Totally worth the time to get dolled up.
I looked back at him and bossed, “Stop. I already almost had a spontaneous orgasm and I’m gonna freak Milagros and Manuel out because they’ve never seen me in makeup, or with a guy for that matter, except you the other day, of course. Which, in case you missed it, freaked them out. Now I’m getting all warm and squishy. They’re Mexican. They’re Catholic. They don’t cuss and I’ve never seen Milagros show even a hint of cleavage, much less a bra strap. We need to practice decorum.”
“We can do that in the truck on the way there.”
“Okay, then you need to get a move on with practicing non-decorum so we can get on our way there.”
His lips quirked. “Spontaneous orgasm?”
“Like you don’t know.”
“Binding you to the bed tonight, woman.”
I rolled my eyes to the ceiling again even though that caused a full-on tremble. “God, help. He’s not listening to me.”
“Cassie?”
I looked again to him. “What?”
“Best lay, bar none. Funniest bitch, bar none. Finest woman, bar none. And all of that better every day.”
His words made me drop my head and do a face plant in his shirt because I couldn’t hold it up anymore. I added my weight because I couldn’t stand on my own anymore either.
Deacon slid his hand down to curl it around the back of my neck.
“Can’t kiss you with your face in my chest,” he noted.
“You shouldn’t call women bitches,” I whispered.
His body shook with his chuckles, shaking me with it.
It felt beautiful.
I kept whispering when I remarked, “I’m making you happy.”
I felt his word stir the top of my hair when he replied, “Yeah.”
I closed my eyes.
Now that felt good.
“We need to get on our way, baby,” he said into my hair. “Give me a kiss.”
I took in a deep breath before I tipped my head back and rolled up on my toes.
Then I gave him a kiss. It was wet and sweet and I knew I was going to remember it my whole life.
When Deacon broke it off, I put in some earrings, clasped on a necklace, slid on a couple of rings, and donned my flip-flops.
After that, Deacon took my hand and off we went to have dinner with my friends.
*
“Do you play football?”
“No.”
“Did you?”
“Do you?”
“Not yet. Papá says I can do Junior Football League next year.”
“What position you want?”
“Quarterback.”
“Nice.”
I sat next to Deacon on Milagros and Manuel’s couch, watching this exchange between him and Esteban, thinking he actually was the Supreme Leader of the Badasses. This was mostly because, when we arrived fifteen minutes ago, Esteban started his inquisition and hadn’t let up and Deacon had answered every question, but half of them he answered without answering.
“Cállate, Estito, with you asking so many questions, Se?or Priest hasn’t even been able to take a sip from his beer,” Silvia remonstrated.
She wasn’t wrong.
“Be nice, mija,” Manuel gently rebuked.
Her cheeks got pink, her eyes skittered to Deacon, they got pinker, and she looked to her lap.
Silvia had a crush on my man.
Not surprising.
“John,” Deacon’s deep voice filled the room and Silvia looked back to him. “Your parents are okay with it, girl, you can call me John.”
Slivia’s eyes went to her dad. So did mine. Manuel smiled and dipped his chin down.
Silvia looked back to Deacon and said timidly, “Okay, John.”
Deacon smiled at her.
Her eyes got huge and then dropped back to her lap.
I swallowed a giggle.
“Cassidy,” Milagros said like she was about to make an announcement. Pushing up from the couch across from us that she and Manuel were sitting on, she ended on an order. “Help me in the kitchen.”
She needed no help in the kitchen. She needed to give her friend/employer a talking to about this boyfriend-out-of-the-blue business, seeing as all the time she’d spent at the cabins since Deacon returned was time I was with Deacon so she didn’t have time to do it before.
I gave big eyes to Deacon, his lit with humor, and I let his hand go (a hand I took; he was back to no PDA, though he did sit close to me on the couch, but this could have been because Esteban wedged himself beside Deacon). I squeezed his thigh then got up and followed Milagros, who was already heading to their tiny kitchen.