Blake
That beautiful smile drops from her face as she stares at her phone screen.
“They’re here in Denver?” I ask.
She closes her eyes and sighs, her shoulders sinking. “I guess so.” She looks up at me. “I should call them.”
She taps her thumb on her phone screen and exhales sharply. “Hey, Mom. I got your text. You and Dad are here in Denver? Like, right now?”
She goes quiet for a long moment. Then she closes her eyes and tilts her head back, like she’s tired of whatever her mom is saying to her on the other end of the line.
“I wish you guys had told me you were coming…No, I’m not mad, I just wish I had known so I could plan something for us to do…This is kind of a last-minute thing you’re springing on me…I don’t want to argue with you…That’s fine, but I just wish you guys would…Fine. Whatever. Okay. Bye.”
She hangs up, her lips pursed, and her brow furrowed. She looks so stressed. So different from how happy she was a minute ago.
“What happened? Are you okay?” I ask.
“It’s official. My parents are in town. Yay,” she says, her tone defeated.
“I thought you said they didn’t know about parents weekend.”
“They didn’t until they got a flyer in the mail a few weeks ago that Hollis U must have sent to all students’ parents.
” She tugs on her ponytail and closes her eyes.
“I don’t have the energy to deal with them.
Not when they’re still mad that I transferred here and every conversation with them turns into an argument. ”
“Where are they staying?”
“At a hotel downtown. They want to meet me for breakfast in the morning.” She groans. “I really don’t want to sit across from them at some cafe and politely nod along while they rip into me for transferring here so we don’t cause a scene in public.”
My chest aches. I hate seeing her like this. So stressed out and sad.
“Then don’t,” I say.
“What?”
“Don’t go out to brunch with them. Invite them over to have brunch at our place with my parents.”
“Blake, no. I can’t do that. You planned that with the rest of the guys for their parents too. I don’t want to intrude.”
“You won’t. Poppy’s parents will be there too.
It’s not a big deal at all. The guys won’t mind.
And hey, my parents will be excited to talk to your parents.
They both live in Grand Junction, but they haven’t seen each other much since you and I moved away for college.
They’ll be busy catching up, and that’ll take some of the heat off you. ”
The worried wrinkle in her brow eases.
I reach out and gently stroke her cheek. She closes her eyes and hums. She turns her face and kisses my palm. I nearly groan at how good her soft lips feel against my palm.
She looks at me, her green eyes bright. “You’re really okay with my parents crashing your brunch?”
I grin. “Of course.”
I wrap my arms around her and hug her. She nuzzles her face into my chest. I tuck her head under my chin and breathe in the sweet smell of her shampoo.
I love this. I love having her in my arms. I love feeling her body melt against me.
“You’re the sweetest ever,” she says softly.
“Anything for you, B.”
She smiles up at me.
“Come on. Let’s head home. I’m in charge of making the overnight French toast casserole for tomorrow. You gotta help me from screwing it up.”
She laughs, and we head back to the house.
* * *
“Is the French toast casserole supposed to look like that?” Leo asks me.
I sigh as I stare at the dish. “No. It’s not.”
Nick walks into the kitchen and frowns at the pan. He looks at the charred edges, then he pokes the soggy middle. “How is both burned and undercooked?”
“I misread the recipe and set the temperature wrong.”
They both start laughing.
“Remind us to never let you bake anything again,” Leo says.
Nick pats my shoulder. “It’s cool, Travis and Anna are at the store right now picking up stuff to make a croissant board.”
“What’s a croissant board?” I ask as I dump the failed casserole into the trash can.
“Anna found it on Pinterest. It looks like you just buy some croissants from the store or a bakery, and set them on the counter with a bunch of stuff. Like deli meat, boiled eggs, cheese, fruit, and jam.”
“That sounds way easier than a casserole. Why didn’t we think of that?” I ask.
“Because we’re not very smart,” Leo deadpans.
Nick grins. “I don’t need to be smart. My girl has the brains for the both of us.”
Leo rolls his eyes while I laugh.
“Hey, where’s Briar?” Nick asks.
“I think she’s in the garage helping Poppy unload drinks in the cooler,” I say. I start washing the burned pan in the sink.
Nick leans against the counter next to me and grins. “So last night I heard some interesting noises coming out of your bedroom.”
I don’t look up from the dishes I’m washing.
“Was that you or Briar making that high-pitched moaning sound?”
I frown at him. “Dude. Don’t be gross.”
Nick bumps my shoulder and grins. “When were you gonna tell us that you and Briar finally crashed through the friend zone?”
“Wait, you and Briar are dating now?” Leo asks.
I turn off the water and dry my hands on a kitchen towel. “We’re not dating. We’re just having fun.”
Nick’s grin turns smug. Leo quirks his eyebrow at me.
Nick shoves my shoulder again. “Dude, get real. We all know how much you like her. You’ve always liked her. You wanna be with her.”
I huff out a breath. “Yeah. I do. But she’s pretty skittish after the way her ex treated her. She wants to go slow. She doesn’t want to put a label on us. She doesn’t want the pressure.”
Nick’s expression turns thoughtful. Leo nods along.
“I’m just trying to follow her lead. I don’t want to scare her off by coming on too strong,” I say.
“Yeah, I get it,” Nick says.
“That sucks her ex was a jerk,” Leo says.
I grit my teeth just thinking about what he did to her. How he hurt her.
“He was a fucking asshole.” I don’t say more. Briar confided in me when she told me what he did. I swore I wouldn’t tell anyone.
Nick pats my shoulder. “She’ll come around. I see the way she looks at you. She likes you, man. A lot. But you’re right not to pressure her. Just show her you can be patient with her. It won’t be long before she’s ready to call you her boyfriend. You’ll see.”
A hopeful feeling courses through me.
“You sound pretty confident,” Leo says to Nick. “When did you become the dating expert?”
Nick chuckles. “I’m not. I just know what it’s like to be into a girl who needs more time to decide if she likes me the same way.”
“Is that what happened with you and Poppy?” I ask.
“Yeah. And look how that worked out.” He flashes that cocky grin.
I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling.
A minute later, Poppy and Briar walk into the kitchen.
“Drinks are loaded into the cooler,” Poppy says.
Nick walks up to her, grabs her waist, and pulls her against him. “I missed you.”
Poppy chuckles. “I was gone for less than ten minutes.”
“That was the longest ten minutes of my life,” he growls before kissing her.
I toss a kitchen towel at him. It lands on his head. Briar laughs.
“Hey, can you make out with your girlfriend later?” I say. “You’re supposed to be cooking the eggs.”
“In a sec,” Nick says before tossing Poppy over his shoulder and carrying her to his bedroom, which is next to the living room.
Poppy’s giggles float through the house. The door shuts.
Leo rolls his eyes. “I’m gonna go put on my headphones so I don’t have to hear them fucking,” he mutters before heading up the stairs to his bedroom.
Soft, muffled noises echo through the house. I shake my head as I start cooking bacon on the stove. Briar chuckles.
“And he had the nerve to say that we were being too loud,” I say.
Briar’s smile drops. “Wait, what?”
“Nick mentioned he could hear us fooling around last night in my bedroom.”
When I look up, Briar’s face is bright red. “Oh my gosh, really?”
I smile at how big her eyes are. I grab her waist and pull her against me.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” I say. “I like that you’re loud.”
She flashes an adorably flustered smile as she looks up at me. “I can’t help it. You’re really good in bed.”
Pride swells through my chest as I kiss her. When we break apart, she bites her lip at looks up at me.
“So, Poppy told me that one of the tenants in the building she lives in is moving out in a couple of months.”
My heart sinks. She wants to move out.
“I want to go look at it. Will you come with me?”
I try to smile, even though I’m disappointed at the thought of her leaving the house. “Yeah, of course.”
She grabs my hand in hers and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Hey. You’re not mad, right?”
I cup her cheek. “I’m not mad. I won’t lie though. I’m gonna miss sharing my bedroom with you. I’m gonna miss having you in my bed every night.”
“I’ll miss that too. But I think I should have my own place.
This is your place with your teammates. And Poppy’s apartment building is only like two miles away.
Not far at all.” She traces her fingertip over my chest. “You can come over and stay in my bed for a change. And we can be as loud as we want without worrying about anyone hearing us.”
I perk up instantly. She deserves her own space. And she’s right. I’ll come over all the time, and it’ll be nice to have the privacy of an apartment. I kiss her. “Okay, you convinced me. This is a great idea.”
She giggles against my mouth. “Hey, can we try something new for our sex lesson tonight?” she says softly.
“Of course. What do you want to try?”
Her cheeks are pink again. “Riding your face.”
Pleasure rockets straight to my dick.
She bites her lip. “I read it in a book once, and it sounded really hot, so I thought—”
I crash my mouth against. “Fuck yes, you can ride my face,” I growl.
She moans softly into my mouth.
Her phone buzzes with a text, interrupting us. When she checks it, her smile fades.
“My parents are on their way over.” Her lips purse, and her brow furrows. That stressed, worried look flashes in her eyes as she texts them back.
I slide my arms around her and hug her. “It’s gonna be okay. Today will be fun.”
She sighs. “I hope so.”