49. Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Thirty-Nine
JULIAN
The world shakes me awake and laughs like a maniac.
“Make it stop!” Andrea groans and I realize it’s not all in my head. My eyes squint open to find two idiots standing on the bed, jumping up and down like children.
“Wakey wakey!” Carter whisper-yells. Noticing that he succeeded in waking me up, he places his legs on either side of me and bounces. “Heyyyyyy, buddy.” He makes to pinch at my nipples and I scowl at him.
“Don’t even fucking think about it,” I warn, trying to pull the blanket back up but the big bastard on top of it is too heavy.
A loud snort comes from the other side of the bed, where no one other than Maisie Dupont bends over her best friend to pry the pillow off her face. “How do you look so pretty in the morning?” she asks, creeping close to her face to admire her.
Andrea laughs, covering her face with both hands. “Maisie, your breath smells like you swallowed a bar.”
Carter lifts his fingers at his cousin. “She swallowed two, actually.”
As if on cue, Maisie hiccups. Her and Carter’s eyes meet briefly before they both erupt into a fit of laughter. I look over at Andrea and find a dopey smile on her face as she watches them. All of my previous annoyance leaves me at the sight of it .
I knew Carter was coming, but I didn’t expect Maisie.
On the plane, Andrea told me that Maisie planned to spend the holiday with her parents, but something must have happened.
It wouldn’t surprise me if what she told me about her parents is anything to go by.
Apparently, they aren’t the most present in her life.
They divorced when she was younger after her father cheated on her mother.
Now they can’t stand to be in the same room without her there as well.
“You’re one to talk,” I say to Carter, throwing a pillow at him. He tries to dodge it but only ends up in the targeted pathway.
He points at himself, affronted. “Me?” he questions with furrowed brows. “I’m as sober as October.”
“Ow!” Andrea yelps. “You stepped on my leg, you big goof!”
Maisie gasps in horror and uses both of her hands to push Carter off the bed. His arms flail on the way down before his body hits the floor with a loud thud.
He shoots upright with his arms above his head and a lopsided grin on his face. “I’m okay!”
I press my tongue into my cheek to keep myself from laughing at the moron that starts to two-step across the floor.
“Maisie, I can’t breathe,” Andrea wheezes next to me. I look over to find Maisie lying on top of her, her head resting atop her hands as she stares down at her with a goofy smile.
As if an idea crosses her mind, Maisie’s eyebrows lift in suggestively. “Are you naked?” she whispers, trying to lift the blanket to get a peek underneath.
Andrea snatches it back to her chest with a startled laugh. “No!” She is.
Maisie’s eyes dart to me and she turns on her side, still on top of Andrea as she rests her head on her fist. “Are you naked?”
“Maisie, this is so inappropriate,” Andrea groans, tossing me an apologetic look that I don’t need. I couldn’t be more amused.
“I am,” I admit.
She squeals, the sound sharp and biting to the eardrum, causing everyone in the room to wince. She jumps onto her feet and points accusing fingers at us. “Carter, they’re both naked!”
Carter pales or maybe the drinks are starting to turn in his stomach. “No.” His eyes lock on mine. “You consummated?”
Ah, Christ. I know where this is going. I point at the door. “Get out.”
He presses a hand to his chest. “I’m not going to lie to you, man, this hurts.”
“I told you this would happen,” Maisie tells him, jumping off the bed to rub his shoulder.
Patting her hand, he nods. “Not like this, Maze. I thought you met after marriage.”
She blows out a harsh laugh that has his eyes flashing to hers. Masking her face to one of understanding again, she shakes her head at herself. “Sorry,” she mutters.
With a huff, Andrea sits up, clutching the blanket to her chest. “Stop being drama queens and get out because I really need to pee and I’m not afraid to flash you.”
“Come on, let’s go talk shit where they can’t hear us,” Maisie says, comforting Carter as she maneuvers him to the door.
“So dramatic,” Andrea murmurs, scooting closer to kiss my shoulder. When the door shuts, we’re alone again and she smiles at me. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” I kiss her nose and cheek before burying my face in her neck to breathe her in. “You do look very pretty in the morning by the way. It’s unnatural.”
She laughs softly as she scratches my scalp with her fingernails and the intense feeling of contentment rushes over me. I could stay here like this forever and that’s what scares me the most about her. My wants have turned to needs and the idea of ever losing this nearly rips my heart to shreds.
“Who would have thought all it’d take was a few drinks and airport trauma for them to like each other,” she muses.
“We’ll see if it lasts once the drinks start to wear off,” I mutter, my hands roaming the curves of her soft bare skin.
She smells of sweet berries and sex. After what happened at her old ballet studio, I was a man riding the highest high.
Last night, I went down on her without the expectation of anything in return, but before I knew it, she was rolling me onto my back and sinking herself onto my cock.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, kissing her neck as I rub her thigh.
“Sore?” I kiss the corner of her mouth before rearing back to look at her face.
“A little,” she tells me, her fingers caressing my cheek as her green eyes bore into mine with so much care that it hurts. I ponder briefly when it’ll stop hurting—if it ever will. “But I like it.”
I bite back a groan and try to fight how much power this woman has over me. “You are a very dangerous woman,” I say softly, tucking her hair behind her ear.
She lights up at having spotted my weakness and a sneaky smile spreads across her face as she moves away from me. My body immediately misses her warmth and when I go to pull her back to me, she dodges my hands with a tsk sound.
She slides out of the bed, leaving behind the blanket. My eyes are glued to her ass as she sensually walks toward the bathroom, making a show of it. When she reaches the doorframe, she looks at me over her shoulder. “Let’s test another theory, shall we?”
AN HOUR LATER WITH the taste of her still on my tongue, I sit at the kitchen table with Andrea’s parents and grandmother.
We’re waiting for Willa and Mason to go to the festival in town.
Apparently, it’s a family tradition and they go every year.
I can tell by the looks on her parent’s faces that they’re happy to finally have her join them again.
I’ve never been a part of a tradition before, so I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a tiny speck of boyish excitement that I felt.
I can tell she’s excited too because she’s currently bouncing on her toes from where she stands near the counter with a steaming mug of coffee cupped in her hands. It brings a soft smile to my face as I wrap up warm sugar cookies made by Beatrice, who keeps insisting I call her Grams.
“Thanks, dear,” she praises, patting my hand.
“I wonder what the raffle prize will be this year,” Andrea says and then looks to her grandmother. “Did Bill tell you?”
“You know I can’t tell you that,” she answers, pressing a snowman-shaped cookie cutter into the dough I rolled. “It’ll spoil the fun.”
Miles chuckles from where he stands next to Andrea at the counter. “It’s been strange not having you here.”
“Pfft,” Andrea puffs, rolling her eyes before meeting mine. “By that he means easy. I always beat him at all the booth games. ”
Elaine shoots her daughter a loving look. “My oh-so-humble daughter.”
“What can I say,” she says easily with a shrug. “‘Demure’ is my middle name. It’s in my nature.”
“Winning or being humble?” Miles questions with a raised brow.
I grin at the look on her face as she answers, “Both.”
“Shall we tell Julian how you got the name Piggy?” Charles asks his daughter, earning himself a stern glare.
“Let’s not—”
Beyond intrigued, I interrupt. “Absolutely, you should.”
“It was a pie-eating contest,” Beatrice tells me. “She ate so fast we were sure she’d have eaten the dish if it wasn’t made of aluminum.”
“Grams!” Andrea gasps, eyes as wide as saucers. “I thought you loved me.”
She rolls her eyes, and it mimics the same way Andrea has rolled her eyes at me dozens of times. “Don’t be dramatic. You know you’re my favorite.” She waves a dismissive hand through the air. “Don’t tell your sister.”
“Mom,” Charles sighs. “You can’t say stuff like that.”
“When you’re my age, you can say whatever you want.”
Miles chuckles, poking Andrea in the ribs, causing her to arch away and spill her coffee onto the counter. “Shit. Damn it. Miles!”
I try to keep my face neutral as I watch him, not exactly liking the way he’s looking at her.
“I had only meant it’s been dull without you here,” he tells her, looking at her in a way that reminds me they’ve known each other through childhood. A gnawing discomforting ache settles in my gut.
“Of course it has,” she quips, moving to grab a paper towel, completely aloof to the effect she has on her ex-boyfriend's brother. When his eyes fall down her backside, I have to keep myself in check before I cause a scene in front of her family. It wouldn’t look good if I laid the guy out in the middle of her family’s kitchen.
When she turns, her eyes go to me. “Want to go fifty-fifty with me on the raffle?” she asks, wiping up the coffee.
Her father blows out a puff of air. “You must really be something if she’s willing to split the prize with you.”
She snorts. “You act like I’m a monster.” Giving me a pointed look, she asks, “So?”
“Of course, ma cerise,” I respond, throwing in the endearment in hopes Miles will take a fucking hint and quit staring at my girl like she’s available.