Adele
Ihad a secret hookup. Or was he a fuck buddy?
No. He was so much more than that. A secret lover?
Ha, this wasn’t a bodice-ripper. Secret boyfriend, maybe?
Other than nixing the term girlfriend, we hadn’t defined our relationship, and I wasn’t very clear on the details. Regardless, it was surprisingly fun.
A torrid, secret affair sounded exhausting, but what we had going on was hot. Sneaking around with Finn wasn’t just sexy; it was the most fun I’d had in a long time.
So much fun, in fact, that I was strategizing a way to escape family dinner as soon as possible so I could meet up with him. I had skipped last week, and my mom tended to get nosy and ask questions when one of us missed too many, so my best defense tonight was to show up.
In my pocket, my phone vibrated. Discreetly, I tilted forward and slid it out, but I kept it in my lap.
Stretch: I have a surprise for you.
Adele: ??? Better be good. Hoping to get out of here soon.
Stretch: You want me waiting for you? Naked?
Adele: Not waiting. Vacuuming or doing something useful. But naked. You know how much cleaning turns me on.
Stretch: Yes, my Virgo queen.
“Would that be nice?” my mom said, her voice so pinched my head snapped up in response.
I knew that tone. I knew it well. Shit. My entire family was staring at me. Heat bloomed in my cheeks, which meant they were probably bright red. Had they caught on to my little dalliance? Why was I suddenly the center of attention?
My mother eyed me while plating a third slice of pie for Tucker. “Adele, what do you think?”
Shit. She was calling me out. There was nothing to do but smile and wait for one of my siblings to fill in the blanks. They weren’t great at staying quiet, so I had no doubt I’d be out of the hot seat in a minute.
“We were talking about Thanksgiving,” my mother hinted, with a fake smile plastered across her face. Oh no. We could not be doing this again. “Alice offered to host.”
Across the table, my sister-in-law was smiling serenely.
Since joining the family two years ago, Alice routinely offered to host holidays, and my mother always politely declined.
Did Alice still not understand that Loraine Gagnon lived for holidays?
And that if she insisted on taking over, my mother would probably lose both her mind and her will to live?
Sitting beside his wife, Henri was oblivious. He had already turned away and was deep in conversation with Remy, clearly not keeping his wife in line. I adored Alice, and so did my mother, who worked with her at the school every day. But she did not know the kind of strife she was creating.
“Thanksgiving is so far away,” I said lamely. Not sure how to deflect. Being caught off guard meant I was off my game. I shot a glare at Hazel, who looked like a deer in the headlights, and then my gaze settled on Parker.
She gave me a subtle nod, silently signaling that she’d help. The woman routinely took down criminals. She could deescalate the monthly holiday hosting dispute.
“Actually,” Parker said, grabbing Paz’s. “We have big news.”
Paz leaned over and gave her a kiss on the temple. It was a gesture I thought my brother incapable of before he met Parker. “Brace yourself, Mom.”
The crickets chirping outside the screen door only emphasized the anticipation growing as we all waited with bated breath for what they had to share.
“We’re pregnant!” Parker said after an unfairly long pause.
The entire table erupted into chaos. Squealing (my mom and Goldie), questions (Henri and Tucker), and hugs (Hazel and Remy and Alice).
“Guys, please,” Paz said, holding out his arms and gesturing for everyone to sit.
My heart stuttered and my stomach did a weird flip. My best friend and my brother were having a baby. I’d have a new niece or nephew soon. Damn. It took a minute to register the emotion that had washed over me, but when I did, I couldn’t help the smile that split my face.
My mom immediately pulled out her phone and snapped photos.
Tucker was already concocting a plan to place bets on whether it was a girl or a boy.
Everyone was talking all at once, and across from me, my friend was truly glowing.
I was surrounded by so much joy and happiness that my chest ached.
Though a twinge of sadness hit, too, because Finn wasn’t here with me.
What would it be like if he were sitting at the table with my family?
Would he fit in with the crowd seamlessly like Alice and Hazel and Parker had?
We had the room—my parents had purchased this table long ago with our future families in mind—and I wanted to believe my family had room in their hearts for him too.
But what if they didn’t?
My family was my whole world. These people right here were everything to me. And being with Finn could tear us apart. Right now, what we had was light and fun and sexy, but he’d been clear about wanting more. Only, what if more simply wasn’t possible?
After dinner and several rounds of hugs and congratulations, I headed home, still wrestling with my feelings.
For so many years, I’d been searching for love.
For companionship and friendship and respect and passion.
And there was a small voice in my head that kept telling me I’d found it. I’d found him.
Finn was at my house when I arrived, already making use of the key I’d given him. He was in the backyard with He-Man, who was barking at him like he was an intruder.
He was bent over a five-gallon bucket in the grass. His hair was down and covering his face. I itched to touch him to ground myself.
When my shoes hit the deck, he stood up straight and hit me with a giant grin. “God, you’re gorgeous. Get over here.”
Obediently, I sashayed my way to him, and when I was within arm’s reach, he pulled me in for a long, languid kiss.
“Ready for your surprise?” He waved to the bucket.
“What are those?” I asked, peering over the lip of it.
“Those, my sexy, beautiful woman, are eco-friendly water balloons. They have magnets and can be refilled.”
I laughed, my heart floating in my chest. “Water balloons, seriously?”
“It’s August in Maine, so it’s ninety degrees with one hundred and ten percent humidity. Trust me, water balloons are necessary. Plus.” He smacked my ass. “I think you could use the stress relief.”
I bit my lip and shivered at the pleasure and pain that rippled through me at the contact.
There had to be at least one hundred water-filled orbs in there in a rainbow of colors. After a moment of contemplation, I had to admit he wasn’t wrong. Smacking him square in the chest with a water balloon would probably be really freaking fun.
“Okay. I’m in.”
“Good girl. Now go inside and put on a skimpy bikini. ’Cause I’m gonna get you all wet and dirty, and then I’m gonna lay you out in the wildflowers and eat your pussy.”
My thighs clenched in response to his dirty words.
I secretly liked it when he bossed me around, though I’d never tell him that.
At this point, I should be used to the dirty talk and the bossy attitude and the demands, but every single time, it got me so worked up.
Not for the first time, I wondered how I’d resisted him for as long as I did.
I was working on a sassy comeback when he peeled off his T-shirt and tossed it onto the back of a lounge chair.
Fuck me. No matter how many times I saw Finn shirtless, the novelty didn’t wear off.
His chest activated some kind of evolutionary instinct in me, and the moment his skin was exposed, I lost the ability for rational thought.
Instead, my brain defaulted to commands that involved clubbing him over the head and dragging him back to my cave so I could make giant Viking babies with him.
I’d like to think I was a bit more evolved than my cavewoman ancestors, but the broad shoulders, thick muscles, and the dusting of chest hair made me go full Neanderthal every single time.
He bit his lip and gave me a cocky smile as he tied his hair back. “Oh, She-Ra. I love the feel of your eyes on me. But I can’t wait another minute to get you all wet.”
He shooed me away, and I practically ran to my bedroom to change.
I emerged a few minutes later and found him filling a second bucket. He carefully opened each balloon and filled it to capacity before closing it again. Thankfully, my yard was fenced and flanked by mature trees, so it was unlikely that we’d be seen by any of the neighbors.
He nodded at the bucket he’d filled first, signaling that it was mine, so I grabbed it and stashed it behind a tree. Then I loaded my arms with half a dozen balloons, ready for battle.
Any thoughts I had about him taking it easy on me vanished as soon as the first water balloon hit me in the ass. My spine snapped straight as the cold water splattered, and I whipped around, only to catch a glimpse of him diving behind an azalea bush.
“This means war!” I shouted.
On the deck, He-Man barked wildly in agreement and ran in circles. I got Finn a few times before he darted across the open lawn. I took that as my opportunity and chased him down. He had me in both speed and strength, but this was my territory, and I’d use it to my advantage.
“Do your worst, She-Ra,” he shouted, lobbing another balloon with ridiculous accuracy. “Because when we’re done, you’re all mine.”
We ran and dove and shouted as we threw balloons and came up with increasingly dramatic ways to fall when we got hit.
At one point, I slipped on wet grass and landed flat on my back.
I lay there and laughed for a full minute.
Then all my anxiety faded away as I cornered him behind the hostas, two balloons in each hand.
“Surrender,” I said, arms in the air. This was the most fun I’d had in years.
He looked at me, his face completely serious, and said, “I already have.”