“There’s a new development in my life, Gran. You won’t believe it. You remember Drea, the bookstore owner? So, our… rivalry, I guess you could call it, it’s kind of over. We’ve been…” What should I even say? We’d been dating? I definitely wouldn’t be using the wordsfuckingorhaving sex.
“I think I’m falling in love with her, Gran. I know, it sounds… crazy. Believe me, I feel crazy just thinking about it. It hasn’t even been that long. I don’t know how it happened, to be honest. We had a horrible first meeting, as always, but after that? I started to see beneath her icy layers, and eventually, I wanted to see more. I won’t give you all the glorious details, but I’m happy. For the first time since… they died, I’m truly happy.”
At that point, the tears found their way out, and I just let them fall. It had been so long since I lost both my parents and my grandmother, but the wound was still fresh. I knew I had my brother, but he wasn’t as close as I would’ve liked him to be, and I still felt alone. Except when I was with Drea. With Drea, I felt safe, secure, seen.
“You would like her. She’s quite the looker, as you’d say, and she has the biggest heart. The way she took care of me when we had a bad storm would’ve made you happy. And did I mention she’s British? You know that’s my weakness. Oh, and I’ll be flying out to see Chris and the twins soon. It’ll be their birthday. Ten years old, can you believe it? I can’t either.” I laughed. “I wish you could be here to see them grow up. I love you, Gran, and I miss you like crazy. I wish you were here with me.” I kissed Mellie and placed her back safely, wiping the tears from my face. I went back inside, feeling a little sad but a little more motivated to write.
Chapter Thirty-One
Drea
“So, let me get this straight.You want me to go out for a movie night. To the same place Skylar and I broke up three years ago? Not only that, you want me to sit through an entire movie with CaraandBlair?”
I could hear Fallon’s eyes rolling from the other end of my phone. Surely I’d heard her wrong. Of course I had no issues with spending the night with Blair, although it would be torture not to touch her. I would make up for it once we got home. But I had no interest in going back to Pinstripes. Not after the last time I was there.
“First of all, that was a long time ago. You need to get over her?—”
“Iamover her, Fallon. I just don’t understand why you want to go out with both of them.”
“Kenzie and I thought it would be good for all of us to get together, and it’s where we reconnected. It has sentimental value, and we want you guys to be there. It’s only for a few hours. Surely you can manage. Cara already agreed. She said she would talk to Blair, and Kaia even said she would go. Roxxy has to work, Greyson is sick, and so is Pen. Dre, you’re being so difficult right now. It’s just a movie. Come on, babe, don’t make me pull the maid of honor card.”
I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh, knowing I would cave. “You can really be a pain in my ass, you know that?”
“You know you love me, and you’ll have a good time. You and Blair are friends now, right? Since you’re bringing her to the wedding, this should be a piece of cake.”
I groaned. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re bringing her as your date. Is there something going on I should know about?”
Yes… no… I don’t know!
“I already told you I don’t want to go alone, and Kaia is an employee. Yes, she is also my friend, but it would be weird. Blair and I… tolerate each other and she likes you. Nothing is going on.”
“Okay, babe. I don’t understand, but I believe you. You know you can talk to me, right? I’m always here.”
Of course I knew, and that made this situation even harder. I wanted nothing more than to sit with my best friend and share all the details about what had been going on in my life and how happy I was with Blair. But I couldn’t, and I could feel the guilt slowly starting to eat away at me.
“I know, love. I appreciate you. If there is something to talk about, you’ll be the first person I call. Listen, I gotta go, okay?”
She sighed in defeat, and I wanted to spill everything. “Okay, Dre. Don’t forget tomorrow night. Bye.”
I hung up the phone with a loud sigh and lay back down on the bed. I guess I was spending a night with all my friends who were oblivious to what was going on in my love life.
“Is everything all right?” Blair had just gotten out of the shower and hadn’t bothered putting on pajamas… lucky me. She strode toward me, looking sexy and glistening from her shower. I had planned on joining her, but of course Fallon had decided that would be a perfect time to give me a ring.
I smiled as she crawled into bed beside me, resting her head on my chest. Those were my favorite moments with Blair. Aside from the mind-altering sex, nothing compared to having her with me and hearing her steady breathing as she rested on top of me.
It was in those moments, though, when I was the most scared, too, because the comfort and safety I felt with her should have terrified me, yet it never did. I kept waiting and waiting for the feeling of needing to run to come, but instead, I pulled Blair closer, tethering me to the spot so the feeling couldn’t drag me away from her.
“Yeah, that was Fallon. Apparently we are all going to a rooftop movie night tomorrow. Expect to hear from Cara very soon. Fallon said she was going to ask you about it. She cheated and tried to play the wedding card, so I’m going too.”
As if she were spying on us, Blair’s phone chimed with a text notification. Blair checked her phone and laughed. “Word travels fast, doesn’t it? She said Fallon invited us to the movies tomorrow night and said Mackenzie is going… and Kaia? She said it will be good for us to all spend more time together outside of work.”
“She is always trying to get us to spend more time together. Maybe she’ll be happy when we tell her about us?” I hadn’t meant for it to come out as a question, but I wasn't so sure how Cara would react.
“Maybe if we would’ve told her from the beginning, but since we have been hiding it from her and basically lying to her, she might be upset at first. But I’m sure once she sees us together, she’ll understand. At least, I hope so.”
She shrugged and typed out a quick message and put her phone back on its charger. “I told her it sounded fun and sent a thumbs-up emoji. At least I didn’t have to lie to her. I've done that enough already.”
