Page 4 of Falling Together

Chapter 4

Blair

“Airplane!” Nolan shouted as he jumped on Blair’s back for what must have been the fiftieth time since she arrived two hours ago.

“Seriously, dude?” She looked at the clock and sighed when she noticed it was only 10:30. Was 10:30 too early to eat lunch? Erin had left her a list of directions and it explicitly stated that they shouldn’t go to the pool until

after

Nolan ate, but Blair didn’t know how many more times she could run around the house making airplane noises while this kid hung on her back.

“Airplane! Airplane!” Nolan continued to shout as he wrapped his arms so tightly around Blair’s neck, she could barely breathe.

“Fine. One more airplane ride and then we’re eating lunch.”

“Yay!”

She did one more lap around the house, then sat Nolan at the kitchen table. “Time to eat,” she said as she struggled to catch her breath.

She walked to the refrigerator and took out the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and strawberries that Erin left in there for her and Nolan. She put the food onto plates for them, then sat down next to Nolan.

Nolan stared at the plate in front of him, then looked over at Blair with his nose scrunched up as if he was disgusted. “No.”

“No? What do you mean? Are you not hungry?”

Nolan crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I want chicken nuggets.”

Blair shook her head and pointed to the plate. “Your mommy said this is what you’re supposed to eat.”

Nolan flipped the plate upside down and shouted, “Chicken nuggets,” so loud that Blair was sure the next-door neighbors could hear him. Hell, the whole town could probably hear him.

“Chicken nuggets! Chicken nuggets! Chicken nuggets!” Nolan continued to shout. As if that wasn’t bad enough, as she sat staring at him, completely dumbfounded, he stood on his chair and started jumping up and down. With each jump, he came closer and closer to falling off.

“Fine!” Blair shouted before she even realized what she was doing. When Nolan stopped jumping and stared at her, she took a deep breath. “Fine. We can go get chicken nuggets on one condition.” She held one finger in the air. “Don’t tell your mommy.”

As if she had just performed magic, the feral child from a few seconds ago disappeared, and the cute little boy returned. He giggled into his hand before holding it out to her. “No telling.”

Blair shook his hand as she breathed out a sigh of relief. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

Thank god Erin had moved Nolan’s car seat to Blair’s car that morning

in case of emergencies

. This was definitely an emergency. The kid could’ve fallen off of the chair and cracked his head open. Chicken nuggets were the much safer option.

It was only a five minute drive to McDonald’s, and because he was getting what he wanted, Nolan acted like a perfect angel the whole way there.

As soon as it was their turn to order, Nolan started to shout again. “Chicken nuggets! Chicken nuggets! Chicken nuggets!”

“I know, buddy. Let me order.” Blair stuck her head out the window to try to muffle the sounds of the shouting child. “Could I have a six-piece Chicken McNugget Happy Meal with juice, please?”

“Of course,” the voice over the intercom said. “Would you like apple slices or double fries with that?”

Blair smiled. That was an easy question. What kid would choose apple slices over extra fries? “Double fries, please.”

A high-pitched wail erupted in the back of the car. “Nooooooo.”

“One moment please.” Blair turned around to look at Nolan, who was now thrashing around in his car seat and screaming the word

no

over and over again. “What’s wrong?”

“

Apples

! I want apples!”

“Okay, chill.” Blair turned back around and put her head out the window again. “Sorry. I’ll actually take apple slices.”

“No problem. Is that everything?”

Blair’s stomach growled just from the question. She was so distracted by Nolan, she almost forgot about getting food for herself. “Actually, could I have one more six-piece Chicken McNugget Happy Meal, but that one with a small Coke and double fries instead of apple slices?”

“Nooooooo!” Nolan screamed once again. “Apple slices!”

“Sorry. One moment again.” Blair turned around to face Nolan once again. “Chill, bro. The fries are for me. I already got your apple slices.”

“Apple slices. Apple slices.” Nolan kicked his feet and whipped his head back and forth so hard, Blair worried he might give himself whiplash.

“Fine. Fine.”

Let’s try this again

. “I’ll actually take the apple slices with that one too.”

“And is

that

everything now?” The employee didn’t try to hide their annoyance this time around.

“Yep. That’s everything.”

Blair was happy when they made it back to the house with no further meltdowns. After getting inside, she cleaned the mess from earlier off of the table and replaced it with their new meal.

Blair had barely finished dipping her first chicken nugget in barbecue sauce before Nolan finished all of his fries. He held the empty box in the air. “More!”

Blair pointed to the untouched bag of apple slices. “Why don’t you eat those? I know how much you wanted them.”

Nolan picked up the bag, studied it, then threw it across the room. “No! No apples.”

Blair took a deep breath as she tried to not completely lose her shit. “You told me you wanted apples, remember? You screamed about it loud enough for everyone in the state of Pennsylvania to hear.”

“No!” Nolan pointed to the fries sitting in front of Blair. “Give me yours!”

Blair gritted her teeth. “Seriously?”

“Please.” Nolan pushed out his bottom lip, and it really looked like he might start to cry. Not a tantrum cry, but a real tears cry. Blair couldn’t handle real tears, so she pushed the box of fries in front of Nolan.

His face immediately lit up. “Thanks! You can have the apples.”

“Gee. Thanks. It’s all I ever wanted.”

“You’re welcome,” Nolan said, completely oblivious to her sarcasm.

After fighting with Nolan until she finally got him to eat two chicken nuggets, it was time to go to the pool.

As soon as they walked out the door, Nolan held his arms up toward her. “Shoulders!”

With how today was going so far, Blair had no doubt he would run into traffic if she didn’t do what he wanted, so she bent down and lifted him onto her shoulders.

“Yay! Go, car, go.” Nolan grabbed ahold of Blair’s head and pretended it was a steering wheel, moving it in all sorts of odd directions throughout the whole walk.

Blair was relieved when he begged to get down as soon as they arrived at the pool. She was even more relieved when they made it through their time there without any more tantrums. Nolan surprisingly didn’t even complain when Blair told him they had to leave so they could be home when his mom got back from work.

She had just finished getting him changed into dry clothes when she heard a car pull into the driveway. “Remember what I told you—McDonald’s is our little secret.”

“Yep. I won’t tell Mommy.”

A minute later, Erin walked through the front door and Nolan ran to meet her. “Mommy! Bear got me McDonald’s.” He put a finger up to his mouth. “But it’s a secret.”

“Is that so?” Erin stood from giving Nolan a hug and stared at Blair.

Blair could feel those eyes burning into her. She was a literal dead woman. “Uh, yeah, so… he really wanted chicken nuggets.”

“So, you decided to ignore my directions and get them for him without even asking me?” Yep. If looks could kill, Blair would be bleeding out on the floor right now. Erin tapped her high-heeled foot and crossed her arms as she stared her down. If Blair wasn’t so scared, she’d be very turned on, because it was honestly one of the sexiest things she had ever seen.

“I… uh…”

Before Blair could figure out what the hell to say to try to save her ass, Erin burst into laughter. “Oh my god. You should see your face right now. Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”

What the hell?

“You mean… you’re not actually mad?”

Erin shook her head and continued to laugh. “If this kid gets

something

in his stomach every day, I’m happy. I’m not the one you should be scared of though.” She nodded toward Nolan. “You showed him that you’re weak. Now you’re screwed. He’s going to use that against you. Trust me. Toddlers are like sharks. When they smell blood, they attack.”

Blair swallowed hard. Erin’s words did send a chill down her spine. She wasn’t sure if that was because she was actually afraid of a three-year-old, or because she couldn’t handle how sexy Erin looked in her black suit and white heels that she had been too tired to notice that morning. It was most likely the second one, which was exactly why she

shouldn’t

stick around. She couldn’t have herself doing anything that might be considered unprofessional, like pushing Erin up against the door and making out with her while she unbuttoned those pants and…

“I have to go,” Blair said much louder than she meant to. She cleared her throat as she tried to calm her beating heart. Why did this woman have this effect on her? Sure, she was hot, but shit. It’s not like this was the first hot woman Blair ever had contact with. “I have plans with my friend tonight.”

Erin’s smile dropped as she studied Blair’s face. “I didn’t upset you, did I? I was completely messing with you. I’d prefer if he didn’t have chicken nuggets

every

single day, but I’m happy with whatever you want to give him. I only made that list and had the sandwiches ready because I wanted to make your job easier.”

Blair shook her head. She really needed to snap out of this trance Erin had her in. “No. Seriously. It was funny. I just remembered I have these plans and my friend

hates

when I’m late.”

“Don’t let us keep you.” Erin reached into her purse and pulled out two twenties and one ten-dollar bill, then handed them to Blair. “Thank you so much. I hope he didn’t give you too much trouble today.”

Blair wanted to make a joke about how he just about killed her, but she saw the bags underneath Erin’s tired eyes and decided not to go there. “Nah. He was awesome. Don’t worry. I’ll be back tomorrow. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

She winked at Erin then bent down and held out her arms toward Nolan. “Can I have a hug?”

Nolan shook his head and burrowed into his mom’s side. “I don’t want you. I want my mommy.”

“Nolan Patrick! That wasn’t very nice,” Erin scolded.

Blair squeezed his shoulder and stood up. “Don’t worry. We’ll get there. I’m like a new puppy—misbehaved, can’t follow directions—but I’m so cute people can’t help but love me eventually.”

She watched Erin as she said the words, but Erin simply shook her head at Blair. Blair knew she was being a flirt, but she couldn’t help it. That was just her personality, especially when she was around a woman who looked like Erin. Which again reminded her why she needed to leave. It might be fun to flirt with Erin, but this was the woman helping keep her parents off of her back while she figured out what to do with her life. She was toeing a very fine line right now.

She took her phone out of her pocket and shook it in the air. “Gotta get to my friend. Sorry.”

Blair was out of the door so fast she just barely caught Erin saying they would see her tomorrow. As soon as the door closed behind her, she hit Marisol’s name in her phone to call her.

“

Please

pick up,” she whispered to herself as the phone rang.

“Sup, bitch? How was your first day of work?”

“Do you want to meet up for a drink?”

Marisol cackled into the phone. “Only one day in and you already need a drink? That can’t be good.” After a few seconds, her laughter cut off and her voice became more serious. “You didn’t get fired, did you?”

“No, Mar, I didn’t get fired. But thank you so much for that vote of confidence.”

“Always. So, where are we going?”

Blair smiled. This was why Marisol was her best friend and had been ever since their first day of middle school. “Let’s do Ralph’s.”

Ralph’s was a run-down bar in town that rarely had people in it, which was why it was Blair and Marisol’s favorite place to go. Now that they were both old enough to drink alcohol, they liked it even better than when all they could do was drink soda and eat a bunch of fried food that normally made them sick. Ralph, the owner, namesake, and quite possibly the only employee, always joked that they were the ones keeping him in business and Blair was starting to believe it might be true.

“Perfect. Meet in fifteen?”

“Works for me.”

Ralph’s was less than ten minutes from Erin’s house, so Blair arrived before Marisol and took their usual spot at the bar. Ralph waved to her and immediately got to work making their drinks.

Ralph set the drinks down in front of Blair at the same time the door to the bar opened. “You’re way too good to us, Ralph,” Marisol said from behind her.

“I have to be. You’re the two who keep me in business,” Ralph said with a wink.

Blair stood from her bar stool and turned around to greet her best friend. Marisol was still wearing the shirt from the camp she was working at that summer to get some extra money before starting her speech therapy program in the fall, so Blair assumed she must also be coming right from work.

“You look nice,” Blair said as she caught sight of the big ketchup stain splattered in the middle of Marisol’s shirt. She was only half joking, because even covered in food, Marisol

always

looked good. With her dark skin and long curly black hair, she was breathtaking. If she were a stranger in a bar, Blair would definitely hit on her. Instead, she was her very straight best friend who had become like a sister to her.

Marisol rolled her eyes and playfully pushed Blair’s shoulder. “Shut up. One of the campers is already obsessed with me and asked to eat her hot dog while sitting on my lap, hence the ketchup.”

“

Kids

, right?” Blair asked with a laugh, finally feeling like she could somewhat understand what people were getting at when they said that.

“Speaking of kids,” Marisol sat down on the barstool and turned to face Blair, “how was

your

first day on the job?”

Blair took a big sip of her beer, then set it back down on the bar. “First of all, kids are feral.” She picked up her drink again and took another large gulp. “Second of all, I’m fucked.”

Marisol laughed as she took a sip of her cocktail. “Are you fucked because of point number one or for another reason?”

“Nolan’s mom is so hot.”

“I know. It’s practically all I’ve heard about since you had that pool day with them.”

Blair shook her head. Marisol didn’t get it. “But she’s not just incredibly hot physically. She also has a sexy personality. She scared the shit out of me today, and even that was hot.”

Marisol put her hand in the air. “Wait. I’m going to need you to elaborate. What do you mean by she

scared the shit out of you

?”

Blair explained all of the details of The Great Apple Slice Meltdown and how Erin acted like she was mad at her when she found out they went to McDonald’s. “And I’m telling you, watching her tap that high-heeled foot was

so

fucking hot

.”

“It’s cool that she didn’t actually get mad at you. You do realize most parents would’ve actually flipped out, right?”

“I know!” Blair threw her hands in the air. “That’s why she’s so cool and also the reason I’m completely fucked.”

“Because you have a crush on her.” Marisol said it as if it was a statement and not a question.

Crush?

No. Blair definitely wouldn’t go that far “I wouldn’t call it a crush. I’d say it’s more like a…” she took another sip of beer as she tried to think of a word. “Lush.”

Marisol scrunched up her nose and furrowed her eyebrows. “A lush?”

She smiled proudly.

I’m so creative.

“Yes. Somewhere between lust and a crush. She’s not just some girl I want to take home from a bar and have a one-night stand with, but I’m also not daydreaming about what it would be like to date her.”

Marisol laughed, causing some of her drink to shoot from her mouth. “Only because you

don’t

date people.”

“It’s not that I don’t date. It’s just that I haven’t found someone worth dating.”

“Until now,” Marisol said with a smirk.

Blair glared at her best friend, who clearly wasn’t listening. “I can’t date the mom of the kid I’m babysitting.”

“I know you can’t. But it doesn’t change the fact that you

want

to.”

“Just because she might be the sexiest woman I’ve ever met doesn’t mean that I want to date her.”

“Oh yeah? What does it mean?” Marisol smiled over the top of her drink.

“It means I need to find a way to control my hormones around her. If I keep checking her out, she’s going to realize I have a

lush

on her.” Blair drank the rest of her beer and slammed it down on the bar. “Did I tell you how I caught

her

checking

me

out at the pool, though?”

Marisol rolled her eyes. “Only about one million times.”

“Well, what do you think that means?” Blair had no idea why she was worrying about this so much. She was used to women checking her out. She was also a hopeless flirt who was ridiculously gay. Finding a woman attractive and making that fact known was nothing new to her. She had even found herself accidentally flirting with her professors at times, but she had never spent time thinking about the way they looked at her (probably because they

didn’t

look at her the way Erin had at the pool).

Instead of addressing Blair right away, Marisol looked at Ralph and shook her empty glass. “I’m going to need another one of these, Ralph. This girl is driving me nuts.”

Ralph lifted both eyebrows as he looked between the two of them. “You know the rule. You can only get a second drink if you order food. I need you to have something to soak up the alcohol, unless you’re planning to have someone pick you up.”

“Fine,

Dad

,” Marisol said jokingly. “Give us the loaded cheese fries and an order of hot wings. That should definitely soak up the alcohol.”

Ralph gave them a satisfied smile. “Coming right up.”

Blair waved an accusatory finger at him. “You know what, Ralph? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you only made that rule to take our money.”

Ralph laughed as he picked up Marisol’s empty glass and started making her another drink. “Gotta bring cash in somehow, right?”

Marisol stuck her tongue out at Ralph, then turned toward Blair again. “Anyway, where were we?”

“I asked what you thought it meant that Erin was checking me out.”

“It means she’s a lesbian with eyes.” Marisol ran her own eyes up and down Blair’s body, an action that would’ve sent chills down Blair’s spine if it were any woman other than her best friend. “I hate to admit this, because we both know your head is already big enough, but come on. You’re hot. She likes women. She’s going to notice a woman like you.”

“True.” Again, Blair was left to question why she was even thinking about it so much. Maybe it was the whole forbidden romance thing that made it so hot. Erin was off limits, which was why Blair couldn’t get her off her mind. What she needed was a distraction. “I think I just need to get laid. It’s been too long.”

“Didn’t some girl fingerbang you in the bathroom when you went out after graduation?”

Blair smiled as she thought back on that night.

What a great graduation present.

She shook these thoughts from her head to focus on Marisol. “That barely counts. I need a bed and time to really show off

all

of my skills.”

“Like the bed in your bedroom at your

parents’

house? Good luck with that.”

Blair shrugged. She wouldn’t let a minor detail like living with her parents keep her from getting what she needed. “I’ll just find a girl who has her own place.”

When Marisol gave her a pointed look, Blair knew exactly what she was thinking. She put a hand up to keep her from saying it. “A girl with her own place who

isn’t

the mom of the kid I’m babysitting.”

“Good girl. Mission Get-Blair-Laid is officially underway.”

Ralph chuckled and shook his head as he sat the food on the bar in front of them. “You know, if you girls are trying to meet people, my bar might not be the best place to hang out.”

Blair stuck a pile of cheese fries in her mouth and spoke through the mouthful of food. “Ralph is right. We should probably go to Philly this weekend.” They lived about fifty minutes from the city and nowhere near a train station, which meant they would need to take a rideshare, but it was worth it if Blair could find someone to go home with.

“Let me guess. Gay bar?”

“Obviously. Is there any other kind?”

Marisol shook her head. “Honestly, not any good ones. I’ll take one for the team this time and be the designated driver. That way, I’m not stuck riding home by myself with a stranger at the end of the night.”

Blair put a hand over her chest. “It’s sweet how much confidence you have in me succeeding.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Don’t let it go to your head. Which night should we go?”

“Let’s do Thirsty Thursday. Hopefully the women will be just as thirsty for me as they are for the drinks.”

Marisol groaned. “Thursday? Really? Work is going to suck on Friday.”

Blair laughed. “I honestly forgot some people work on Fridays.”

“You’re not working Fridays? I thought Hot Mom asked if you could.”

Blair shrugged. “She mentioned it once, but it never came up again, so I’m guessing she doesn’t need me to anymore.”

Marisol pushed her bottom lip out in mock sadness. “So sad for you. Only four days a week with your crush.”

“First of all,” Blair held up her middle finger, “as I already mentioned, it’s a lush, not a crush. And after I have hot sex this weekend, I’ll be over it. I probably wouldn’t even take the extra day if she offered it.”

Marisol laughed so hard a piece of chicken flew out of her mouth. “

Sure

you wouldn’t.”