“I have no idea, but I’ll be paying closer attention now.” Meg has been picking up more hours at Books and Baubles lately. She says she enjoys being out in the community instead of always sitting at home, waiting for Jeff.
“I thought you were bringing Ben with you. I miss my little dude,” Beck says to Claire. She’ smitten with Claire’s son and tries to spend as much time with him as possible.
“I planned on it, but Ransom texted Riot to see if he could FaceTime Ben this morning. I guess his internet has been spotty lately, so he wanted to talk to him before he loses a stableconnection again,” Claire explains while taking a sip of her coffee.
“Is this a new development? You’ve never mentioned them FaceTiming before.” Meg inquires wrapping her hands around her hot tea.
“Just the past few weeks. I didn’t want to say anything in case it didn’t happen. Ben is getting bigger and has been talking a lot about having a daddy since he started kindergarten. He knows he has a dad and who he is, but it’s never been important before now.
I talked to Riot about it, and he suggested this as an option.”
“But why did Ransom call Riot and not you?” Beck asks, furrowing her forehead.
“All our contact is through email right now; it’s better that way. Riot volunteered to be our middleman for this.”
“Did something happen?” I ask. Riot may have volunteered, but I wonder, at what cost to himself.
“No, just my own issues with Ransom. I know I shouldn’t, but I regularly check out his page on social media to see where he is in the world and what he’s doing. Inevitably I get angry, and I don’t want to project that on Ben. That wouldn’t be fair.”
“But you are okay with them FaceTiming?” I would hate to think Claire would be pressured into doing anything she didn’t want to do. Ransom signed off all his rights to Ben after he was born. He sends money for child support, but all Ben’s care is solely Claire’s responsibility. And if I’m honest, Uncle Riot’s too.
She shrugs. “He’s still Ben’s dad. I would love them to have some kind of relationship, and if he is consistent and calls when he says he’s going to, it will be fine. The first time he fucks up and disappoints Ben, will be the last time.”
“Since nobody else has brought it up, I guess I’ll be the one who asks. How was dinner with Logan last night?” Beck wiggles her eyebrows at me.
All eyes turn towards me, waiting for answer. “It was good,” I say with a shrug. “He has become an amazing cook. He made...”
“Babe, we don’t care about what he made you for dinner. Did you guys talk?” Beck leans forward and rests her chin in her palm.
“We talked a little. We shared some memories. It was a lot of fun and then I may have kissed him right before I walked out the door.”
“Seriously, we have been hanging out here on the deck for the past 30 minutes and you are just telling us now that you kissed him? Next time, lead with that. Or better yet we should have been notified immediately in the group chat.” Claire throws her hands in the air with exasperation.
“It’s not that big of a deal. I kissed him, panicked, and ran away like the fraidy-cat I am.”
“Oh no, why did you panic? Was the kiss horrible?” Meg asks scrunching up her nose.
“God no. I forgot what an amazing kisser he is,” I say, touching my bottom lip.
“Don’t hold anything back. We need to know everything about this kiss,” Beck insists, leaning forward and giving me her full attention.
“It was – fuck, I don’t even know how to explain it,” I say, cheeks flushing. “You know when you do something so completely reckless and for a second you think, oh shit what have I done? But it’s so good you’re not sure if you even care? I know I shocked him, and it was that exact moment he stopped holding back and he kissed me. It was hungry and desperate, like he was starving for it. His hands were everywhere. On my waist, hips, up my back. I’m honestly surprised I don’t have bruises from his fingertips”
“Holy fuck that’s hot!” Claire exclaims, fanning her face.
I laugh at the memory, but it makes my chest ache.
“Yeah, it was,” I sigh, running my fingers along the rim of my coffee cup. “And then I left.”
“What? Why?” Beck groans, looking towards the sky. “I’d stay for the plot.”
Shrugging, I force a small smile. “Because if I stayed, I wouldn’t have left at all. I am prepared to be friends with him, I’m just not sure that being more is a great idea right now.”
“What if we did a pros and cons list?” Beck suggests, shrugging her shoulder.
“Pros and cons?” I repeat, narrowing my eyes at my friend.
“Yeah. Like what you like and dislike about Logan. Or why you should or should not stay next time you kiss him.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.
