And then, just when I’m kicking my own ass for answering her call at all, my mom says, “Brady, are you two” —she pauses, and I picture her grasping for words— “what’s it called? Benefits? Oh, that’s it. Friends with—”
“Bye, Mom.” I hit the end button before she can finish her sentence or say goodbye.
I slip the phone in my back pocket and let my gaze rest on the ground. I really don’t want to look over at Addison, but I know I have to. Slowly I lift my gaze, and when I spot Addison, my eyes grow wide. Tears are falling from her eyes, but they’re not sad.
She’s laughing so hard it’s soundless. Her shoulders quake and her hand covers her mouth.
I shake my head, my fear that my mother terrified Addison abating and the hilarity of the situation taking its place. I laugh alongside Addison.
“Your mom is really funny,” she says, recovering her voice. She smiles up at me, her arms crossed and dangling lazily over the railing.
I lean down, resting my forearms on the railing beside hers. “She’s not usually that funny. I think she’s happy. What happened with Lennon worried her. And she thinks—” I stop suddenly, aware of what I was about to say.
Addison gently knocks her shoulder into mine. “She thinks you have yourself a friend with benefits to help you get over it?”
I’m not one for blushing, but right now I think I might be. “Yeah.”
“There’s no harm in letting her think that.”
“I’ll set her straight the next time I talk to her.”
Addison lifts one shoulder, then drops it. A half-shrug. It makes me think of our talk earlier. “Doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. If it eases her worry, you can let her think you’re getting laid.”
“How charitable of you.”
“I’ve been known to be charitable from time to time.”
I eye her. “You let the mothers of random men think you’re sleeping with them?”
“Not random men. Only guys I’ve known for a week who sleep in cabin seven.” She raises her gaze to the porch ceiling. “Duh.”
“Hah,” I bark a laugh at her joke. She grins at me, and the breeze shifts, lifting a section of hair from her shoulder. The smell of something sweet and floral overwhelms me. I stand upright quickly, needing to be out of that scent. It’s not right for me to be enjoying that incredible, feminine smell coming off her. She belongs to someone else.
Right?
Or, no?
Shit.
Addison’s eyebrows knit together. “You okay?”
I rub my eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” I clear my throat. “Why did you come by? I don’t think it was to hear my mom ask ridiculous questions.”
Addison’s hands join. Her forearms stiffen, and she bounces up on her toes, a nervous excitement making her blue eyes shine.
“I came to ask you if you wanted to hang out with me while I bake?”
“Does this mean you’re going to enter the contest?”
She nods, a small, nervous grin on her lips.
“So you’re staying here, then? In Lonesome?”
Addison’s weight falls back on her heels. The excitement in her eyes decreases, but it’s not completely gone. “I’m not sure where I’m going from here, but I don’t want to eliminate a possibility simply by not trying.”
I’ve only known Addison for a short amount of time, but I feel oddly proud of her.
“Let me grab my shoes.” I turn around and walk inside, slipping my feet into a pair of sneakers, and grab my wallet and the key to the cabin.
