as I sit gulping down coffee in the morning. “Did you sleep at all last night?”
“I did.” Half-truths are my forte.
But Candy knows me and won’t be fooled. “Not much. Not enough.” And she comes right to me and straddles me. “You had nightmares again.”
“What do you want me to say, Sugar pop? I often do.” I slam my mug back down on the table. My hands slide up her sides to steady her. “But I’m okay.”
“Both you and J are stubborn like donkeys.”
“Hung like them, too.”
She laughs delightedly. “What’s in that coffee and can I have some, too?”
She’s only dressed in one of Joel’s white T-shirts and a pair of panties. My fingertips skim over the scratchy lace hugging her ass as she settles on my lap and puts her hands around my neck.
“You don’t think I’m well hung?”
“You’re perfect,” she says and kisses me.
It’s a light kiss, sweet and soft, and I fall into her, into her embrace, her taste, letting her warmth seep into me.
The nightmares don’t matter. Not when I can be here, with her, and Joel. Not when I can be this damn happy when I’m awake.
Maybe I should just give up on sleep altogether and have sex instead. Endless sex with Candy and Joel.
The thought makes me snicker.
She drags her lips over my cheek and whispers in my ear, “What’s so funny?”
“It’s not funny.” I draw in her scent. “It’s fucking ridiculous.”
“What is?”
“How much I love you.”
She smiles and catches my face in her hands. “Don’t change the topic.”
“Of how well hung I am?”
“Of the nightmares.” She strokes my jaw. “Joel also left the bed last night. Did you two talk?”
“Not really. He won’t talk about the phone call. Did he tell you anything?”
She shakes her head. “Do you think they fought?”
“Nah.”
“He really won’t come out to them, then? About being with us?”
“I’m not sure. And maybe… maybe I don’t want Joel to talk to his parents, either. He left once. What if he leaves again?”
“Jet…”
Yeah, I know. I sound chicken-shit. And I am. Deep inside I’m scared shitless that if Joel faces his parents, he may change his mind. God knows he almost did once or twice before. If I hadn’t been stabbed, would he have made up his mind to be with us? We haven’t been together all that long.
What if he decides we’re not worth the fight?
I know I should trust him, have faith in him. He’s been by my side ever since I moved to this town years back, and he’s here now. He’s made his choice.