Part 19 (1/2)
He was definitely sitting that one out.
He could tell them this was just decoy dates, just s.e.x, but he had the nagging feeling he'd be lying. He loved f.u.c.king her, true. Watching her come and knowing he was the one giving her all that pleasure gave him a rush like he'd never experienced before-ever, but that was not all. He felt very comfortable with Christy, so much so that most times he forgot they weren't in a real relations.h.i.+p. He liked spending time with her. Liked waking up with her. He tried to keep his distance, but every morning he woke up with her in his arms as if he'd reached for her in his sleep and refused to let go. f.u.c.king worrying. So much so he preferred not to think about it, let alone say it out loud.
Unfortunately his brothers didn't need his input to kick up a conversation about his relations.h.i.+p with Christy.
”She's sleeping at his place almost every night,” James told Max.
A slack-jawed Max stared at him and then turned to James. ”He's letting her stay at his place?” James nodded. ”Wow. You're kidding, right?”
”Nope.”
It looked like moving to live two houses from James's hadn't been his smartest move.
”Guys...”
Max ignored him. ”Are we talking about the same a.s.shole that breaks into a sweat just thinking about doing anything domestic with a woman?”
”You bet, my man. He's worm meat. Totally whipped.”
As Max was getting ready to start drilling him, Aunt Maggie came closer, a box in her hands.
Trivial Pursuit time.
”Let's play,” she said, opening the box and setting the board on the table.
Max and James groaned in dismay.
”Do we have to?” Cole muttered. Why couldn't his aunt be a fan of sewing or knitting, something she could do by herself, instead of making the whole family suffer through this Trivial Pursuit thing every time they gathered?
”I'll go get some lemonade,” Tate said. She was new to the family, and she was still quite enthusiastic about the game. ”Let's put on some music,” she added from the porch.
”Sure,” Christy said, reaching for the radio.
Oh, no no. Cole grabbed her and brought her onto his lap. ”I don't think so, babe.” His brothers looked at him. ”Unless you want to end up with a h.e.l.l of a headache, don't let her near the radio.”
Christy laughed and squirmed on his lap. f.u.c.k, his c.o.c.k was getting hard.
He'd been a bit worried that having Christy there would feel somehow weird, but it hadn't. She fit in perfectly-effortlessly. For some reason she'd seemed reticent to come at first, blabbing something about this being a private thing. Muttering about aisles talking to her, whatever the h.e.l.l that meant. Instead of feeling relieved she was bailing on him, he'd refused to even hear about it and had all but dragged her with him.
As always the game led to staying for supper, and Cole took his aunt aside.
”Please don't push food on Christy. It makes her uncomfortable.”
She c.o.c.ked her head. ”You really like this girl, don't you?”
Yes, he did. Too much probably. G.o.d f.u.c.king only knew what his aunt must have seen in his face, because she threw herself at him, eyes s.h.i.+ny, hugging him and smooching him, which freaked the f.u.c.k out of him.
Supper went much smoother though.
After supper they decided to leave. As they were saying their good-byes, Cole thought he saw Aunt Maggie saying something in Christy's ear. She seemed a bit distant after that, withdrawn, and he didn't like it.
”I...hmm...have to go home tonight. I'm babysitting my neighbor's cat.”
He waited for her to continue, but she didn't. ”Am I invited over?”
She avoided looking up to him and took some time to answer. ”Do you want to?”
f.u.c.k yes.
He'd spent the whole day with her, and the whole day before that, and he hadn't had enough. h.e.l.l, he wasn't sure he'd ever have enough of her.
Boy, he was in deep trouble.
He decided to lighten the mood. ”It depends. Do you have food to feed me there?”
She looked shocked. ”Good G.o.d, are you still hungry?”
”I will be in the morning. You can't expect me to perform at top level without fuel. And I don't mean sugarless yogurt and fruits. I mean eggs and meat. Coffee. Pancakes.”
She choked out a snort. ”You're pus.h.i.+ng it, buddy. You'll get eggs and meat. Coffee I think I may have. Pancakes, no way in h.e.l.l.”
He kissed her, happy he'd gotten her out of her sudden funk. He didn't like her quiet and reserved with him. ”Lead the way, love.”
As he was pulling away, she brought his lips down to hers, sweetly kissing him.
”Thanks for running interference for me at the table.”
d.a.m.n if her smile didn't make him feel ten feet tall. ”I was good, wasn't I?”
”A total pro. Thanks for your patience. I know it might look picky the way I behave with food, but-”
”Shut up,” he said, kissing her again. He didn't understand it, but if it was important to her, then it was important, period. All that ha.s.sle was well worth her relaxed smile.
”I don't care about the food restrictions.” He did love to eat, but at the end of the day, food was just fuel for his body. Irrelevant in the big scheme of things. A nonissue. Christy's screwed body image, on the other hand, bothered him immensely. Not up to standards, she'd said. She truly believed there was something wrong with her. Crazy.
”The only regretful thing about this whole food situation,” he continued, ”is that I won't get you to suck chocolate syrup from my c.o.c.k. A loss, true, but not the end of the world. You can make it up to me by letting me lick whipped cream off your nipples.”
Her eyes flashed, and she snorted in amus.e.m.e.nt. ”Honey, you put whipped cream on my b.o.o.bs, and I'll be licking them.”
Cole threw his head back and burst into laughter. G.o.d, she cracked him up.
Chapter Eleven.
Christy watched as Cole paid for their corn on the cob. She was trying very hard to ignore the way the female vendor swooned over him, but she was failing miserably. It was official: the fake dates had to go. Now. Before she killed somebody.
Her objectivity and detachment had gone to h.e.l.l in a handbasket in less than two weeks of pretending to date Cole. So freaking Stone Age of her.