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“We can come Sunday,” he tells her.
“You can?” she screams, followed by a bunch of words I can’t understand.
“Is it okay if Vivi comes? Claire’s niece…Yes…Yes, she calls Harper Happy; she doesn’t have all her sounds yet.” Avery gives me a wide-eyed look and laces his fingers through my hair, playing with the tips. “Yes, super cute…Uh huh…Two-and-a-half…Mom, if this is going to turn into a baby thing, we won’t come.”
My cheeks flush with heat. This woman wants a grandbaby. I love her son, but I’m not even going to allow myself to start thinking about that right now. I’m just going to try to enjoy this for what it is, right now, because if I can’t live in the past, then I can’t live in the future either.
He clicks his phone off after ending the call and tosses it across the bed. Shifting overtop of me, he spreads my legs wide and settles between them. His hips start moving, rolling in that way that makes me throw my head backwards, my eyes unable to go anywhere but heavenward.
“Now where were we…” His hands push between me and the mattress, squeezing, fingers pressing into my ass. “Oh, right. I was about to fuck you. Hard.”
“I can’t stand this giddiness. It’s too adorable. You’re adorable.”
With a sigh, I close my laptop, shoving it into my messenger bag. “You know what I can’t stand, Charlee?” I watch the smile slide right off my best friend’s face. She’s nervous about whatever I’m about to say. She should be. “I can’t stand this game you and Casey are playing.”
Her face pales. I see her thick swallow from here. “Wha…what are you talking about?” Her hand slides into the messy bun donning her head. “What game? There’s no game. What do you mean? Like…hockey?” The face she makes tells me she hears how ridiculous she sounds; she doesn’t need me to point it out.
I sweep a hand out in her direction, leaning back in my chair as I watch her flounder. “What’s going on with you two? I’m not blind. I saw him holding your hand under the table at lunch on Saturday.” It was actually Avery who jammed an elbow into my ribs and pointed it out to me. It was super cute, but the two of them definitely thought no one noticed. “I’ve been waiting all week for you to tell me what’s going on, but you haven’t said a word.”
“I-I-I, he wasn’t holding my hand!” She looks down at both of them, then promptly shoves them behind her back in a move that’s entirely too guilty.
At the amused brow I arch, the tension in her face eases. She smiles. She also sinks to my couch with the loudest sigh. “Well, he wasn’t holding it, he was just…resting his…on top of mine.” She fiddles with her dirty-blond locks. “I don’t know, Claire. I really don’t. Nothing’s happened. Nothing like what I…” Her eyes meet mine. She pulls her bottom lip into her mouth, pensive and confused. “Nothing like what I want to happen.”
“You like him.” I already know she does, of course, but I’d like for her to finally admit it.
A furious shade of red creeps up her neck, staining her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Claire,” Charlee whispers. “Are you mad at me? I can’t help it. God, it’s been years. It’s just getting worse.”
I cross the room to her, taking her hands in mine. “Mad at you? Are you crazy? Charlee, I would have a fit of epic proportions if you became my sister-in-law. You’d be the best ever mummy to Vivi.”
She snorts and starts picking at some nonexistent fluff on her dress. “You’re getting way ahead of yourself. I don’t think Casey thinks of me that way. I’m just me, his best friend’s little sister, his little sister’s best friend.”
I chuckle, though I know what it’s like to be on the other side of this, to not see what everyone else sees. “Charlee, he can’t take his eyes off you, ever. He was holding your hand at lunch, for fuck’s sake. I’m not the only one who notices. Avery’s seen it since day one.”
She blushes harder, scratching at her cheek. “It’s just, what if…what if…”
“What if what? What if he feels the exact same way and you two start dating?”
Charlee’s shoulders sag as she peers down at her lap. “What if things don’t work out? He’s your brother. He’s one of my best friends. He’s Vivi’s dad. There’s so much to lose, Claire, and that’s terrifying.”
I know she’s right to think about it, to consider all the ways it could end. Casey and Vivi are her family as much as they are mine. Though I doubt it would, if it were to go down the wrong way, there’s a lot on the line for both of them.
My phone chimes on my desk, letting me know Avery’s downstairs.
“That’s your ride,” Charlee says with a reserved smile.
“It is. I’m sorry. Can we talk about this again though?”
She nods. “I’m just happy you’re not mad at me for secretly being in love with your brother.”
I snort a laugh. “Hate to tell you this, but it’s not much of a secret.” I wrap my arms around her and we rock back and forth. She gives the best hugs, all warm and snuggly. “Are you sure you don’t wanna come home with us for the weekend? We can stop off at your place and grab your stuff.”
“Nah.” She waves me off. “I’m not really in the mood to see my own dad.”
“You can stay with us,” I offer, though she knows she’s always welcome. “You know my dad loves you.”
She wags her brows in a way that tells me I’m not about to enjoy her next sentence. “And I love Gavin. He’s a DILF.”
“Aaand I’m done.” I push off her and strut to my desk, scooping up my weekender bag that I stowed back there this morning.
