Follow Your Bliss (Dream House Girls #1)

13. Party Business

Chapter 13

Party Business

J ason

My stomach was in knots as we parked outside Misty’s parents’ house for the honey-do shower. I was only here for my sister, otherwise I wouldn’t step foot into that house for any money. Just how disrespectful would Misty be tonight?

Too bad I was too chicken shit to tell my mom about me and Rose, or having her on my arm might be a deterrent. Not that I’d lied to Rose about tonight—the StudFinders contract was the main reason I didn’t want us to appear as a couple, and Ashley definitely would be posting photos of tonight online. But it wasn’t such a bad thing to put off telling my mom I was dating Rose, either.

Rose leaned toward me from the passenger seat. “Wait, let me straighten your tie.”

This amazing woman entering my personal space would never stop taking my breath away. I slipped my hand into her dark hair and kissed her. I dreaded walking inside the party and acting like Rose wasn’t my whole world, dreaded how I’d eventually have to tell Mom that I’d fallen for one of the women she disliked the most.

She pulled back. “Someone’ll see us. But I have a surprise for you.” She held a small, black remote out to me. “Put this in your pocket.”

I took it from her. “What’s this?”

She smiled mischievously. “A remote control. When we go in there, we can’t act like we’re together, but…” She leaned her mouth close to my ear. “Every time you press that button, you make my vibrator pulse for thirty seconds. I want you to go through this whole party thinking about how wet this pussy is for you.” She nipped my ear and got out of the car.

Annnnd I was instantly hard. “This is your best behavior?” I called out. I sat for a minute studying the controls on the remote. How did I get mixed up with such a damn siren? She got our gifts from the back and walked around to where I was still sitting in the driver’s seat, reeling with excitement.

She tapped on the window. I put it down, and she leaned in, her low-cut dress displaying breasts I wanted to bury my face in. “Are you coming ? Or not?”

“ You’re definitely coming.” I shooed her out of the open window and exited my vehicle.

On the sidewalk, I reached for her hand, then pulled back. I couldn’t let anyone see that. I was absolutely being a coward for not telling my whole family about her yet, but she’d been talking to Lily, to her mom, her friends. Why hadn’t she told anyone about us? It’d been over twenty-four hours since I told her I loved her, and she still hadn’t said it back.

Her rose-colored dress hung in all the right places, and her smile pulled on all the right pieces of my heart. Too bad none of that would appease my mother.

I leaned closer to her as we walked. “You look beautiful,” I told her again.

Her face lit up. “Thank you.”

As she pressed the doorbell, I pressed a button on the remote. Her head snapped to me, lips parted. I leaned to her ear and murmured, “Every time you feel that, I want you to know that I wish it was my mouth.”

Rose turned bright red with wide eyes, as if just realizing she’d put herself in a lot of trouble. I raised my eyebrows at her and smiled.

A maid answered the door and let us inside the Hopes’ very fancy house well-kept by housemaids. Tonight it was full of people, most of whom I didn’t recognize. Rose was completely silent and still wide-eyed. Could be her sex toy, or maybe she didn’t know anyone either.

“Rose!” A woman behind us called out. We both whirled.

The brunette who squealed and wrapped herself around my girlfriend was familiar, but the blonde who hugged them both wasn’t.

“Heather! Abby! I missed y’all so much!” Rose said.

“I missed your face!” Heather planted a kiss on Rose’s cheek and left a lipstick stain, and Abby tutted and wiped it carefully off. New arrivals moved through the foyer, and the four of us shuffled deeper into the living room. Heather’s keen eyes darted between me and Rose. Shit. I was sticking beside Rose like we were a couple instead of going further in the party to find my family. Rookie mistake, but I’m glad it only happened in front of her friends.

“Jason Soniat, as I live and breathe.” Heather smiled, looking me up and down and coming straight in for a hug. “How much algebra have you done since we last met?”

“A lot,” I laughed. “Where were you at when I was in college? How’ve you been?”

“Great!” She wrapped her arm around Rose’s waist and pulled the blonde closer. “This is my friend and plus-one tonight, Abby Lalumandier, like the luxury cut flowers.”

“Her family owns the business.” Rose added.

“Hi.” Abby shook my hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Nice to meet you, Abby. Hey, you know I’m pretty sure Becca’s bouquets are Lalumandier.”

“Oh, that’s so nice! I hope she loves them.” She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear, her gaze darting to her friends.

“By the way,” Heather said, “my dad can get a crane for your tree situation. It’s still pretty hard to get through the streets, and he’s prioritized people who work for him. Is Thursday okay?”

Relief infused my chest. “Yes, wow. Thank you so much. Whatever day he can send it works for me.”

Mom called my name. I looked over the crowd and spotted her in the back by the sunroom, waving me over.

“Good to see you Heather, and nice to meet you, Abby. I have to go. Mother of the bride’s calling me.” I pressed the remote, smiled at Rose’s fluttering eyes, and went toward Mom.

Mom was near the sunroom with…well, shit. Misty and her parents.

“Hi Hopes.” I shook Mr. John’s hand and hugged Mrs. Rebecca, but put a hand up to wave at Misty. She fiddled with her earring, her brown eyes gazing at me with something akin to a dare.

“Jason, sweetheart,” Mom said, “I was just talking to Misty about the walking order for the wedding. Wouldn’t you love it if Becca could change the bridal party pairings so you and Misty can walk together?”

I lowered my brows at Mom, dread rising up my spine. “Why is Misty standing in the wedding?”

“Becca’s pregnant friend with the two children—what’s her name? Kimmy? Her obstetrician confined her to bedrest, so I suggested Misty take her place. She and Becca have been friends since they were in diapers.”

“Is Kimmy okay? And you have to tell Rose.” I pointed my thumb back toward the foyer. “She’s almost finished with the dresses.”

Mom laid her hand on my arm but looked at the Hopes. “He’s such a sweet boy. Yes, Kimmy’s fine. It’s just a precaution. And since Kimmy is taller, and with her pregnant belly a good bit wider, I’m sure it’ll be easy for Rose to alter the dress down to fit Misty’s petite frame. The two of you would make such a handsome couple walking down the aisle together.”

My heart sped up. I’d nearly forgotten I’d be walking with Rose down the aisle. I shook my head. “I wouldn’t mess with Becca’s plans, Ma. You remember how she had us all line up by height. I’m not rocking the boat.”

I couldn’t unpack how standing with Rose made me feel right now. She was in the corner animatedly talking and laughing with her friends. Heather held her hands apart, palms facing, a clear gesture of an obscene measurement. Rose shook her head and pulled her hands out wider. Abby pulled both of their hands down, and they all laughed harder.

Three guesses what they were talking about over there. My face went hot even as my male pride swelled. I hit the remote again. Rose shut her eyes and grabbed Heather’s arm, and I turned away before I lost composure and laughed out loud. I pulled out my phone before Mom could follow my gaze.

“Do you have Rose’s number?” I asked Misty. “Make sure you talk to her tonight.” This was so unfair. Rose was already stressed enough trying to get those dresses done without having to alter one she’d already finished.

I gave Rose’s number to Misty. When I looked up, Mom and Misty’s parents had disappeared, leaving us alone in the little area off the sunroom.

“I think we’re being set up.” She sidled close enough that the wine on her breath carried to me. “You look so fine in that suit.”

“Thanks.” I stepped to leave.

She grabbed my arm. “I haven’t seen you in a couple weeks. Has anything changed with your…” her eyes dropped below my belt. “Resolution?”

I roughly peeled her hand off. “That’s—wow. I’m gonna stop you there. I’m not interested in anything you’re getting at.”

She stepped closer, and I stepped away, my back hitting a column. She moved in. “So,” she said quietly, “if I wanted to pull you into a closet and suck what I bet is a big, fat dick—”

“Jesus Christ. No.” I took her by the elbows and kept her at arm’s length as I stepped away from the column. “I’m not interested.”

“I promise you’ll like it,” she giggled, trying to press closer.

“I promise I don’t want it. Don’t talk to me again.” I released her elbows and walked away.

Rose

Jason left me almost the moment we got here. The bastard pressed the remote and then went off to talk to beautiful Misty who was wearing a tight orange dress.

Heather leaned in toward me. “You’re totally doing it with Jason,” she said quietly.

“Heather!” Abby mildly chastised.

I threw my head back with a laugh. I’d missed this dynamic.

Heather raised her expertly groomed eyebrows. “Where’s the lie?” She spoke at her usual volume now, and before she could say anything else, I pulled them both a little farther from the people around us.

“Okay, yes, you’re right.”

They both squealed, but I shushed them.

“But you can’t tell anyone,” I pleaded.

Abby’s lips were a line. “Why?”

“Because. It’s…complicated.”

“So uncomplicate it for us,” Heather said.

I filled them in on the contract elephant in the room and the cousin who could blow our case wide open on the internet. “And it’s fine, honestly, because I’m not sure I’m ready to meet the parents, so to speak, even though I already know them.”

My friends exchanged looks, and Abby spoke first. “Okay. If you’re okay with it, I’m okay with it.”

Heather eyed me for a minute then smiled, a devilish light twinkling into her eyes. “Okay. But you have to tell us everything . Is it good?”

“ Fuck yes, ” I murmured. Our heads came together as we laughed. All the months we’d been apart melted away as Heather and I went through our usual comparing sex-notes talk, and Abby, the school librarian she was, pretended like she was too polite for such conversation but listened attentively and laughed all the same. I’d missed my Dream House Girls.

Heather eyed Jason up and down from across the room and held her hands out in a decent measurement. “Does he have a big dick, or does he just know how to use what he’s got?”

I grabbed her hands, pulled them wider.

Abby grabbed our hands and pulled them down laughing. “I can’t take you two anywhere!”

“So much both,” I whispered to them. “He loves giving oral, and he’s—” The vibrator buzzed against my clit and in my vagina, and I grabbed Heather’s arm reflexively. “ Motherfucker ,” I murmured.

“You okay?” Abby asked.

Heat shot to my face. I leaned in toward her ear. “I gave him a remote.”

Abby’s pale cheeks blushed, and she gasped with a big smile like one of her students might do after overhearing a dirty word.

Heather cackled, no blush to her even tan. “Yes, ma’am! You get what you can from that sexy man.”

The vibrations stopped, and even though Jason was hardcore edging me, I managed to regain my composure. “Look him up on Instagram.”

Heather’s phone was instantly out as Abby looked on. “What’s his handle?”

“Deck Daddy.”

Abby giggled and Heather guffawed, attracting the attention of three older women nearby who frowned at us and walked away with their noses in the air.

Heather stuck her tongue out at their backs and tapped at her phone before going perfectly still. “Holy fucking shit.”

“Oh my,” Abby said appreciatively.

Heather turned the phone toward me. “This is who you’re sleeping with?”

In the photo, a bare-chested Jason was lifting a cabinet against the wall to nail it, his shorts slipping down around his hips. I nodded solemnly, excited to have someone to talk to about Jason. I didn’t tell Mom because she’d get weird about me living with him, and I couldn’t tell Lily because swearing her to secrecy was a worldwide broadcast.

“Goddamn,” Heather murmured. “Look at that delicious man.”

“So how did this happen?” Abby asked.

“I remember your epic crush on him in middle school,” Heather said, “but were y’all together before you rented his apartment?”

“No.” I launched into a breathless summary of digging up his yard through this morning, when, after answering ten minutes to his question about how long it would take me to finish the zipper I was working on, he kissed me within an inch of my life and said, I’ll be in the loft. When you’re finished, come sit on my face.

It only took me five.

Why hadn’t I connected with my amazing friends earlier? Even though I omitted the part about him telling me he loved me, they completely understood where I was at with Jason. Heather never made me feel like a horny little freak for loving sex because she loved it just as much. And even though Abby was a little shy about sex talk, she was always so supportive.

“So I’m trying not to jinx it,” I finished, “but he’s a strong Level Two.”

Abby’s eyebrows lifted. “Really? Do you think he might progress to a Level Three?”

“I’m not stupid,” I insisted, although I felt like I was holding a knife with Jason’s blood on it. “I’m just enjoying being with him.”

“Heather! Rose!” Becca appeared from nowhere, launching herself first into Heather’s arms, then mine, then shaking Abby’s hand as they were introduced. Becca and Heather fawned over each other. I glanced at Abby, who smiled but said nothing. Did she feel like me, back in high school and standing on the outskirts of the cheerleaders? At least now I wasn’t not-pulling-off black lipstick and combat boots. Now I was wearing a feminine, slinky dress of my own design. So…progress?

Becca turned to me. “I’m so jealous of your dresses, oh my God.”

“Isn’t she so freaking sexy?” Heather slid her hand down my side and playfully slapped my butt.

“Stop,” I laughed. “You look beautiful, Becca.”

She beamed. “Thank you! Before I forget, I have a big favor to ask. Kimmy got put on bedrest and had to step out of the wedding. I asked a friend of the family to step in—Misty. That’s her, in the orange dress.”

My heart sank as she turned and pointed to Misty, her sleek blond updo like a divine halo blessing her beauty. I maintained my smile, but my insides melted in the sick realization—I was going to have to redo a dress.

“My mom said she’ll pay for the alterations to Kimmy’s dress.”

“Sure, no problem.” Shit on a stick, this sucked. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Thank you!” She grabbed Heather’s arm. “You’ll never believe who else is here…”

Their voices blended in with the rest of the crowd as Becca dragged Heather away from me and Abby, Heather mouthing I’m sorry!

The doorbell rang, and Mrs. Betty opened the door to Mom and Lily. “Dahlia and Lily!” she exclaimed, “Welcome! Come in, come in.”

Mom and Lily hugged her back, then they were all looking at me.

“Rose, dear, I didn’t see you come in.” Mrs. Betty floated over to us and hugged me as I introduced her to Abby. Now that I knew her son so intimately, I saw some of his features in her. His nose was nearly the same nose and his eyes a similar color, although his didn’t have the crow’s feet or the dark circles.

She touched Mom’s arm. “Your daughter is so talented. Has she shown you the designs she came up with for Becca’s dresses?”

Jason hovered nearby, watching us warily as if he thought about joining us. Our eyes met, and he patted his pocket with a smile.

That sexy son of a bitch.

“I saw them,” Mom said, “and thank you. I’m so very proud of her. It’s a good thing Becca caught her before she goes viral. Soon she’ll be too busy to take on local weddings.”

Mrs. Betty looked quizzically between us. “Oh?”

I laughed and laid my head on my mom’s shoulder for a second. “Let’s don’t get ahead of ourselves. PJ Lane wants me to make her bridesmaid dresses, maybe even her wedding gown.”

Mrs. Betty put both her hands over her heart, her mouth open wide. “That’s amazing! What a high-profile client!”

Jason inserted himself into our group, saying his hellos to Mom and Lily. He pulled out his phone. “Yeah, Mom, she’s about to be a rock star of wedding gown designers. I’ve been helping her with her Instagram. You should follow it too! Look at these pictures I took of her in her dresses the other day.”

Mrs. Betty nodded and smiled as she looked at whatever photos he was showing her. He must’ve had a carefully curated selection.

“Oh, this one, Rose dear, of you on the sofa in that bridal gown—simply beautiful. You do beautiful work. So talented and so lovely.”

“Thank you. That’s so kind of you.”

“That reminds me.” She turned her head back and forth until she located her quarry. “Misty! Come see, dear.”

As Misty made her way over, her gaze caught on someone walking. I glanced to see who on instinct, and it was Jason walking away from our group. I smirked. I couldn’t blame her. My boyfriend was hot as fuck.

“Rose, you remember my good friends’ daughter, Dr. Misty Hope. She’s stepping in as a bridesmaid to replace Kim.”

She stuck her hand limply out to me with a snooty smile. “Nice to meet you,” she said, as if we hadn’t met before. Her voice and vapid disinterest were like that of every dance team girlie who’d been a bitch to me in high school.

“Will you have time to rework Kimmy’s dress to fit Misty before the wedding?” Mrs. Betty asked.

No , but that wasn’t the right answer. “I’ll make it work. Can you come by tomorrow so I can measure you?”

“Sure. I’ll come by before church. Here, let me text you so you can send me your address.” Her fingers flew over her phone. “Jason gave me your number.”

“Where’s Becca?” Lily cut in.

“And where do the gifts go?” Mom held up a gift basket swathed in opaque crinkle-wrap that I hoped didn’t contain a bunch of sex toys. Although I had to admit that a “honey-do” shower was the perfect opportunity.

“Forgive me,” Mrs. Betty said. “I’m a terrible co-hostess. This way.”

Mom and Lily followed Mrs. Betty while Misty walked away calling someone else’s name.

I turned to Abby. “How have you been?”

Abby took a breath, but a voice beside us spoke first.

“Hi ladies. Friends of the bride, or friends of the groom?”

We turned toward the voice. A kind-faced man not far from our age approached us.

“Bridesmaid, dressmaker, and…close friend of Jason’s,” I said.

“Plus-one of a friend of the bride,” Abby said. “How about you?”

“I’m a friend of Jason’s too.” He stuck out his hand. “Antoine.”

“Abby. Nice to meet you.”

“Hi. I’m Rose.”

He took a sip of his beer. “Actually, I was invited by the daughter of the family giving the party. I’m in her singles’ group at church.”

“Oh, the prudish, ‘sex is evil’ group?” I blurted it out then felt my face go hot as Abby murmured Rose! “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

But Antoine was laughing. “Yeah, that’s them. Jason and I both got suckered into it—well, he stopped going before the hurricane. We joined a group to build some stuff for old folks and then Misty engulfed our group with her singles’ group.” He scratched his forehead between his glasses and pushed them up. “Jason must love his sister a whole lot to be here tonight.”

Abby and I exchanged glances. “Oh really? Why’s that?” I asked.

“Are y’all friends with Misty?”

“I barely know her,” I said as Abby shook her head no.

“Between you and me, no matter what that girl says on Sundays, she doesn’t know the meaning of the word no, especially when it comes from Jason.” He looked into the bottom of his bottle, as if judging how much he had left, then turned his head to look at the partygoers. “Look at her ogling him.”

Abby and I searched the crowd. Misty was by the bar drinking wine, and her eyes traveled up and down my boyfriend’s body where he stood laughing with Alex and taking no notice of her. Was she the reason for his rough night at that meeting? Super looking forward to working on her dress, now. Maybe I’d leave some pins in it or sprinkle itching powder into the seams.

Antoine shook his head. “She’s barking up the wrong damn tree.”

“Why do you say that?” Abby asked.

Jason’s eyes met mine. He winked, and my vibrator went off again. My whole body went rigid, and my cheeks went hot. I tested this fucker to make sure it was quiet, but was it my imagination, or could I hear it?

Antoine finished out a long drink of his beer and grimaced. “Jason isn’t interested in a relationship.”

The vibration ended, and I looked at Antoine sideways. Earnest, I-love-you Jason not interested in a relationship? Antoine had to be mistaken. Or maybe things had changed?

Abby’s hand snuck into mine, squeezing in apparent solidarity.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Well—he tell you about his ex?”

I nodded. “Yeah. She was a real asshole.”

He pointed at me with his beer-holding hand. “Precisely. He’s been working so hard to make it up to his family—especially his mom—after being away for so long. I think things are finally turning around for them, but his mom’s got him walking over hot coals trying to please her. It’s gonna be a while before he wants to be in a serious relationship again. And I’ll tell you what else. Whoever Jason does end up with is gonna have an uphill battle unless she comes mom-approved. And that’s the God’s honest truth, there.”

I blinked at him. Was Jason keeping me a secret from his family…on purpose?

Abby cast wide worried eyes at me and asked Antoine a question. I had no idea what.

Jason was keeping me a secret from his family.

I hadn’t even realized how closely I’d been holding the tender things Jason said to me until Antoine’s words upended them onto the floor, suddenly worthless as the scratch-off tickets littering the parking lot after St. Dorothy’s spring fair. Mrs. Betty didn’t seem to even like me. She would never approve of me dating her son.

Jason was across the room talking to his brother. Laughing with him as if my heart’s hands weren’t sifting through the litter, both desperately hoping to find and not to find an accidentally discarded winning ticket. Maybe he’d said those things to Antoine before we met. He’d been through a lot with Kasey, and it made sense that he’d be gun shy and worried about pleasing his mom.

Maybe we didn’t even have a chance.

Or maybe I was jumping to conclusions with very little information.

I excused myself from Abby and Antoine to get some water and center myself. Jason was a Level Two. I didn’t need the parental approval of a Level Two man. Level Two men were about friendship and fucking.

So why was my heart beating out of my chest?

The vibrator buzzed again, and I paused to let it pass, pretending to admire a hideous black and gold sculpture of—what in the fuck were these? They kind of looked like tall, spindly unfortunate souls from the animated version of The Little Mermaid .

Whatever. I was so wet and aching with need, how were my little lace panties even holding the vibrator in place? Maybe I just needed my Level Two boyfriend to fuck me in a dark corner, and everything would be okay. A server passed with a tray of champagne flutes. On a whim, I grabbed one and quickly sipped the whole thing down.

Whoof. Tingly. I shivered and dropped the glass on an empty tray. Let’s get this party started.

Jason

All I wanted was to go home, give my girlfriend the leg-numbing orgasms she deserved, and then curl up on the sofa and make more ribbon roses for her. But this party felt never-ending. At least Becca and Brad were finally about to open their gifts.

Rose walked by with her mom and sister near where I was helping Mom plate up an appetizer.

Ms. Dahlia looked between her daughters. “Did you both set your intentions for the full moon in Pisces?”

“When is it?” Lily asked, sipping her drink. “And remind me what this moon’s for?”

Rose’s easy laugh sounded a little off. “It was Thursday, Lils, but I always sneak ‘em in late anyway. What’s it gonna hurt?”

“Pisces is about being in touch with your feelings and intuition,” their mom said. “Do you have aquamarine and fluorite?”

As the three of them walked away, Mom leaned into me, rolling her eyes. “I’m so glad our family won’t have to see the Guidry girls much after the wedding. I’ve had my fill of their pagan nonsense.”

“Rose is still my renter, Ma.” Maybe I could soften her up on Rose to make the bomb I’d drop later less painful. “And different people are allowed to have different beliefs about God.”

She dramatically dropped both shoulders and hands. “Jason, honey, you need to be more careful, having that girl living on your property. Making that table with her, taking all those photos with her—she’s going to get the wrong idea, and so is everybody else.”

My heart sank. “I’d be flattered if anybody thought we were together. She’s beautiful. A fantastic person.” Mom’s face betrayed nothing. “And her family’s always been good to us. You used to feel differently about them. Remember? And you just greeted all three of them like they were family less than an hour ago.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around yet to see the damage to your property up close,” she said, completely ignoring me. “I drove by last week on my way to Charlene’s to try out a new hairstyle for the wedding. It’s just terrible. The damage, not the hairstyle. What part of the rectory did it fall into?”

“Right through Rose’s bedroom,” I said, completely forgetting I was supposed to be distancing myself from her.

Mom’s face went pale. “Where is she sleeping now?”

“Spare room behind the chapel.” The lie unwound from my tongue more naturally than I was comfortable with. This wasn’t me. I had to stop lying to her.

Mom nodded. “Good. Keep that distance, and don’t let her needle her way in. You’re such a sweet boy, and I’d hate for you to be taken in by a girl like that.”

I rolled my neck. “Jesus, Mom, don’t be like that. They’re good people, and you know it. Besides, aren’t you supposed to love thy neighbor?”

“Jason Colin Soniat, are you quoting Scripture to try and win an argument with me?”

I grinned at her. “Maybe. Come on, though. Can you please make an effort to stop being so ugly to them? I’ve gotten to know Rose really well. If you did, you’d love her.” Too , I wanted to add.

Mom sighed heavily and turned toward the oven. “I’ll try, Jason, but I can’t promise anything.”

I caught Rose’s eye from across the room. She smiled at me, and my heart skipped a beat as I winked at her. I pressed the button again, and Rose’s smoldering eyes stared me down, her gaze clearly drifting to a doorway.

My blood heated straight through my body. Yeah, I had it bad. And I would break Mom’s heart if she didn’t get past this.

“Tell me, love, how did you like seeing Misty again? You should ask her out.”

“No.” I said it too loud, and several partygoers nearby jumped and looked at me. I lowered my voice. “That’s not happening.”

“But why not?” she asked quietly. “Look at her! Who wouldn’t want to go out with a beautiful professor of geology?”

“There’s so much more to a woman than looks and smarts, like a good character.”

“Don’t be silly. She has a wonderful character.”

I rubbed my hand over my eyes. “Mom, I don’t know how to tell you this without making you uncomfortable, but after you walked away earlier, she propositioned me.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she pulled me away from the closest other people. “No she didn’t.”

“I’m not making it up! She wanted me to go into a closet, and I’m not gonna tell you what she wanted to do in there.”

For a second, she looked like she believed me. But then her face turned sour. “A nice church-going girl like that would do no such thing. I’m sure you heard her wrong.”

“Yeah, well, agree to disagree, because I know what I heard. Not that sex is dirty,” I pushed, surprising myself at my frankness. “But I told her I didn’t want to get physical with her, and she’s still completely ignoring me. I’m not getting involved with someone who’s blatantly disrespectful like that. You have to stop pushing women at me, Ma. I’m perfectly capable of finding a good partner on my own.”

“Well, have you?” Her eyes interrogated me. “Have you found someone on your own?”

This was my chance. My mouth opened...but nothing came out. Again.

“That’s what I thought,” she said, her tone weary and disappointed. “If I leave it to you, you’ll bring home another Kasey.”

“No I won’t—” The rest of my sentence was drowned out by Lily calling everyone over to watch Becca and Brad open gifts. Mom hurried off toward my sister, who was opening Rose’s gift—a quilted Christmas tree skirt that I have no idea when she had time to make.

Fuck. I bit back my frustration and smiled at my sister hugging Rose. Me, Becca, and Alex—three out of six Soniats liked Rose, and I’m sure Mark would when he came in town for the wedding and met her. Even four wasn’t a bad start, but what kind of relationship could I build with Rose if I couldn’t stand up to my mother about her?

Rose dropped back and made her way toward the doorway she’d pointed out to me with her gaze and then stopped, looking back at me. A clear invitation. I pressed the button again, and she slipped from the room like a ghost.

I made my way through the crowd, and when I got close to Becca and Brad, I nudged my gift toward her feet.

She looked up at me and laughed. “Okay, I get the hint.” She and Brad pulled the tissue paper from the big bag and withdrew a patio cushion, the ones she’d been heavily hinting at to go with a patio set she’d been begging me to make for her for the past year.

Brad looked confused, but Becca squealed. “Ahhh! Does this mean what I think it means?”

I smiled and nodded, commanding my feet to stay put until their attention went to the next gift. “Yep! It’ll be on your back patio when y’all come back from your honeymoon.”

She got up and hugged me with several thank yous , and slipped back into her chair as Brad began opening the next gift.

I backed away from the crowd. Good. Hopefully now nobody will be looking for Rose or me for a while. I covertly grabbed a handful of napkins, stuffed them into my pocket, and slipped out the same doorway that Rose had gone out.

She was at the end of a long hallway, studying paintings on the wall. I gave her another vibration. She looked straight at me, then took off down another hallway. She may’ve been the one with a vibrator in her panties, but my whole body was tense. I was angry at myself, and that wasn’t a feeling I’d had a lot of since I left Kasey.

Why couldn’t things be easier for me and Rose? Why couldn’t my mom stop being so difficult? Why couldn’t I stand up to her? And why couldn’t Rose tell me she loved me?

I didn’t even care that I was sex-stalking my girlfriend through someone else’s rambling mansion. Rose and I weren’t only about sex, no matter how phenomenal that was with her. This easy partnership, this pure bliss at existing together. We were more. We had to be more.

I took off across a long hallway. This house was really two houses the Hopes had bought and built together into one monster. Every time I’d see Rose go around a corner or down a hallway, I’d press the button, and she’d take off again. Cat and mouse, erotic hide and seek, far from the party.

After the fourth spot-and chase, I pressed the button repeatedly, following Rose into a dark room with old furniture piled in. I shut the door and locked it. Double-checked the lock.

She was against the far wall, glaring at me with fluttering eyes, bathed in the streetlight coming through a high window. Her long hair curled sinuously down her arms. Her full, rosy lips turned up at the corners. That delicious mouth always built me up with sweet words and soothed me with laughter. Her talented hands beckoned me closer, kind hands that helped me and surprised me, every day. The enticing swell of her breasts rose up and down in a pant. Underneath her glowing skin was the sweet heart that gave itself in service to me as easily as I gave myself to her.

She was it, for me. I was hers, and she was mine. She had to be, or my heart would truly break.

I took the remote out of my pocket and held it up with a smile as I pressed it again. She threw her head back with a whimper and pressed her hand between her legs. I was so hard, my dick could’ve cut glass.

I stalked her as I undid my pants and freed my erection. I turned her around roughly and pressed my cock against the perfect curve of her ass. She wiggled back against it as I gathered her dress up the front with one hand and wrapped the other gently around her throat.

“Yes. ” The citrusy aroma of champagne whispered out with her gasp. Her hands grasped at mine and helped me pull up her dress. “Be rough, baby. Take what’s yours. I need you so bad.”

Something primal took over my body at her words echoing my thoughts. “Goddamn right, you’re mine. Is this the game you wanted to play?” I fished the vibrator out from her panties and brought it to my mouth, making sure she watched me suck her divine taste off it before I bent her over the padded back of a sofa. The little vixen spread her legs and perked her ass up at me.

I tore her lace panties apart. Thrusting myself in so easily, so deep—her needy, wet heat nearly made my knees buckle. She whimpered out my name, grinding back against me. I dug my fingers into the flesh of her thighs and sealed her body tight to me as I ground into her. “This pussy is mine, this ass is mine…”

Her orgasm shuddered around my cock, and she cried out, “Jason, more.”

Each contraction of her body made me more feral. Nothing had ever felt like this.

“That orgasm was mine,” I rasped, “and every moan that comes from your pretty mouth is mine. You’re not ready to say you love me, and that’s okay.” Amid my grinding thrusts, I took a deep breath to get my emotions in check. “But don’t you dare for one goddamn second think this is only about sex.” With my knee, I brought one of her legs up onto the back of the sofa for better access, and I thrust deeper as she cried out soft sobs of yes , and please , and harder .

“Because this cock is yours. I want you twenty-four hours a day. This mouth is yours, anywhere you want it, anytime you want it.” I slipped my fingers around and circled her clit, and she ground harder back against me. “These hands are yours, to please you and serve you. And my heart…” I swallowed hard. “My heart is yours, baby, it’s yours, and I’m not taking it back.”

She gyrated against me, moaning. I went faster and harder. I was spiraling toward my release, but I wasn’t done. “I love you, Rose. Tell me—tell me we’re more than sex.”

“We’re…we’re more than sex,” she panted, her voice hoarse and her hands clawing for purchase on the sofa seat against my onslaught.

“Tell me again. Promise me.” Her tight, divine heat and soft cries had me so close. But I was going to make her come first.

“ Fuck , Jason. We’re more … oh God … oh God… ”

The contractions of her orgasm popped me off like a champagne bottle deep inside her body, wringing me dry. I slumped against her, sweat cooling. My whole body trembled. I withdrew and pulled her up from the sofa.

She fell into my waiting arms, kissing me like she might die if she didn’t, grasping my face in her hands as I delved my tongue into her champagne mouth. “We’re more.” She pulled back and looked at me, and whatever she saw on my face made hers crumple in concern, her welling tears catching the scant light. She swallowed hard and nodded again, searching my eyes and caressing my face. “It’s okay. We’re so much more, baby. We’re so much more. I promise. I—I really care about you. So much.” She pressed her lips to mine, and I kissed her again, and again, and again.

I gasped in a shaky breath, roughly wiped a tear away, and pulled the party napkins from my pockets. She silently watched me wipe my spend from her thighs.

“Sorry about your panties.” I shoved them into my pocket and pulled her dress back down around her knees. “I’m keeping this.” I shoved her vibrator into my pocket, too, and picked up the remote from where I’d dropped it on the floor. “Let’s get this party over with so we can go home, yeah? I saw a bathroom a few doors back down the hallway.”

I grabbed her hand to walk away, but she held me back.

“Jason?” Her big eyes were bright and wet. “I’ve only said it once. Before I knew what it really meant, and I—I got trampled . It’s hard for me to say…” She swallowed hard and pressed her hand to her chest. “But you know I feel…” She blinked and tears came down her face.

I nodded, trying to smile through the ache in my chest. “It’s okay, baby.”

She threw her arms around my waist and buried her face against my chest, hugging me so tightly. “Mine,” she whispered fiercely.

A huffed laugh escaped my lips, and I crushed her to me, kissing her head. “Mine.”

For as long as she would have me.