Without saying a word, his lips sealed over mine and he kissed me long and slow. His tongue probed my bottom lip, teasing.
He pulled out of the kiss, pressed his forehead against mine, and breathed, “Happy birthday, princess.”
Chapter Sixty-One
Tegan
It had been six months since me and Kai officially got together and we were celebrating our half-year anniversary me leaving Sixth Form. It’d taken a lot of work but I’d finished school, got good grades and was looking forward to the future with Kai. I was proud of how far I’d come and what I’d achieved.
I’d been by the guy that wanted regular sex on his motorbike some romance. He told me he wanted me through Karaoke so I didn’t hold up much hope for traditional romance.
“Where’s he taking you?” Ava asked. Mum sat on my bed, too, watching me pack a small suitcase.
“I have no idea. It could be anywhere. Do you two know?” I was pretty sure they didn’t because they were awful at keeping secrets.
“No, he’s not told us,” Mum replied, avoiding eye contact.
“He so has. You’re not going to tell me though, are you?”
She shook her head.
“Will it make me mad at him?”
Ava laughed. “Not this time.”
So he really had planned something traditionally romantic? I wasn’t convinced. So whatever he told them it was all lovey but obviously he wouldn’t tell them if he was taking me to a sex dungeon for the weekend.
“You know neither of you are very helpful.”
“He’s planned something nice, you both deserve nice, so relax and enjoy it,” Mum said.
Oh, I was sure I would enjoy it, romance or sex cave, but again, I didn’t like not knowing what I was doing.
I held my hands up. “Okay, fine, I’m chilling out. What do you two have planned for the weekend?”
That was one thing that hadn’t changed; Mum and Ava were still so close that sometimes I felt like a third wheel. But it was better, a lot better. I made an effort to join in and not let self-doubt convince me they didn’t really want me there. They did and I wanted that, too. I’d never worried about my relationship with them all that much because I was always with Dad but now I realised how important they both were to me.
“Cinema and shopping,” Ava replied. “We’ll be here when you get home Sunday, though. Can’t miss the Sunday roast. Kai will stay, right? We assumed since you were here he would be. You know, since you never leave each other’s side.”
I waved my hand around the room. “He’s not here now, is he?”
“Give it a minute,” Mum said dryly.
Alright, so we barely spent a night apart, besides one night a week when me, Mum and Ava have a girls’ night. I didn’t care what anyone thought though; I wanted to be with him the whole time.
“You can’t use that, he’s due here soon anyway.”
They both smiled. They were happy now, too, but Mum was lonely. I could tell sometimes that she was thinking about her future. She didn’t want to see anyone else, not now, but she found it hard to think about spending her life alone, especially once me and Ava moved out. I felt such fierce loyalty to my dad that a selfish part of me didn’t want her to be with someone else but that was the part that I was working on exorcising. I wanted my mum to be happy again and if that meant she eventually moved on with another man then I would support her, no matter how hard or strange it was.
“He’s always due here soon,” Ava said, lifting an eyebrow.
“Oh, stop teasing her, it’s sweet. You remind me of how things were with your dad in those early years.”
“What, then he started to piss you off?” I said, dodging her arm as she tried to slap me for my choice of words.
“Honey, they all start to annoy you after a few years. You know they’re the one when you still want to be around them anyway.”
I already knew that about Kai. The guy sang to me in front of a packed bar and I didn’t kill him, I was sure I could overlook petty annoying things he did like leaving socks laying on the floor by his bed.
“You want that again?” I asked her. We’d not had that conversation yet. Me and Ava had spoken about it before but never to Mum. “Don’t be mad at me, I know it’s too soon but we want you to know that you never have to be scared of telling us if you do.”
She stood up and hugged me, holding one arm out for Ava. Group hugs were something I was slowly getting used to as well.
“Thank you, both of you. Right now I can’t even imagine being with another man but perhaps one day, if I feel differently. It’s good to know that I have your support or I’d be worrying.”
She would be worrying about my reaction. I was the one that goes off the deep end, Ava was ‘normal’.
“I’ve not handled a lot all that well,” I said, breaking out of the hug. “But I’m stronger now so you really don’t have to worry about me.”