“But he hasn’t…he isn’t… Cliff, he has to be my friend. We’re going to go out together.”
“I am your friend,” Edwin said. “No worries. I think you’re a lot of fun.”
“See? Edwin is your little friend. Now, sit back, and we will be home soon. I’m going to walk your little friend to the door.”
He didn’t reply, and a glance showed he’d slumped back, eyes closed, asleep again.
“Is he all right?” Edwin asked.
“Yes.” I came around the car to meet him. “He doesn’t drink often because it hits him hard, as you can see. Brax will have a headache in the morning, but he’ll be fine.”
“I didn’t mean to get in the way of your relationship.”
“You’re not.” We started up the walkway toward the front door. “I knew Brax liked you from the day we met you at Chained. Listen, I have an idea. If you’re up for it, why don’t we go out to dinner some night, all three of us.”
“I-I’m not a unicorn!”
“Of course not.” I paused on the top step. “We aren’t like that. We aren’t looking for a good time, just to get to know you.” It sounded sketchy even to me, but it was important to Brax, and I liked Edwin as well. Could it be more than that? I had no idea, but at least we could spend some time talking. Our conversation in the car had been so pleasant, and I couldn’t deny finding him attractive.
“I’m not sure…” He glanced from me to the door and back again. “Can I think about it?”
“Absolutely.” I fished in my pocket and brought out my card holder. “Here. My number is on it. Just let us know if you’d like to have dinner, and if you don’t, that’s fine.”
Edwin rushed inside and closed the door behind him.
Chapter Thirteen
Edwin
“What the heck was that?” I grabbed the bridge of my nose and watched through the curtain as I drove away.
Had I just been asked on a date with two men? Two men I was interested in? It felt like it, but maybe I was reading more into the invitation than there was. And it wasn’t as if Brax was in a state of mind to be part of any of that conversation, but Cliff had been sober. No, I was reading it right. They wanted to take me out and get to know me better.
I wanted that too. But it wasn’t that easy. Nothing about my connection to Brax and Cliff was.
Tonight, I’d found myself always aware of where Brax was. It hadn’t been intentional. And yet, with him there, how could I not. He was kind and fun and adorable and hot. It would be so much easier if he wasn’t any of those things.
If I’d realized how drunk Brax was earlier, I’d probably have taken him across the street before we did our fabulous chicken dance. He wasn’t to the point of getting sick, I didn’t think. But he was pushing that line. He was in good hands, though. His daddy was gonna take care of him, make sure he was safe, protected, and warm.
Whereas, I was here at my house…alone and spiraling.
The others weren’t back yet, and the place was eerily quiet. Normally, I didn’t mind. I wasn’t a particularly loud person and chose silence over music 80 percent of the time. But tonight, how I longed for the sound of conversation in the next room or a too-loud television. Anything to distract me.
I ran upstairs to my room and pulled open the drawer that held mylittleclothes until I found a pair of monster pajamas. I was going to bed little tonight in the hopes of not staring atthe ceiling all night long. I grabbed my bag of tubbie toys and headed into the bathroom. A soak was going to do me good.
I turned the water on as hot as it could go, threw some bubble bath in, and brushed my teeth as the water level rose. It wasn’t the fanciest tub, definitely not the deepest, but it would do its job. I dumped my basket of toys in before climbing inside. I loved bathtime fun. It was one of the few little activities I didn’t mind doing alone.
I had my boat tunnel through the soap suds, my ducky bounce on the clouds, which were also the soap suds, and a little dog toy climbing the mountain. Again, the soap suds. I absolutely loved the bubble part of a bubble bath, but I never really got deep into play, my mind wandering back to the question of whether I should go out with them or not.
I’d been very clear I was no unicorn, and there was a flicker of hurt in Cliff’s eyes when I said that. Or maybe I was reading into it. I wasn’t exactly what one would call sober at the time, but he’d made it clear that’s not what he was looking for. He wasn’t looking for fun—they weren’t looking for fun.
But if they weren’t looking for fun, did that mean they weren’t looking for this to be a date? That’s where I was confused. One of many places.
And the more I thought about it, the more I forgot the actual words he used. My mind focused on the way I felt when he said them instead. I’d gotten exactly nowhere in my decision-making process by the time the bubbles were gone and my bath was over, but at least my muscles were more relaxed. I was getting too old to be playing these dancing games, or maybe lesstooold and moretoo out of shape.
I went back to my room and climbed into bed. I didn’t even have the covers fully up before my mind raced again. I barely knew them, and they were filling my headspace so completely that I was going to have to start charging rent soon. I lifted thehand that had held Brax’s and looked at it by the light of my nightlight.
It had felt so natural having them joined.
