I sit on the bed. “Everyone knows we are best friends, and you would never date me.” I try to make the words not matter.
“Why you do think I would never date you?” he asks, and I avoid his eyes. “If anything, you’re the only one I would date.” My eyes fly to his. “I mean, let’s face it, we are best friends,” he says. “I’m with you more than anyone else. Also, that kiss was out of this world.”
My stomach dips just a bit when he mentions the kiss. The kiss that I’ve wanted more of ever since. “Even your Tuesday girl?” I joke with him, and he glares at me.
“What is it with this fucking Tuesday girl?” He throws his hands in the air. “I haven’t fucked anyone on a Tuesday in a while, let alone every Tuesday.” He walks to the door. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“So feisty,” I joke, and he looks over his shoulder. “Maybe you should be having sex if you are this uptight.” Though the thought of him having sex with other women makes me physically sick. He sticks up his finger, flipping me off, and walks toward his bedroom. I hear the door close and then the water turns on. I put my hand to my stomach, and I get up, walking downstairs to get some water. I walk back up the stairs and walk back into the bedroom. I’m about to slip into bed when my phone starts to ring. I immediately jump up, my heart hammering as thoughts of Ethan being sick make my heart beat even faster.
I pick up the phone, seeing that it’s an unknown number. “Hello?” I say and then don’t hear anything. “Hello?” I say again, and I hear the phone beep and then look at the screen, seeing that it’s off. The phone rings again, and I answer now right away, and it’s the same thing.
“Are you hungry?” Looking toward the door, I see Beau’s out of the shower and standing in the doorway wearing shorts. Looking at him with my mouth hanging down, I look away and wonder why this bothers me now when I see him like that all the time. Maybe because I’m in his house. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I say. “Someone called me twice times and hung up. I thought it was Jacob, but it’s an unknown number.”
“Maybe it’s a wrong number,” Beau says, coming closer to me. The scent of his body wash overwhelms me, and my hands tremble.
“Maybe.” I look at him. “This guy met this girl, and she gave him the wrong number or vice versa.”
“So he’s calling her in the middle of the night?” He laughs now.
“Booty call,” I joke with him. “It’s almost dawn.”
“Yeah, let’s go make breakfast,” he says, and I walk past him toward the door.
“The last time you said that, you stood there holding a cup of coffee the whole time, pretending to take notes.” I remind him of the time we went away to a cabin up north with Ethan, and he didn’t do any cooking.
“I told you this,” he says from behind me while I walk down the stairs. “My job is to get the food, and your job is to cook the food.”
“In what universe?” I ask, walking to the kitchen.
“Earth,” he says, laughing, and I look at him.
“You make coffee.” I point at him, and he nods.
“That I can do,” he says, opening up a cupboard and making the coffee. I grab bacon and sausage out of the fridge and start them both when my phone rings again.
“I’ll get it,” he says and picks up the phone. “Unknown number.” He slides his finger and puts it to his ear. “Hello?” I watch him say hello again and then put the phone down.
“This woman or man is in desperate need of something if they are going to call me three times.” I shake my head, and he laughs. When he walks past me, he puts his hands on my hips, and my whole body shivers when he lets me go. I try not to think of where he touched me, but my hips are still warm from his touch.
“Here you go,” he says, handing me a mug of coffee made just the way I like it. “It already smells great,” he says, and we hear a soft knock on the door. “That must be Grady.”
He walks to the door, and I hear Grady’s voice while I flip the bacon and start preparing the pancakes. “Morning,” he says, and I just smile at him.
“Would you like some coffee?” I ask as he sits at the island.
“I’d love some,” he says, taking out a pad and paper. I turn and lean up to grab a mug and then make Grady a cup.
“Here you go.” I hear Beau coming into the kitchen, and he hands me a white robe. I look at him and then look at Grady who just rolls his lips and looks down at the paper in front of him.
“What is that?” I ask him and look down at my outfit. It’s shorts and a tank top. I’m even wearing a bra.
Beau comes closer and says, “It’s a robe,” under his breath as he puts it around my shoulders. “In case you get splashed by the food.” I look at him.
“So cooking with a robe that is twice or maybe even three times my size is better than burning myself?”
“Yes.” He grabs his coffee and turns around to go sit next to Grady. “What do I need to tell you?”
I listen to him give his side of what happened while I put the robe on and roll the sleeves. I finish breakfast at the same time as Grady finishes taking the report. He joins us for breakfast, and I clean up as soon as they are both done. I’m closing the dishwasher when my phone rings again, and this time, I see it’s Jacob.
“Hello,” I say, looking over and seeing that it’s just after seven a.m.
“Hey,” he says, and I can hear music in the background. “Just letting you know that we are on our way back.”
“What? I thought you were going for a couple of days. Is everything okay?” My heart starts to pick up speed.
“Kallie isn’t feeling so hot,” he says. “She was throwing up all night, and then I think Ethan is catching it also.”
“Oh, no,” I say, sitting down. “Well, call me when you get home, and I’ll come and get Ethan from you.”
“Are you sure?” he asks, and I hear Ethan in the back shouting that he’s going to throw up. “I’ll call you back.”
I hang up the phone the same time Beau comes downstairs, and he’s dressed in black dress pants and a white button-down shirt. The cuffs are rolled up to his elbows, showing off the silver watch his grandfather gave him at graduation. “Who was on the phone?” he asks, running his hands through his hair. I wonder if it feels as soft and silky as it looks. He keeps it longer on the top so he can just brush it over.
“Jacob,” I say. “He’s on his way home. Kallie and Ethan are throwing up.”
He grimaces. “Gross.”
I laugh. “Oh, trust me, I know all about you and your queasy stomach.” He walks over and takes out a to-go cup. “Remember when Ethan was a baby, and you thought it was a good idea to throw him in the air?”
“Oh my God.” He puts his hand to his stomach. “He threw up right in my mouth.” I throw my head back and laugh, thinking about it.
“It took you two seconds to hand him over to me, and then you threw up in my flowers.” I can picture it like it was yesterday.