Page 17 of Sinful Nights
COLE
Oakley walks into the apartment,tossing his gym bag onto the ground and heading straight for the kitchen. He guzzles down a bottle of water before ripping open a banana and shoving it deep into his mouth. He barely takes a bite before the whole thing is down his throat. Damn.
“I talked to our moms today,” I tell him, getting up off the couch and walking toward him. “They were out to lunch but had no issue with FaceTiming me in the middle of the restaurant. They were loud as hell, and I felt sorry for all those around them, but you know how they are.”
Our moms have been best friends almost as long as Oak and I have. After setting up so many playdates when we were younger, they realized it would be easier if they started hanging out with one another. And what do you know? They became best friends, too. Our dads are different; they see each other when the families get together, but they don’t go out of their way to hang out with one another. They’re both more reserved and introverted than our moms, that’s for sure.
“Ah, and what did Julie and Sue have to say today?” He snickers, opening the fridge and coming back up with a vanillayogurt. My eyes stay on him as he rips off the foil top, then starts scooping out the yogurt with his tongue. I’m fixated as I watch his tongue move in and out of the plastic container, taking the white liquid on his tongue. His tongue stops moving, and I shake my head, trying to remember what I was going to say.
“They were bugging me about when we’re going to visit again. I told them we were just home for Christmas, but they quickly reminded me that it was three months ago and not an excuse to not see them.”
“Three months?” His eyes widen when he realizes how long it’s been since we’ve seen them. “How have we gone three months without going back home? And how have they let us go that long? I’m surprised they haven’t shown up at our front door.”
“Oh, don’t worry. They threatened that more than once. I told them we would make a weekend trip to visit them soon. That was after they threatened to come down this weekend if I didn’t tell them when we were planning to visit.”
Our families live about three hours north of us. It’s not too far away, but enough of a distance that it allows us to live separately and know that our moms won’t just show up on our doorstep. Usually. There have been a couple of times when they’ve popped in, so I’m glad to know I turned them away this one time at least. Our families have spent almost every holiday together for at least the last fifteen years. I have one sister, and Oakley has one sister and one brother. We’re both the oldest in our families, so our moms have a harder time letting us go than they did the rest. It also doesn’t help that all our siblings decided to stay closer to home, but still. I know they love us, but sometimes they’re a bit overwhelming.
“Ugh, when did you say we’ll go? Please, not this weekend.” He pouts, sticking his lower lip out.
“No, not this weekend. But I said within the next few weeks.”
Oak nods his head, knowing that if we don’t agree, they’ll never leave us alone. “Okay, I can deal with that. You’re driving this time, though. I drove the last two times.”
“You know how much I love being a passenger princess,” I smile, batting my eyelashes. Which is true. I don’t mind driving, but it’s not something I like to do. Especially when the destination is farther. I get easily distracted by what’s going on outside, or I start to get too tired and want to nap for the whole ride.
“What if I want to be a passenger princess one time?”
“I mean, if you don’t mind my stopping to take pictures of the side of the road,” I shrug. “Or my eyes drifting closed when the roads get too boring.”
“Ugh,” Oak groans, squinting his eyes glaringly. “Fine. I’ll drive. Once again. But you’d better make it a good trip.”
“Yes, yes, we can stop and get Slurpees on the way,” I say, knowing that Oak can’t do a road trip without a Slurpee. Does he realize it makes him have to pee thirty minutes later? Yep. Does he care? Nope. “How was your workout with Jensen? Did you lift a lot of weight?” I don’t know much about working out; I usually just lift whatever Oak hands me, so I’m glad he’s able to go to the gym with someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
“It was good. It’s nice to have someone to spot me. I hate going by myself.” I roll my eyes, and he quickly adds, “Not that it sucked going with you or that I hate that you don’t come anymore, but those times when my arms are jelly, it’s nice to have someone there who actually helps lift the bar and not leaves me stranded because they’re chatting so much.”
“Oh my god, that was one time.” I huff, rolling my eyes again. “You don’t grab the bar one time… you’ve never let me live it down.”
“Well, it’s kind of life or death, well maybe, but what I said still stands.”
Blowing a raspberry, I stick out my tongue. “Anywayyyy,” I drag out, “what did you guys talk about?”
“Normal stuff. We came up with a new workout plan for next week. We’re both going to try to bulk up, so we added some new workout activities that we want to try. Which means we’re also both going on a specific diet, which will be harder, but I’m going to try it. We’re going to keep each other accountable.”
“That’s nice,” I tell him, and it is. The number of times he’s tried to get me to go on a diet with him, only for me to sneak away to McDonald’s or Burger King, is out of this world. He knows I can’t handle diets, so I’m glad he’s found someone to do it with. “Wait, does that mean we can’t do popcorn and candy on movie nights?”
“Probably not.”
“Stupid fucking diets. I’m not going to eat a stick of celery while we’re watching a movie, and you can’t make me.”
Oak wraps his arm around my shoulder, guiding us over to the couch. “Don’t worry, I won’t make you do the diet with me. There will be no celery sticks in your future.”
We sit in silence for a couple of minutes before Oak speaks again. “Jensen thought we were boyfriends. Why does everyone always think we’re dating?” His hand finds mine, interlocking our fingers.
“Ya know, I just had this conversation with Bash. He was questioning me as well. Asking why we weren’t dating.”
“What did you say?” He asks, turning to face me.
“That we’re best friends. He didn’t like my answer. Told me we should try to kiss and see what happens?”
