I smile at that and click the seatbelt in place. I lean over and give each kid a kiss on the forehead. “Be good, okay?”
“Yes ma’am.” Tanner says with a nod.
Mother gets into the car without saying anything to me and I close the door. She nearly backs over my feet as she pulls off in the sleek rental car.
I go back to the house, feeling free for the first time in a week. I think about going down to the basement to paint, because the only positive thing about my mother being here is that avoiding her has made me start painting more.
But my hands aren’t itching to pick up a brush today. If anything, they’re itching to touch my men. Much to my dislike, I haven’t seen much of the guys, only at Tanner’s baseball game and practices. With the watchful eyes of the other parents on us, we’d kept our meetings platonic, not even a kiss. Things are already tense with my mother being here and none of us feel like dealing with any flack from the other snobs. Still, there’s been a couple of times that I’ve almost said fuck it and caved in.
I haven’t been able to talk to Emmet or Chase about the threesome and it’s one of the things that’s been really bugging me. Did they talk about it when they got home? After knowing them for months, I’m almost positive the answer is no. Chase loves to hide his actual feelings with sarcasm and mischief so he definitely wouldn’t bring it up without being prodded. Emmet was clear that he’d have the man in any capacity that he could so he most definitely wouldn’t be asking the man questions with the fear of running him off in the back of his mind.
I look at my phone, debating. Mother will be gone with the kids for at least an hour, so maybe…
I pick up my phone, and click on Emmet’s name. I know that he’s home if no one else is.
“Hello,” his voice sounds sleepy.
“Were you sleep?”
“Yeah,” he lets out a soft chuckle.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t really want anything importan-”
“No, it’s okay,” he reassures me. “It’s good to hear your voice.”
My heart warms at that. “Yeah, well will it be good to see my face? Mother dearest has taken the kids out for brunch so the house is empty and I’d like some… company.”
His voice sounds a little more alert, “Yeah?”
“Yes, please.”
“Alright, I’ll be right over, just let me get Charlie situated, she looks a little antsy.”
“Bring her over.” He knows it’s no problem for him to bring her over and I’ve actually grown quite fond of the chocolate dog.
“Okay.”
The line disconnects and I look down at my sweats, frowning. They have bits of paint on them and for a second I think about changing, but I know Emmet won’t mind. My hair though… Thrown into a messy bun that wasn’t on purpose, it looks a little rough.
The doorbell rings before I can decide what to do about the hornet’s nest. I pull the ponytail holder out of my hair as I make my way to the door and run my hands through my hair, cringing when I hit a couple of snags.
Getting a glimpse in the reflection of the door handle, it doesn’t look quite as bad as I imagined, so with a breath, I open the door.
Instead of only Emmet, Chase and Nathan are also with him and my heart picks up at that. Chase tilts his head to the side and offers me a slow smile.
I bite my lip as my skin goes hot. Tension I hadn’t realized I’d been holding leaves my limbs. I take a step back and let them in. “That was quick,” I tell Emmet as Charlie brings up the end of the group.
“Yeah, Charlie just wanted to be let out of the room, so I didn’t have to deal with her like I thought. These two tagged along when they realized where I was going.” He wraps an arm around my waist and leans down to give me a kiss on the cheek.
My heart flutters and I have to wonder how he’s able to have such a hold on me with such chaste motions.
“You didn’t have to work today?” I ask, turning to look at Nathan.
He shakes his head. “No, last week was pretty busy and I worked a lot, so I’m taking a couple of days off this week.”
I watch as Chase takes a seat on the couch and turns his head slightly to look at me. His eyes look a little drowsy and from the way he slumps on the couch, I know he’s tired.
“Just got off?” I ask, used to him usually coming in from his shift in the morning. I don’t know when the man actually gets any sleep.