Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Stace

I couldn't believe that she had agreed to come with me to Eli's party. Mom was going to be thrilled. She'd been pestering me to bring my new friend over every single time I talked to her. Explaining that Hunter was shy and that meeting everyone would be overwhelming didn't hold water as an excuse with her.

Was it because of the sex? Not that it would matter, but I was curious about her change of heart.

Waking up next to her had made this one of the best mornings of my life. It felt like a dream but then it turned out to be real. Her hair was all tangled and her eyes were squinty and she was absolutely and completely perfect.

Then she upped the ante by agreeing to come to lunch and I was almost floating.

"What would you like for breakfast?" I asked as we lazed together. I was used to having to be up to take Buck out, but he was still with my family, so there was nowhere else I needed to be.

Nowhere but right here with my girl.

She was now mine. Last night had confirmed it. Hunter might not know that yet, but she'd figure it out.

She played with my fingers as she thought about it.

"I can make you breakfast. Or we can order something so we can just stay like this," she said after a few minutes of pondering.

"Or I could make you breakfast. You can have whatever you want." I wasn't just talking about breakfast and I hope she understood that.

She lifted her eyebrows. "Can you even cook? I don't think I'd be good at faking enjoying bad pancakes and burned bacon."

I scoffed. "Excuse me, I can make an excellent breakfast. It's only my favorite meal. And I'm an older sister, remember? I've been making breakfast since I was old enough to use the stove without adult supervision. I can even make pancakes in different shapes and everything."

Eli and Carson always requested silly pancake shapes that I'd attempt to make for them with varying success.

Hunter grinned up at me. "Okay. Show me your pancakes. And bacon. And eggs. Can you do eggs?"

There she was. The girl who asked for what she wanted. I'd been waiting to see her.

"I can do any kind of eggs you want."

She bit her bottom lip. "Poached?"

I tapped her on the nose. "I make excellent poached eggs."

Making breakfast did require us to get out of bed, but I dragged Hunter to the kitchen and made her sit while I cooked. That didn't last long because my girl wasn't going to stand by and let someone else take over her kitchen. I let her be in charge of the bacon while I mixed up the pancakes and poached the eggs.

"I've never been brave enough to try and figure out poached eggs, but I love ordering them," she said as I made my first pancake.

"Really?" she asked when she saw the shape.

"I'm a romantic." Of course I'd made it in the shape of a heart. An imperfect heart, but all the best ones were.

Hunter rolled her eyes, but she didn't make any other snarky comments. I think I was finally wearing her down.

"You coming to yoga tonight?" she asked when I flipped the first pancake. Once I'd made a few more, I'd poach the eggs.

"Yeah, I can skip my workout and come to class if you want me to." Rivera and Coop would give me shit about it, but I could handle that. They'd been up my ass about wanting more details about Hunter. At last I finally had some good updates to tell them. Incredibly sexy updates.

"No, don't skip your workout. I'll just see you on Monday." Her cheeks pinked.

"You gonna miss me, baby?" I asked, bumping her hip with mine.

"Shut up," she said, her face going redder.

"You totally like me," I teased and then yelped when she pinched my ass.

"Keep saying stuff like that and I'll kick you out of my apartment." Oh, she was asking for it. I turned the burner off and whirled around, grabbing her hips and lifting her onto the counter.

"You're not gonna kick me out of your apartment," I said in her ear as I yanked on her shorts, pulling them down her legs.

Hunter gasped and shoved her fingers into my hair as I pushed her legs apart and dove right in to lick her pussy.

She shouted and dug her heels into my back as I fucked her with my tongue and restlessly licked her clit until her entire body was shaking and collapsing around me as she came.

I looked up at her from my position on the floor.

"Yeah, you're not kicking me out."

She let out a breathless laugh and raked her hair back from her face and gave me a sated smile.

"Fuck you, Stace."

Hunter

I wanted to make a good impression on her family, so Stace and I agreed that she would go back to her place to get clothes and get ready and I'd do the same at mine before we met at the restaurant.

She'd said goodbye to me with a kiss and it wasn't until I closed the door and was alone for the first time since yesterday that I realized what the fuck I'd done.

I rested my back against the door and slid to the floor.

Now that my brain wasn't being poisoned by sex hormones, it dawned on me that I'd made a huge fucking mistake.

I got up on shaky legs and went to my bedroom, crawling into my bed.

My sheets and blankets smelled like Stace.

"God dammit," I said as I buried my face in the pillow where her head had rested.

Last night had been a revelation. Sex had never been like that . I guess I'd always thought other people were blowing it out of proportion. It had always been decent for me, but never anything that made me scared that it was going to kill me. I thought I'd died at least six times last night and then again this morning.

No, I'd never had the kind of sex I'd had with Stace. I sure as hell wasn't going to tell her that though. Her ego didn't need to get any bigger.

Last night had definitely been a mistake, but did I regret it?

Yes. No. A tiny bit?

No. I didn't. I couldn't regret the most mind-melting body-scorching sex I'd ever had in my life or probably would ever have. Who would be mad about that?

I should have cut her off sooner. Should have ghosted. Shouldn't have let my attraction to her override my own common sense and rules that I'd made so I wouldn't get myself into a situation exactly like the one I was currently in.

Everything was wonderful when my brain was soaked in sex but now I had to deal with the reality that I'd agreed to go meet Stace's family.

What the hell was wrong with me?

I absolutely shouldn't meet her family. It was a bad idea. It was too much. She was dragging me into a stronger commitment, and I was just going along with it because I was all dopey from being around her.

Help. I fucked up I sent to my group chat with Cade and Reid.

We're going to need some more details Cade replied.

I've been saving my tips but I can dip into my savings if I have to Reid added.

Stace came over last night. And she stayed. And for some reason I agreed to go to lunch with her and her family. It looked ridiculous all typed out. Like a story I'd written about someone else.

Who are you and what have you done with my friend? Cade asked.

Yeah, same question Reid sent.

Can good sex make you lose your mind? Because that's what this feels like.

I swore I could hear them laughing even though they weren't here with me.

Oh kid Reid responded.

Yeah it can, in my experience Cade sent.

Fuck I replied.

I typed out the details (not all of them) and begged them to tell me what to do or say to get out of this. To extricate myself from this situation I'd found myself in. Yes, I'd been a willing participant, but how willing could I really be when Stace was around? She was too fucking hot to resist. How was I supposed to withstand those dimples when she unleashed them on me?

What is the worst thing that could happen if you go to lunch with Stace's family? For real. Cade asked.

It could ruin my entire life I responded.

Hunter be serious Cade sent.

Okay fine, we end up dating and then in a year we move in together and all the little things that I thought were cute start to annoy me. We start fighting about money and work hours and what we should do on the weekends and when to have kids and before we know it, we hate each other. We hate each other but we stick it out because there's still enough love left. And we feel like we owe it to each other. And then we get married, because people won't stop asking us about it and we want to make her family happy. It's beautiful and we think it's going to work. And then we do have kids and then life gets hard and we hate each other even more but we have to stay together for the kids even though it eats away at us every day. It adds up, little by little until we're nothing but two people in a house who resent each other more than they ever loved each other. That's what could happen.

I was breathing hard after I hit Send, like I'd been running while I typed everything that had been going through my head.

Whoa, Jesus Hunter. She's just asking you to meet her family. Not get married. I think you need to slow your roll and stop writing doomfiction Cade sent.

Ohhh, doomfiction. I like that. But Cade's right. I think you're trying to sabotage this in your mind because you're scared. That's what your relationship rules are all about. You're just scared to trust someone and there's a chance you might get hurt Reid added.

There wasn't a chance that I'd get hurt. There was a certainty.

I can't make you understand I sent.

Listen. I know that your parents have fucked you up, because I know mine have fucked me up, but I feel like you've got to give yourself a chance Reid responded.

Since when did you become so pro-relationship? I asked.

You know deep down, DEEP down, under all my bitch layers beats the heart of a romantic. I will deny this if you tell anyone else. But. You like her. And she really likes you. I haven't met her, but I can tell from what you've told me. It could blow up in your face. But wouldn't you like to at least try and see where it goes before you assume the worst-case scenario? There IS a chance that you could end up living happily ever after.

Reid's words made me roll my eyes. My friends absolutely didn't get me. I argued with them for a little bit longer, but I really needed to get ready if I was going to do this. I hadn't decided if I was actually going to show up. Even if I didn't go, I was still going to get ready in case.

That meant picking out something to wear that would impress Stace's parents. And fixing my hair. Heatless waves weren't an option, so I did a few small braids and then pulled them back, twisting two bunches of hair together into something that looked like a braid. It was cute and kept my hair back and people always gave me compliments on this style.

I picked out a dress and then thought that looked a little too formal, but I didn't want to be too casual either. And I definitely didn't want to wear anything that I would wear if I was seeing my parents.

Yoga pants weren't going to work either.

Eventually I settled on a pair of jeans and a baby-soft sweater with a heart embroidered on it in pink that made me think of the pancakes she'd made this morning. Casual, but not too casual.

I did a simple soft makeup look, sticking with mostly pinks that worked with my skin tone. I couldn't look like I was trying too hard. Stace's parents might not notice, but Stace would see extra effort and she'd read too much into it.

Stace sent me the address of the restaurant. It was a chain place that I was familiar with that also had games for kids. Cute. I bet she was going to get competitive with her little brothers. Bet she'd let them win to make them happy.

I still had at least thirty minutes before I had to leave, and I was still on the fence about going.

Could I do this? Stace had sent me a few messages as if in anticipation of my reluctance, saying that she'd told her parents we were just friends and had asked them to be cool.

I didn't believe her for a second, considering the time her mom had sent her little brother to spy on us and report back. That didn't speak to a woman who was going to look at me and pretend that Stace and I were casual friends.

Time ticked by and I kept sitting on my couch and staring out my windows and smelling the scent of Stace still lingering in the air even though she'd left hours ago. We'd cleaned up from breakfast before she'd gone so I didn't even have any evidence that she'd been here. Like I'd dreamed her up and she'd vanished when I awoke.

Don't freak out, but my little brothers have presents for you Stace sent.

What kind of presents and why? I asked.

They'd be so mad if I spoiled the surprise. It's nothing big, but I wanted to warn you. You're still coming, right? Please say you're still coming.

I closed my eyes and wished I could shut her out. Shut all of this out. She wasn't even here, but I could feel her. Could see her face and hear her voice pleading with me to not let her down.

Fuck. I didn't want to let her down.

I knew Stace well enough to know that if I bailed, if I told her it was too much, that she wouldn't hate me. That she would smile even though she was hurt and say it was okay.

I didn't want to be the reason she was hurting.

I'm still coming.

Stace met me at my car when I parked.

"I was about twenty percent sure you were going to show up," she said, beaming at me when I got out of the car. Her smile hit me just as hard as it always did, and my stomach twisted with guilt that I'd ever thought about not showing up for her. Because really, was this the worst thing that had ever happened to me? No. Eating some food and making small talk with her family wasn't medieval torture.

I wasn't even going to have to pay. Free food and I got to spend time with Stace. Definitely not the worst way to spend an afternoon.

"Relax. Breathe," Stace said, putting her hands on my shoulders. "Everything is gonna be fine, baby."

That word always made me melt. She stroked my shoulders and I could feel her touch through the fabric of my sweater.

"Okay," I said.

Stace bit her bottom lip. "I wanna kiss you so bad right now."

The feeling was mutual. Whereas all my other kisses with Stace had made me float, I felt like a kiss with her right now would ground me.

Instead of telling her it was okay to kiss me, I just rose up on my toes and pressed my lips to hers.

She let out a little sound of surprise and then kissed me back, pressing me against the door of the car. The heat from her body seeped through my clothes and I wanted to cling to her.

"God, Hunter. You can't do that to me when we're going to see my family. Kissing you makes me have very impure thoughts."

I smiled and dragged her bottom lip through my teeth, making her moan a little.

"What kind of impure thoughts?"

She laughed and pressed her forehead to mine. "The kind that make me want to drag you somewhere we can get naked immediately."

"Oh, like my backseat?"

She let out a laugh that made me feel like I'd drunk a glass of champagne. Being around her just felt so damn good . Why would I ever deprive myself of this?

"You're trouble," she said, kissing me one more time before stepping back and closing her eyes.

"Okay, we can go now. I've put all my naughty thoughts away."

I surprised myself by winking at her. "I haven't."

"Hunter!"