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“You wouldn’t mind me crashing your time with your girl?”
I lifted up on my tiptoes, pressing my lips against his. “Not at all,” I breathed.
After that, he gave me that make-out he’d promised before we finally forced ourselves to break apart so he could head back to his place. It was damn good, and by the time he left, I felt like a teenager sneaking her boyfriend out of the house.
I didn’t know how long this thing between us was going to last, and I didn’t know what the future held. I was almost certain I was going to suffer a pretty nasty heartbreak by the end of it, but I made the decision the night before to take Luna’s advice and start living a little for myself. I was going to have fun. Consequences be damned.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sawyer
It wasthe Tuesday after my epic weekend with Trent, and while I was riding high, I was completely exhausted.
Renee had been a bundle of energy during the days, even more than usual thanks to Trent being around most of the time. Then at night he’d kept me up to all hours, doing things to my body I hadn’t known were possible.
I’d had a smile on my face all morning long that I couldn’t wipe away. It even stayed in place when I’d accidentally dozed off at the register during my shift. Georgia had sent me to lunch early, a knowing smile on her face, with orders to make sure to caffeinate myself before I came back.
I texted Luna to see if she wanted to meet me at Drip before I had to head back to work, and by the time I gave my order to Monica—a pumpkin spice latte with an extra shot of espresso since they were back in season—she was sashaying through the door, pulling her over-sized sunglasses off her face and tucking them up into her hair.
She met me at the register and gave me an appraising stare. “You look tired.”
“Thanks.” I deadpanned. “It’s always nice to hear that I look like shit.”
“I didn’t say you looked like shit.” She narrowed her eyes, her examination more scrutinizing this time. “You actually look really great. Like all glowy and stuff but tired—” She cut herself off on a gasp that would have put every soap opera diva to shame. “Oh my God, you had sex!” she whisper-yelled.
Like she had sonar hearing, Monica popped up right then with my drink. “What’s this now?”
Luna jabbed her finger in my face. “Thislittle hussy had a dirty sex romp this weekend!”
“Okay. First off, lower your voice because not everyone in here needs to know my business.”
Monica let out a yelp. “Holy shit. She’s not denying it!”
I chose to ignore that and kept going. “Second, I’m not a hussy, and it wasn’t a dirty little sex romp. That makes it sound like we spent the entire weekend in bed. We didn’t.” A sly smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. “Just the nights.”
My friends let out whoops of laughter that drew the attention of the rest of the patrons in the coffee shop.
“Nothing to see here,” Monica said loudly. “Go back to your business or no more coffee for you.” All the eyes in Drip shot away from us, the threat of not having coffee too great for anyone to attempt to call her bluff. As soon as the coast was clear, my friends turned their attention back to me. “All right, spill. We want to knoweverything.”
In hushed voices, I filled them in on everything that had happened, starting with how everything had escalated the first night of the Harvest Fest. I told them about how he’d spend every night since then in my bed, sleeping tangled together until the early hours of the morning when he had to leave so Renee didn’t catch him and get any ideas. I told them how he made me feel, the things he said that made me swoon, and how we couldn’t seem to get enough of each other.
By the time I finished, they both looked like they’d just watched the part fromThe Notebookwhen Noah professed his love to Allie after so many years of being torn apart from her.
“So what does this mean for you guys?” Monica asked with stars in her eyes.
“I don’t know. I mean, he’s just visiting, so it’s not like this is going the distance, right? He’s a tourist.” I looked to Luna and explained, “I’m taking your advice and having fun.”
For some reason, that made her expression fall into sadness. “Normally I’d be the first to congratulate you on your sexual awakening, but are you sure you aren’t maybe a little too invested in this for it to just be fun? I’m worried you’re going to end up hurt.”
The smile I gave her reflected some of her sadness back to her. “I love you for being worried, but it’s too late to protect myself from that.” I shrugged, giving her the truth. “I’m in this now. Even if I were to end things with him tomorrow, it wouldn’t matter. I feel something for him; that isn’t going to change. Will it suck when he finally leaves? Absolutely. But I’m tough.” Tougher than these ladies knew. “I’ll get over it. I’m tired of living in this bubble. I really like Trent. I like spending time with him. But mostly, I like who I am when I’m around him. I don’t want to give that feeling up just yet.”
“Amen to that,” Monica said, her voice thick with emotion and her eyes glistening. “You deserve to feel as special as you are, honey.”
I reached across the counter and placed my hand on hers, giving it a squeeze before looking back to my best friend in the whole world.
Luna squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, standing up straight, like liquid steel had been poured down her spine. “I don’t know a person walking this planet who deserves happiness more than you, so if that’s what he’s giving you, I’m fucking thrilled, babe.Thrilled. And whatever happens down the road happens. We’ll be here to help you deal, whatever that may be.”
“Hell yeah we will,” Monica stated in agreement.
