“What? Am I not allowed to talk about the past?” She raised her eyebrows at him, her grin widening. “I haven’t had a morning like this with you two in such a long time.”
It was true. We’d all been so busy. The three of us had always spent time together when me and Dare were kids, especially after I’d slept over at their house, but with adulthood came responsibilities. I’d missed Mrs. Darrow, though.
“Remember the time Zayden fell out of the treehouse and broke his arm?” she asked, and I winced at the memory.
That fall hadhurta lot, and I’d never cried so hard in my life. I was trapped between being ashamed of the tears and being in pain. Dare had stuck with me the entire time at the emergency room, arms curled around me, kissing my forehead and telling me I’d be okay. Even after my mom had shown up and Mrs. Darrow tried to make Dare go home with her, he’d refused to leave my side. After the doctors had put a cast on my arm, he’d demanded to come home with me for the night, and our mothers had no choice but to relent. He’d spent the night taking care of me, and whenever I needed something, he would run to go get it.
“That hurt,” I said with a frown. “But Dare took care of me.”
She hummed. “He did. He loves you very much.”
“Can we stop talking about this like I’m not here?” Dare ran a hand down his face.
She laughed again. “But embarrassing you is fun.”
“Mom.” He gave her a stare, and she gave it back to him, and honestly, they were so clearly mother and son. They had identical expressions on their faces and it was cute.
“What are your plans for today, Mrs. Darrow?” I asked as a way of breaking their stare-off.
She blinked and glanced toward me, mouth curling in excitement. “I’m meeting up with some friends for lunch. Do you remember Caroline? She went to Canada when you and Fern moved in with each other after college?”
I nodded. I remembered her because she used to pinch my cheeks a lot when I was younger, and she would tell me and Dare how adorable we were. She’d joked about us dating when we hit puberty, and it was because of her amusement that I’d started looking at Dare in a different way. Ireallystared at him and realized how handsome he was and how much I wanted more than friendship with him. Caroline had been in a long-term relationship with her partner—a woman—and I’d realized then that being with someone of the same gender was truly possible.
“She’s back in town for a week, and we agreed to meet up for lunch at Grounds and Gears, a coffee shop in the city. Have you heard of it?”
I nodded. “They have good food there, and great coffee, too.”
“Oh, that makes me so happy.” She clapped her hands together. “But I should start getting ready. I want to get her a gift and check out the bookstore in the outdoor mall. I haven’t been there in forever. Do you want to come?”
The thought of alone time with Dare and what we could do to each other had me shaking my head a little quicker than I’d meant to. Heat spread across my cheeks when she cocked her head in surprise. I didn’t even know if she’d been talking to me or Dare. Maybe both of us.
Dare nudged me and his eyes twinkled knowingly. He turned back to his mom. “No, we’ve got things to do here. Work things.”
She gave us a narrow-eyed stare before nodding. “Fine. You don’t mind if I shower?”
“No, you’re not allowed one,” I teased, and she rose from her chair and swatted my shoulder in response before heading up the stairs. I watched her go, and when I heard the bathroom door shut, I spun on my chair to face Dare. “Hi.”
His mouth curled, and my gut turned warm. He was so damned gorgeous. “Hey.”
“Uh, can we talk?”
“About what?” he asked, trepidation passing across his face. Dare was so readable. There weren’t many emotions he could hide from me, and I liked that about him. With guys like Serge, I’d never known how they were feeling about things. But Dare was different, and it could be because I’d known him for such a long time. I knew what he was feeling, when he was feeling it.
“Yesterday. You not being ready for anal.”
“Oh.” His right eye twitched and he sent me an apologetic look. “Are you mad at me?”
“What?” I shook my head quickly. “Of course not. I’m surprised. Not many… not many guys turn down sex, even anal. I mean, straight guys do it, too, right?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose, but would it surprise you if I told you I never did?”
I hated talking about his sex experiences because then I had to think about him with women.
“Never? Not even with Rena?”
“Raina.”
“Yeah, her.” I ran my hands over my cheeks as heat flooded them. How bad was it that I had the wrong name in my head? He knew my exes’ names.
