Chapter 27
DANNY
“I need food.Like, a truckload of food.”
I grin at Eden as the two of us get dressed in my bedroom.
“After the gloriously filthy way you defiled me for the past twelve hours, I’m starving. I need need need something to eat.”
She pulls her blouse over her head, and I’m mesmerized as her black hair cascades all over her shoulders.
“What?” she asks, tucking her shirt back into her skirt.
I step toward her, rest my hand on her waist, and kiss her. “Just got lost in the visual for a second.”
She blushes. “I’m a mess. I haven’t showered. I haven’t done a single thing other than roll around with you and?—”
I cut her off with another kiss. “You’re not a mess. You’re beautiful.”
She beams at what I’ve said. “You’re sweet.”
“Just speaking the truth.”
We lose another minute to yet another hot as hell kiss where we’re seriously in danger of tearing off the clothes we just put back on. The sound of Eden’s stomach growling reminds me of why we’re getting dressed in the first place.
I break our kiss. “As much as I’d like to have you naked in my bed again, we need to get you some food.”
I touch her stomach and she laughs.
“What are you craving?” I ask.
She wags her eyebrow at me.
“Later. After you’ve eaten. You’re definitely gonna need to refuel,” I say.
She licks her lips and my knees buckle.
“I’m dying for some biscuits and gravy,” she says
Twenty-minutes later we’re at a diner down the street. The server deposits a massive plate of biscuits and gravy in front of Eden and an egg white omelet for me.
Eden stabs her fork into one of the monster biscuits sitting on her plate, drowning in sausage gravy. She shoves a forkful into her mouth and moans.
“Oh my god, that’s so freaking good,” she says, mouth full.
I laugh before thanking the server when she tops off our coffee mugs. Eden moans through another forkful, earning a confused look from the server as she walks away.
“Wow. I thought you only made those sounds in bed,” I say, careful to keep my voice down. The diner is packed to the brim this Saturday morning. We were lucky to get two seats at the bar, but that means we’re also within earshot of at least a dozen people.
Eden winks at me. “Only when something is mind-blowingly good do I make that noise.”
“Mind-blowing?”
Without breaking eye contact with me, she nods, her smile turning devilish as she licks a bit of gravy from her fork.
“Mind-blowing gravy will do that to you, huh?” I can barely get the words out, I’m so worked up. Thank Christ I’m sitting down, otherwise I’d be displaying my half-hard boner to the entire diner.
“Oh yeah.” She runs her tongue long the edge of her fork, reminding me of how she pulled that exact move this morning on me.
“I’ve had good gravy.” Lick. “And bad gravy.” Lick. “But mind-blowing gravy is exactly what I had last night. And this morning.”
I make a choking sound that causes half the staff behind the counter to gawk at me. I quickly clear my throat and down some coffee as Eden giggles through another bite.
“I’m hoping to have more gravy again today. Maybe in the shower?”
The zipper of my jeans is straining, threatening to bust open. I reach over and grab her fork out of her hand, scoop up a chunk of gravy-soaked biscuit, and take a bite. “I think that can be arranged.”
We finish the rest of our food, not speaking much while exchanging a few knowing smiles. I’m in the middle of figuring out how the hell I’m going to get the front of my pants under control when my phone buzzes with a text.
When I see it’s Cruz, the problem in my nether regions resolves itself. Nothing kills a boner faster than getting a surprise message from the brother of the woman I’ve been in bed with for the past twelve hours.
Hey man, we still on for drinks tonight?
I deflate even more. It’s not that I forgot about Cruz. He’s my best friend. Even when I went after Eden at the bistro to tell her how I truly felt about her, it’s always been at the back of my mind that I’d have to be careful about navigating our friendship.
But that thought went flying out the window the moment Eden and I got together.
I gaze at the text again, uncertain of how exactly I should handle things. I still want to hang out with Cruz. It’s just that the thought of seeing him after performing a dozen filthy acts with his little sister churns my stomach…because I’m going to have to meet up with my longest and most loyal friend, look him straight in the eye, and carry on like everything is perfectly normal when in reality I’m seeing Eden—the one thing I’m not supposed to do—behind his back.
“Everything okay?” Eden asks. “You’ve been staring at your phone for a while.”
I look up, heartened at the concerned look on her face. I try to smile, but it almost hurts—it feels so wrong to do in this moment when I’m doing the one thing I know would wreck her brother.
“Yeah. All good. That’s just Cruz. We’re supposed to get drinks tonight.”
“Oh.” I take in the surprise on Eden’s face. “Cool. I mean, it’s not weird, is it? You meeting him after we’ve…been together?”
“No,” I lie.
She frowns like she doesn’t believe me.
“Okay, yeah. It’s weird. Really weird,” I admit. “We’ve been friends since we were in diapers. And I know that if I tell him about us, it’s going to upset him. I’m doing the one thing that I know would piss him off.”
She nods like she understands. “I get it. I mean, I still think it’s ridiculous that he feels that way. I’m my own person. I don’t need my brother’s opinion on who I choose to be with.” She sighs, her shoulders slumping. “But honestly when I think about it, I kind of understand where he’s coming from. It would be weird to see your sibling hook up with your friend. I probably wouldn’t like it either if Cruz dated my friends. It would take some time for me to adjust to seeing them together.”
“Yeah.” I take a long sip of water. “I wasn’t planning on telling him about us. At least not right away.”
Eden doesn’t react at first. “That makes sense,” she says after a moment.
“It’s not that I’m trying to hide us—hide you.” I grab her hand in mine. “It’s just that this—being with you—feels really, really special. And I don’t want anyone to come in and taint it with their judgement.”
To my relief, Eden doesn’t recoil or roll her eyes. She simply tightens her hold on my hand.
“I feel that way too,” she says.
For a few seconds we sit there quietly, the sounds of dishes and utensils clanking and chatter echoing around us.
She glances at my phone, which I left on the counter top between our empty plates. “You should text Cruz back. He’s dying to hang out with you. We’ll meet up some other time.”
I press a kiss to her lips, careful to keep it PG in front of all these people.
“Besides, it’s probably a good thing for us not to spend every waking moment in bed,” she says, her tone teasing.
“Really? Because I’d have to disagree.”
Still smiling, she rolls her eyes and shoves my shoulder.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” I say to her.
“So are you.”
I kiss her again before turning back to my phone.
Definitely still on, man. Name the time and place, I’ll be there.