We each load up our plates, our conversation revolving around the cows we saw the day before. Once again, Betty surprises me with her insightful questions, my hand squeezing her thigh with each one. It was the only way I would keep from devouring her mouth indecently in front of our friends.
“Okay, enough beating around the bush,” River drops her fork, rubbing her stomach.
“What’s going on here?” she points a finger between Betty and me. It’s a fight to keep a wide grin from pulling at my cheeks. Squeezing her thigh once more, I allow her to answer in a way that she feels comfortable.
Bringing her mug to her lips, she takes several large gulps before answering. “We just talked last night, and we’re good.”
“Thank goodness. The tension was so thick between y’all I thought we were going to suffocate yesterday.” Betty winces at Gray’s words, but doesn’t pull away as I link my fingers through hers beneath the island top.
River slides off the stool with a heavy sigh, her eyes meeting Betty’s. “Okay, well, let’s go get packed.”
Betty stays silent, her eyes darting between Gray and River before meeting mine. “I, um. Well, Nash invited me to stay for a few more days.” I hate that she sounds unsure, as if she expects me to take back my words. Though I hadn’t offered, I’d practically begged her for ten minutes before she gave me an inch.“I’ll consider it,”she’d whispered.
“Why?” River questions as her features scrunch.
My heel bounces off the stool foot bar, fighting myself. I want Betty to feel comfortable sharing what happened between us. And suddenly I understand what it means to be loved loudly. I need her to feel that way about us.
“Well, Nash and I are trying,” she says, tiptoeing around us. I can’t blame her. Her insecurities stem from me, and it’s up to me to fix those. “So, we’re going to hang out for a few more days. I’ll fly back with him on Wednesday.”
My insides soar. My entire being figuratively nuzzles on cloud nine.
“You two?” Gray’s eyes gape in our direction. “It’s about time. Maybe you’ll stop being so damn grouchy now.”
“Pot calling kettle,” I grunt. He only frowns in my direction as if confused by my comment. “You were miserable to be around most days until you met River. So, River, thank you for your service.”
She only snorts before locking eyes with her friend again. “Betty, if you’re sure…” Her words linger in the air. Confirmation that my girl has been honest with her best friend about what I put her through. Shameful moments I wish I could erase from their memories, but also understand I wouldn’t be here without them.
“I’m sure,” Betty nods. “We’ll get dinner when I get back.”
A glint shines in both of their eyes. Dinner surely means a gossip session between the two. It’ll be their opportunity to chat openly about River’s pregnancy and what happened between us.
River and Gray disappear hand in hand, Betty staring after them with a fondness I hope is her wish for us.
Once they’re out of sight, I pull her between my legs, wrapping my arms around her waist. “So what are we going to do for the next few days?” I chuckle, kissing her shoulder.
She doesn’t answer, shrugging before she wiggles out of my hold. The moment she reaches for our plates, I stop her, kissing her knuckles. “Not in my kitchen.”
Her eyes roll, ignoring me as she dumps all our mugs in the sink. She scrapes each plate clean, washes them, and then loads them into the dishwasher. Knowing I won’t win this one, I wipe down the counters before returning the butter and syrup to their rightful places.
Every second feels so natural, roaming and cleaning the kitchen as a pair. Is that what our lives could become? The two of us living this domestic experience where all I can think about is us finishing our chores so we can christen every surface.
My gaze roams across the expanse of the space. The kitchen. The family room. Even the patio and pool area outside. Each location is untouched and waiting for us to make it our own.
Sliding up behind Betty, I press in against her, that smile as welcoming as her ass wiggling against my crotch. “Careful,” I warn her. “We might end up giving our friends a show they aren’t prepared for.”
She snorts, leaning into me. “Payback for keeping us awake two nights ago.”
Kissing the side of her neck, she tilts her head, giving me better access. Her skin is warm against my mouth, my tongue tracing along her jugular before she giggles, ducking away from me. “Okay, calm down. I’m almost done, so why don’t you show me something you like to do?”
Her body spins to face me, my arms caging her in against the sink. The moment is so similar to the first night I kissed her at her parents’ house. It seems like eons ago, though it was only a little over three months. I could say that’s when I started feeling something for her, but that’s not true. I watched and listened and fought myself from that night at the bar almost a year ago.
I’d been the one to ask her to dance, her arms looped around my neck as I held her respectfully close. She’d been three sheets to the wind, so I was looking out for her. There were too many men in there that night with eyes on her, and what type of friend would I be to the Hughes family if I’d let her get taken advantage of?
The beat was a slow lull, our bodies swaying at the center of the dance floor, when those beautiful brown eyes locked with mine.“You know, Nash, you’re the man of my dreams. I’ve thought about you every day since I was ten years old. Do you know what it’s like being in love with someone for so long and they don’t know?”she snickered to herself, then, before her fingers sank into my hair.“Well, now you do, I think. Yeah, I’m in love with you, Nash, and there’s no one I want more than you.”
There have been countless nights I replayed that interaction. There was no good response at the time. She was my buddy’s younger sister. A woman eight years younger than me. Her family had been as much of parents to me as my own, sometimes more so over the years. There were excuses after excuses for why we would never work. Countless reasons we didn’t make sense.
I recited those excuses day after day. I made them part of me so that maybe then I could believe that Betty’s confessions didn’t make me see her differently. That her stepping over the line didn’t open my eyes to the beautiful woman in front of me, erasing the sweet, fun-loving little girl who loved constellations and staring up at the stars in the middle of the night.
