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Now that I’m closer, I can really drink her in.Christ, has she gotten even more gorgeous?The last time I saw her was winter break because she jetted off to Cabo with Lucas and a bunch of their friends for spring break this past April so I didn’t see her. Seeing her in significantly less clothes than in December has me momentarily speechless as I run my gaze over her.
“Of course, I wouldn’t have missed it,” I tell her, even if I had been dreading it, I am very proud of her and I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to tell her.
I’m trying my best not to openly ogle her in front of her friends, but the alcohol coupled with this green dress that is hugging her in all the right places has given my eyes a mind of their own as they wander over her shamelessly. She’s wearing the sexiest pair of open-toe heels and all I can think about is that sharp stiletto digging into my back, piercing me as I finally get the chance to taste her cunt. The dress falls just below her knees but highlights her full hips, her waist, and those full breasts I’d had my mouth over just six months before. Her skin is tanned like she’d been outside for a considerable amount of time and it makes me want to lick her to see if I can taste the sun on her skin. Shawn is black and her mother, Camille, is white, so she always looks sun-kissed, but with her tan and the color of this dress and her dark tresses she looks fucking stunning.
“Is Lucas almost here? He texted that he was running late?” Rory asks, looking up at me and I’m grateful for her question because it instantly stops my dick from getting harder.Lucas. Fuck. What about Avery Summers had me forgetting all about the reason I shouldn’t be looking at her at all?
“I’m not sure.” I shake my head. He’d left this morning to go to the gym before I’d left for work and when I got home, it seemed he’d already left. He was only home for a week or so before he went back to New York to start his new job at an investment firm and it’s odd to think about the fact that both of my kids no longer live at home. Even though Lucas has been away at NYU for the last four years, I felt like he still livedherein Pennsylvania with me. The idea of him moving to New York permanently feels like a weight in my chest. “I’m surprised he’s not here yet.”
“Hey, gorgeous.” A tall guy with blonde hair, about the same height I am, infiltrates the circle and wraps an arm around Avery’s shoulder bringing her closer to him. “Happy graduation,” he tells her as he rests his chin on top of her head for a moment. I don’t recognize him as one of their high school friends and a flare of irritation moves through me that I don’t know their relationship and then another over the fact that I’m jealous and have no right to be.
“Elijah.” She smiles and I notice she doesn’t make an effort to move but her eyes find mine. “Theo, this is a friend of mine, Elijah, from school.” She tilts her head up to look at him. “This is Lucas’ Dad.” She points and his eyes light up in recognition.
“Oh damn, of course! Theo Graham, you’re my dad’s actual God. Do you mind if I get a picture?” he asks, unraveling his arm from Avery and I wonder if they’re really just friends, or if he’s among the many men that forget about women the second the topic of sports comes up. He moves across the small circle, snapping a selfie, and in that short moment, where he’s talking about my last Superbowl game and my final touchdown that won us the game but destroyed my shoulder in the process, I hear my son’s voice.
“Fuck, I’m sorry I’m late. They have me onboarding via Zoom all week and the lady from Human Resources was moving so fucking slow.” I turn around just in time for Lucas to pull Avery into his arms and press a kiss to her temple. She hugs him back, and when the guy next to me stiffens, I’m even more fucking confused about what’s going on.
My son always did clean up nice. He’s almost as tall as me and while he’s not as built, he is still in great shape from almost fifteen years of soccer, including four years in college. His dark hair is slicked back and he’s wearing a black suit with a white shirt beneath it.
He nods at Elijah. “Hey man, good to see you. How’ve you been?”
“Good,” Elijah responds. “Glad you could make it.” His tone is cocky, and I think I’m starting to understand what’s going on. Elijah wants Avery and he sees Lucas as a threat.
“Glad I could make it?” He chuckles with a smug grin on his face before bringing his hand to Avery’s jaw and squeezing it gently to make her lips pucker. “I’m the one Camille called this morning in hysterics that they had all the wrong chairs and needed help transporting the right ones from some warehouse downtown.” He lets Avery’s jaw go and gives Elijah a pointed look. “Avery’s mother,” he says condescendingly and I resist the urge to snort.
Avery, who Lucas still has wrapped in his arms, my guess so Elijah doesn’t reach for her, pulls away and looks up at him, confused. “She called you?”
“Of course, who else?”
“My dad or my uncles?”
“They were all playing golf.” He shrugs as if my son was the obvious next choice for anything regarding Avery.
“Lucas, thank you. My mom was being a nightmare about it this morning when I couldn’t care less. She was literally comparing apples to apples.” She rolls her eyes and I believe it. Camille Summers is notoriously meticulous especially when it comes to planning parties.
“Literally?” Lucas quips sarcastically and raises an eyebrow at her.
She huffs before smacking his chest.“You know what I mean.” And somehow, I’ve forgotten, or maybe I’ve made myself forget how Lucas and Avery are around each other. The familiarity and comfort that only years of close friendship can bring. The kind of friendship where from the outside you’re not exactly sure if they’re together or not, or if there are romantic feelings. I’m not on the outside and there have been times I even forgot. I can remember a few Freudian slips where I’d absentmindedly called Avery his girlfriend while they were growing up.
Which is why it makes my two very inappropriate interactions with her so fucked up and need not repeating.
“Yes,figuratively,” he corrects and Rory groans.
“Theo, your children are fighting again. Do something.” She points between my son and Avery with a chuckle before wrapping her arms around Lucas and hugging him. He returns it and I’ve noticed that amidst their small back and forth Elijah has disappeared.
“I can’t believe you invited that joker,” he murmurs to Avery with an eye roll. “Hey, Dad,” he says with a hug.
“Son.”
“Is Rae coming?” he asks about his sister. “I told her not to bring what’s his name. I didn’t want you getting pissed off.”
“You know his name,” I say, referring to my daughter’s boyfriend, “and I won’t get pissed off,” I grumble, even though there’s a chance I might. I know it makes me a fucking hypocrite given that I know what the twenty-one year old in front of me tastes like but the thought of my little girl with someone…my age. I cringe.
“You sure about that?” Rory jokes as she pops a mini crab cake into her mouth.
“You shouldn’t. So, she’s dating a guy that’s a bit older than her? Who cares? He worships her,” Avery argues.
“First of all, a bit?” Lucas interjects. “The guy is Dad’s age. And can we not?” He winces.
