Chapter 12
A fterwards, the two of us staggered into the kitchen, laughing and half-naked. I stopped short when I saw Meg and Emily, sitting at the tiny dining table on the mismatched chairs, eating ice cream.
They both froze, spoons halfway to their mouths. A second later, Meg’s spoon dropped to the table.
Stupidly, I looked down at the trail of hickeys blooming on my pale skin and disappearing into my well-worn tank top. I’d given Will a few, too.
Next to me, Will tensed, startled, but he quickly recovered.
“Hi, I’m Will.” He flashed a smile bright enough to momentarily blind them both. “You must be Meg and Emily. Andie’s talked about you.”
“I know who you are.” Meg found her voice again. “You’re Andie’s cousin. You came to the publishing office this summer. And I saw your picture when I looked up her insanely rich relatives online.”
Will’s shoulders tensed again, but he nodded agreeably.
“Be right back, Andie,” he murmured.
Meg gaped at Will’s sculpted back as he walked past her in his boxers and closed the bathroom door. Emily kept her eyes on me. I dropped into the third chair.
“Okay. We get it, Andie,” Emily said after a very long silence. “You’re banging your cousin, and you don’t want anyone to know. Don’t worry. We won’t tell anybody.” She cleared her throat loudly in Meg’s direction.
Meg looked too stunned to argue. Maybe she was still recovering her vision from that dazzling smile. “Okay. Yeah. Sure.” She blinked a few times. “Can’t say I blame you. I’d do him too. Related or not.”
Emily frowned at me. “Didn’t you say he was insane?”
Meg coughed toward the bathroom door.
I shrugged and picked up Meg’s spoon. “Guess I’m insane too.”
* * *
Meg and Emily assumed it was all about sex. Sex, and maybe money. Fooling around with my hot rich cousin, having a secret. I let them.
Will started driving up to the city every weekend, but I didn’t tell them about the quiet moments of snuggling close in bed, sharing the morning paper while we drank coffee that Will brought in, or watching old movies while we giggled and pelted each other with popcorn, or walking to the plaza to play chess. Will was getting better.
I didn’t tell them about our talks late at night, raw sometimes, softened by darkness.
I didn’t tell them about leaving my cube at work to slip into the restroom every day, just to be alone, excited but overwhelmed by all the responsibilities I was getting. Will’s touches from the weekend would throb hard and soft through my body. I’d close my eyes, breathing in and out, trying to calm down, until I’d cave like I always did and slide my hand into my wet panties. I’d rub my clit to a shuddering orgasm and hope it would be enough to get me to the next weekend.
And I didn’t tell them about the beginning of the summer.