He nodded. “Very true.” He tossed my cell phone on the bed. “You left this downstairs.”
When I didn’t say anything Bryan used the leg she had still tangled between mine to softly nudge me in the balls. “Say thank you.”
“Thank you, Smith.”
“You’re welcome, Jacks. You two have a good night.” He winked and then headed off down the hall. I was almost positive that was payback for the time I puked and he ended up with blue balls.
Much to my dismay Bryan sat up. “Jacks, I don’t think sex on a first date counts as taking it slow.”
I nodded in agreement, although my hormones were adamantly shaking their head. “We can take this as slow as you want, doll. No rush.” We had all the time in the world, because I never planned on letting her leave. Did my mental statement of love sound borderline serial killer?
“Okay, thanks.” She used the rubber band on her wrist to pile her hair up in that adorable messy way I loved. “Look, I totally understand if you want me to go sleep in the other room.” She pointed at my dick.
I glanced down. Yeah, it was pointing straight out like a divining rod. The memo of no sex hadn’t made it from my brain that far south yet. I reached out and grabbed her hands in mine. “I don’t want to fall asleep without you next to me. And I don’t want to wake up that way either.”
She tickled my palm with her fingernails. “Have you always been this cheesy? Do you write all the love songs on y’all’s albums?”
“No. I’ve never uttered a romantic phrase in my life. You just bring out that side of me.” Damn. I did it again.
Bryan giggled. “All right, Shakespeare, I’m going to go shower off all the bar smell.” She pointed down at my dick again. “And I think you should go take care of that in Luke’s bathroom.”
“Are you telling me to go jack off?” Was that normal?
She shrugged. “I only hit second base on a first date. And if you don’t get rid of that thing I’m afraid it’ll end up pushing me off the bed.”
Landry
When I woke up the house was silent. It must be too early because this house was never silent. There were so many people who lived here, and there was always music and laughter. It was a nice house. There were lots of bedrooms and bathrooms, and Jacks’s studio in the bottom with the weird-looking walls. I liked hearing his guitar when we went down there. I wanted to ask him if I could listen to him play some more, but I was afraid he’d say no. I didn’t know why I was scared; the adults around here always said yes when I gathered enough courage to ask them to spend time with me. It was nice. It was different from my other life.
Over the past few days, where things had been good and I felt safe and happy, I started thinking of life with my mom as my other life. I didn’t want to go back there. Ever. I knew little girls were supposed to love their moms, but I’m pretty sure she never really gave me a reason to. I climbed out of bed, bringing Ello with me. I thought I was too old to be carting around a stuffed animal but I liked the soft elephant. I opened my door and then peered across the hall to Jacks’s room. My dad’s room… I didn’t know if he wanted me to call him Dad. It wasn’t really his choice to be my dad, and he’d just found out I was his kid.
Jacks and B were both in his bed and they were hugging. I’d seen my mom hug lots of men, but never like that. They looked so…comfy. I took a step outside my door, and the floorboard creaked under my foot. I froze, afraid that I would get in trouble for waking them up. Jacks opened his eyes and lifted his head, and then he smiled. I smiled back. Good, I wasn’t in trouble. He scooted away from Bryan and lifted the covers. “Wanna watch some cartoons?”
Now I smiled bigger. I’d been doing that lately, smiling so big my face hurt. I nodded and ran across the hall and jumped into his bed. When I landed, Bryan woke up, laughing. “Good morning, sweet girl.” She looked over my head at Jacks. Her smile looked like mine. Jacks turned on the TV and asked me what I wanted to watch. Then for the first time in my life, I lay between two happy adults and watched Saturday morning cartoons. Yeah, I never wanted to leave.
Chapter Fourteen
Bryan
Landry, Jacks, and I lay in bed for over an hour watching TV, laughing, and talking before we were reminded that this was a house full of people. Luke came walking by the open door, still wearing the same clothes I’d seen him in yesterday. This seemed to be a pattern for Luke. I didn’t doubt that it was easy for him to find a bed for the night. He was sexy in this very boy-next-door kind of way. His hair was a little longer than the first time I’d met him, and he always looked like he was in need of a shave. But the guys were all attractive as hell.
He stopped and leaned against the wall. “Good morning, little Cole Family.”