“I am, my wife rocks, but it appears your little Texan kinda rocks a bit too.”
“I can’t believe they’re doing this,” I murmured gruffly as Mom flipped a coin to see who would start. Apparently they both wanted to kick off this musical escapade, so the coin would sort it out for them. Mom won and belted out Katy Perry’s “Firework” and I’m proud to say my mom sounded like a rock star. She has an amazing voice, hence her compulsive desire to drag guests into the lounge room for karaoke. Andi jumped up the moment she finished, clapping loudly. She flicked quickly through the song list and gave me a wink that went straight to my groin. I shifted conspicuously to hide the suddenly rigid member beneath my jeans. I laughed as “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers began. Andi was destroying it. She was fucking terrible. Like, worse than terrible. That sexy as hell voice had a hard limit and it was singing. Andi didn’t care though as she sung the iconic karaoke must-have. My dad was laughing as he gave me that ‘look’, the one that radiated approval and admiration. The one that was reserved for ‘the one’ and for just a brief moment, his smile disappeared and his look became serious. Now it was that look that screamed, ‘don’t fuck this up’. I gave my head a small shake. I wasn’t sure if I was telling him I wouldn’t or if I was telling him he was being ridiculous. Whatever he read into it was satisfactory as he turned his attention back to Andi. It was nearing midnight by the time we left. As I pulled in front of Andi’s place, I walked her to the door and watched as she unlocked it and quickly disarmed the alarm. I wanted to go in, I wanted to stay with her for another night, but I could see the exhaustion creeping into her eyes. I had kept her awake most of the previous night and had done little less than maul her the entire day. She needed a break. I needed a break.
“I had a really good night tonight. Your parents are really cool,” she said a little nervously from the doorway.
“See, you got all hivey for nothing.” Her hand reached for the now flawless skin of her neck. We stood there, unmoving and silent that reached into uncomfortable silence. I stepped away from the door. “You look beat. Go get some sleep. I’ll wait until you’ve locked up and reset the alarm. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She nodded and went to pull the door closed. “You are retired, right?” Her voice was suddenly small, missing her usual confidence. My heart hammered hard in my chest. My hesitation made her eyes widen and I saw the panic setting in. “You said you retired because of technical difficulties,” her eyes dropped to my groin, “but everything seems okay now, so I just wondered if you’d be working again.” Her turn in mood when we had arrived at my parents’ place suddenly made sense. “I mean, it’s not like we’re dating or anything here. You couldn’t really call this a relationship, so if you were going back to filming, it’s not really any of my business, except, I guess, I wouldn’t really want to be doing whatever this is while you’re doing that.” She rubbed her palms nervously against her thighs. “And now I’m rambling.”
“I’m considering a proposal my dad presented me with. It would mean some extra study to get my architectural license.” Her relief was palpable. Those big trusting green eyes shot to mine, and her posture relaxed.
“That’s awesome,” she whispered with a breathtaking smile. Before I could feel the full impact of my conscience punching me in the gut, Andi launched herself into my arms and kissed me soundly. With her legs wrapped around my waist and arms around my neck, her lips moved in a gentle dance against mine, her tongue dipping and tasting, teasing my own. When she finally pulled away and released her hold on me, I lowered her to the ground, my erection pressing hard against her stomach as her feet became planted firmly back on the ground.
“It’s Sunday tomorrow, would you take me somewhere?” she asked.
“I’ll be here at nine,” I said without even considering where I would take her. I’d fly her to the fucking moon if she asked me to right now. That beautiful glowing smile was the last thing I saw as she reset the alarm and made her way to the apartment. I drove away from the book store with a lovesick smile on my face, yet a sickly feeling in my gut. I’d lied to her, sort of. By omission of the truth I had, in fact, lied.
Chapter 16
ANDI