Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Carly
I can tell the sun is up, but I keep my eyes closed. My head is pounding. How much did I drink last night?
I try to count the glasses of wine but lose track at four. Fuck. I don’t hear Ava, which means she’s either still asleep or she stayed with Al. Shit. I’m the worst mom ever.
I’m also hot. Why am I so hot? I’m way too young for hot flashes and night sweats.
Sitting up and stretching, my leg bumps into something hard. I jump a little as my eyes fly open.
Holy shit! I’m half naked in bed with Bray.
Did we…no, no, we wouldn’t have done that? My gaze travels over Bray’s perfectly sculpted pecs and abs. He has on underwear and nothing else. His arm is draped over my left thigh. His hand is dangerously close to the apex of my thighs.
Mortified that I’m only wearing a t-shirt and underwear, I slowly pull my leg free from his arm.
He stirs and rolls to his side. I scurry out of his bed and find my clothes on the floor.
Grabbing them, I tiptoe down the hallway to my room and close the door.
My mind races on how the hell we got like that.
I try recalling the evening, but it gets hazier and hazier.
We ate. We drank. Vaguely, I remember walking back here.
But then I can’t recall much, just little flashes here and there.
I pull on some sweats and walk to the main living space in search of my phone. After a moment, I find it on the sofa.
The battery is dead. Shit.
I find my charger and plug it in. While I wait, I brew some coffee and have a pastry that the staff left here yesterday. My phone lights up, and I look down at it, seeing a text from Al.
Al: Ava’s awake and watching cartoons. The staff brought us juice and pastries. Text when you wake up.
A sigh of relief washes over me as I scan the texts before that one. Apparently, Al offered to have Ava stay at his villa. He came back here and got her stuff because the staff had the spare key. That was at nine last night. I sort of remember this now.
I continue sipping my coffee as I peruse texts. There is a cute one on my dating app from Francesco, wishing me a good night. Two from Roxy, saying she hopes we have a great evening. My mind glitches as I try to remember if she was at the tasting room event. Yes, I think?
How do people drink and party and then function the next day?
Sighing, I toss my phone on the counter. I hear motion in front of me and look up to see Bray standing there, scratching his head. His hair is wild, he has two-day-old scruff, and his morning wood is…at attention.
“What the hell happened last night?” he groans.
I quickly avert my gaze and study my coffee.
“I…well, I got drunk apparently,” I stammer as I wave a hand up and down my body as if to show him how disheveled I am. Then my gaze goes back down to the ridiculous hard-on in his pants.
His gaze follows mine, and he winces as he jumps behind a counter to hide it. “Shit. Sorry. Uh, it’s…morning,” he manages.
I don’t know what about that suddenly sets me off, but I bend over and start laughing. “Oh…my…God. What the hell happened last night?” I manage as I laugh.
I pull myself together and look up at him. He’s fighting a laugh. I can tell as he presses his lips together.
He shrugs.
I narrow my eyes. “Seriously, do you remember?”
He places his hands on the counter and leans forward.
“Well, we ate dinner with some wine. Then Vito gave us more wine, and things get fuzzy after that, but I think we managed to come back here after Al said he’d watch Ava.
And then you said you were hot, so you started stripping.
Then, I said I was hot, and you started pulling my shirt off.
” I swallow as memories start popping into my mind.
“And then you swore you heard something, and I said to sleep in my bed. Then I think you passed out.”
I bite my lip. Wow. This is why I don’t drink. I’m a hot mess after two glasses. I can do three absolutely tops.
“Uh, sorry. I think I drank way too much,” I state.
“You think?” he asks.
I grimace. “Uh, yeah. You tried to stop me, didn’t you?” I say, as a memory starts to emerge of Bray attempting to grab an entire bottle from me while I climbed on a table with it. “I’m never drinking again.”
Bray laughs and walks around the island. His dick is back to normal, and he holds open his arms. I walk into them, and he hugs me. “You never get to just be you. It was a night off from being a mom. You’re allowed to have fun and let loose sometimes,” he says against my hair.
“Yeah, but I was…a little out of control,” I say against his chest as I hide my face.
He cups my jaw and forces me to look up at him. “You needed it. And I was here with you. I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you, ever.”
His eyes search mine as we stare at each other, and for the briefest of seconds, I swear he’s going to kiss me. I feel my eyelids start to flutter closed and then…bam! The front door flies open. We jump apart like our parents just caught us in the basement making out.
“I’m back!” Ava calls out as she drops her bag on the floor and runs over to give me a hug.
Al walks in and looks from Bray to me with a raised eyebrow. “Sorry, did you not get my text?”
“Oh, uh, no. We were just making coffee,” I say as I quickly start grabbing a mug for Bray. I fill it and push it toward him.
He takes it, raises it at us, and then says, “I gotta go shower. I’ll see you later on.”
“Mom, Mr. Al let me eat pastry for breakfast. We watched this old cartoon. Then we played this board game, and then he said we should come over here,” Ava rattles on as she practically jumps from one foot to the other.
I give Al a pointed look, and he smiles sheepishly. “I should get going. I’ll see you later tonight?”
I nod. Since it’s a small wedding, everyone is invited to the dinner after the rehearsal.
With a wave, he leaves us.
“Mom?” Ava says as Bray comes back down fully dressed.
“Yes, Peanut?”
“Can we go look for the key to that secret door?” she asks as she twirls in a circle.
Bray gives me a look, and I mouth, “Sugar.”
He nods and picks Ava up to spin her around more. She giggles.
“Let’s go look for it while your mom showers,” he suggests, winking at me as he walks out carrying Ava. “Come find us when you’re dressed,” he calls out as the door shuts.
I slouch against the counter. Holy fuck! What just happened there? Was I imagining that, or did we almost kiss?
Taking my coffee, I head to the bathroom and shower. All I can think about is the way Bray’s hands felt on my face and the way his eyes searched mine. I liked it…a lot. And that scares me.
I dress and head out to find Bray and Ava. It doesn’t take me long to see that Ava is checking under every flowerpot on the patio.
I look at Bray, and he shrugs.
“What are you doing?” I ask Ava.
“Looking for the key,” she says as she lifts another pot.
“Why here?” I inquire as I lean against a stone wall.
“Mr. Al keeps the key to the greenhouse under a flowerpot, and I see that all the time in movies,” she says. I watch as she sticks out her tongue in concentration.
“Oh,” I manage as I fight a laugh. I look at Bray. “Why is Unca Bray not helping?” I tease. Bray gives me a look, and my lips twitch with a grin.
“Unca Bray says I should look because he’s old and can’t see,” Ava says without stopping.
“Oh, he’s old, huh?” I reply. Then I remembered how he looked in the kitchen a few hours ago.
His erection was projecting proudly from his body.
His muscles rippled as he moved. He’s sexy as fuck and looks amazing.
He’s the furthest thing from old. My cheeks heat a little, and I walk over to Ava to distract myself, but I feel Bray’s stare follow me.
“Takes one to know one,” he whispers in my ear, having snuck up on me.
I jump, and he wraps an arm around my waist to keep me from falling over.
“I’m not old,” I grumble as I stand and step out of his embrace.
Although I feel old every day. While all my friends were enjoying their late-twenties, I was having a baby and being a mom.
And I love being a mom, but I also miss feeling like myself, the old Carly.
I’m more than a mom. There are so many different parts of me.
But lately, I feel like people only see me as a mom.
“What’s wrong?” Bray asks as he pushes some hair off my cheek.
“Nothing. Just…tired. Shall we go check in the kitchen and get some lunch? Mommy didn’t get much for breakfast, and she’s hungry,” I say to Ava.
“OK,” she says cheerfully as she skips ahead of us.
“You sure?” Bray asks as his hand wraps around my wrist, stopping me so that I’m forced to look up at him.
“Yes. I’m fine. Really. I’m just tired after last night,” I say again, hoping that sounds convincing. He eyes me suspiciously but slowly releases my wrist.
“Alright. Maybe you should go take a nap after lunch. I’m fine, and I can play with Ava before we have the rehearsal dinner,” he offers.
“Maybe. Let’s see how I feel once I eat some food,” I say.
He gives me another look that’s too intense, and I glance away as we walk toward the kitchen. I have no idea what’s happening between us, but things feel…different.