Liar

“As much as I want to stay here all day buried in your tight pussy, I have meetings. So, while you’re getting coffee, I’m going to shower.”

I gave him my best fake pout, which had him laughing before getting out of bed, standing and stretching in all his naked glory. Kent may have been almost forty, but his body was better than any college boys I’d seen.

The confidence he had strutting around the room, collecting his clothes, his thick length swaying between his firm thighs had me almost begging for him to come back to bed.

“If you keep staring, I’m going to miss my meetings.”

“Sorry.” But I was anything but sorry, and we both knew it.

When he disappeared behind the door, I considered joining him but didn’t want to make him late. I pulled up an app and ordered some breakfast to be delivered and got the coffee started.

I’d just finished pouring our mugs when there was a knock on the door. I made sure my robe was tightened, so I didn’t reveal anything scandalous to the delivery guy. Opening the door, my whole world froze. Stopped spinning completely for a solid ten seconds before it very quickly began to spiral into an imminent crash.

“Uncle Daniel.” Was that my voice? It sounded like a mouse.

“Hey, kid.” He ruffled my hair and stepped past me into the living room. “Sorry to swing by unannounced, I was about to leave when your mom asked me to make sure you come to dinner this week. She let me know her text messages weren’t enough to get you over and encouraged a face-to-face so you couldn’t say no.”

My laugh bubbled out high-pitched and a little manic. “Did she?”

He looked around, and I stepped between him and the two mugs sitting blatantly on the counter. Thankfully, the shower had turned off before I answered the door, and now, I had to hope Kent didn’t stroll out, and it ended like a bad cliché.

“Is now a bad time? You don’t have a boy over, do you?”

“Oh, my god. No. I would never.” Okay, too much of a denial. Pull it back, Olivia. Relaxing my shoulders, I went for a nonchalance that felt lightyears away from the panic flooding every inch of me. “I don’t have time for silly boys.”

“That’s my girl.” Daniel ruffled my hair like he did when I was a kid. “So, you’ll be there?”

“Yeah, yeah. Of course.”

“Well, that was easy. Maybe I’ll be just as lucky when I get Kent to agree to dinner too.”

Another high-pitched laugh slipped out. “I’m sure he’ll agree.”

“I don’t know. He’s been evasive lately.”

“Really?”

Why couldn’t I bring my voice down to a normal octave?

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll just call him now while my luck is hot.”

No, no, no, no, no. Please, God, no.

I watched in horror as he pulled out his phone. My eyes quickly scanned the room, hoping Kent’s phone wasn’t sitting anywhere in the open. I prayed to the cell-phone gods that his phone was on vibrate, or dead, or was stolen by a magical ghost. Anything other than ringing loud enough for Daniel to hear.

He brought the phone to his ear, and I held my breath for so long I was sure I was going to pass out. Was it connecting? Was it ringing? Had I just frozen time with my force of will? Everything stretched until I finally heard ringing from Daniel’s phone but not an answering ring from anywhere in the apartment.

I damn near collapsed in a heap of relief. All the tension that had been holding me upright and clenched tight washed away, leaving me weak.

“Hey, Kent. It’s D. Family dinner tomorrow night. Be there or be square. Julia’s orders.”

And then he hung up.

“Well, I won’t keep you any longer. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yup.”

“Good girl.”

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead and walked out. My knees decided to give out at the click of the door, and I sagged to the couch.

“Well, that was fucking close,” Kent said, coming from the hallway. He collapsed on the couch next to me and ran a hand over his face. “Thank fuck I heard him before coming out. I had enough time to put my phone on vibrate. Jesus fucking Christ.”

“Yeah,” was all I could get out.

“I’m not sure dinner tomorrow is such a good idea,” he said slowly.

“Why?”

He rolled his head to look my way, his furrowed brow hinting at his frustration. “It’s hard enough to lie to Daniel about being with you when I’m not in the same room as you.”

Guilt hit, knocking the wind out of me. “I’m sorry. I’m just… I just haven’t had time.”

“Yeah.”

His response sounded just as believable as mine. “Would it help to know I’d like having you there. It’s not like we’d have to be strangers.”