Page 61 of Coming Up Roses
But I don’t care anymore.
If Abi is up for it, I want more. I want to do it again. I want to do it tonight, while she’s wearing that fucking dress. I groan and press down on my cock as the image of Abi straddling my lap, her tits spilling out over the neckline, comes to mind.
I consider a quick jerk to take the edge off, but I’ve already done that over thoughts of her today, and at this point I’d rather have the real thing. Besides, doing that in Olivia’s bathroom feels weird.
I’m just going to have to suck it up and hope Abi’s mind is going in the same direction mine is.
Then make it through hanging out with our friends without giving away how into her I am, because as much as they love me,I know things will get weird if they find out Abi and I are messing around together. I don’t want that for her.
I don’t want them to think she’s not taking her job, or her relationship with Sadie seriously. They’ll think I’m being reckless and irresponsible, which I am, but I can’t have them thinking the same things about Abi. Their opinions of me don’t matter, their opinions of her do.
I take a deep breath and open the bathroom door. I can do this. I can get through the next few hours without drooling over her. I’ve made it this far, it’ll be a piece of cake.
Then I step back into the kitchen and my eyes immediately land on her.
She’s laughing at something Sadie is saying, warmth and love radiating out of her, and shit. It’s not going to be as easy as I thought after all.
32
ABI
As apprehensive asI was about tonight—in that I tried to get out of it about seven hundred times, but Olivia wouldn’t let me—I’m actually having a fantastic time.
First, I got to hang out with Sadie for dinner with the whole crew and as much as I sometimes think things feel awkward between Katie and I, or Dallas and I, the reality is that once we’re in the same room, it just isn’t.
I was expecting animosity or wariness in the least from Katie, but she’s embraced my arrival fully. They go out of their way to include me in Sadie’s life and while I haven’t hung out with Sadie one-on-one yet, I almost feel like a part of the family. Almost.
I love the relationship I’m building with Sadie. She’s sweet and funny, completely obsessed with horses and like all the adults around her, so very generous. But we’re still learning each other, and I’m more than happy to take it at whatever pace suits Sadie and Dallas.
He mentioned me doing a school pick up this week and I can’t wait. I’ve been careful not to push things, but picking my child up from school feels momentous. I wish I’d been doing it all along.
I push the melancholy thoughts out of my head, because tonight is for fun, not for rehashing all my mistakes.
After dinner, we piled into vehicles, Olivia claiming my passenger seat while forcing Flynn to ride with Dallas and Katie in his ute. Flynn pouted, loudly complaining about having to go with them, but when Olivia pointed out that if someone didn’t go with them, they were likely to get distracted along the way and spend the night lost in each other instead of celebrating with the rest of us, he conceded. He shot me a look that let me know exactly what he thought about the situation though and I know he wished it was just me and him in my car.
But then we’d be the ones getting lost in each other, and I don’t need those questions right now. From his reaction when he saw me, I’m pretty sure he’s keen for a round two, but we haven’t exactly had the chance to discuss it.
I lean against the tall table we’ve snagged at the Kauri Creek Hotel, the only reputable bar in the town, and tap my fingernails against the wooden surface, occasionally swiping at the condensation on my glass.
Dallas and Katie are on the dance floor, though the line dancing portion of the night hasn’t actually started yet. Flynn and Olivia are out there too. I couldn’t help the little pang of jealousy that shot through me when he’d held out a hand to her and whirled her away.
It’s jealousy I have no right to. I’m fairly certain Flynn andOlivia think of each other more as siblings than potential romantic partners, but even if they were into each other, Flynn and I are just friends. Hopefully friends who fuck, but that’s still to be confirmed.
My eyes snag on them as the crowd shifts and they come back into view. Flynn’s head is thrown back as he dances, baring his throat and I have to press my thighs together as a bolt of lust shoots through my belly. I want to bite his throat, lick my way down it, then keep going.
“Hey,” a deep voice says beside me and I turn to look up at a dark-haired man. He has a deep shadow of stubble across his jaw, not a fully-fledged beard, but enough that he clearly hasn’t spent time with a razor in the past couple of days, and his dark eyes drink me in. “I haven’t seen you around here before,” he continues.
“New to town,” I say.
“Ah. You enjoying it?” His gaze roams over me again.
Before I have a chance to reply a body presses against my side and Flynn wraps his arm around my waist. Olivia steps up on my other side and stares at the man in front of me.
“Not on your life, Max,” she says, steel in her voice. I didn’t know Olivia could sound like that.
“Ollie,” the guy, Max, says, but Olivia holds up a hand and silences him.
“Absolutely not.”
