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“Have fun, mom,” Theo says before he jumps out of my car and slams the door closed.
“Yeah, thanks bud,” I talk to his retreating figure as I get out and grab his bag from the backseat. He has everything he needs here, but still insists on bringing some of his favorite things back and forth. I hate he has to do this, but it’s the nature of co-parenting and we have to roll with it.
Greyson meets me on the porch, emerging from his house wearing a pair of low-slung shredded jeans, no footwear, and a snug navy-blue T-shirt, looking every bit the man I’ve known for fourteen years yet I force myself to glance away.
My wild imagination takes me to places where his cerulean eyes darken with desire as he hovers over me. These traitorous dreams slash through all the friendship edicts I’ve ever erected and I don’t know how to stop them. All I see is that dimple reserved only for me as he’s making pancakes for the three of us on Sunday mornings, the evening sun glinting off his natural highlights as we hike alone after hours, and the adoration glaringly bright on his face as he gazes into the face of a newborn.
Shit.
Swinging my gaze back to witness his forearms flex as he crosses them sends a spike in my blood pressure. This is not okay, specifically when I’m headed to a date with another man.
I square my shoulders as if that will right any of these crazy manifestations of mine, and address the man in front of me. “He’s all ready to go. I fed him, and watered him like a houseplant. Code for I made him take a shower. I don’t understand this phase of his, not wanting to bathe.” I furrow my brows as Greyson chuckles and shrugs.
“Kids are weird. Especially ours. Did you know I caught him Googling “Baby Shark” song lyrics? Oh, and thank God I updated the parental controls on his iPad because I saw him attempting to look up porn.”
I gape at him, not at all ready for these conversations. “Are you serious?”
He puts his hands in his back pockets and rocks on his heels. “Yeah, we might have to sit down with him at some point and let him know that’s not the best place to go for questions about sex.”
Cringing, I palm my forehead. “If I find any crusty socks, I’m making you come by and pick them up.” I never remember ever hearing about this kind of thing with my brother, but I’ll take that as a small blessing.
He laughs and shakes his head before sobering up. “Look, I hope you have a good time tonight. Be careful, okay?”
Distance be damned, I grin before stepping up on the porch and wrapping my arms around his muscular but tapered waist. I can ignore these irrational feelings and they will disappear on their own, lost in the land of misguided hormones. I’ll just imagine him as an eighty-year-old man with hair sprouting from his ears and a love for suspenders.
“I promise.” I raise to my tippy toes to place my cursory kiss to his cheek when he abruptly moves his head, and my mouth connects to his instead.
I freeze and he’s a statue, his lips soft and firm beneath mine. My brain curses at me to move, but my body says screw that and roots to the wooden planks. His palm drifts to the back of my head as his mouth comes alive and slowly presses into mine. I don’t think, I just feel as I curl my fingers into his shirt and his hand tightens into my hair, my insides igniting like flame to fuel.
His tongue gently brushes the seam of my lips and naturally they open as a surge of white, hot fire licks my body. The warm and plush texture of his mouth paired with his drugging woodsy scent and peppermint breath threatens to unravel me.
Just as my moan begs to join the primal growl caught in his throat, time hops back to the present and we both jump back, me almost falling off the porch before he grabs my wrist to steady me.
Wide-eyed and a bit dazed, he coughs and swallows, releasing me to run his hands through his thick hair mussed up by my fingers. “Wow, Jesus, I’m sorry. Fuck, that wasn’t, I just needed…” He shuffles his feet, blowing out a breath. “I just wanted to tell you, you look really beautiful, and Kellen is a lucky guy and he better treat you right, or I’ll be the first to pick out his new headstone.” His words rush out as pink floods his cheeks.
Thump, thump, thump, my heart thunders against my straining ribcage and I can’t ignore the faint but insistent pulse between my thighs. I liked it. A lot. And I shouldn’t.
Feeling my skin heat, I nod empathically and retreat down the steps, taking care not to trip again. Turning away from him, I press my fingers to my lips, concerned about the tingling.
“Mmm hmm, thank you for looking out for me. I’ll text you later.” I twist around for a small wave before rushing back to my car. Throwing it into reverse and dragging tires over the gravel, I watch Grey through the windshield, touching his own lips.
* * *
Tito’s mariachimusic blares from the outdoor speakers as I pull into the full parking lot. Kellen offered to pick me up, but my experience from previous dates taught me to have a solid means of escape if I need it.
I take a moment to breathe in and out, orienting myself to the present. What the hell just happened? Leaving Grey’s house after that misplaced kiss has my stomach in knots and my knees rubber. It was… electric when it should’ve been weird and wrong. My head knows this, but my body wanted more—so much more. I’m not sure I need to dive any deeper into what it was, but my chest grows tighter trying to figure it out. Complicated. That’s what it is, complicated, and here’s to hoping Kellen provides the perfect distraction from it.
Pulling down my visor, I swipe on a new layer of my favorite red lipstick, ignoring how smudged it was from Greyson’s lips on mine.
Kellen’s outside, leaning against the short, wrought-iron fence separating us from the tables and chairs in a cobbled courtyard with strings of lights strewn above. Black denim jeans clad his muscular thighs and a short-sleeve green button-up is as vibrant as his sparkling jeweled eyes under thick wheat-colored brows. He’s really pretty and I find myself sucked into his orbit the closer I get.
A broad smile breaks out across his face, and he holds out his hand. I take it and he pulls me to his side, a whiff of his spicy cologne tickling my nose. “Hi there. You look stunning.”
Glancing down at my dress, I silently thank Savy for letting me raid her closet as the yellow cottony material swishes around my thighs. I adjust my jean vest and blow at the hair that’s escaped my side clip. “Thank you. That’s really sweet of you.”
