Page 62 of Broken Pieces
The sound of tires on the gravel have us both pulling away before we want to.
“We should probably put swimsuits on so whoever is here thinks we were just changing.”
I nod, unwrap myself from his body, and head to my room to change.
* * *
We walk out of the house and find Mac sitting on the raised deck sipping on a beer. “Wondered when y’all were gonna show up. I didn’t want to be the one to have to explain what you were doing.”
“Fuck off, Mac,” Brooks says.
Mac just chuckles as he stands up and gives Brooks a man hug. “Want me to grab the beer for the coolers?”
“I thought you already did that since you are drinking one,” Brooks responds.
“Naw man. I didn’t want to miss the show of you two stumblin’ outta that cottage.”
Brooks punches him in the arm as they walk off to grab the beer out of the detached garage.
I make my way inside to grab a few bottles of booze and some baked treats I had stashed in the kitchen.
Brooks and Mac fill the refrigerated coolers that are kept on the deck while I place booze, mixers, and treats on the table.
It doesn’t take long for Brooks to grab a brownie from the plate and moan as he chomps it down. “Babe, you seriously need to open a bakery or be on one of those baking shows. These are too good.”
Did he just call me babe? And why did I like the endearment? We are supposed to be just fucking. Why is it feeling like it could become more? I need to shake these feelings. Not that I have any. All the pieces of my shattered heart are boarded up so no one can get in. I blame the alcohol on me thinking I have feelings.
“I am not good enough for one of those baking shows.”
Mac shoves a brownie in his mouth. “You sure about that? I’ve never tasted anything so delicious before and I’ve eaten a shit ton of pussy.”
I throw a slice of lime at him that I was cutting for the margaritas. “I did not need to know that.”
Brooks adds, “And you should probably keep that fact to yourself because I don’t think Laney is gonna want to hear it.”
Mac groans. “I am worried she is gonna turn into a stage five clinger soon.”
“Then break it off with her man,” Brooks says as he helps me make a pitcher of margaritas. Summer is gonna hate me. But Tacoma and I are the same. Pools and margs are a match made in heaven.
“But that pussy is so good.”
I hate to be involved in bro talk, but I can’t help but chime in, “But not as good as my brownies so maybe you should break it off and find a girl who tastes even sweeter than them.”
Brooks cracks up and plants a kiss on my mouth. “That is the reason I hang out with this girl. She’s just as bad we are.”
Mac scrubs his hands over his face. “You bring up a point. Now let’s have some shots before I say something I shouldn’t to Laney. I sure as hell hope she isn’t wasted when she gets here.”
Brooks lines up a few shot glasses as he says, “Naw she isn’t. She was sober when I called her. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to come over despite her best friend being here.”
“Then why is she coming over?”
“Because I told her you’d be here.”
Mac grabs his shot as he mutters, “Asshat.”
“Don’t blame me, man. That show that you witnessed wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t convince Summer to go pick up her sister.”
“Think of it as a birthday present to me,” I chime in. “Taking one for the team.”