Page 20 of Summer Sweethearts
“Yup,” I respond, popping the p, and taking a sip of my rum and Coke.
“What did you both see in him?” she cackles. Loretta sucks in a breath, making me look at her, but she quickly covers her shock.
“Cara, he’s your cousin. Of course, you see nothing like that in him. But he’s sweet, caring, funny, and is just always there when you need him. Or I should say, was. Sorry, I don’t know if those things are still true,” Loretta tells the table nonchalantly, then picks up her seltzer and takes a drink.
Bea and Cara look at me, and I shrug. “Umm, he was hot in his dating profile picture. He actually could hold a conversation when we went on our few dates and through texts. The only issue was that he always mentioned his ex. So, on our last date, I told him he needed to figure that out, and we went our separate ways.” The girls cackle at my words, but it’s the truth. He was cool to talk to and could hold his own in any conversation we had, but he would say, ‘My ex used to’ or ‘my ex would say’. Makes sense now that I know it was Loretta. She’s phenomenal, and mine. I’m obsessed with her too.
“Okay, so that was two weeks ago. What has happened since then?” Cara asks, taking a bite of her mozzarella sticks that were just delivered to the table.
“Nothing, I’m trying to avoid him,” Loretta brushes off.
“Why? You two were hot and heavy back in the day. Shit, I thought he was going to put a ring on your finger.” Cara raises a brow at me as she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms.
“Because seeing him brings back old memories, and I remember the Michael I loved years ago. It’s hard to see him and separate the two.” She looks at me as she speaks, I nod to her so she knows I’m not upset by what she’s saying.
“Well, if seeing the two of you together now is anything like it was all those years ago, –which, according to Aiden it was electric– you’re going to have yourself a harem like me,” Cara giggles.
“Cara, it’s not a harem unless it’s three or more, so keep dreaming,” Bea corrects Cara and gets a middle finger from her bestie in response. “Back to you though, Loretta. Why don’t you just tell him you’re still into him. Scratch that. You’re both into him and fuck it out? Worked for Cara. Now look at her,” Bea suggests with a laugh, and I scowl at her. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, Jessica. You know you’d ride that man like Seabiscuit.”
“It’s not that simple. How do I just forget about the possibility that when a better opportunity presents itself he won’t just leave again? Jessica and I are more than happy together, and I’m not sure I could handle two lovers like you do,” Lor sticks her tongue out at Cara.
“Let’s dance!” Bayley interrupts, Loretta shakes her head as she chuckles but grabs my hand, dragging me to the dance floor.Big Boyby Farizki is playing, and we dance our little hearts out. Loretta’s back is to my front as we grind together, my arms around her waist. Bea and Cara join us, and we laugh and dance while rubbing on Cara’s baby bump. We’re having a great time, acting like absolute fools while just enjoying being together.
Three songs and four tequila shots later, we stumble from the dance floor, making our way back to our table. Cara is there clapping for us. She left us two songs ago to pee and rest her swollen ankles. Dropping into my chair, I chug the water that we ordered earlier and look across the table at Loretta. She’s talking to Cara with a smile on her face, cheeks red from dancing, and a light sheen of sweat covering her exposed skin. Damn, she looks sexy as hell.
At midnight, we call it a night and part ways, all of us heading home. Cara took Bea home, and Loretta and I walked, knowing we couldn’t drive. Hand in hand, we’re giggling as we sway on the Main Street sidewalk. A truck passes us and slams on the brakes, immediately reversing back to us.
“What are you two doing?” Mike booms from the driver’s seat.
“Walking home drunk, assbutt!” Loretta yells at him. I snicker at her name for him because it’s ridiculous, but who am I to judge?
“Get in the truck. I’ll take you two home,” he calls.
“No thanks. Don’t want ya to know where we live,” she snarks. I bark a laugh at this sassier, meaner Loretta
“I could look that up in the phone book or on white pages, Etta. You’ve always been a mouthy drunk. Now, let me take you home. I’ll close my eyes when we get to your house,” he tells her.
“Promise?” she asks.
“Yeah, now come on,” he begs. Loretta grabs my hand tighter and leads me to his truck. We climb in, with her in the middle and me in the passenger seat. Mike puts the truck back in drive and starts the short ride to Loretta’s house.
“Want me to take you or Loretta home first?” he asks me, surprising me with his question.
“We live together, Michael. That’s what people do when they’re in love.” Michael hits the brakes once more, and I suck in a sharp breath at what she just said. Loretta braces herself on the dash before whipping her head to look at Mike. “Fuck! Do you even know how to drive?” Neither of us say a word to her, both of us just staring at her in shock at what she had just said. She looks at Mike and then at me a few times before her eyes widen as she covers her mouth. “Oh shit, I said that out loud, huh?” I nod at her. “I didn’t wanna tell you like that. I’m sorry, I’m a babbling drunk.”
“We’ll talk about it in the morning, babe. It’s okay,” I assure her as I see her eyes start to well with tears. “Mike, we live together over on Fern School, and it’s the second house on the right,” I tell him quietly as Loretta rests her head on my shoulder, and I stroke her hair. Mike nods once and steers the truck to our house.
Once we pull up. I open the door, slide out, and hold out a hand for Loretta to take to do the same. She leans to the left and kisses Mike’s cheek before whispering, “Thank you,” then takes my hand and gets out of the truck. He looks at me, and I shake my head, telling him not to worry before leading my girl inside.
* * *
Waking up the next morning—or should I say afternoon?—I blink my eyes open slowly and look around, taking in my surroundings. I’m in our room, and Loretta is still sound asleep next to me, snoring softly. I slide out of bed, head to the kitchen to get some water, and feed my cat, who has noticed I’m awake and is screaming at me for food.
I get to the kitchen and feed Macaroni before moving to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. I grab an extra water and the bottle of ibuprofen from the cabinet before heading back to the bedroom, setting the extra water and the pill bottle on the nightstand next to the bed. Returning to the kitchen, I heat up a slice of leftover pizza and carry it to the living room to watch some television while I wait for my girl to wake up.
We need to talk about last night, and I don’t mean just the admission that she loves me. I noticed her shock and defensiveness when Cara was teasing her about Mike. Then there was the kiss in the truck; while it was only a kiss on the cheek, she did it so effortlessly, making me think there might be more going on than Loretta will admit. I’m not sure what I want out of the conversation. I just know we need to have it.
I refuse to let her go, so we need to figure out what’s going on. If Mike thinks he’s just going to swoop in and take my woman after one drive home, he’s sadly mistaken. Little does Loretta know, I love her, too. I was just waiting for the right time to tell her. I’m just not a chatty drunk, nor was I as drunk as she was last night.
