He steps behind me, massaging my nape. “Didn’t spend enough time with my tongue buried in your pussy, then.”
I twist to swat at his chest. We take our pizza slices into the living room and put on a random show while we eat.
I end up getting sucked into it by the end of the first episode. I brought some new earrings for my summer collection that need their hardware. Cole pulls my legs across his lap while I craft, absently stroking my calf.
On a whim, I grab my phone to take a short behind the scenes recording. Once it’s finished, I end up checking my email out of habit. My eyes bulge and my stomach drops off a cliff.
“Oh my god.” My hand flies out blindly, latching on to him.
“What is it?”
Tears prick my eyes. “I got in. Look!”
He takes my phone, scanning the acceptance message for the maker’s market he encouraged me to apply for. The corners of his mouth curl and he shakes my leg.
“Good job, Evie. This is amazing. Congratulations.”
I squeal, falling back against the cushions, kicking my legs. He chuckles, then drags me by my ankle until I’m partially across his lap, lifting me with an arm beneath my shoulders.
“Look what you can do when you put yourself out there,” he murmurs against my lips before kissing me.
I sway into him, fingers tangling in the hair at his nape. We stay snuggled like that when we part, my mind brimming with ideas as we watch TV.
An hour later, there’s a knock at the door. He checks his phone and mutters a curse.
“It’s your brother. He just texted me.”
“Oh, shit. Give me a second. Make sure he doesn’t see the two plates in the sink.”
I sweep my craft supplies into my tote bag, not bothering with packing them up nicely. Hopefully the clay popsicles survive. I nearly collide with Cole when he’s coming back from the kitchen.
He takes me by the shoulders. “Should I get him to leave?”
“No, it’s okay.” I press on my toes to give him a quick kiss. “He’ll get suspicious if you keep dodging him when he wants to hang out.”
“I could tell him I have a girl over,” he suggests. “Which is true.”
“Yes, but then it could backfire.”
“How?”
“He might want to meet her. I’ll hide, then you can sneak me out.”
He sighs, tangling our fingers. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I don’t either. But I actually have a bunch of store orders I need to pack up before tomorrow. They were on my to-do list and I pushed them off to go out with the girls for drinks, and then…” I trail off, leaning into him. “Someone has barely let me leave his bed for the past two days.”
His lips twist ruefully. “Fair enough.”
Benson knocks again, yelling through the door. “Dude, are you dead or just taking a shit?”
Cole rolls his eyes. “I love him but I also kinda want to kill him right now.”
I’m frozen by indecision on where to hide for a moment until he nudges me in the direction of the bedroom. I hurry into his closet and text Jess an SOS.
It’s difficult to hear clearly. Benson makes a commotion when he comes in. I only catch half of it, relieved when he mentions a beer run. Jess answers and agrees to be my getaway ride. The walk isn’t far, but it’s quicker and erases any risk of my brother spotting me walking through town while they’re out.
Cole opens the closet, startling me. He gestures to the door with a nod of his head.
