16. Este
ESTE
T ime has been a salve. In the month since our first sleepover, I’d gotten to know Dom much better, and we’d achieved a deep level of trust between us. He even took my car for an oil change and a tire rotation last week.
It took some time to get my head out of my ass, worrying that Dom would be just like Cole.
Sometimes, I still have to remind myself that I can curl up with Dom safely at night during our sleepovers, because he won’t wake up screaming with night terrors like Cole did.
I don’t feel the need to share too much about Cole with him; after all, Cole is the past, and Dom is my future.
I don’t avoid the topic, but I don’t feel the need to tell Dom every detail. I just want to stay present.
My present is currently all about prom. A senior girl has invited Reed to prom, but Reed isn’t interested in her, so I’ve been listening to her practice a “let her down easy” speech for the last half hour.
“No amount of practice is going to make it sting less for Alana,” I remind my daughter, who sighs dramatically and makes a loud, “Urrrgh!” noise. “Just go do it, sweetie.”
Daisy confuses her. In one breath, she’s talking about Pedro Pascal being “zaddy” (I’m also learning a lot of new words), and the next, she’s all about how “fire” Demi Lovato is looking. She’s giving Reed whiplash.
Reed doesn’t want to ruin her friendship with Daisy by revealing her true feelings, and I don’t know what to tell her.
So, I remind her that all good things start with bravery.
That we’d all be alone if we suppressed our feelings constantly, and it can’t be good for her to keep such a big secret.
She just gives me an, “Ugh, Mom!” and walks away, but I hope, deep down, my daughter is listening.
Humming, I put together a chicken pot pie in the kitchen while Reed finally calls Alana.
I’m eager for Dom to arrive. He’s been coming over for dinner most nights now, and he and Reed have gotten closer and more comfortable with one another.
I’ve been sleeping over at his place a couple of times a week, but I make sure to leave a dinner plate in the fridge for Reed to warm up when I’m gone.
She comes home from volleyball ravenous and demanding carbs and thousands of calories.
“She still wants me to go with her as friends!” Reed shouts as she runs into the kitchen with a gleeful smile on her face. “And they still need chaperones, so I’m signing you and Dom up. Just pretend you’ve never met me. I mean it. If you see me there, I don’t know you.”
I chuckle; glad my parents hadn’t been chaperoning my prom, or Reed might not exist right now.
The phone rings in Reed’s hand, and by the Cheshire cat smile she gives, it must be Daisy.
Within seconds, Reed asserts what a bitch their coach is, and then yells, “Seriously? You’re coming too?”
I pretend I’m not eavesdropping as Reed finds out a senior boy asked Daisy to prom, and she told him she’d go with him as a friend.
“Why just a friend? Daxton is cute. You’ve mentioned that a few times,” Reed asks. “What? You do? Oh my God, Daisy, you can’t just tell me you have a crush without telling me who it is! You’re really going to keep it a secret?”
I cringe as I crimp the top and bottom pie crusts together. If Daisy’s got a crush, Reed will obsess until she figured out who it’s on, and Reed might as well be in the FBI, given her propensity for figuring out people’s secrets.
“You’ll tell me on prom night? Deal. You better not ditch me for him,” Reed tells Daisy as I pop the chicken pot pie into the oven and set a fifty-minute timer.
Maybe I’m overly invested in Reed’s love life, but I want this thing with Daisy to work out. Friendship is the heart of love, after all. Plus, I don’t want my daughter broken-hearted on prom night.
Dom chooses that moment to walk through the door and jokingly call out, “Honey, I’m home.”
I shush him and tilt my head toward Reed, perched at the kitchen table, still quizzing Daisy about this new crush.
“Daisy?” Dom mouths, pointing at the phone.
Nodding, I hold up a bottle of wine I’ve just opened and he agrees with a vigorous nod.
After I pour him a glass, I top mine off, walk over to him, set the glasses down on the table behind the couch, and throw my arms around him.
I’m still as eager to kiss him every day as the first time we kissed, maybe more so.
I want to feel his tongue along my lips, but I settle for a quick peck, which still gets an “ew” from Reed.
But she winks before running up the stairs, her phone cradled against her ear.
Dom takes the opportunity to crush me against the wall, slide his hand up my shirt, bypass my bra, and squeeze my breast in his hand.
“Fuck, baby. You look so gorgeous in hot pink,” he tells me as he frees my breast entirely from the under-wire bra holding it up and sucks my nipple in earnest.
I tug him to my room, away from potentially prying eyes, as he lifts my skirt to my waist and bends me over the bed.
“You ready for me?” His voice is demanding and sexy.
We’ve been sexting all day. I’m still learning, since Cole thought sexting was “juvenile.” Where I suck at it, Dom excels. I’ve been wet for him all day.
All I give him is a nod. I’m dripping obscenely as he shoves in deeply and thrusts hard.
I’ve given up on trying not to have sex with Dom when Reed is home.
Now, I focus on being as quiet as I can.
As he fucks me, I practically suffocate myself in a pillow as he brings me to the brink and sends me over easily when he slides his hand around my hips and flicks my clit.
Nothing in life feels righter than when Dom’s inside of me. It gives me a feeling of completion I’ve never felt before. He kisses the back of my neck as I come, spasming around his hard length as I restlessly move against him.
“Yes. Oh, Christ,” Dom groans as his thrusts hasten and then become uneven.
“Come inside me,” I beg him as I buck my ass against his front, pushing up to standing as we remain joined. I start moving up and down, fucking him deeply, and his hand comes around to my throat and squeezes in the way I love so much, his other hand rubbing circles around my clit.
“Can’t last,” Dom groans, giving one last shove into me before he fills me up.
The way he pulses so hard inside me sends me to heaven again, and I gush all over.
His hand tightens around my throat, and his other hand reaches up to pinch my nipple exactly the way I like.
It takes a lot of effort to keep myself from screaming, and eventually, he clasps his hand over my mouth.
Dom starts the shower in my adjoining bathroom and calls for me to jump in. After I check the door to make sure it’s locked, I climb in with him and press myself against his chest as we kiss.
“Dinner will be ready soon,” I tell Dom as he tries to initiate another round of sex.
“I got it!” I hear Reed shout from the other room as we quickly jump out of the shower.
Oh, no. She’s going to know what we’ve been doing in here, at least to an extent, which is so embarrassing. We hurry through the rest of the shower, and then I take a couple of minutes to use a wide-toothed comb on my wavy hair and throw on comfortable PJs.
Dom goes to the kitchen first to get the table ready.
“Mom,” Reed calls out as I approach the table where Dom is serving me a heaping slice of chicken pot pie. Her voice is syrupy, so I know she’s got a big ask. I turn my eyes to her pointedly as if to say, “I’m listening.”
“Sooo. Um.”
Oh boy, an “um?”
“Spit it out.” I lightly smack her shoulder.
“I’ve been calling all my friends, and it turns out that a lot of us are going to prom.
I was thinking…maybe…if you’re okay with it…
” Reed takes a deep breath, “Maybe we could have an after-party on the property by the creek. I can use my allowance to buy a fire pit, and we could change into casual clothes and swimsuits and jump in the creek like you did when you were a teenager.”
Oh, she’s good. When you were a teenager . Reed reminds me of all my 3 a.m. creek dips to drive home the point that I, too, had been a teenager once who’d done all the things she’s proposing.
“No.” Dom’s voice is firm.
My head rears back as I open my mouth to tell Dom it’s not his decision, but he adds, “Do it at my house, but everybody sleeps over if they drink, and nobody goes in the creek drunk. They could drown.”
Reed nods thoughtfully, as if she’s weighing the idea.
“I’ve got a six-person hot tub out back and a fire pit. I’m happy to come over and build a fire before y’all get there. As long as your mom’s okay with this, of course!” Dom glances over at me, where I’m nodding, considering it.
“Will there be boys?” I stab my fork into the crust and take a bite of what turns out to be a fabulous dish.
“Probably just a few, and they’re really nice guys that you’d approve of. And I won’t be sleeping with them.” Reed gives me a grin as if that’s the cherry on top of an acceptable sundae, and I can’t hold back my laughter.
“I will say, knowing you’re not being impregnated on prom night will help me sleep easier. Fine, but be responsible. Wait until you’ve all swam in the creek to start drinking heavily, okay? And if any of the parents have questions, have them call me.”
I accidentally drop my phone on the floor and pick it up. When I come back up, I feel a bit woozy, and as I sniffle, Dom asks, “You okay, honey? Or should I call you ‘Sniffles’?”
“You should definitely not call me that!” I smack his chest with the back of my hand and reach for a tissue.
When I get up to blow my nose, I’m glad it’s clear liquid, so there’s probably no cold or sinus infection, which is good because I’m so over having to take antibiotics.
My recurring sinus infections had better not be returning.
“Oh, Reed signed us up as prom chaperones.” I nudge Dom’s shoulder as he chews.