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Wes paused mid step, laughing to himself while shaking his head. I kicked him in the back of the kneecap, making his next step falter.
“Fucker.”
He was still chuckling when we cleared the stairs. The first floor of Wesley’s house was massive. The far wall, facing the front yard, was all glass windows, and during the day, you could see the whole valley from them. Three leather couches framed the living room, along with two armchairs and a coffee table. The kitchen was all hardwood floors and quartz counters, top of the line fixtures and lighting features.
My socks padded over the floors, sliding slightly as I entered the kitchen. Laura was sitting atop a barstool, tucked into the island with a bowl of salad in front of her and a cutting board, littered with carrots.
“Hey guys, we’re having million-dollar spaghetti with salad and breadsticks.”
Callie finished explaining then her arms went around Wesley’s neck, and he pulled her in for a kiss.
Laura’s eyes remained on the carrots she was shredding in front of her.
“Can I help?” I pulled out the stool next to her.
She had on some kind of dress or jumpsuit that left her shoulders bare. Her golden skin drew my attention, but so did the soft waves of sunlight falling against her back, and the way her pink lips pursed while she attempted to ignore me.
“I got it,” she murmured, keeping her focus on the mess in front of her.
Callie glanced over briefly but resumed hugging her husband.
Folding myself onto the barstool, I spread my legs, pushing my left kneecap into Laura’s, but I acted like I didn’t realize I’d done it.
A spark of humor lit my chest when she pushed right back, almost as if she were trying to get me out of her space. With Callie and Wes on the other side of the counter, they couldn’t see us. Laura’s face tilted, until she was glaring at me. I pressed my leg firmer into hers and gave her the same expression. She wanted to challenge me.
This was the wrong fucking way to do it. She was basically waving a green flag to touch her.
Keeping her attention, I lowered the hand closest to her body and gripped her thigh, while reaching over to grab a carrot with my other hand.
Her lips parted when my fingers moved farther north, feeling her heat against the backs of my fingers suddenly had her scrambling off her stool and grabbing the salad bowl.
I bit back a smile as I crunched a carrot and followed her toward the table with four plates.
Laura took a seat first, which allowed me the chance to pull out the chair next to her.
Except one second after sitting, she was sliding her chair away from me, which Wes caught because he raised his brow at me in question.
I leaned in close before Callie got to the table and whispered in Laura’s ear, “Keep moving away from me and I’m going to keep my hand on your thigh for the rest of the night.”
She exhaled through her nose, making her nostrils flare.
Before her best friend could come back in, I gripped the bottom of Laura’s chair and slid it back into place, right next to me, so close our shoulders nearly touched.
“Doesn’t this smell delicious?” Callie beamed, carrying in the casserole dish of pasta.
She’d made this dish exactly eighteen times in the past three months, and now the smell and sight of it was starting to make my stomach curdle, but we all still told her yes, and that we couldn’t wait to eat it.
“Can you please pass the salad?” I asked Laura.
She gave the couple across from us a fake smile while reaching for the bowl, then slid it over to me.
“Thank you.”
Callie watched our exchange with a puzzled expression.
“So, Kil. You ready for everything this weekend?”
I took a bite of salad, while nodding. I didn’t want to talk about this again. Every time she asked me about this, it only reminded me that her husband took my role. All for some fucking game Simon wanted to play.
