“Of course.”
When I finally get home Friday evening, after spending my entire afternoon with Britt and the new baby, Ihave to do a double take. The dining room table is set, and the house smells amazing. The sun is setting and the fireplace is on, and it’s the coziest I think I’ve ever seen the place.
“What the fuck is this?” I ask, tossing my keys into the bowl in the foyer.
“Dinner.” Jordan shrugs.
I pull him from his vegetable chopping, overwhelmed by the sight of Jordan Mackenzie in my my fucking kitchen, making me dinner.
I kiss him, and he drops the knife. It clatters against the counter top. He startles but soon settles his hands on my hips and kisses me back, groaning as his tongue finds mine.
“It’s just dinner,” he says with a tone that tells me it’s so much more than that.
We eat in companionable silence in the dining room as the sun sets. The ochre rays hit the chandelier and bathe the entire room in a fiery glow. I clean up the dishes and we have ice cream on the couch while we watch a movie. We’ve done it the past two days. I guess this is what we’re doing now.
We don’t make it twenty minutes into the movie before we’re making out, and it’s thirty minutes before he has me bent over the couch, screaming his name.
We lay under the blankets and finish the movie even though I have no idea what happened because I wasn’twatching it. Still, it feels good to be in his arms. Warm, content. When we finally make it to my bed, he threads his leg between mine and falls asleep.
I should be tired, but I can’t sleep, even though he’s passed the fuck out. My mind races, and I keep thinking about how much I love this. How much I love him.
I wish it could be like this forever.
Maybe it could, though.
I mean, there’s nothing in the way now, right? No ties to hold us back. Nothing except my impending departure but…
When I hear the doorbell, I jolt from my thoughts. One glance at the clock tells me it’s late. Three thirty am. A heavy knock on my door alerts me.
Panic runs through me.
Is it—
No, there’s no way he’d come back here. Not after what happened.
Another heavy knock. I get up, carefully heading to the door. I see a familiar car in my driveway through the window.
I open the door, my heart sinking.
There, stands my little brother, tears running down his face, with a suitcase.
“Austen, hey… what are you doing here? I thought you were in New York?”
“I need a place to crash. And I’m not going to mom and dad’s,” he says, his voice shaky.
My brother is not the type of person to get into trouble, but there’s no denying when you show up at someone’s house at three am, you’re in trouble.
“Uh, so you wanna stay here?”
“I’m not here selling cookies, Alex.”
I look over my shoulder, my thoughts immediately going to Jordan.
I would never tell Austen he couldn’t stay here. He’s my brother, after all. Maybe Jordan’s still asleep. I can fill him in the morning. Close the door for tonight…
“Yeah, okay. Come in,” I say as I wave Austen in. It’s pouring outside. How did I not hear the rain?
Just as I shut the door, I hearhim.
