Mya and Emma can’t stop laughing and neither can I.
“You’re not ruining anything. Let’s get you home. See you guys in the morning.”
“Wait a minute, lover boy. We didn’t get to hug her goodbye,” Emma shouts and she and Mya both hurry toward me.
A barstool gets knocked over in the process, which only makes us all laugh harder.
“Cosette Dubois…” Emma says, pushing the hair out of my face.
“Yes?” I ask, and I can’t hide my smile.
“We found our missing piece that we didn’t even know was missing,” she says.
“We realized what was missing after we met you. You complete us, little rosy Cosi,” Mya says, looking at me all weepy and then she bursts into tears.
“Oh boy. Time to go,” Jesse says, wrapping his arm around her. She’s at the door and still yelling how much she loves us, and we follow Spence and Emma out the door.
Caden’s car is waiting at the curb and I wave goodbye before he helps me in.
My lips are numb and I can’t feel my feet.
But I look up at Caden and I know I’m exactly where I want to be.
Chapter Seven
Caden
Holy shit. Drunk Cosette manages to be sexy as hell with the way she keeps looking up at me with those doe eyes. The more I get to know this girl, the more protective I feel over her.
And she needs it.
Her family doesn’t have her back and that bothers me.
“Your place or mine?” I ask her and she grins.
“I should go back home. I can’t crash in your guest room forever and also, I need clothes.”
“You can crash at my place as long as you need.”
“Did I ruin things for you back there?” she slurs, and she’s so fucking cute it makes my chest squeeze.
She’s turned in her seat facing me, and her cheek is resting against the leather seat. Lavender eyes are looking up at me like I hold the fucking moon.
“You didn’t ruin anything.”
“Is that your girlfriend? I mean your real girlfriend?” she asks, and when I glance back over, her eyes are closed.
“No. I hardly know her.”
“She’d be lucky to date you, lover. You’re the best boyfriend I’ve ever had,” she whispers, and then bursts out in laughter at her own words. “You know what I mean.”
“I do.” I nod, and we’re quiet until I pull down her street.
“Thanks for coming to get me. I could have called my parents’ driver. Herb’s a nice guy even if he smells like sauerkraut and pine needles.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh.
“Well, I wouldn’t want you dealing with that kind of smell when you’re feeling so good,” I tease, and I turn off the car. The house is dark.
“You’re so thoughtful. And handsome. I see why that girl was all over you, the way you’re looking in this fancy … what is this?” She taps her hand against my chest but rubs it all around, which makes my dick go hard immediately.
Can’t go there with Cosette.
We have a good thing going right now.
“It’s a T-shirt,” I say, and I can’t help but laugh.
“Yep. It is. It just fits you so nicely. And, I get it. I really do.” She still has her hand on my chest and she looks up at me and gasps before patting my cheek. “I think I might throw up.”
Now I’m laughing as I hurry out of the car and get her out as well. She leans forward and vomits several times, and I hold her hair back for her. She keeps apologizing between hurls.
“You’re okay,” I say, as I rub her back.
“Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I just puked in front of you. This has to be some kind of rock bottom. But I had the best time, so I guess it’s a sign of a great night, right?” She looks up and sways into me.
I lift her off her feet and she rests her head against my chest. “It’s definitely a sign of a great night. Do you have a key?”
“We have a code. My mother thinks keys are for peasants,” she says, and she bursts out in laughter again. Cosette’s laughter is one of the best fucking sounds I’ve ever heard.
She tells me the code and I push the door open as she guides me upstairs. The house is completely quiet and she covers her mouth to keep from laughing. I set her on her bed and she looks up at me.
“Thanks for being such a good friend, Caden.”
I smile at her and reach out to touch her cheek. “Goodnight, my sweet friend. I’ll see you tomorrow. Take all the time you need, coming in.”
She falls back on her bed and watches me as I walk out. It’s really hard to leave when she’s staring up at me like that.
I shut the door behind me and nearly trip over Louie who is now looking up at me much like Cosette was. He’s wearing a pajama-looking thing with pink flamingos and I shake my head. I don’t know about people who never let their dogs go naked. If you can’t even be free as a dog, what’s even the point in life?
I reach down and pet him and he falls out on his back, paws up in full surrender.
I can’t help but laugh, the little guy is so stinking cute. He’s got three teeth poking out of his mouth, otherwise he’s all gums.
When I try to move away, he gets up and follows me all the way down the stairs. From somewhere in the distance, I hear Vivienne calling him, but he stays on my trail. I reach the door, and he pants up at me like we’re going somewhere exciting. He even throws a little twirl in there.
“Louie. You have to stay,” I whisper. “Go to your mother.”
He jumps on my leg and waggles his tail some more. I sigh and scratch his head again, looking around for something to distract him. I don’t want to get caught looking like I’m snooping around, so when he doesn’t even go after his stuffed giraffe, I pick him up and head back up the stairs toward Cosette’s room. I knock lightly and when she doesn’t answer, I open the door just enough to put Louie in her room, shutting the door before he follows me back out.
I decide to text her when I get home to explain my crazy reasoning, but she texts me first as I reach the car.
Thought you were coming back for a kiss, but it was just Louie licking my face off. Thanks for that. ;)
My laugh sounds loud on the quiet street. At your service, I type back.
As I drive back to my side of town, I think about how much fun I’m having with Cosette. There aren’t many girls I meet in New York that I’m interested in seeing again. My mom thinks I still haven’t recovered from the heartbreak of losing my college girlfriend, Leah, but I rarely think about her at all. My heart doesn’t feel broken. I don’t pine after her like a wuss or wish I’d done anything different—except I do wish I hadn’t dated her as long as I did. She dumped me when I wasn’t ready to get married while we were still in school, and she was married to someone else within the year.
Yeah, that did a number on me. Made me a little skittish about getting in deep with anyone else, I guess.
I need to be careful with Cosette too. Because I am thinking about her way too much. She needs a friend. Pure and simple.
I can do that. Hell, I need more friends in my life too. It can be easy to think I have all I need with my family because, the truth is, I do. They fill me up and then some. But Spence and Jesse have already settled into relationships and I know once kids start, I won’t have unlimited access to them at all times. I don’t see Gus settling down anytime soon, Pen either … but who knows? Things didn’t exactly go slowly with either Spence or Jesse’s relationships. Hopefully our family will all grow together, whether we’re in romantic relationships or not. All I know is, a few friends wouldn’t hurt.