Page 17 of Falling Together

Chapter 17

Blair

Instead of waking up to the sun shining through their hotel window like she had the past two days, Blair awoke to the sound of thunder. It took her a moment to get her bearings, but once she did, she realized Nolan and Erin were lying in bed next to her—a sleeping arrangement that Nolan had insisted on again last night. Blair had kind of expected Erin to refuse after what had happened between them earlier that day, but she didn’t.

Blair pinched her eyes shut. She still couldn’t believe she let herself get so carried away yesterday. When Erin called her beautiful, she lost all control. Not having her lips on Erin in one way or another just didn’t seem like an option. Luckily, she somehow found the strength to stop herself before she made things completely awkward between them. When they awoke from their impromptu nap about an hour later, it was as if nothing had happened. It was a relief but also kind of strange. In fact, the rest of the night was so normal that it had Blair wondering if she had dreamed the whole thing. The tingling of her lips whenever she thought of Erin’s skin beneath them was enough to tell her she hadn’t.

Shit. She would give anything to taste that skin just one more time. Blair squeezed her eyes shut and bit her bottom lip. She

really

shouldn’t be thinking about this when there was no way for her to get release.

Unless there is.

Now that she had the idea in her head, Blair had to make it happen or she might literally burst. She slowly and carefully extracted herself from the bed and was extremely relieved when neither Erin nor Nolan woke up. She looked outside and noticed the rain coming down hard, but since she hadn’t heard any thunder since the boom that woke her up, she figured it couldn’t be

that

dangerous to take a shower. Plus, it was worth the risk to not feel like she was going to explode.

She went into the bathroom and immediately started the shower. It was only a matter of time before Nolan and Erin woke up, so she didn’t have any time to waste. She stripped out of her clothes and hopped into the shower, only allowing herself a few seconds to bask in the warm water before she moved her hand between her legs. She closed her eyes and pictured Erin’s face as she said the words, “

You’re

beautiful.” She remembered the feeling of Erin’s skin beneath her lips and the way her whole body had reacted to that littlest bit of contact.

She imagined it was Erin’s hand touching her instead of her own. She pretended it was Erin’s fingers that were making her wet, because honestly, it might as well have been. She was the real reason Blair was so turned on. When she brought a finger to her entrance, it took all her willpower not to scream out. She slapped one hand against the side of the shower to hold herself upright while her other hand continued its work.

All she saw in front of her was Erin. Erin’s eyes. Erin’s lips. Erin’s perfect body with those amazing curves. It didn’t take her any time at all to completely fall apart. She came all over her own fingers and slid down the shower when her legs completely gave out.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there with the shower water pouring over her. It could’ve been seconds or it could’ve been hours. She was suspended in a place of absolute ecstasy. Well, that was, until a knock came on the door and a little voice shocked her back to reality.

“Bear! Are you okay? Bear! I have to peeeeee!”

Shit.

Blair jumped out of the shower and quickly wrapped herself in a towel. When she opened the door, Nolan ran past her, pants already down at his ankles as he ran to the toilet. He immediately started to pee while Blair struggled to catch her breath.

Once he was done, he awkwardly pulled up his pants then smiled over at her. “You almost made me pee my pants.”

“I’m sorry, bud. I didn’t hear you out there at first.” Blair felt guilty even if it wasn’t actually a lie. She hadn’t heard him. The reason

why

she hadn’t heard Nolan might not have been her best decision, though.

“Yeah.” Nolan nodded as if he understood. “You were being really loud.”

“I… umm…”

Shit. Shit. Shit. Think, Blair.

“Sorry. I tripped.”

“You tripped in the shower? Are you okay?” Erin asked as she joined them in the bathroom as well.

Is this a fucking party?

Blair could feel her face turning red as Erin watched her, waiting for an answer. “Yeah. I’m… I’m good.”

Erin wrinkled her eyebrows as she studied Blair’s face. “Are you sure? You look frazzled. Did you hurt your—”

Blair saw the exact moment realization hit Erin’s face. Erin knew she was lying, and she also knew exactly

why

Blair was lying.

Shit.

Why did this woman have the ability to see right through her?

Erin’s eyes went wide, and her face turned even more red than Blair’s felt. “Oh.”

Blair swallowed hard then gave her a guilty smile. “Yeah.”

No sense in lying at this point.

Erin put her hand on Nolan’s shoulder and ushered him out of the bathroom. “Let’s give Blair some privacy while she recovers from her

fall.

”

After Nolan was out of the bathroom, Erin walked back in and leaned close to Blair. “You’re making this really fucking hard on me right now,” she said in a breathy whisper that made Blair want to jump right back into the shower.

As soon as Erin left the bathroom, Blair closed the door and stared at herself in the mirror as she tried to regain some semblance of control. “You got this, Blair,” she spoke aloud. “You’ve been around sexy women before. You’re not a dude. You can totally keep your hormones under control.”

She laughed at her reflection. She was being ridiculous right now.

“Bear?” Nolan called from the other side of the door. “Are you okay?”

Blair tried to answer, but no sound came out. She cleared her throat to try to find her voice. “Yep. I’m good. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. Who were you talking to?”

Busted. Again.

Blair rolled her eyes at herself, then stretched her arms as she tried to think of yet another lie. “I was, um, just singing.”

Luckily, Nolan didn’t question her again, so she brushed her teeth, threw on an outfit, and gathered herself together enough to head back into the hotel room.

“Feeling better?” Erin asked as soon as she walked out.

When Blair looked at her, she found her staring at her with a shit-eating grin.

Oh, she’s loving this.

Blair could see the glee written all over Erin’s face. She finally felt like she had the upper hand, and she was definitely going to milk it for all its worth.

Two can play this game

. Blair smirked right back at Erin, crossed her arms over her chest, and lifted one eyebrow. “I’m doing very well, thank you. Feeling nice and

satisfied

.”

Erin’s smile slipped momentarily when she swallowed hard in response to Blair’s choice of words, but she quickly recovered. “Glad to hear the

shower

satisfied you so well.”

Holy shit. This woman is trying to kill me.

Before Blair could think of what to say in return, Nolan interrupted their moment. “It’s raining!” he screamed as if he had somehow just noticed it. “No! What are we supposed to do?”

Blair watched Erin snap out of their naughty little game at the exact same time she did, both of them turning their attention to Nolan.

“Don’t worry,” Erin said gently. “There are plenty of fun things we can do inside today.”

“What fun things?” Nolan asked between deep breaths.

Erin opened her mouth as if she was going to answer, then gave Blair a look that showed she actually had no idea.

Blair knelt down next to Nolan and took his tiny hand in hers. “When we were walking on the boardwalk last night, I happened to notice that there is an arcade right next to our hotel. I don’t know about you, but I love arcades.”

Nolan’s face lit up and he began to bounce up and down. “I love arcades too!”

It hit Blair at that moment that there was one slight problem. The arcade wasn’t open yet. How was she supposed to tell Nolan he had to wait after she had gotten him so excited?

“You know what, buddy?” Erin said from across the room. “You’re going to need some energy to play all of those games. I think we should go downstairs and have breakfast first. What do you say?”

Blair breathed a sigh of relief that Erin had managed to read her mind. “Your mom is right. You can’t play games when you’re hungry. You won’t do as well, and then we won’t get as many tickets, which means we won’t get as many prizes.”

Nolan nodded a bunch of times, then gave Blair a thumbs up. “I want

lots

of prizes.”

After getting dressed, Nolan skipped out of the room in front of Erin and Blair to go get breakfast.

“We make a pretty good team, don’t we?” Blair whispered to Erin as she watched Nolan run toward the elevator.

Erin looked completely relaxed as she smiled at Nolan as well. “We really do.” Erin’s smile turned into a smirk and she added, “Well, that is, when

you’re

not too busy having fun with yourself in the shower.” She lifted an eyebrow at Blair, then ran down the hallway toward Nolan before Blair could think of a rebuttal.

Damn.

Blair had no idea where Erin’s newfound confidence had come from, but it was sexy as hell, and she hoped it stayed around.

***

“Mommy! We need to play more games.” Nolan clawed at his mom’s legs while he whined.

“Yeah, Mommy!” Blair said, copying the tone of Nolan’s voice. “There’re so many games in here we haven’t even played yet. How are we going to get a bunch of pointless prizes if we don’t play them all?”

“Seriously?” Erin rolled her eyes at both Blair and Nolan. “I think we’ve spent enough time and money here already.”

“How about this?” Blair pulled the fifty dollar bill out of her pocket that she had been saving for this very moment. “The rest of the games are on me.”

“You are not seriously thinking about getting fifty dollars worth of tokens, are you? We’ll

never

leave.”

Blair laughed at the fact that Erin was using the same tone of voice to speak to her as she used with Nolan. It was fitting because Blair was acting about as mature as Nolan right now, but she was having way too much fun to care. “That’s kind of the point.” She flashed Erin her most charming smile. “Come on. What else is there to do?”

Erin rolled her eyes again. “Fine. But only because we really don’t have any other choice.”

“Yes!” Blair held her hand out toward Nolan and he jumped in the air to give her a high five.

After getting more tokens, Nolan grabbed a handful and ran toward a racing game. “I’m going to win!” he said as he sat in a seat too tall for him to reach the pedal.

“I have an idea.” Blair picked him up and sat him on her lap. “How about you and I race your mommy? You can steer and I’ll push the pedal.”

Nolan threw a fist in the air. “Yeah! And we’ll win!”

Erin laughed as she sat down beside them and held out her hand for tokens. “I don’t doubt you will.”

Even though it was touch-and-go for a bit due to Nolan’s questionable steering skills, Blair and Nolan did end up beating Erin in the end.

Blair threw both hands in the air. “Yes! Sweet victory!”

“I want to play basketball next!” Nolan jumped off of Blair’s lap and ran toward the big electronic basketball hoops.

“Wait for me, and I’ll put you on my shoulders,” Blair shouted after him, feeling like a little kid herself after spending all afternoon in the arcade.

“You really love this, don’t you?” Erin asked with a laugh. Her tone wasn’t judgmental, just amused.

“Hell yeah. Arcades are the best.”

“Arcades and deejays. Got it.”

“Taking notes?” Blair teased, although it was kind of sweet because it seemed like Erin was actually doing just that.

Erin shrugged. “I figured if we’re going to be friends, I should know what you like to do for fun.”

It turned out, Blair was the one who should have been taking notes. “In that case, what do

you

like to do for fun?”

Erin blew out a long breath as though Blair had just asked her the hardest question in the world. “I don’t know. Read books to Nolan? Go to the pool?”

“Those are great things, but what else?” Blair wanted to know more about Erin. She wanted to know

everything.

“What do you like to do that doesn’t involve Nolan?”

Erin shrugged again. “Sometimes I read adult books after Nolan goes to bed. I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers. Honestly, I don’t spend much time without Nolan. It’s not really possible as a single mom.”

“Well, if you ever want to go out with friends after work or something, I can watch him longer. I really don’t mind.”

Erin laughed as though Blair had told a joke. “That’s the thing. I’ve dedicated so much of my life to Nolan, especially after Bianca left, I kind of lost touch with all of my friends. Even if I had the time to hang out, I really don’t have the people anymore.”

It broke Blair’s heart to hear Erin had given up so much for Nolan. She knew Erin would do it again without a second thought, but she shouldn’t have to. She

should

have help.

Fucking Bianca.

Just thinking about her made Blair’s blood boil. She couldn’t waste her energy on that bitch right now, though.

She reached out and squeezed Erin’s hand, trying her best to ignore the sensation it sent throughout her body. “Well, now you have me.” And Blair’s head was already spinning with ideas of how she could prove to Erin just how much she meant those words.

***

“Aren’t you at the beach with your girlfriend right now?” Marisol asked as soon as she picked up Blair’s call.

Blair looked around the room as if Erin was somehow going to hear Marisol from the other room of their suite where she was napping with Nolan. “Yes, I am at the beach with Erin and Nolan right now. They’re asleep, and I have a huge favor to ask you.”

“Okay, I’m intrigued. Go on.”

“You’re done with work now, right?” Blair already knew the answer to that question, but it seemed like a logical place to start.

“You know I am. Remember? I gave you a hard time when I found out you were leaving me the first week I actually had time off this summer.”

Blair rolled her eyes. Of course Marisol wouldn’t let her get away with asking dumb questions. “Yeah, yeah. Okay. Anyway, are you still dating your camp boyfriend?” This was another question Blair was pretty sure she knew the answer to due to the recap Marisol had given in excruciating detail about how they snuck off for a quickie in the woods the week prior.

Marisol laughed. “Yes, we’re still dating, because we’re not ten. He wasn’t my

camp boyfriend.

We’re two adults who met while working at a children’s summer camp together.”

“And how many times did you

two adults

sneak off to have sex while working at said summer camp?”

Marisol was quiet for a few seconds before she finally spoke again, this time her voice not nearly as cocky. “Touché.”

“Perfect. I have a proposition for you.”

“Could you please stop dragging this out and just tell me what the fuck you want?”

Blair laughed at her friend’s attitude. She loved this bitch so much. “I would like to offer you a long weekend at the beach in exchange for one little favor.”

“I’m listening…”

“Come down tomorrow and watch Nolan for a few hours, and I’ll get you a hotel room for you and your boy toy through the weekend.”

“You want me to watch the kid

you’re

supposed

to be babysitting while you take his mom on a date?”

“It’s not…” Blair lowered her voice to a whisper in case Erin woke up. “It’s not a date. I just want to do something nice for her. She never gets the chance to hang out with other adults, because she’s too busy being the world’s best fucking mom. I want to give her a few hours to have fun with someone who isn’t a child.”

Much to Blair’s surprise, Marisol cackled in response. “Sorry. Sorry. I just find it hilarious that you think hanging out with

you

doesn’t mean she’ll be hanging out with a child.”

“Whatever. I’m twenty-two.” Blair was trying not to let Marisol’s words sting. She knew Marisol was just joking, but the age difference between her and Erin was one of the glaringly obvious obstacles standing in the way of them ever becoming more than friends.

“Twenty-two going on thirteen,” Marisol said between more laughter.

She wasn’t exactly

wrong

, but Blair wasn’t in the mood for her teasing right now. “Are you going to do it or not?”

“Ouch. For someone asking for a favor, you’re not being very nice right now.”

Blair sighed. Marisol wasn’t wrong. “I know. I’m sorry. I just really want to do something nice for her.”

“Dude, you’ve got it so bad,

which

is exactly why I’m going to do this for you. Let me make sure Damien is down for a last minute, impromptu trip to the beach.”

“Ah! You’re the best!” Blair was so excited she could have screamed. She didn’t, of course, since that would’ve woken Erin up and ruined the amazing surprise she had planned for the next day.