Finding a parking spot was easy enough. Most people were probably out on a Saturday night. I reached over and took my overnight bag from the passenger seat then stepped out of the car. The sound of the beach being so close made it feel like home, even though it was a very different place. Glancing up toward Eli’s apartment, the light was on and his bike was parked in his designated parking spot. He was expecting me.
I was hungry and hoped we ate soon. All I’d had at work today was microwaveable mac and cheese. Then on the other hand, if Eli wanted to strip me naked and give me a few orgasms first, I wouldn’t be opposed to that either. I’d thought of little else since he’d left my place. As much as I loved the slow lovemaking we’d had last, I was in the mood for being taken roughly tonight. I liked his dirty mouth. Thinking about it excited me.
By the time I reached the stairs that led up to his apartment, I was grinning. Anticipating wild sex possibly on his kitchen table or maybe his sofa. However, the closer I got to his door the louder the voices were. When I knocked on it, I knew there was several people in there. Eli hadn’t said anything about others being here when I called him earlier.
The door swung open and Eli’s sister, Crimson, answered. She was striking with red hair and pale skin like her mother’s. The smile that spread across her face at the sight of me was a relief. I’d never gotten to talk to Crimson much and I knew very little about her. I wanted Eli’s family to like me.
“I now understand why Eli was so annoyed by our arrival,” Crimson said, stepping back and opening the door wider for me to enter. “Micah brought the beer, I brought brownies and red wine, and Jude brought his momma’s homemade lasagna with garlic bread. Looks like our housewarming meal was not in his plans tonight,” she was explaining all this to me I realized.
I stepped into the apartment as Eli walked toward me scowling. When he reached me, he took the bag from my hand. “They just walked in,” he told me and from the look on his face, I was wondering if he intended to kick them out. I hoped not. I didn’t want to be the reason he kicked his family out. I knew Micah was married to Eli’s Aunt Larissa. So that made him and his younger brother, Jude, family. I glanced over and saw no one else. Just these three.
“I’m starving,” I said, looking at Crimson. “I’d love some of the lasagna, garlic bread, and a brownie or three.”
Crimson’s smile brightened and she then shot her brother a smirk. “See, she’s hungry. Now go put her bag up and stop glaring at us all like we are intruders. Because we obviously are, but we did come with food and beverages.”
Eli’s scowl didn’t fade as he walked off with my bag back toward the bedroom.
“You’re Nate’s sister,” Micah Falco said then as if he’d been trying to place me and it just hit him.
I gave him a nod. “Guilty.”
“I won’t lie, we had no idea you and my brother were uh . . . close. I mean I remember you and him walking down to the beach the night he arrived at Bliss’s, but I didn’t know you were seeing each other . . .” Her last few words faded off as if they were more of a question. I couldn’t blame Eli for not telling anyone. I hadn’t told my family either. It was all kind of new. I was planning on talking to my mother about things, but I hadn’t done so yet. I was almost afraid to bust the happy bubble I was currently in with Eli.
“It’s the tattoos, isn’t it?” Micah said, shaking his head with a chuckle. “Damn kid gets all inked and goes from nerd to player overnight.”
Micah Falco had been at enough of the same events as me that I knew he was the one with all the comments and often funny yet inappropriate one-liners. He was good for diffusing awkward moments too. I had witnessed it a few times. However, I didn’t like him referring to Eli as a nerd.
“The ink is hot, but Eli has been on my radar well before he disappeared. I just hadn’t worked up the nerve to make a move yet.” Okay so maybe that wasn’t the exact truth, but it made Micah’s mocking grin morph into an impressed wide-eyed expression.
“Well, damn, dude,” he said as Eli walked back into the room. “I didn’t realize you had such fucking game before you ran off.”
“Ignore Micah, we all do,” Crimson said just before there was another knock on the door.