Twenty-Three | Lyric
Twenty-Three
Lyric
I was fucked.
Royally and literally fucked.
Sex with Cole was amazing—just like it had always been. But the problem wasn’t when we gave in to our undeniable chemistry and fucked the first time. The problem was when we fucked again after that, and I forgot to put my guard up, and emotions started creeping in.
I didn’t have time for that to happen and had been working so hard to keep it from happening that I was pissed at myself when it did.
I had fallen asleep in Cole’s arms—which wasn’t my fault. He’d worn me out to the point that I was unable to do anything but curl up against his chest and have the best sleep of my life.
Yeah, I was still pissed off about that, too.
Years of using chamomile tea and products that claimed to help with sleep were immediately deemed useless after one night of getting good dick.
Cole was up before me, which allowed me to take my time getting ready while I tried to clear my head before I had to see him.
I knew it would be awkward because there was no way to avoid that.
We had agreed that it was just sex last night, but then I had screamed out how much I loved him while I came on his cock.
Not the worst thing I’d ever done, but certainly not the most helpful given our current situation.
I tossed my hair into a ponytail and headed into the kitchen, smiling as the kids sat at the table.
They were talking about the goats and how Chloe wanted to have a tea party with them this weekend.
Kara was all for it, but Ben was worried the goats would somehow break Chloe’s teacups, which we all knew were her most valued possessions.
“Maybe we can get a new set of teacups for the goats?” Cole offered, his eyes lingering on me long enough to get Kara’s attention.
She frowned at him, then turned to see what he was looking at. I avoided looking at her as I saw her grin spread wide across her face from the corner of my eye.
“But I like my teacups,” Chloe whined, folding her arms over her chest as she pouted.
“I like your teacups, too,” I said, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “But I think what Cole is worried about is that the goats might break them since they’re so clumsy. We wouldn’t want that to happen because we all love those teacups so much.”
“Okay, Aunt Lyric,” Chloe replied, smiling up at me as her little hand rubbed my cheek.
Cole set his spatula down and put one hand on his hip as he stared at us.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered as I walked past him to start getting their lunches ready for school. “I fight her all morning on this, then you come out, and she’s immediately all okay, Aunt Lyric.”
I laughed and shrugged as I felt his eyes on me.
I turned away and busied myself with making sandwiches because I knew I was too weak to survive the heated look he was giving me.
It was as if he was making me a silent promise to bring me the same pleasure he had delivered last night, and while I wanted nothing more than to feel like that again, I knew that we couldn’t keep crossing that line.
“My mom called and said she’s running late this morning,” Cole said, changing the subject. “I told her that I can drop Chloe off at her house on my way to work, if that works for you?”
“You don’t have to do that. I appreciate her help, but I might take some time off this morning.”
“I thought you had meetings scheduled?”
“I did, but I moved them.”
I could feel the tension building between us as Cole waited for me to fill him in on what was happening.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, lowering his voice so the kids didn’t hear, but it was pointless because Kara and Ben were watching us intently as they waited for me to answer.
“Yes,” I replied, forcing a smile. “Unfortunately, I’m a little behind on the design I was working on, so I asked to postpone the meetings.”
“I’m sorry. That sucks.”
“It is what it is.” I lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “I had all of these great ideas a few weeks ago, but now I don’t think they’re going to work. I’m going to have to start over with a new design, and I have no idea what because my brain keeps drawing blanks.”
“If there’s anything we can do to help you,” Cole said softly, letting his words trail.
I nodded and smiled, but it was the look Kara gave me that made me pause.
“What was your original idea?” Kara asked.
I pulled in a deep breath and slowly released it, trying to keep the stress and frustration out of my voice. This design had been eating at me for weeks, and every time I thought I was getting close to bringing it together, everything would fall apart.
“Well,” I said slowly. “I was playing with the idea of something retro, but for younger demographics.”
I felt the blush creep up my neck as I waited for her to tell me how stupid it was and that no one her age would care about anything retro. Instead, her eyes lit up as she nodded her head.
“How retro were you thinking?”
“I was playing around with the idea of going back to the nineties. Crop tops and low-rise baggy jeans paired with belly chains and chokers.”
“I would have thought overalls and worn-out graphic tees,” Cole said, a smile lifting the corners of his lips. “That’s what you used to wear all the time.”
“Very true,” I agreed. “I did consider those as well.”
“Do you have sketches done yet?” Kara asked, the wheels in her head turning.
“I do, but I don’t know if I love them. I also don’t know how I’m going to get a physical prototype.
In New York, we had several people on our team who would do this for us, but even if they created it for me, I’m not there.
I would have to try to find someone local, and I don’t know how easy that’s going to be. ”
“Nana knows how to sew,” Kara replied, her eyes full of excitement. “I bet if you showed her the sketches, she could make them for you.”
“We don’t have a ton of options for fabric stores like they do in New York,” Cole said, coming to stand beside me. “But we have a few. I can even drive you a few towns over if you don’t find what you need here.”
I chewed my lip as I looked between them.
It was sweet how helpful they were trying to be, but I also knew better than to get my hopes up.
Even if I finished my sketches and we found the right fabric, it didn’t mean it would be an easy project for Sherry—or that she would want to do it.
Not only that, but I didn’t have anyone to model it for the meeting where I would present everything.
“You’re overthinking all of this,” Cole said with a laugh. “One step at a time. You work on finishing the sketches and getting them to my mom, we’ll take care of the rest.”
I scrunched my face because I didn’t trust that it was really as easy as he made it sound.
The conversation stopped as Kara nodded enthusiastically before getting up and clearing her plate.
Ben helped Chloe down, then they were off to get ready for school, while I had to figure out how to make all of this happen without being too optimistic.