Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Abby
The smell of roasting coffee beans and sugary baked goods hits my senses as soon as I step inside Peak Brews.
It’s the only coffee shop in town, so there’s a line nearly to the door. I’m in desperate need of something buttery and sweet this morning, so the wait will be worth it.
After that cosmic orgasm last night, I slept peacefully. You’d think I would have been awake half the night contemplating everything, but I fell asleep moments after Linc stepped out of the room.
He fucked the worries out of my brain. That’s quite the feat for someone who never even touched me until after I had already come. The way he delicately kissed me was almost more toe-curling than the orgasm itself… almost.
“Boo,” someone says from behind me.
I suck in a sharp gasp, whipping my head around. Riley’s standing there, smiling at me.
“Morning,” she says.
“You scared the shit out of me,” I say, rubbing my hand over my racing heart.
“I called your name, but you were pretty deep in your thoughts there, girl.”
I scowl at her. “I was not.”
She cocks her head to the side. “Your body might have been standing here in the coffee shop, but your mind was light-years away.”
I just continue to scowl. There isn’t really anything for me to say. She’s right.
“Hmm,” she hums, tapping her chin with a single finger. “What could have you so lost in your thoughts that you don’t even hear one of your best friends calling your name? Or should I say who?”
She’s full-on grinning now, and I want to smack it off her face.
Okay… I don’t actually want to hit her. I love Riley. Also, she’s pregnant, so that would be all kinds of wrong.
I don’t know what she sees in my expression, but something clicks, and her eyes widen. “Something happened. Didn’t it?”
She was just teasing me before, but now she’s caught the scent of blood in the water. She’s going to be a rabid shark on the hunt.
I wasn’t going to say anything, but now that she’s prying, I actually want to talk about it. My eyes dart around to all the people surrounding us. “Not here.”
We chat about anything and everything else until it’s our turn to order. While we wait for our orders, she asks about Kane and how he’s recovering.
When our names are called, we grab our goods and walk out into the chilly autumn air.
We start walking side by side down the sidewalk. Both of us sip our coffees and munch on our muffins. We make it about half a block before she breaks the silence.
“So…what’s going on?”
“Something happened last night.” I can feel a blush spreading over my face at the mere mention of it. “But I should probably start with what happened when Wyatt took me home the other night.”
She stops in her tracks, turning to gawk at me. There’s a piece of muffin stuck to her lip, making her look ridiculous. I flick it off with my finger. She doesn’t even react, too focused on what I just told her.
“Are you going to start talking or do I need to resort to more extreme measures?” she asks.
“What does that even mean?”
She shrugs. “I don’t fucking know. Call Cole, maybe…”
“I’m pretty sure Cole doesn’t want to hear how I cuddled with Wyatt all night and then came while grinding myself on his leg the next morning.”
Riley’s jaw hinges open even more. “Well, fuck.” She shakes her head from side to side. “That sounds hot.”
“It was,” I say, playing the whole thing through my mind like a movie.
“Is he a good kisser?”
I smirk, nodding.
“Good for you, girl.” She smacks my shoulder with the side of her hand that’s holding her cup of coffee. Luckily, none of it splashes on me. “So… what happened last night was with Wyatt?”
My teeth sink into my bottom lip as I slowly shake my head from side to side.
“I knew it,” she yelps. I know we’re outside, but there’s no reason for her to be that loud.
“You did not,” I say, rolling my eyes.
She rolls her eyes right back. “I was stone-cold sober the other night. I know you said you were confused about how you felt about all three of them, but it really didn’t look like it was that complicated.”
I let out a heavy exhale.
“So, last night?” she asks, leading me to continue with the story.
I give her the CliffsNotes version of what happened with Linc. Her eyes widen a little more with each detail I feed her.
“You’re in trouble,” she says, fanning her face.
“Yeah, I fucking know,” I groan.
“Who knew you’d be joining the multiple-guy club?” she laughs.
“I am doing no such thing.”
She cocks a brow. “You sure about that?”
I open my mouth to argue, but her phone starts ringing. She shoves the last bite of her muffin into her mouth and tosses the wrapper in a nearby trash can.
She puts it on speaker when she answers with an inaudible greeting.
“Hey,” I say, laughing. “She’s kind of got her mouth full at the moment.”
“Oh, hey Abs,” Cole says, then stops. “Full of what?”
I want to be an asshole and say something that will get him riled up, but we’re in public right now. “Like, a quarter of a muffin.”
“She’s all about the muffins these days,” he says, but it’s said with fondness.
She finally swallows. “Hey.”
“Hi, love.” The adoration in his voice warms my heart. “It’s actually good that you two are together. Saves me from making another phone call.”
“Because calling me is such a chore,” I tease.
“Damn straight,” he says without a beat of hesitation.
Asshole.
“Well… what do you need to talk to both of your baby mamas about?” Riley asks. She and I glance at each other and start giggling.
He groans into the phone. “I can’t with you two.”
“Cole,” I say, still laughing.
“Mav wanted to have a slumber party tonight with Oliver at our house. Riley, I wanted to make sure you were okay with it before I said yes. I know how tired you’ve been.”
Her face softens. “It’s fine. I can still go to bed. Perks of having three guys around that can entertain the kids.” She smirks at me, then looks back down at the phone in her hands. “And I love Oliver. He’s the sweetest kid.”
“He’s good for Mav,” Cole agrees. “Abs, I can drop Mav off at your house when I take Oliver home in the morning.”
Riley starts laughing again. “I’m pretty sure you can just drop Mav off with Abby when you take Oliver home,” she says, like the menace she is.
I smack her arm, which makes her laugh even harder.
Cole’s quiet for a minute. “Are you still staying at their house?”
“Maybe…”
“I thought Kane was getting better,” he says, obviously getting concerned.
“He’s doing a lot better,” I say quickly, not wanting him to worry.
“I’m pretty sure her medical skills aren’t why she’s been staying there all week,” Riley pipes in.
“Oh… oh…” Cole mutters.
“I guess you can make the most of your last night there with a kid-free house,” Riley says.
My eyes narrow on her, but she doesn’t seem to mind one bit.
“Nothing is even going on… not really,” I say.
“That’s not entirely true,” Riley says, looking at me like I must be kidding.
Okay… There is something going on, but it can’t be anything more than what has already happened. Right?
“I guess have fun.” He sounds so uncomfortable.
“Oh… she will,” Riley says happily.
“But Abs…” he says, voice far more serious now.
“Yeah?”
“If any of them hurt you, I’m going to kick their asses.”
Riley and I grin at one another. Cole really is the best. He and I might not have been anywhere close to soulmates, but he was always meant to be in my life.
“I know you will.”
“Love you both,” he says, then adds, “in very different ways.”
Riley says, “Love you, too.”
I mutter, “Bye, weirdo.”
She slides her phone back in her pocket, smirking at me. “Do we need to go buy you some lube or something?”
“I doubt we’re going to do anything like that,” I assure her.
I’m not saying I wouldn’t want to do something… anything with the three of them. It just seems highly unlikely.
“We’ll see,” she says with a glimmer in her eyes.