Chapter 5
Five
When I walk through the front door, my mom is sitting at the kitchen island with a glass of red wine next to her laptop.
As soon as she sees me, she removes her thin wire computer glasses tiredly, pulls out the denim scrunchie holding up her waist-long strawberry locks, and rubs her scalp. “Hey, Luce. How was Rhys’ party?”
My younger sister, Lorraine, and I get our hair from our mother—even though our shade of red is much darker.
Our brother, Liam, somehow ended up with dark blond hair.
Dad always jokes that if Liam didn’t look exactly like him when he was younger, he’d wonder if our mother had an affair because no one in the family has hair that light.
“It was fine,” I reply, passing through the kitchen and heading to my bedroom upstairs. “I’m tired. Got a lot of sun today. I’m gonna take a shower and head to bed.”
On the way home, my brain went into overdrive, and it still hasn’t quieted.
Rhys and I had unprotected sex .
Lawson watched me come—twice. And it turned him on.
Rhys ignored my plea to talk afterward, leaving no room to discuss my decision to go to Berkeley instead of following him to Ole Miss.
Lawson got hard again when I went to apologize to him.
I liked the effect I had on him.
I liked it.
“Hold up. Come here for a second. I want to get your opinion on this schedule for Terror Tot Summer Camp. You’re way better at the activity time blocks than I am.”
Fearing I may break down the second I look my mother in the eyes, I shake my head and continue to ascend the stairs. “I’ll look at it tomorrow. I’m sorry. I have a headache, I’m exhausted, and I stink of the pool. I need a shower.”
Liam appears on the landing, looking like he’s ready to go out. “Where are you going? It’s nearly nine.” I eye his baggy sweatshirt that he’s holding at the bottom as though he’s hiding a bottle beneath the thick fabric.
“So? Curfew’s at eleven.” He rolls his eyes as we pass each other.
My brother’s only a year younger than I am but sometimes acts like he’s still thirteen.
The thing is, it’s just that—an act. Liam is smart as hell, but for some reason, he makes really shitty decisions.
He’s one fuck up away from Mom and Dad hauling him off to a special school for troubled kids.
“Are you still hanging out with Thomas Becker? He’s bad news, Liam.”
“You’re not my mom, Luce. Leave me alone.” He flips the hood of his sweatshirt up and disappears downstairs.
Blowing out an exasperated breath, I storm to my room, and it takes all my willpower not to slam the door.
After a shower, I crawl beneath my butter yellow duvet and play with the frilly white lace at the edges as I will my brain to stop thinking about my boyfriend’s dad.
However, every time I close my eyes, the image of Lawson watching me is imprinted behind my lids.
His well-muscled figure, which is still toned to perfection from when he played football when he was younger. The way the veins in his arms popped as he clenched his fists. Dark, stormy-gray eyes, illuminated by the lingering fragments of the retreating sun’s rays, peering at me with lust.
My body comes alive at the memory of when I unabashedly lowered my gaze to where he was hard, the outline of his cock straining against his pants. That’s what made me come a second time.
Abandoning the lace of my blanket, I reach down between my legs, where I’m already wet, and begin to touch myself. And as I come for the third time tonight, it’s not to thoughts of my boyfriend.
But of his dad.
“Rhys’ dad stopped by this morning and dropped off a package for you,” Liam side-eyes me as he unscrews the cap from the orange juice bottle. “Why isn’t your boyfriend bringing you presents? ”
Surprise rushes through me as I approach the small decorative cookie box on the island.
Why would Lawson drop anything off? I pull my navy silk robe tighter as I sit on a stool, briefly wondering how his face would have looked if I’d answered the door wearing it with only my matching nightdress underneath.
My cheeks grow warm as I look up to catch my brother watching me warily, his right brow arched in suspicion. “What? And why do you say the word ‘boyfriend’ like that? I thought you liked Rhys?”
Liam shrugs his bare, sweaty shoulders. “He kind of turned into a dick this year, don’t you think? He’s not exactly nice to you, Luce.”
I thought it was just me who noticed my boyfriend’s change of attitude, but apparently not. I didn’t think Rhys was mean to me, though. “I think he’s just stressed about graduation.”
The cookie box is white with little rainbows printed on it.
A smile tugs at my lips, and I try my best to keep it from taking up my whole face since Liam is still watching me like a hawk eyeing a mouse on the ground.
After using my nail to rip the sticker seal, I open the box to see a small white envelope sitting on top of a dozen of his cookies secured in one of the compostable cellophane bags I gave him for his thirty-sixth birthday this year.
Well, they were from me… and Rhys—who had completely forgotten what day it was.
My name is written across the envelope in Lawson’s elegant scrawl, and there’s a small, thick card inside that says ,
“Life is short. Eat the cookies.”
I can’t help my growing smile. But the elation in my chest quickly tightens and makes my heart thump harder as I realize there’s a small slip of paper in the envelope as well. It simply says,
“Inside flap.”
After checking that Liam is preoccupied with the fridge’s contents instead of me, I shove the cookies over to check the part where the back of the box and the side connect.
There’s a little strip of silver sticking out—a familiar white pill encased in the original packaging that’s been cut down so Lawson could hide it in the box.
The morning-after pill.
My cheeks start to burn as I realize that Lawson went out and got me an emergency contraception so that I wouldn’t have to.
My knees press together as my insides tighten.
To have a man take care of it and save me the embarrassment of having to face the pharmacist’s judgy eyes… Why is that simple act so hot?
Quickly, I shove the pill into the envelope with the card and slip of paper before tucking it into the pocket of my robe. Just in time, too, as Liam strides out of the kitchen and Lorraine walks in, followed by our parents.
“Good morning, darling. Are you feeling better?” Mom asks as she pulls two mugs down from the cabinet for coffee.
Running a hand through my mess of curls that I stupidly let air dry as I slept, I nod even though her back is to me. “I am. Thanks. Will you make me a cup?”
Pulling a cookie from the box, I take a big bite as Dad slides onto the stool next to me. “Are you eating a cookie? Aren’t you ladies headed to brunch club in a bit?”
“Quiet, Will. They’re Lawson’s cookies. It’s fine.” Mom gently shushes him as she places a mug in front of me. She plucks the cookie from my hand, breaks off a chunk, and shoves it in her mouth before giving the other half back to me. “God, these are so good. Have you asked him for the recipe yet?”
Lorraine holds a hand out silently for a piece, never pulling her eyes from her book, so I break the rest of the cookie up and hand her some. “Only every time he makes them, Mom. He says it’s a family recipe.”
“Well, you’re practically family!” Mom throws her hands in the air with a laugh and a shake of her head. “Tell him to give up the goods!”
Her words make me think of Lawson’s other goods that have nothing to do with his cookie recipe.
“Is that who was knocking on the door this morning? Why didn’t he just send them home with you last night?” Dad’s voice sounds far away as I daydream about what occurred yesterday.
Should I say thank you to Lawson for taking care of the pill for me? Should I even show up to help him organize his office? I feel like there’s this line where he’s on one side, Rhys is on the other, and I’m standing super close to the buzzing barrier between them, threatening to snap the divide .
Does this make me a bad girlfriend?
The attraction I feel for Lawson is all perfectly normal, isn’t it? He’s a young dad. Gorgeous and kind. And I can only hope that Rhys adopts more of his father’s attributes as we get older, even if right now he’s taking more after his mother.
“Luce?” Mom’s sharp tone snaps me from my thoughts.
With a shake of my head, my glazed-over eyes refocus to find my parents both staring at me. Even Lorraine has pulled her mossy eyes from the pages of her newest fantasy novel and is watching me curiously.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I ask on an exhale.
“You should go get ready. We need to leave for brunch in twenty. Are you sure you’re up for it? You look flushed, sweetheart.” She reaches over the island to press the back of a hand to my forehead.
“I’m fine. I’ll be ready soon.” I get off the stool and put my hands in my pockets, fingering the envelope as I head to my room.
Quickly, I change into a halter-style dusty blue dress with white polka dots and a pleated skirt before pulling my hair into a messy ponytail.
A quick swipe of my favorite raspberry gloss and a few coats of mascara complete my look with five minutes left to spare.
I tap my nails against the blush-colored quartz vanity of my en suite, staring at the white envelope with my name on it before finally filling my water cup.
I pop the tab on the back of the blister pack and swallow the pill, draining half my glass.
After burying the trash beneath used tissues and clumps of hair from my shower, I grab the note about the cookies and bite my lip, deciding if I should throw it away as well.
As my fingers graze Lawson’s handwriting, Mom’s yell from downstairs startles me. “Lucy, let’s go!”