“I was already living here by the time she completed it, so we actually moved in together for a couple of years,” Jaime finishes.
“It’s kind of wild that you guys ended up in the same place, on the other side of the world, nonetheless. It’s great you still have each other after all this time,” Brad reaches over to grab my hand and kisses it absently, making my stomach flutter.
“Sorry, love, I’m going to have to hit the road to get to work in time for my shift.” He stands, pulling me up with him. “Jaime, it was good to see you and to meet Marcus. Tell him I said bye?”
Jaime gives him a hug goodbye and steps into the garden to check on the boys – both human and canine.
Brad’s bag is already packed and waiting by the door, so I walk him out to his car. “I swear, it gets harder to leave you every week,” he says, pulling me to him by my waist.
“You know,” I clear my throat, ready to self-sabotage, “if it’s that you’re missing having sex on the days we aren’t together, you can, you can,” why is it so hard to say? I try again, “You’re not beholden to me, so you’re well within your rights to sleep with oth?—”
“No. Do not finish that sentence, Blaze. It’s not happening, and that’s not why it’s hard to leave you.”
I part my lips to protest, but he uses the opportunity to silence me with a searing kiss. My knees are wobbly when he finally lets me go, and he kneels to kiss my belly.Not helping with the weak knees, Brad.“I’ll see you Thursday,” he says with another quick peck on my mouth.
“Text me when you get there,” I say, holding my fingers to my lips, trying to keep the feeling of his kiss buzzing on the sensitive skin there.
“I will,” he winks, and drives off with a smirk on his beautiful face.
Jaime’s voice makes me jump, “Look, I know we all teased you at first about how much younger Brad is. And I also know that I was the most vocal about it, you know that’s just who I am. But why are you so against being with him?” She drags me inside, squeezing my hand.
“I’m not against it. I’m just…wary. Because you were right, he is so much younger.”
“This isn’t news, Shari. You knew that when you first hooked up at the festival.”
“I know, but he wasn’t tied to me then. Now we’re having a baby together and he’ssoyoung!”
We walk through the house and into the garden to soak up the sunshine, and to keep an eye on Marcus and Pickles, who have been suspiciously quiet.
“Shari, I need you to really parse this out. What does that matter, truly? Regardless of his age, you’re still having this baby. He says he wants you, and hell, he seems to be proving it from how often he comes to Bristol to spend the night with you. So, what has his age got to do with it?” Jaime leans her elbows on the table. It feels like she’s trying to dig into my brain with how sharp her stare is.
“It has everything to do with it! He’s twenty-two, do you even remember what we were like at that age? We were wild! Having the time of our lives, clubbing and partying and getting stupidly drunk. I know I was already with Kristian, so I wasn’t exactly promiscuous in any way, but you guys were all having a blast, dating and having flings and one-night stands. He’s going to want that!”
“Says who?”
“Says…” my arms flail around as I search for the answer, “says, biology! Society! Hormones!”
Jaime doesn’t say anything for a while, just stares at me with those lethal eye-daggers, so I tip my head back on the backrest and listen to the sound of my erratic heartbeat whooshing in my ears. That’s probably not a good sign.
“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Yes, he has hormones, probably raging ones, but you know what? He seems pretty fuckin’ dedicated to using them on you, and you alone. Just because we were wild and idiotic doesn't mean he wants to be. Not everyone is built the same, Shari. And you talk about our flings and one-night stands like they were a great time, but they weren’t. They were empty and meaningless. Do you feel like you missed out having been with Kristian?”
“Well, no, but it’s different for?—”
“I swear on all things holy and otherwise, if you say it’s different for women, I will throw out your favourite chocolate.”
I gasp, “You wouldn’t dare!”
“Oh, I would. That redundant phrase was probably coined by a man who wanted an excuse to fuck his way around town. Having testosterone and a high sex drive does not mean you want to have it with multiple people.Thatis a personal preference.”
“I guess…” she does kind of make sense, but my experience tells me otherwise. “But why is it that virtually every guy we know fucked around in their early twenties? Hell, by all accounts, Kristian was a player at that age. It was luck on my part that he was almost thirty and ready to start settling down when we met.”
I always thought that my ex being eight years older than me was a blessing in terms of us being on the same page. “And look at Max’s first love, Dane. We all thought they would go the distance and yet it turns out he cheated on her repeatedly!” My thoughts are on a roll now, so there’s no stopping them. “Thenlook at my Uncle Tom, he married an older woman and traded her in for a younger model the minute she turned forty!”
“Shari, he was only five years younger, he was hardly overcome by his youthful tendencies. He was just a selfish prick hitting his midlife crisis early.”
“My mum thinks I need to snag Brad whilst he’s still interested because I’m getting old and fat.”
“Ok, now you’re just compounding excuses.”
