“So while they’re cleaning, what are we going to do?”
Bridget shook her head, the thoughts coming to her mind not something they could do at the dining room table. Flushed with heat again, Bridget gave a sheepish smile. Now that she had full use of her arm again, she wanted Jerica on top of her.
“Oh,” Jerica breathed out the word, a smile blooming on her lips too. “I mean, if you want—”
“I would love to, Jerica, but I don’t think today is probably the best day. I want to be able to do this right, not shit out halfway through because my arm gets sore.”
Laughing lightly, Jerica leaned in and pressed their mouths together in a tender kiss. “I think, even if that did happen, we would figure it out.”
Bridget hummed, reaching up with her formerly broken hand, her dominant hand, finally, and pulled Jerica back in for a kiss. Turning the kiss heated, Bridget swiped her tongue along Jerica’s lips and waited for her to part them, for her to have full access to the moment with Jerica as much as she could manage. She wanted it to be perfect when they were together the first time, something special and not just heated passion that fizzled out. She wanted to make it like nothing Jerica had experienced before.
Jerica leaned in, sliding a hand along Bridget’s thigh to her hip. She pulled away, a smile on her lips. “I will gladly have sex with you whenever you feel you’re ready. Okay?”
“Okay,” Bridget answered, not quite sure how to take that. No one had ever told her something like that before, but considering the healing from her injuries, living with Eli, her nightmares that seemed to be getting worse, not better—though she’d never tell anyone that—and trying to get back to work, her life was more than full of things. She really didn’t need one more to think about, although she had particularly loved thinking about this one.
“Good.” Jerica leaned in again, their mouths touching softly. “Until then, I’m going to enjoy kissing you senseless.”
“Not hard to do,” Bridget mumbled, nipping at Jerica’s plump lower lip. “I quite enjoy kissing you.”
Giggling, Jerica squeezed Bridget’s thigh and kissed her again. They were still lip-locked when Eli came back down the stairs, her hands full of sheets and towels. She scoffed, catching their full attention, and Bridget shook her head.
“You two are like teenagers.”
“Because you and Sarah aren’t?” Bridget raised an eyebrow, deciding now was the time for a small jibe at Eli. “It’s not like the walls are that thick, Eli.”
Eli blushed, furiously. Her entire face and neck turned red as her eyes widened. “I didn’t…I didn’t even think…”
“Yup.” Bridget wrinkled her nose. “So don’t go calling me out on things that you yourself can’t handle either.”
“Right. Sorry.” Eli was still bright red as she turned on her heel and headed to the basement.
Bridget laughed loudly as she sat back in her chair, just waiting for Eli to come up again and not be able to look her in the eye. Jerica shook her head. “You’re awful.”
“That was funny. I’ve been waiting to catch her alone to tell her about it.”
Jerica patted Bridget’s thigh again. “And what will you do when she says the same about us?”
Bridget’s jaw dropped.
“I’m not exactly quiet.”
“Oh fuck,” Bridget mumbled, all the hormones in her body raging, first from the talk, then the kissing, and now this.
“Yes, oh fuck, indeed.” Jerica gave her a pointed look. “Whenever you want.”
Bridget groaned. How the hell was she supposed to respond to that?
* * *
By the time morning came, Bridget had barely been able to sleep. Aside from listening to Sarah and Eli attempt to be quiet, she was incredibly nervous. She hadn’t touched on it with anyone, but being in a house with Sarah’s family, with Eli’s family, with everyone busy and happy and looking forward to something she had almost ruined—she was not looking forward to it.
Bridget would be the odd woman out. She wouldn’t be accepted. She was the ex, and not only the ex, but she was the one who had tried to break them up in the beginning, who had caused so many issues for Eli in the long run. The tension between the two of them had been high for years. It was only in the last couple that it had calmed down and only in the last few weeks since the accident that they had found a balance.
But adding in the family? That could very easily upset the even keel they’d found. Not to mention Bridget didn’t want to be in the way. She already felt like a burden, but being there while they did the final touches on all the wedding planning? Bridget gulped. She was going to be there for the wedding if she didn’t get home quick. Cursing under her breath, she pushed herself up and tried to figure out how she could get better quicker. She didnotwant to be there for the wedding.
Anything but that.
Heading into the bathroom, Bridget covered her leg with a plastic bag and hobbled into the shower. At least she was far more mobile now than she had been. It would help her case that she should just go home.