Chapter 25 #2
Eden and I hurried to a booth selling hot apple cider. We bought paper cups of the steaming beverage to warm up, sipping it while we strolled and took in the sights. A student band played swing tunes in the town square, and we stopped at the edge of the crowd to listen.
“The trumpet player is hot.” Eden craned her neck. “They’re all hot. I feel about fifty degrees warmer. Think I should take this off?”
She plucked at the sheer layers of her dress. Underneath, she was wearing a pink bikini I’d loaned her.
“Girl, it’s cold out.”
“Come on, Jorie! I will if you will.” She nodded toward the sparkly gold bikini under my dress, then ogled the band onstage. “God, I’m horny for everyone right now. This is fun. I like it.”
I snort-giggled. “I love this for you. Let’s do it. Sixty seconds, then the dresses are going back on. Count of three, okay? One, two, three…”
We whipped off our dresses and ran into the thick of the crowd. The town square was filled with people dancing.
We moved close to the curved stage, accompanied by whistles. Sixty seconds stretched into minutes as we spun each other around. We tied our dresses to our shoulders like capes, and they flew out behind us.
As our moves became increasingly silly, I smiled at a little girl who skipped nearby. A paper crown perched on her head, and painted rainbows smeared her cheeks. She clutched a balloon puppy in one hand and an apple fritter in the other. She watched Eden and me with an awed expression.
“You look like princesses,” she exclaimed.
“So do you, fair child.” I curtsied.
The little girl giggled and ran back to her family.
Suddenly, she made me think of the baby on the way. My dad’s kid, my new half-sibling. Would it be a girl? So eager to experience the world, so full of hope and joy, never knowing how she might get hurt?
“Look, Jorie. Look.” Eden put her hand on my cheek and turned my face.
My stomach turned a somersault. Gavin stood at a booth for one of the local breweries with Matt from Korner Koffee. They both wore flannel shirts, had beers, and were deep in discussion with the man behind the counter.
“Let’s go talk to them!” Eden exclaimed.
“What? It’s our night. We don’t have to talk to those men.”
“Yes, we do,” Eden insisted. “I want to get to know your boyfriend.”
“Eden! He’s not my boyfriend. We haven’t discussed any of that.”
“Well, why the hell not?”
I blinked. Eden rarely swore, even mildly.
“You like him,” she said. “He likes you. Simple as that. Come on.”
She tugged me across the square to the booth. Someone bumped into me, I lost my footing, and I practically fell into Gavin, pulling Eden with me.
“Shit! Sorry.” I was laughing hysterically. “Gavin! Matt. Hi. Hello.”
Gavin caught both our arms, steadying us.
He stared at me — my bikini, my bare skin covered with goosebumps, my dress hanging from my shoulders like a flag.
His eyes moved to the painted flowers on my cheeks, then dropped to my breasts.
I’d thought it was a great idea to draw a little rosebud on each of my tits.
“You must be freezing,” was all he said.
He took off his jacket and covered my shoulders with it. Eden was hastily pulling her dress back on.
“It’s my two favorite customers.” Matt grinned and offered me a red plastic cup. “Want a beer? Try this one, I think you’ll like it.”
As I reached for it, there was a funny silence. Gavin shot a pointed look at Matt.
“What? Can’t another man offer me a beverage?” I said innocently, taking a sip of the beer. “Oooh, you’re doing the stern daddy thing. I love it.”
Matt’s eyes moved between us. “Wait. You two are together?”
“Don’t tell anyone.” Eden leaned toward Matt. “It’s a secret. And Jorie claims he’s not her boyfriend.”
“Eden,” I hissed, turning red.
“Why a secret?” Matt looked perplexed.
“Reasons,” Eden said darkly.
Matt laughed. “Eden, you want a drink? My treat.”
They went to the counter of the brewery booth, leaving me alone with Gavin.
Wordlessly, I handed him his jacket and put my dress back on. He draped the jacket around me again.
“Not your boyfriend, huh?” he murmured.
“I don’t know,” I whispered back, my heartbeat drumming. “Are you?”
His pause lasted a few breaths. “Do you want me to be?”
Our friends stood three feet away. Someone was dancing around us with fizzing sparklers. I was buzzed and a little high.
And we were having this conversation.
My answer was clear, but it scared me. If we called ourselves something, couldn’t that something be taken away?
“Can we just…be? With each other? Be with each other and not have to… God, I can’t with words right now. I don’t know how to do this.”
“I understand.” His lips grazed my ear. “Let’s just be. With each other.”
When I put my hands on his chest, his heart beat even faster than mine.
Eden waltzed up with a foaming cup of beer that sloshed over the rim. She happily took a sip. Matt handed beers to Gavin and me while extolling the glories of the hops that the brewery had used.
Gavin raised his eyebrows. “Is Eden much of a drinker?”
“Not at all.”
His lips quirked. “You’re both high as kites. Is that new for her, too?”
“Who’s being a stern daddy?” I clinked my cup against his. “Does Stern Daddy know about fun? Or has he forgotten everything about his youth?”
The smile I loved broke over Gavin’s face.
“Why don’t you remind me?”