Page 21 of Falling Together

Chapter 21

Blair

Blair sighed as she got into her car. Even though it was only Tuesday, it was her first week not babysitting Nolan, and she missed him and Erin already. She had thought about calling Erin when she was walking home from work on Monday to ask her if she wanted to do something, but she didn’t want Erin to think she was overbearing.

She had chosen to drive today because she thought driving two minutes instead of walking ten would keep her from calling. The only problem was now that she was in her car, her internal autopilot didn’t drive to her house. Instead, she headed straight to Erin’s. When she pulled into Erin’s neighborhood and saw her house in the distance, she thought about just turning around. Because, really, who just shows up at someone’s house completely uninvited?

Unfortunately, she was about to turn around when Erin’s front door opened, and Nolan came running out. Of course, Nolan was great with cars and recognized Blair’s right away. He jumped up and down and pointed at her car while he said something to Erin that Blair couldn’t hear.

Well, no turning back now.

Blair pulled into the driveway and waved to Nolan, who now stood right beside her car. She kept the car on and rolled down her window, because she didn’t want to assume that Erin would want her to stay. “I just happened to be in the neighborhood…” She let her voice trail off as soon as she realized what a terrible lie that was.

“In the neighborhood, huh?” Erin asked with a laugh, clearly not buying it. “Funny. I didn’t realize our neighborhood was a thoroughfare to get anywhere.”

“Okay, you caught me. I missed you two.”

Erin looked like she wanted to say something in response, but before she could, Nolan answered. “We missed you too, Bear! So, so much. I missed you lots, and Mommy missed you more.”

“She did, huh?” Blair asked as she looked from Nolan to Erin. She loved the way Erin’s cheeks immediately turned red in embarrassment. It was so fucking cute Blair could hardly stand it.

“It appears I’ve been called out as well.” Erin smiled and it made the rest of the world disappear. All that existed was the two of them, and Blair could’ve spent all night staring at the beautiful woman standing outside of her car. Erin put her hand on the car and leaned closer to Blair’s open window, almost looking like she might kiss her. Unfortunately, she stopped before their lips were close enough to meet. “Since you’re here, do you want to come in? Nolan was just about to go for a ride on his scooter, and then I’m going to make something for dinner. You’re welcome to stay for both if you’d like.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.” Blair really hoped Erin was sure because there was nothing she wanted to do more than spend time with these two. Honestly, she would stay forever if Erin would let her.

“Of course. Nolan would love it.” Erin leaned even closer and lowered her eyes. “I would love it too.”

Blair didn’t need to hear anything else. She turned off her car and hopped out without another word.

After doing a lap around the neighborhood, chasing after Nolan on his scooter, they went inside to make dinner. Blair took a deep breath as she entered the house, taking in the smell she had become so accustomed to. Even though it had only been a few days, walking into Erin and Nolan’s house felt like coming home after a long trip.

“So, what are we making for dinner?” Blair asked as she followed Erin into the kitchen.

“We?” Erin asked with a laugh. “You’re the guest, which means

I’m

doing the cooking.”

“

I’m

the guest who essentially invited herself over, so I feel like it’s only right if I help out.”

“You know what would actually be a huge help?” Erin pointed toward the family room where Nolan was standing on his head on the couch. “Make sure he doesn’t kill himself while I’m making dinner.”

“I can do that!”

Blair walked into the other room, grabbed Nolan, and held him over her shoulder. He giggled as he kicked his legs and tried to break free. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want down?” Blair asked as Nolan continued to laugh and kick at her.

“Yes. Put me down, poopy butt.”

Blair gently threw Nolan back onto the couch and pointed a finger at him. “Excuse me. Did you just call me a poopy butt?”

Nolan laughed and nodded. “You’re a big smelly poopy butt.”

Blair had no idea why a kid calling her names was making her so happy, but she couldn’t stop smiling as she attacked Nolan with tickles and enjoyed his laughter in response. She could really get used to this being her life—coming home from work to Nolan and Erin. One of them making dinner while the other entertained the kid. It sounded pretty damn perfect. It was also nothing but a fantasy because Erin hadn’t mentioned anything else about their beach rendezvous. It was actually the opposite. The last few weeks of babysitting had been kept completely professional, and Blair hated it. She wanted to flirt with Erin. She wanted to feel Erin’s skin underneath her fingertips, even if it was only for a few seconds. She wanted so much more than what Erin was willing to give her, and she was really trying to be okay with that even though it was extremely hard.

“Can we play dinosaurs?” Nolan asked, saving Blair from a complete spiral.

“Let’s do it!” She spent the next hour in an imaginary dinosaur world with Nolan until Erin announced dinner was ready.

Blair carried Nolan into the kitchen and found that Erin had made baked potatoes with cheese and chicken fingers.

“I know it’s not the healthiest meal, but it’s what we had,” Erin said, as if she were embarrassed.

“Are you kidding me? My parents aren’t home tonight. If I wasn’t here, I’d be eating ramen noodles. This is much better.”

“Ah, so that’s why you came, huh? For my amazing home-cooked meal.”

“You caught me.” Blair set Nolan on the ground, then walked over to Erin and had to stop herself from putting her hands on Erin’s hips. “It has absolutely

nothing

to do with the company.”

After filling their plates, the three of them sat at the kitchen table and talked about Nolan’s day at school, the new projects Erin was doing for work, and how the first two days of training went for Blair. Blair went into excruciating detail about everything she had done the past two days in an effort to prolong the meal as much as possible. She didn’t want to leave, but she knew once she was done eating, she wouldn’t have a reason to stay.

Luckily, Nolan gave her a reason. “Mommy, can Bear read me a book and tuck me into bed tonight?” he asked as Erin cleared his plate from the table.

“You’ll have to ask Blair, sweetie. She probably wants to get home so she can get ready for another day of work tomorrow.”

You couldn’t be more wrong, Erin.

Blair looked between Nolan and Erin and shrugged. “I’m okay with it if you are. Since Marisol started school, I’ve really only been hanging out with my parents. It would be cool to spend time with other people for once.”

Especially if those people are you two.

The smile on Erin’s face told Blair that she was happy she had agreed to stick around. “Perfect. Any chance you want to help with bath time too?” Erin laughed as though she were kidding, but there was honestly nothing Blair wanted more.

“I’m down.”

After taking a few minutes to convince Erin that she was

actually

okay with giving Nolan his bath, Blair headed upstairs with him while Erin finished cleaning up from dinner. Blair spent the next half hour yelling at Nolan to keep the water in the bathtub while she struggled to get him clean. She was relieved when Erin finally came up and told Nolan he had to get out and get ready for bed.

Blair worked with Erin to help get Nolan dressed, then asked him to pick out a story. Blair climbed into Nolan’s bed to read to him while Erin sat beside it, watching the interaction as if it was an episode of her favorite show.

After Nolan suckered her into reading a second book, he yawned and wrapped an arm around Blair. “Snuggle me until I fall asleep?”

Blair held Nolan tight up against her, but instead of focusing all of her attention on him, she looked over at Erin, who was sitting beside the bed and already staring at her. The intensity of her stare took Blair’s breath away. She wanted to know what Erin was thinking about while looking at her like that. Of course, she couldn’t ask, because that would wake Nolan from his drowsy state and make this whole process take ten times longer. She could still enjoy that look and imagine everything it could mean though.

When Erin’s lips started to move in silent words, Blair’s imagination went even more wild. Was she telling Blair how she really felt? Inviting her back to her room? When Erin lifted her eyebrows and nodded toward Nolan, Blair realized it wasn’t anything that exciting. She was trying to tell Blair that Nolan had fallen asleep.

Erin nodded to the door, then stood and walked out of the room. Blair carefully extracted herself from Nolan then climbed out of bed and left the room as well. When she closed Nolan’s door behind her, she was surprised to find Erin was standing just inches from her.

With Erin so close, it was hard to catch her breath. She wanted to reach out and touch her, but her hands were glued to her side. She struggled to force words out that she hoped would come across as flirty and fun. “I’m not the babysitter anymore, you know,” she whispered, but the way her voice cracked didn’t make it come across in the enticing way she’d hoped.

The small smile that had been on Erin’s face dropped and she looked toward the ground. “I know. I’m sorry. I promise if Nolan asks you to do something like put him to bed that you can say no. I don’t want you to feel that way.”

Wait. Why is she apolo- OH! She thinks I’m upset about putting Nolan to bed. Very smooth, Blair.

Blair rolled her eyes at herself. So much for being fun and flirty. “No,

I’m

sorry. That’s not what I meant. I love when Nolan asks me to do stuff. I can’t even begin to explain how happy it makes me. I meant I’m not the babysitter, so we can be…” She let her words trail off because she didn’t want to make Erin think she was forcing her into anything she wasn’t ready for.

Erin stared at her the exact same way she had in Nolan’s bedroom, and Blair’s mind went back to the night they stood right outside this door and almost kissed for the first time. At that time, it had felt like nothing but a pipe dream, but after everything that had happened between them, Blair wondered if she should just lean in and take what she wanted.

When she slowly started to move in, Erin shut her eyes. “Do you want to stay and watch a movie with me?” She took in a long shaky breath, then opened her eyes and pushed it out. “As a friend. I’m sorry. I know it’s pathetic that I’m still so stuck on my past. I want to move on, but I can’t.”

Blair reached out and grabbed Erin’s hand. Even though that response wasn’t what she hoped for, Blair wanted to be understanding. She couldn’t imagine deciding to spend her life with someone just to have them walk away. Of course that would mess someone up, and for that reason, Blair was willing to be patient. She would take her time and prove to Erin that she wasn’t like the other people who were able to just walk out of her life. “If a friend is what you need, that’s what I’ll be.”

Being Erin’s friend was much harder than it sounded, especially when Blair found herself snuggled up on Erin’s couch almost every night for the next week-and-a-half, watching a movie together after Nolan fell asleep. By the following Friday night, Blair’s fingers were itching to touch Erin in any way they could. The subtle flirtation between them that had become less subtle with every passing night certainly wasn’t making things any easier on her.

When Erin sat on the end of the couch that had become “her spot” for their movie nights, Blair sat down close beside her instead of in her normal spot at the other end. Erin didn’t say anything, but Blair could tell their closeness was having an effect on her based on how dilated her pupils were. When Erin pressed play on the movie they had agreed on, Blair placed her hand on Erin’s thigh. Erin stared straight ahead, but her breathing became heavier. Since Blair’s goal wasn’t actually to make her uncomfortable, she decided to move her hand. Except, as soon as her fingers disconnected from Erin’s skin, Erin brought her hand down on top of Blair’s to bring it right back to where it had just been.

Blair took this as silent permission, so when Erin moved her hand off of Blair’s, Blair traced circles around her thigh, getting higher and higher with each minute that passed. When she reached the bottom of Erin’s teasingly-short shorts, she snuck her fingers underneath them and watched Erin for her reaction. Erin continued to stare straight ahead, but licked her lips and gave the most subtle nod that Blair would’ve missed if she hadn’t been watching her so closely.

She moved her hand higher and had just reached Erin’s underwear when Erin jumped from the couch. “Do you, uh, want some popcorn?” she asked while clearing her throat an obscene number of times.

“Popcorn sounds great.” Blair couldn’t help but smile proudly as Erin nodded stiffly and walked away. Even though Erin had pulled away from her, it was clear that she still wanted Blair, and that was enough to keep Blair from giving up.

Blair stood from the couch and walked into the kitchen, where Erin had already put the bag of popcorn into the microwave. She was staring at the microwave as if it were the most interesting thing in the world, so Blair took that opportunity to sneak up behind her and gently pinch her ass. She knew for a fact that Erin wouldn’t care, which was why she felt comfortable doing it, and the way Erin yelped but also laughed as she turned around to look at Blair told her she was right.

Blair held both hands in the air, unable to stop the huge grin that came to her face as she stared at Erin’s gorgeous smile. “Oops. My hand slipped.”

Erin smiled even wider and pushed Blair up against the counter, trapping her in place by resting her hands on the counter on either side of her. “In that case,” Erin leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on Blair’s lips. “My lips slipped.” After she pulled away, her smile dropped, and she shook her head. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Erin, I’m not going to start planning our wedding just because you kissed me. Until you tell me something has changed, I’ll take everything that happens for what it is—just a little bit of fun.” God knew Blair could use some fun in her life right now, especially since she was no longer going elsewhere to get her primal needs met.

“When you put it that way…” Erin smirked and leaned in once again, this time bringing her hands to rest against Blair’s stomach; a move that made Blair’s skin burn underneath her t-shirt.

Then Erin’s lips were on hers, and it felt like the first time and like something they did all the time, all at once. How was that possible? Blair had no idea, but this wasn’t the time to overthink it. This was the time to enjoy the moment, because she didn’t know when she would get another one. Blair had just worked up the courage to slip her tongue into Erin’s mouth when the microwave beeped.

Both of them laughed as they pulled away from each other. Blair waved her fist at the microwave as if she was threatening to fight it. “You fucking cock block,” she said between giggles.

Erin rolled her eyes at Blair, but leaned in for one more quick kiss before going to the microwave and taking out the popcorn. Blair couldn’t wipe the shit-eating grin off of her face as she watched Erin delicately transfer the popcorn into a bowl for them to share and pop a piece in her mouth.

Oh, to be that popcorn.

They turned the movie back on, and once they were both sitting on the couch, Blair took handfuls of popcorn from the bowl on Erin’s lap and shoved them into her mouth. She had taken the lead in the kitchen, so if anything was going to happen again, it had to be on Erin’s terms. After a few minutes, Erin let out a long, frustrated sigh and moved the popcorn bowl onto the coffee table. “I’ve seen this movie so many times. I don’t actually have to pay attention to know what happens.”

“Oh yeah?” Blair lifted an eyebrow. She felt pretty positive she knew what Erin was getting at, but she needed Erin to say it before Blair did anything.

Blair wasn’t sure who moved in first, but soon their lips were just inches from each other and Erin’s body was towering over hers. Erin raked her eyes all over Blair’s body before stopping at her lips. “Only kissing, okay? And we keep our clothes on.”

Blair put a hand over her chest and feigned offense rather than show how extremely excited she was over what was about to happen. “Of course. What kind of girl do you think I am?”

Erin laughed and brought her lips to Blair’s once again.

With friends like this, who needs other women?