you telling me you haven’t had sex with the women you flirt with?”
This was a trap. Clear as day. And he sauntered right on in and stuck his foot in it like a bumbling bear.
“No, I mean, I’ve probably hooked up with the half Torin hasn’t.” Why the fuck did he saythat? He was digging himself a hole faster than an auger at full speed. “Maybe not exactly half and come to think of it, probably sometimes there was overlap with the same women.” That didn’t sound right.
She stared at him.
He kept going, words tumbling out of his mouth. “Not that I mean we had sex with them at the same time though. I’ve never had a threesome with my cousin. Not that I think that’s weird. If that’s your thing, I mean, do your thing. I mean… you know what I mean.”
“I have no idea what you’re trying to tell me.” Eddie stared at him. “Whatdoyou mean, Sullivan?” she asked.
He let out a sigh. He sounded ridiculously nervous, which made no sense. It was just Eddie from grade school and she was in a relationship. Besides, he never got nervous around women. “Just stay away from Torin, that’s all I mean.”
“Thanks for the warning. I can handle myself though. I don’t see a pair of muscular biceps covered in tattoos and instantly lose my clothes.”
That made him wince, for more reasons than one. “Oh, damn. Don’t say it like that. Hold on, I’m coming around.”
They weren’t that busy and he didn’t like being behind the counter from Edwina. It made him feel exactly what he was trying to not feel like—like he was at work hitting on a woman.
He grabbed himself a beer and flipped open the top at the end of the bar and went around and took a seat next to Eddie. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing,” he confessed to her.
“Do you mean right this minute or life in general?”
“Both.” He twisted the cap off of his beer and took a sip. “I want to make changes but I’m not really sure where to start.”
“Well, you can start by just talking to me normally. Like I’m a friend.” She gave him an encouraging smile. “Like we talked about. You can practice on me. Just think of me as Eddie, your childhood friend. Not a model, not as Edwina from New York, but Eddie on the ice.”
“I’m trying. How am I doing?”
“It’s a start.” She sipped her wine.
Sullivan tried to visualize what Eddie had looked like at thirteen. Tall. Thin. Shorter hair than she had now. Impatient with him. It was easy to remember all of that. Hard to superimpose it on the woman she’d become.
Right now she was wearing a red crop top and short, but loose black shorts that had a tie around the waist. He had no idea what the style was called, but it was sexy without being overtly sexy. It showed off her long legs and a sliver of her skin at her midriff. The shirt wasn’t revealing, but it emphasized her neck, which he was struggling to not fixate on. It looked so kissable, all that creamy flesh. Her hair was loose and tumbling over her shoulders and she had on makeup. She looked glamorous yet casual and nothing like the girl he remembered.
“What am I supposed to do?” he asked, genuinely baffled. “I’m in uncharted territory because I cannot think of you as one of the guys, sorry. It’s impossible.”
