Her brows lift when she finds me there, flicking her gaze over me. A flare of heat fills her whiskey-colored eyes.
My cock twitches. It’s hard to keep a leash on how much I fucking want her. The need keeps growing, like I’ll never have enough.
“Perfect,” I praise, taking her in.
Blair’s dark lashes flutter, made darker by her light makeup and mascara. She smooths her hands over the deep jade dress that hugs her body and falls to her knees. “It looks okay?”
“Yes. Ready to go?”
“Okay.”
I rest my hand at the small of her back as we descend the steps, but at the bottom she strides ahead of me to reach the garage first. Smothering a sigh, I retrieve the key fob for the Porsche from the hook and climb into the car, where she waits for me.
On the short drive, I keep an eye on her in my periphery. Blair clicks her nails together.
Things have remained tense between us since the wild sex last week. An uncomfortable feeling slithers in my gut like a poison. Blair is pulling away. I can feel it. I’ve been trying to mentally prepare for it if she does, giving into my coping mechanism to protect myself.
Even after reading through three of Mom’s books on the brain science behind these habits, I can’t cut them off just by reading about them.
It’s frustrating to be so weak. To have the one thing that’s made me feel alive, unable to stop myself from closing off to keep the fear at bay. No matter how strong I think I am, I’m still the same little boy inside, defenseless against the raw pain of everyone leaving.
When I pull up to Aunt Lottie and Uncle Ed’s house, Lucas’ car is there.
“They must be here already.” Blair points at the car. “Gemma said they’d be in town for the weekend to visit both families. Maybe we can grab breakfast with them tomorrow.”
We head up the deck and enter through the kitchen where the scent of a home cooked meal hits us as soon as the door opens.
“Smells
great, Aunt Lottie.”
“Devlin!” Uncle Ed hauls himself out of a chair in the living room, followed by their plump pug dog, Lancelot.
Blair lights up, bending down to greet him. “Hi, my favorite knight.”
“Looking sharp.” Uncle Ed shakes my hand and beams at Blair. His usual gray stubble is shaved clean, his cheeks slightly pink from drinking. “We’ve been trying to get Dev to bring you over here for weeks. We’re happy to finally meet his girlfriend.”
A bubble of warmth expands in my chest at hearing Blair described as my girlfriend.
Blair tucks her sleek hair behind her ears, rising to her feet to shake hands. “That’s all on him.” She elbows me. “I love your dog and would’ve been happy to come over. Thanks for having me.”
Uncle Ed laughs and reaches out to ruffle my hair, messing up the way I styled it.
“Ed,” I complain, leaning away.
“What, you think you’re too big for me to do that just because you’re taller than me now? I still do it to Lucas, too. Don’t I, son?”
“And I do it right back. You just have less hair to mess with,” Lucas jokes from the couch, where his arm is around Gemma.
Uncle Ed laughs, touching his sandy brown hair that’s shot through with gray.
“Come on in, you two. Anything to drink?” Uncle Ed waves us into the warm kitchen. It’s cozier than my house. It feels like a family actually lives here. “Anyway, Dev, you don’t have to duck our invitations. You aunt and I have been missing you after you were here so often at the start of the school year. You know you and your friends are always welcome over here. How’s Bishop?”
“He’s fine.”
Aunt Lottie comes in with a couple of bottles of wine. “I brought reinforcements.”
Lucas and Gemma come over from the couch to help her in the kitchen as Uncle Ed hands us appetizers.