“Whatever.” I squeezed my eyes shut briefly before reopening them to focus on the road. I wasn’t the jealous type, never have been, but with Della, it was different. And I knew exactly what that douchebag wanted. It definitely wasn’t to be BFFs with Della.
“Don’t be mad.” She squeezed my hand tightly as I pulled into the driveway. “I’m only yours. No one else matters.” That relieved a little bit of tension between the two of us but I couldn’t completely let it go.
My mom was overjoyed when Della walked through the front door, instantly wrapping her in a hug and then dragging her into the kitchen. I’m sure I wouldn’t see her much today, but I guess I could share with my mom for a little while, because Della was coming home with me tonight, whether she liked it or not.
Soon the house was full with my brothers and their wives, Della fitting in perfectly with the loud, obnoxious bunch that was our family. Still, Dad was greatly missed. He always had a smile on his face, especially when everyone was together, because he said family was what life was all about. I couldn’t have agreed more.
“So, Della finally gave in and took your sorry ass back?” Jared dropped down onto the seat next to me, stealing the remote control out of my hand and muting the football game I’d been watching. “What in the hell is wrong with her?”
“Stop being a dick.” Molly smiled at me from the doorway, and then faced her husband and glared. “Della and Justin are perfect together, so mind your own business.” She turned back to me, smile once again in place. I loved Molly. She didn’t take any shit from my brother and was always putting him in his place. Plus, according to Della, she and Sarah had a slight crush on me, so I guess that’s why she was always nicer to me than her own husband. “Now, maybe you’ll be the next in line to get married off. Your mom would be in Heaven, she loves Della, and it would give her something else to focus on.” She frowned slightly, probably thinking of my dad. He was constantly on my mind, too, especially today.
“He’s not gonna get married just because Mom needs something to do, Moll. Justin’s gonna be a bachelor for the rest of his life. Right, dude?”
I rolled my eyes, putting my focus back on the football game that was playing and drowning everything else out. Honestly, before I met Della, I would’ve never thought about getting married. Most single college guys didn’t. But this time around with Della, something had changed in our relationship, for the better, and I could see myself with her for the rest of my life. I wasn’t so sure how she would feel about that, though.
MY DICK TWITCHED in my pants as I sat at the dining room table, sipping on a beer, watching Della bake some kind of cookies. I don’t know what had me so hard—her loud, carefree laugh as she listened to some story my mom was telling her about my childhood, or the fact that she kept bending over directly in front of me to check the oven. It was probably a combination of the two. And she was totally doing that last one on purpose.
My brothers and their wives had left long ago, stuffed from all of the food and tired from the turkey, but we had hung around to keep my mom company. It was time for us to go, though. I definitely needed some alone time with Della.
“Well, Mom, I think we’re going to head out.” I kissed her forehead and gave her a tight hug. She reached up to pat my cheek. “Are you sure you’re all right by yourself?”
“Justin Parker, I think your mother is old enough to take care of herself. Get Della out of here. You two go have fun,” she added in what I think was supposed to be a whisper, but judging by the reddish tint to Della’s cheeks, wasn’t very quiet.
“All right. I guess since you demanded it, then some fun needs to happen.” I smirked at Della, reaching out a hand to smack her ass as she reached for her jacket. “Mom’s orders.” I shrugged my shoulders as I followed Della, who was huffing away, pissed that my mom clearly knew what we were leaving to do—or at least, what I had in mind.
“You’re coming back to my place, right?” I asked as I pulled out of the driveway and she raised one brow at me.
“Well, yeah, unless you’re gonna go home and have some fun by yourself,” she deadpanned.
“Yeah, I think it would be a whole lot better if you were there.” I placed my hand on her thigh and began inching my fingers up to the hem of her dress that I had been fantasizing about getting underneath all day. Fuck football. When Della was around, I couldn’t concentrate on anything but her.
“Stop it.” She slapped my hand from pushing up her dress and revealing a pair of bare legs that I wanted to be in between. Immediately. “You’re so impatient sometimes. We’ll be back home in like ten minutes.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, biting back a cheesy grin at her saying we would be home soon. She probably didn’t even realize what she had done, but it felt good hearing it come out of her mouth.