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Immediately, I hugged Laurie. “That would be perfect,” I whispered in her ear. A way to honor my aunt Maeve in this house of hers. I wanted to update it, not obliterate all traces of her.
It was hard work, but we got two bedrooms done before everyone called it a day. It was hard work, but I was having fun. It felt like this place, these people, might be my home more than San Francisco ever was. Harley left with half of a leftover pepperoni pizza. Laurie and Liam left with a tray of cookies I’d baked last night with promises to come back soon to finish the mural and paint the other rooms. I’d sent money to Liam’s bank account, making sure I paid him well above minimum wage for his labor. From what he’d told me while we worked, he had to raise enough money to buy new football gear this year as he’d outgrown all his old equipment. I had enough projects around the house to get him that gear if he wanted.
Dec stayed behind, waving them goodbye and closing the door when they were gone. He spun around and pinned me with a hot gaze.
“Those fucking shorts,” he grumbled before rolling his eyes.
Feeling playful and light and happy, I turned around and shook my ass in his direction. He lunged for me and I shrieked, running into the newly painted living room. Earlier, I’d pulled off the plastic from the couch now that the paint was dry, which turned out to be a good thing because Dec tackled me onto it. My lungs were heaving with laughter and exhaustion.
We finally stilled, Dec settled between my legs as we lay tangled up on the soft couch. He lowered his head and kissed me, everything turning hot and desperate the second our lips touched. His tongue dipped inside as our hands roamed. I groaned, or maybe he did, but suddenly his lips were gone, his weight frozen on top of me. I blinked my eyes open to see him breathing heavy, arms trembling as he held himself away from me.
“What?” I gasped, trying to pull him back down.
He gave a quick shake of his head. “I don’t want to put pressure on you any more than I have already. I know you have a lot to figure out in your life and I don’t want to complicate that.” He pushed away and sat up, careful not to touch me.
I sighed and sat up too, curling my legs under me. He wasn’t wrong about any of that except for one thing. “You’re not putting pressure on me.”
His head swiveled, his brown eyes burning into me.
I sat up on my knees, reaching for him. “I like who I am around you. Around Sunshine Key. Stay.” I crawled onto his lap, my arms around his neck.
He held himself stiff as a board for a few seconds and then softened with a sigh. Then his hands dove into my hair and he kissed me again. Lighter this time. More exploratory without the frenzy behind it. We eventually slid back down to lie entangled on the couch, lazy kisses and murmurs between us until we fell asleep in each other’s arms.
At some point in the night, he picked me up and carried me to bed, sliding in behind me like a warm blanket of comfort. I slept like a woman whose life wasn’t falling apart, but coming together again.
Liz: My bag is already half packed.
Me: YES. Come see me! I have so much to tell you.
Liz: Please tell me you’ve become “friendly” with your next-door neighbor.
Me: Still married, Lizzy.
Liz: No. You’re separated. It’s the no-man’s-land of marriage. Neither married nor divorced, but definitely green-lighted for other people.
Me: In all seriousness, would I be a hussy if I got involved with a man right now? Isn’t it a little soon?
Liz: Babe, you haven’t been involved with a man in years.
Me: Ouch. Another truth bomb.
Liz: Said with love. Always.
Chapter Sixteen
Dec
I slipped out of Kenna’s bed at some point before the sun came up the next morning, needing to put some space between us before I spilled my secrets to her and ruined everything. Kenna had glowed yesterday with all of us working on her house. She’d looked nothing like the woman who’d first shown up at Sunshine Key and that hard-won transformation drew me in like a drop of blood to a shark. She was the type of person you wanted to be around. The type who instantly made you her friend even if you weren’t worthy of the title. And yet somehow that’s what we’d become: friends. I couldn’t mistake this stupid crush for anything else.
I showered quickly at my house and came out of the steam to see a text from my father. I’d been ignoring him a bit with all this time spent with Kenna. Guilt wracked my tired muscles. I’d made that mistake once before and it had ruined Pops’s life.
Pops: You still alive, superstar?
I shook my head and used the towel to wipe the fog off the mirror. Pops had never stopped using that nickname, even when the years between had expanded so much my prior life felt like another person’s life entirely.
Me: I’m here! Sorry, been helping Kenna with the house and managing the boat club.
That wasn’t entirely true. The excursion to the island with Kenna had been purely selfish. I’d wanted to get her alone where Harley couldn’t flirt with her.
