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That’s a recipe for closeness I can’t resist.
I forced myself to look away, which I might be regretting since I can’t spot her anywhere in the crowd. There must be at least fifty people here, all getting more and more sloshed by the minute.
“Glad you could make it, buddy.”
I turn to find Kent at my elbow. He’s giving me a fond smile, eyes a little hazy with drink. “Of course, man. I wouldn’t have heard the end of it if I’d missed it.”
Kent laughs hard, head thrown back. Then, he pats me on the back. “True. You would have owed me.”
I’ve known Kent…most of my life now. We met our freshman year of college, at the tender age of eighteen. I’ve been there for every big step of his life. Meeting Aileen, starting his lucrative career as an entertainment lawyer, the birth of all his children…and the not-so-happy stuff too.
The least I can do is not sexualize his daughter. Too bad my body isn’t listening to reason.
“I saw you got to catch up with Harley.”
I freeze, frowning.
Kent chuckles. “Or should I say, she interrupted your conversation?”
I’m too stunned to speak. I had no idea he had eyes on me at all.
“Over by the cooler…?” he asks in half-bewilderment.
“Oh! Right! Yes! I mean, no, she wasn’t interrupting at all. In fact, she added a necessary voice to the conversation that was lacking, what with all the industry professionals droning on and on and–” Now I’m overcompensating for the silence. “Anyway…she’s turned into a fine young woman, Kent. You should be proud.”
He sighs contentedly. “Isn’t it crazy? Just yesterday we were all so much younger. Things were…so different.” He swallows. I can tell he’s trying to push away thoughts of Aileen. It happens a lot, even though it was ten years ago now. “I wish the girls could stay little forever.”
My throat constricts. What’s wrong with me? The entire night I’ve been thinking about Harley Solace not as a little girl but as a woman. Her father is my best friend. I should want to protect her as much as he does. And yet, all I’ve been doing is entertaining thoughts of having her in my arms, being between her legs, and...
God, I feel like I might pass out.
“But babies get older, and babies have babies, huh?” Kent says through a lopsided smile, gesturing over to where little Stella and Gillian are blowing bubbles together.
My light-headedness isn’t dissipating. I need a moment alone. Away.
“I need to hit the bathroom, Kent.”
“Oh, yeah, go ahead. Use the one in the house. There won’t be a line there.”
I glance at the pool house where indeed there seems to be a line of sorts of people waiting for the lone bathroom. “Thanks.”
I scramble through the crowd as fast as I can as my heart pounds. I try to avoid being splashed by people playing a game of chicken in the pool, pass a few couples dancing to Tina Turner on the speakers, and a dad sitting on the porch with a little girl on his lap, clearly tuckered out from a sugar high. I give him a smile and he smiles back with a subtle nod before I slip inside.
I am immediately thrown off when I realize that Harley has been in the kitchen this whole time. She’s standing at the sink, dabbing her shirt with a wet paper towel, cursing to herself under her breath.
I was trying to get away from thoughts of her and now she’s right here in my face.
Miraculously, my whole body is calmed by her presence, and I forget about the anxiety I was experiencing just moments ago. I forget about Kent. I forget about our history. All that exists is Harley.
“Made a mess?” I ask.
Her eyes shoot up to mine, wide and surprised.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” I say. “Was just coming in for the bathroom.”
Harley smiles and looks down at her shirt. “Yeah, I was just eating some strawberries and got some juice on my shirt.”
Damn, that sentence shouldn’t be as arousing as it is.
