“Let’s hope we’re not the last ones,” I murmured, grabbing her thighs to bring her closer. I lifted my hips off my chair as I positioned her right where I wanted her. Dry humping my wife as I buried my head in her perfect tits was my idea of heaven, and I never wanted to leave.
We pulled up to Dean and Maria’s house only a half hour late, mostly due to Julie’s search for another shirt after I’d left a bite mark on her chest.
“You and I are like two horny teenagers,” she said, looking down her shirt. “I haven’t had a hickey since high school.”
“We had a long buildup, Jules.” I reached over the console to pinch the inside of her thigh. “There’s a trail of scratches down my back too. Animal.”
A sweet laugh fell from her lips as I shut off the engine.
“What’s wrong?” I asked when I noticed her flexing her fingers.
“My hands are sore. Happens when I work a lot. Usually, ibuprofen helps, but it’s been nonstop all week. It sucks to be a creative with bad hands.” She hissed as she pulled her fingers into a slow fist.
“You have beautiful, talented hands.” I picked up her hand and kissed her palm. “You need to tell me when something hurts.”
“Babe, somethingalwayshurts,” she said with a soft chuckle. “But I can manage.”
My stomach sank as she climbed out of the cab. Sometimes, it was easy to forget about Julie’s condition. I hadn’t seen her symptoms at their worst, but for the past few weeks, I’d catch her wincing in pain in the mornings or how she’d be full of energy one day and have trouble getting off the couch the next. She asked me to trust her enough to let me know when something was really wrong, but I hated thinking that pain every day was something she shrugged off as normal.
“Hey, guys!” Maria gave us quick hello hugs after she answered the door. “Come in,” she said as she held the door open behind her.
We made our way past the oversized 4 and 0 balloons to go inside.
“These are courtesy of my niece,” Maria said as she picked up the weights holding down the strings and put them in a corner. “Dean didn’t want a lot of forty decorations, but Lila is hard to refuse.”
“There they are!” Dean rushed over to us and pulled us both into a hug. “Glad you could make it.”
“Sorry we’re late,” Julie said. I held in a laugh when she adjusted her shirt to move the collar up. Maybe we were animals, but I was loving every second.
“You’re fine. The trays of food are in the kitchen, so you can help yourselves.” He leaned in to whisper to us. “And this is why a real wedding would have been a circus.”
I laughed as I swept my gaze over his living room. I recognized Dean’s aunts and uncles and Maria’s sister playing with a little girl on the floor. I heard Mr. Calabrese’s voice drift in from the kitchen and others I wasn’t familiar with. Their house seemed big, but extended family was in every corner.
“And this isn’t even everyone who was supposed to come. Go get a plate before the last two folding chairs are gone.”
“Uncle Dean, why are your balloons hiding?”
Dean laughed at the little girl pulling at the hem of his shirt.
“Because, Li,” he said, lifting her up. “The balloons are great but they’re big, so they may get in the way of people trying to eat. This is Lila.” Dean turned toward us. “Our niece and decorator.” He dipped his head to meet her gaze. “Lila, this is Landon and Julie. They’ve been friends with me and Titi Maria for a long time.”
“Nice to meet you,” Julie said behind me. “Wow, you look just like your aunt.”
Lila had the same long, dark hair pulled back into pigtails and olive skin.
“Hi,” she said and stuck out her bottom lip at Dean in an unhappy pout.
“But how is anyone supposed to know you’re forty?”
“Oh, we know, sweetheart,” I said, cracking up at Dean’s scowl when he lifted his head.
“You’re next, buddy, so stop being so damn smug.”
Lila gasped in his arms. “Isn’t that a bad word?”
“Low-level bad word, kiddo.” He kissed the top of her head before setting her down. She took one last glance at the balloons in the corner and went back into the living room.
“We meant to have you over earlier, but since the wedding, it’s been a whirlwind. How is it already three months since we’ve seen either one of you?” Maria said.
