Page 44 of Bad Habit
Mia sits down next to me and immediately reaches for her drink. “Vultures.”
“Careful Mia, you look jealous.” I lean forward to rest my arms on the table and get closer to her.
“Just say thank you.” She rolls her eyes, “if I had showed up a few minutes later her tongue probably would have been attacking your throat.” She shutters and Eli laughs.
“Scoot over, Sunshine.” Maxwell moves in, overcrowding the limited space, and lifts Mia over to me. He reaches for my glass of water and gulps down the entire thing. I move her over to the other leg so she doesn’t smear the lipstick on her that she left on my pants.
Eli points to Mia’s purse still on the table, “Who keeps a sharpie in their purse anyways?”
“You never know when you need to write an asshole’s number on a wall to call for free blow jobs.” Mia is so serious when she answers him that it only makes us lose it even more.
My brother's eyes widen before he shakes his head. “You’re diabolical.” I catch Eli’s eye and silently plead for him to take Maxwell and disappear for a few minutes. Thankfully, we are always running on the same wavelength. “Let’s go get a round of water for everyone, Maxie." Max sends a quick glance my way and I catch his dimple pop as he looks at Mia. He gets it.
“It’s creepy when you all do that, you know.” Mia sips on her drink and looks over at me. The colors in her eyes dancing along with the different lights in the room.
“Do what?” I ask her softly.
“The triplet thing.” I laugh because everyone always says that. She picks up a cherry from the cup of cherries that Ty made her.
“This outfit is sinful.” I let my hand rest on the bare skin of her thigh. “I can’t believe you branded me.” She turns her head so she is looking down at me.
“You’ve offered for me to sit in your lap plenty of times. Figured it was okay.” She sucks on another cherry, never breaking eye contact.
I grip her leg tighter before assuring her, “it’s more than okay.”
“Don’t do that.” She shuffles in my lap and her ass is now resting in the crook of my arm.
“Do what?” I’m trying so hard to focus but her eating those damn cherries is distracting. All my attention is on how soft her lips look.
“Be nice. We aren’t nice to each other.” Rory’s words echo my thoughts. I can feel her putting something up between us.
Don’t quit trying.
“I’ve told you before. If you want to pretend you aren’t right where you are supposed to be, that’s okay.” I squeeze her thigh twice before saying, “Thanks for coming tonight. The fights feel different when you are here.” I decide to be honest.
She reaches up behind her neck and unclasps my chain. Then she easily puts it back around my neck. “Take me home?” She asks absently as she runs her finger over the metal resting around my throat.
I squeeze her closer before finding Eli and Maxwell by the bar. “Let’s grab my brothers. I’ll drop them off first.”
We all make our way out of The Poolhouse and something feels different as I make my way to the car. Something shifted tonight. I would have never imagined it would be Rory to make me see something new that I wanted to go after. But I’m in his debt for being the one to tell me not to quit.
Oliver
Dad has brought me back to Charlston for more Scrabble. The man is fully invested in his revenge plot against AJ to win Thanksgiving Scrabble this year. He made friends with a few of the older women and promised them coffee and sweet treats if they played a few games with me and him.
Naturally, I said yes. I can’t wait to see AJ’s rage when she finds out the lengths he has gone to try and beat her. Secretly my money is still on her to win. And I’ll be sure to take bets the day of Thanksgiving. We are on our second game and I’m out of coffee. These women would probably stay here until the shop closes if Dad asked them to.
“Thank you ladies for being so kind and giving up your afternoon for me!” Dad leans in and hugs them both while they just blush at his attention. Dad has never once given another woman even a hint of a thought while we were growing up. He just has this natural charm that makes all women go weak.
“Anything for you.” They both say in unison before turning to face me. They wrap their arms around my waist and squeeze tighter than any woman their age should have the strength to do. “And this young man too! Cheryl already told us you were taken but just keep in mind we have granddaughters.” One winks and the other blows a kiss as they pull away and let me go. I ignore the look that Dad is giving me about their “girlfriend”comment.
“Next time, he will have to bring one of my brothers.” I offer and watch their eyes light up. I have a feeling they would adore Maxie.
“Oh yes! Triplets. Wild boys you must have Eddie.” Violet raises her eyebrows. I only remember her name because she is wearing a purple top. When she was introduced to me earlier she said she prefers to match her name in some way in every outfit. And I thought of Mia with her cherries.
Dad clasps his hand over my shoulder and grins at them both. “They are good boys.” Motioning to their car parked on the side of the street he says, “You ladies have a good day. I’ll see you next month.”
I watch them get into the car and know it’s coming before he turns to face me, “Girlfriend?” He cocks his head with amusement shadowing his face. He’s hinted at something going on between me and Mia a few times but never pushes it.
