Page 43 of Homesick
Emma is so excited; she’s practically bouncing out of her seat. I turn my head to make sure Colt and Milo are still minding their own business over by the swing set. I made sure to come over to Emma’s place early to get all the dirty details out of the way before the rest of the guests showed up.
“I didn’t exactly get laid.”
Emma’s face sinks immediately when I make that confession, but I know she won’t be disappointed with the rest of the story.
“I did however do other extracurriculars.”
“I’m listening,” she says with open ears.
Not being able to contain it anymore, I say, “Iletblakefingermeagainstsomeonesfordfocuslastnight.”
My confession comes tumbling out like word vomit and I can tell from Emma’s expression, she needed a redo. I let out a deep sigh and do one last spot check to make sure no little ears are nearby. “I let Blake finger me against someone’s Ford Focus last night.”
Emma’s mouth comically drops open, and I give her a minute to absorb the bomb I just dropped. It takes her a second to form her words before she finally replies. “I honestly don’t know what to say.”
Then I tell her the entire story. I tell her all about how Adam was a complete ass and how Blake stepped in to defend my honor like a god damn frickin knight in shining armor. Then I intimately describe how I jumped his bones and let him defile me in public. “And then we said goodnight and I haven’t spoken to him since.”
“So, what happens next?”
“We haven’t talked about it,” I say with an uneasy tone. I can tell from Emma’s lack of excitement, she doesn’t approve. “I think we can make it work if we come to some sort of agreement.”
“Listen, Wren. I was there when this thing blew up last time and it wasn’t pretty. Hell, you couldn’t even spend three days in town before fleeing back to Ohio. I love you and I don’t want to see you get hurt. I also don’t want to lose you again.”
I completely understand why Emma feels that way and it’s not anything I haven’t thought about either. I’m not sure what Blake and I are going to do and last night might’ve just been a moment of weakness. All I know is it felt good to be close to him again. A little too good.
“I know it was probably a dumb idea, but it just felt right in the moment. I doubt it’ll happen again.”
Before we can continue our conversation, Emma’s eyes go wide, and I follow them to a familiar pick-up pulling down the driveway.
“Oh shit,” she says, standing up from her seat at the picnic table. “I completely forgot Colt invited Blake,” Emma announces before pausing. I turn my head when I hear a car door pop open. “When he asked, I thought he was joking. We haven’t been on the same page lately.”
“Shit. Okay, just promise me you’ll pretend like you know nothing. Also, please don’t be a dick to him and make shit weirder than it already is,” I say, scrambling out of my seat. Thank God I wore a decent outfit, I think as I look down at my navy blue sundress.
“As long as you promise to keep your hands off of each other in front of me, you have a deal,” she says with a weary smile. “Oh! And can you run inside and get the extra cups off the counter?”
I nod my head and quickly run inside to grab the cups off of the counter. Before I emerge from the house again, I take a few minutes to collect myself before seeing Blake.
When I push open the squeaky door, I come face to face with the cutest scene. Blake is crouched down near Milo, letting the clumsy baby hold on to his finger for support. Milo is at that age where he’s just on the verge of taking his first steps, but he still needs support to stand properly.
My ovaries practically cry out when I see how sweet Blake is being with the ten-month-old. I can tell from the way he clenches and unclenches his free hand, that he’s nervous. I feel a shadow of a smile warming its way to my face, but I contain myself for now.
Just as I’m about to peel my eyes away, Blake looks up and we make eye contact. A hot flash creeps up the back of my neck under the intensity of his stare. The corner of his mouth tips up in a smile before he flashes me his famous “caught ya staring” wink.
A weird fluttering sensation fills my stomach. I take a deep breath and walk over to him. The man had made me cum less than twenty-four hours ago, yet I was terrified of being a dork around him. Blake has seen me at my worst, but there is this fear that if I fall back into how things were, we will ultimately meet the same end.
As I’m walking over to Blake, I see Emma making her way toward the same destination. It’s strange seeing my two childhood best friends interacting again. I can tell that Emma doesn’t think that whatever is going on between Blake and I is a good idea. Even if she didn’t say anything, I can see the look of disapproval wash over her face every time I mention his name.
Emma gets to Blake before I can and by the way her shoulders are sagging, I can tell that the interaction is not a good one. Once I approach, she grabs Milo and walks away. I throw her a questioning look, but she just gives me a fake smile and heads over to the rest of the group.
“Everything okay?” I ask as I walk up to Blake.
Blake’s facial expression goes from tense to warm when he opens his mouth to reply. “Yeah, it’s fine. I guess Emma still isn’t my biggest fan.”
I desperately want to reach out and stroke his shoulder reassuringly, but I know I can’t do that here. I don’t even know if I can do that, period. It may be crossing the line of whatever this thing is between us. “Are you free after this? I want to talk about last night.”
“You’re not going to tell me it was a mistake again, are you?” Blake says with a smirk.
“No . . . I just want to talk about what comes next. This whole work acquaintances thing obviously isn’t working. I want to keep last night a secret. My brother would be pissed, and you know how everyone in this town likes to run their mouths.”I