24. Behind Them

24

BEHIND THEM

L aurel was waiting for Easton to text her the next Saturday to come over and meet Abe. He’d left a while ago to pick his cousin up at the airport.

She couldn’t believe that he was moving home tomorrow.

Or how sad she was over it when there was no reason to feel that way.

They weren’t splitting or giving each other space. He was just going to be working ninety minutes away during the week.

Next weekend, she’d already agreed to go to his place. She was looking forward to it and she hoped to meet his best friends too.

When she saw Easton’s Audi pull into the driveway next to hers, she knew it’d be soon that the text would come in.

The car had been a bit of a shock. She’d never once thought of what he might have driven around because he was always in Abe’s truck. He said during the week if he had to run errands, he’d start it and drive it out and then put it back.

That car would have given away more than the truck in the beginning as to who he might have been.

At least she thought it might.

Then she wondered why it mattered all that much.

They put it behind them that he wasn’t who she thought in the beginning. It made no difference.

She knew who he was now. It was the man that she found herself slowly falling in love with.

When that thought popped into her head, she put her fist to her mouth. How had that happened so quickly and was she a fool to let herself go?

It didn’t seem as if she had any choice in the matter.

Her phone went off with a text and there was no time to think more of it.

She walked next door and up the front porch. Easton was waiting there holding the door.

He leaned in and kissed her. He’d stayed the night but then left early to go back home and make sure he had everything set and packed.

“Hey,” he said.

“Did you miss me?” she asked. He didn’t normally lean in and kiss her like that. Especially since he’d seen her not that long ago.

“Nope,” she heard. “He is staking his claim. He’s got nothing to worry about. Guess I shouldn’t have said you were hot when he asked me about you weeks ago. I’m Abe.”

She laughed. “Laurel. I hadn’t realized it was you that I’d been waving to and not Easton.”

They did look a lot alike. Though Abe was a bit bigger with some more muscles. Not surprising with the work he did.

“We were confused a lot in school,” Abe said.

“Not likely,” Easton said.

Abe laughed. “I told Easton he has nothing to worry about. I’m not going to sneak over in your bed at night.”

Easton frowned and shoved his cousin. “Asshole.”

She hadn’t expected that. “Don’t worry. I’d know right away. No one is getting in my bed but you.”

“Aren’t you two so sweet,” Abe said. “Makes me feel like a loser having spent almost two months with my mother while my cousin was hitting the sheets.”

She lifted her eyebrow at that comment. “Don’t be a dick. Now you’re just doing it on purpose and I know what it is,” Easton said.

“Why is that?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Easton said. “Or I’ll tell you later.”

“I know you just got home and you two probably have a bunch of things to catch up on. Why don’t you join us for dinner? I’m cooking. Just burgers. Something easy.”

“I’d love to,” Abe said, smirking at Easton. She might have put her foot in her mouth again. Could be he didn’t want his cousin over, but she felt it was the right thing to do.

“Then I’ll see you when you want to eat,” she said.

Easton grabbed her hand and pulled her forward for another kiss and it only caused Abe to laugh.

She returned home and made a potato salad to have with the burgers. That was easy enough.

She was just putting it in the fridge when the back door opened and Easton walked in. “That was fast.”

“Not much to go over. He’ll be here in twenty minutes. I told him to give me time to apologize.”

“For what?” she asked.

“The way he acted,” he said.

“Which wasn’t anything outrageous. It looked like two guys that were close to each other busting like that. It’s not the first time I’ve seen that between men. Been a while, but I find it entertaining and I’m not the least bit threatened or upset over it.”

“Not annoyed?” he asked.

She smiled. “Not even that. Are you annoyed?”

“A little. He was trying to push my buttons.”

“I figured as much. The question is why was he?”

“I think he wanted me to think about what I might be missing.”

She put her arms around his neck. “Are you going to miss me?”

“I am,” he said. “But I’ll see you in a week. I’ll talk to you too, right?”

“We will,” she said. “How do you feel about phone sex?”

“It’s not something I’ve done before but not opposed to it.”

“Same here,” she said. “It might be fun. Doesn’t have to be anything more than just teasing each other and working ourselves up for the weekend.”

“I think we do a good job of that already.”

“Then we’ll be a pro at it,” she said. “Relax. I’m good with everything if you are. I’m not clingy. I got the feeling you weren’t either.”

“Not at all,” he said.

“Then will you be insulted if I said you’re giving a poor imitation of that?”

He took a deep breath. “Not insulted. Listen, I like you a lot. I want to see where this can go. There could be a small part of me that worries.”

“You worry because you don’t know why Rachelle left and you think by not knowing that you can’t control or fix something?”

“When you say it like that, it sounds pretty stupid.”

“It is stupid if that is the case.” She hadn’t expected him to feel that way and only took a guess. “I don’t know what went on with you two and it’s not my concern unless you’re still carrying a torch for her.”

“Absolutely not,” he said.

“Then stop worrying about what you might have done wrong and think about what she did right by leaving you. If you’re happier now, that is all that matters.”

“I am,” he said.

“Are you worried you won’t be happy going back home? Because, you know, you can live anywhere.” She put her hand up. “I’m not saying to move here. No way. I’m not into moving in with people right away. You know that.”

She hadn’t even moved in with her fiancé and, looking back, she was the one that had the reasons not to just as much as Philip.

“I’m not saying that. Honestly, I’m more concerned that you’re okay with everything.”

“I am. I’m not sure what I can say to get you to believe that, other than we have to play it out so that you can see it.”

“That’s good enough for me,” he said and pulled her into his arms.

Abe walked in a second later. “Save that for later,” Abe said. “I’m hungry. Easton said you’re a good cook. Don’t suppose you’d be willing to share any leftovers with me in my cousin’s absence?”

“If your cousin doesn’t get upset over it, then I can bring some things over now and again. Do you like salads? I always make a huge one in the beginning of the week full of fiber.” She put her hand on her stomach. “It can bloat me but so good for cleaning a body out.”

Easton was laughing so hard he snorted.

“Dude, you put her up to that,” Abe said.

She didn’t know what was going on.

“No,” Easton said. “I didn’t. I really didn’t. She has no idea why I’m laughing and you’re looking green.”

“What am I missing?”

“One night when it was Abe’s turn to cook, he decided to make a salad. He hadn’t thought anything of the fact that the lettuce was wilted and really wet.”

“Eww,” she said.

“Yeah. He made the salad and put brown broccoli in it too. A bag that had been pushed to the back and was turning.”

“I’m going to gag,” she said.

“He put it on the table with dinner and made his plate before the rest of us could get there. He wanted to be a suck-up and show that he was eating good and my aunt would say what a great kid he was.”

“No,” Abe said. “I was doing it to prove a point to Dad.”

“You’re the one that went running from the room,” Easton said, laughing again. “He’d had like five bites of it and my aunt came over and asked what the hell that was doing on the table.”

“It had to be obvious it was bad,” she said.

“Abe had put dressing on it and covered it up, but the broccoli stunk so bad. I’m not sure how he ate it. Once Aunt Carrie told him it was rotten, he got up and ran to the bathroom and threw it up.”

“You’ve not eaten broccoli since, have you?” she asked.

“No,” Abe said. “And not whatever lettuce that was either.”

“It was one of those spring mixes and some of the leaves were dark and slimy,” Easton said.

“Okay, no more,” she said. “I love salad and that will stop me from eating it too. I only said what I had because most men don’t like salads and was joking.”

“The joke is still on me,” Abe said.

“I promise no salads then. I’ll save them for Easton.”

“Good,” Abe said. “Sitting on his ass all day, he shouldn’t be eating much more than rabbit food.”

Easton shoved Abe and the two of them started to wrestle around the kitchen.

Oh man. Now that was sexy, but she only had eyes for one man.

Her man.