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I just need to get my head on straight. I need to stop looking into things deeper, or it’s going to royally fuck me up and over.
I guess Daria reads the mild conflict on my face, because her expression softens a little. “Caden—”
“No, you’re right,” I cut her off with a shake of my head, flashing her a small smile to let her know everything was okay and good between us. Because it is. “You made the right call, Ria.”
The corners of her mouth lift in a small smile at the nickname I sometimes call her. “I should’ve just told you straight up instead of making excuses,” she concedes, which I appreciate.
For the next little while, we watch the kids play games and enjoy themselves, while their parents make plates of snacks for their children to eat before the actual food is served. As Daria crouches next to Elaine at the arts and crafts table, I watch as the two of them chat, smiles wide on both of their faces. Elaine points at something and I follow the line of sight, landing on the face painting station, and Daria nods as she says something to her.
Someone comes up at my elbow, and over the never-ending noise of the room, I hear Leo comment lowly, “You didn’t tell us she was that pretty.”
His words mean no harm, I know, yet they still make me tense up, muscles tightening as if I’m bracing myself for something—like Leo wanting me to play match maker or something. I’ve switched from beer to Sprite, and I try not to tighten my grip on my plastic cup so it doesn’t explode on me when I see Daria, still crouching next to Elaine, chatting with a guy nearby who is sitting with who I can only assume is his son. I vaguely remember him being a single parent—which becomes even more obvious in the smile he’s giving Daria. Flirtatious and charming, even though she is way out of his league.
Fucking hell—she gets flirted with at a kid’s birthday party? It doesn’t surprise me, but that doesn’t mean I want to see it.
“Don’trip Pete’s head off,” I hear Leo warn. When I look at him, my jaw tight, I see the amusement dancing in his eyes, the corner of his mouth twitching up in a smile. Reed is also standing on his other side, listening to us as he sips his own beer, his own gaze probably fixed on Willow somewhere else in the room. Leo scoffs and shakes his head, clapping me on the shoulder and gripping it for a moment. “And wipe that scowl off your face, man. You’re at a kid’s party,” he adds before walking off, leaving just Reed and me.
“I’m not going to fucking rip Pete’s fucking head off,” I mutter under my breath, sipping my Sprite and wishing it was something stronger.
Reed snorts next to me. “Your face is saying otherwise,” he mildly comments. I see him look at me from the corner of my eye, his expression far more calculating than I would like for it to be. “You sure you two are just friends?”
My teeth grit slightly. “Yes,” I answer, just a half lie.
He gives a low hum, thinking. “You’re looking a little too jealous to be just friends.”
Jesus Christ. This is the first time they are meeting Daria, the first time she and I are in the same room as my friends, and they’re already picking up on things we’re meant to be keeping behind closed doors? Either they just know me that well, or I’m absolutely shit at keeping my thoughts off my face, which Iknowcan’t be true because I have been able to do it this far in my life.
Or maybe it’s because it’s Daria, and when I’m around her, things slowly start slipping without me even realizing it. And isn’t that theoppositeof why Daria and I decided to casually hook up in the first place? So that things were clear and there was an obvious line drawn that we didn’t allow ourselves to cross? Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing when my thoughts about her start coming from my heart and not my head and, to crudely put, my dick? The latter allows for things to be strictly sexual and casual. Anything more isn’t what either of us signed up for. I need to remind myself of that.
* * *
“Thank you so much for inviting us,” Daria smiles at Leo and Lilah. “Elaine had a great time—right, honey?”
Elaine nods, her smile wide. It pushes her cheeks up and slightly scrunches the purple butterfly she has painted on the right side of her cheek—Lilah has a matching one on her left cheek. I think after today, the two girls have become best friends. “So much fun,” Elaine chirps happily, gripping onto the bag of party favors Andrea had put together for all of the kids.
When all of the goodbyes are done, I bump Daria’s shoulder with my arm and say, “Come on. I’ll walk you two out.” Mostly everyone’s gone at this point, and the sun has set, darkening the sky. Leo lives in a safe, upper class neighborhood, but I’m not taking any chances.
One last round of goodbyes done, I lead Daria and Elaine up the stairs out of the basement, and then out the front door of the house. As Elaine skips ahead toward Daria’s Nissan, Daria says to me, “Thanks for getting us to come. Elaine had a really good time.”
“Told you she would,” I say with a smirk.
Daria scoffs with a roll of her eyes. “I’m thanking you, and you take it as anI told you somoment,” she remarks, shaking her head.
I laugh as Elaine jiggles the door handle of the backseat door, and Daria unlocks it. Elaine climbs into the backseat as we approach the car. “Sorry, sorry,” I grin, not at all apologetic. Daria only makes a face at me. “I’m glad you both came. Hope the guys didn’t bother you too much.”
She laughs with a shake of her head. “No, they were great,” she says with a nod. “It was good to finally meet them.”
“They said the same about you,” I say as Daria leans into the car to buckle Elaine into her car seat. My teeth press together at the sight of her ass in those tight pants, my gaze lingering too long, but I can’t stop myself from admiring the view.
When she stands straight again, her eyes are already on me when my gaze snaps up to meet hers, and a small, knowing smirk is on her mouth. “You were just checking out my ass, weren’t you?” she asks, her voice a whisper so Elaine doesn’t hear. Unlikely, given that I’m pretty sure Daria already has her set up with her iPad for the drive home.
I’m not even embarrassed, arching an eyebrow as I look down at her. “And if I was?”
She laughs at my lack of denial, not even surprised. I step back to allow her to get to the driver’s side door, despite wanting to close the distance between us. “If youwere,” Daria muses, “then I’d say you can look, but not touch.”
Blood rushes straight to my dick at her teasing words that go along with the coy glint in her blue eyes. She knows exactly what she’s doing. I press my tongue to the inside of my lower jaw, the corners of my mouth tipping up in a lazy grin. “For now,” I amend pointedly.
Daria laughs again, but I see the pink hue on her cheeks as she gets into her car. “I’ll see you later, Caden.”
