CHAPTER 8 FALLING #2
“Friends?” She sounded incredulous. I wasn’t as bad as my brothers, but I had once been quite the playboy, early in my college days.
“Yes.” I didn’t really want to say more, but I knew my mom had the ability to pull it out of me.
Silence met me on the other line which was slightly surprising. “Well, tell me about her.”
“Seriously?”
“She must be important if she’s in your bed. But, I suppose I’ll grant you your privacy. I called for a reason.”
“Which is?” I looked down to make sure Aife was still asleep. Little snores left her lips as she clung to me. The smile that she pulled from me almost felt silly.
“Your brothers are coming for Thanksgiving.
Should I expect you too?”
“Of course.” I smiled, bigger. My mom was my world. “I wouldn’t miss it, Mom. You know I love your cooking more than anything in this world.”
Aife groaned softly. She smacked her lips together before rolling over, taking the blankets with her.
Stifling a laugh, I climbed out of my bed while pressing my phone to my ear.
I was going to make Aife and me some breakfast.
Mom had taught us all to cook. Really, she had ingrained it in us.
She refused to let us be incompetent, to rely on others for basic things.
“So, you really aren’t going to tell me about this friend?” Mom asked, her voice doing that thing it did when she really wanted to know information. It took all my effort to not roll my eyes.
“Mom.” I opened my fridge and pulled out some eggs, bacon, and cheese. “Pester your other children.”
“Unfortunately, all my children are man-whores!” Blinking, I pulled my phone away from my ear and looked at it. “I am not a man-whore.” I put my phone on the counter, engaging the speaker so I could have both hands free to cook. “I was in a relationship for six years, Mom.”
“Ugh, I hated that girl.” She sighed. “My point is,
TJ, you seem to have moved on if you have a friend sleeping over.”
Breaking the eggs into the pan, I shook my head.
“We didn’t do anything.”
“But you like her.” It was a statement, not a question. “Does she know about Melody?”
“No, I haven’t told her yet. She knows about Dad.”
“Holy crap. You do like her!”
A creak from the stairs alerted me that my Aife was up. “Bye, Mom!” I yelled and practically broke my phone ending the call.
Aife ambled down the rest of the stairs, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
A massive yawn left her mouth, causing one to leave my own.
Her hair was up in a messy bun; my shirt basically swallowing her whole.
The mere sight of her sent blood rushing away from my head directly to my dick.
Her small hands continued to rub her eyes.
“Who were you talking to?” Her voice was rough with sleep as she walked into my kitchen.
“Mom called asking about Thanksgiving plans.” I finished our omelets and placed a plate for her on the counter. “Christmas and Thanksgiving we try to spend together, but it’s hard when we’re spread all over the country.”
Aife smiled and grabbed a fork. “Thank you for breakfast. Back to Humble then?”
“Actually…” I trailed off. “We bought Mom a house in Bridgewater with a pool and plenty of space for all of us to stay when the time comes.”
“Bridgewater?” Her eyebrow raised. “Like the fancy, rich area of Katy?”
“Yeah,” I said, “We wanted to spoil Mom and Dad.
So, we did.” I shoveled some eggs into my mouth, suddenly embarrassed by the wealth we’d splurged on our parents. I didn’t think Aife would judge, but the shame still burned my cheeks and chest.
“My family is like ten minutes from there. We live off Clay and Greenhouse. I’ll also be there for Thanksgiving.”
I swallowed hard. “We should meet up if time permits.” Was that desperation in my tone? Jesus, maybe Mom was right about me catching feelings.
“I think I’d like that.” She polished off her omelet.
“In the meantime, I need to head home. I’ve got a paper to write.”
Nodding, I watched her walk back upstairs to change. She was done in maybe two minutes. “Will you come to my game Wednesday?” That same tone from earlier tinted my question.
Her big eyes flicked to mine. “I’ll try. Work nights are hard. Can Dre and Nat come?”
“Davis would love it, and so would I.” I smiled at her, a soft one that only she seemed to bring out.
Her grin lit up her entire face. “Then I’ll be there.”
She pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll let you know when I’m home.”
Zeke had a habit of walking into my home like he owned it.
I had no idea why I’d given him a key. His red hair flared against the green in my place.
Zeke’s face was so pale, like he hadn’t been sleeping.
His eyes connected with mine as he sank into my armchair, and a deep sigh left his mouth.
Clearly, my friend was going through something.
Before I could ask him what was wrong, my door was flung open to reveal a haggard Davis.
He was usually very put together, so my mouth dropped open in shock.
Davis also released a deep sigh as he dropped onto my couch.
I was still coming off the high of being with Aife this morning.
She had rattled my world a bit, and I’d only known her since August…
which was two months. Two months and she had completely altered my world. My friends, though, seem frazzled.
“Y’all alright?” I asked and handed each of them a beer.
Zeke grabbed his bottle and chugged half of it.
“I made out with Dre last night. We were drunk, but it was amazing. The things that woman can do with her tongue…”
He let out a groan, clearly remembering pieces of last night.
“Then she realized what we were doing, and she shoved me away. Told me it was a mistake.”
He dragged a hand through his hair. “Fuck. She was good, though.”
I blinked, processing everything he just said to me.
“Dude.” I didn’t have any words right now. Zeke was a bit of a man whore and didn’t let women get to him. He was a fuck them and leave them type of guy. The fact he was caught up over a kiss truly meant something. “Do you like her?”
“She’s loud and obnoxious and all in your face. But at the same time, Dre is so totally and completely herself. I’ve met her twice, man. Why the fuck is she getting to me?”
“She’s wormed her way in.” Davis finally entered the conversation. “When you’ve found the right woman, they can do that. Look at TJ with Aife. He’s fucking smitten.” There was a hint of bitterness in his tone that forced my brows to lower.
“Now, I wouldn’t say that.” I rubbed the back of my neck. I didn’t really know how to explain that I was falling.
“Dude, we can all see it.” Davis fiddled with his beer. “At least you two can talk to the woman you like. I fucking floundered alone with Nat. That woman flusters me.” My shoulders dropped as the attention turned to Davis.
Zeke snorted. “What happened, D? I thought things were going fine between the two of you.”
“Yeah, then you and Dre wandered off, and I asked her just the dumbest questions.” He sighed and looked at me. “Nat flusters me, and I just stuttered through our conversation. It was so awkward.”
“Look, shit happens.” I looked at both my friends,
brows furrowed as I continued to rub my neck and head. “Sometimes, we just get too into our heads. Clearly, all three of us are impacted by these women. Aife just wants to be friends right now. It’s disappointing, but I’m not going to let it get to me. If they still want us, we have to accept that.”
Davis stared at me like I had two heads. Usually, he was the smart, thoughtful one. “Man, one day with Aife, and you’re already smarter.”
“Y’all are idiots.” Laughing, I finally sat down next to my friends. “Can we watch the damn game now?”
Zeke rolled his eyes. “Which one of your brothers are we watching on this fine Sunday?”
“It’s the playoffs for baseball. I think we’ll be stuck watching the Houston Galaxy,” Davis said and finally drank his beer.
“I don’t care if my little brother is on the team, the Dragons will not play on my TV.” Seriously, fuck the Dragons.