Page 23 of On My Side (Quiblings #3)

Ren

Playlist: Dancing On My Own - Piano Version | Milo Grande

October

Eight weeks.

Eight weeks since school started, two months of Audrey bringing me coffee, two months since Audrey and I made out.

A month and nineteen days since Audrey started joining me for the last mile of my run, always with a cup of coffee for each of us.

Eight weeks of surface-level conversation and eight weeks since I promised myself I would not jerk off in the shower to the thought of her mouth when I got home.

Seven weeks and six days since I broke that promise.

I’m pathetic.

“So, what are you doing tonight?” Piper asks one Saturday in late October. Her tone is casual, but I’ve gotten to know this pipsqueak enough to know she’s rarely casual.

“Why?” I ask suspiciously, narrowing my eyes playfully at her.

“According to my mother, it’s Gilmore Girls season. She makes us marathon the beginning of season one and we make homemade pizza and we hang out and even though the show sucks, it’s kind of fun.” She inhales deeply after finishing her run-on sentence.

“It sounds fun,” I tell her earnestly.

“We’ve been doing it since Aunt Liv was alive,” she continues, tapping casually at the keys. “I hate the show, but it’s Mom’s favorite.” She looks up at me suddenly, eyes widening to a comically large size. “Wait, you should come over!”

“Oh, I… I couldn’t do that,” I stammer, feeling my cheeks heat. Audrey and I have done a fantastic job at staying out of each other’s spaces and staying in neutral, public areas. The beach for our walks, the lobby of the inn… and everything between us has been surface level.

We’ve talked about our favorite colors—hers is a gray-ish lavender, mine is yellow—and our favorite and least favorite parts of our jobs.

Whenever we get anywhere close to personal vulnerability, she changes the subject so quickly it gives me whiplash.

Being in her home, even with Piper there, feels too real, too vulnerable.

But god, I want real and vulnerable with her.

“Why not?” Piper demands, narrowing her eyes at me. “Aren’t you and Mom friends?”

How the hell do I explain to this child that while, yes, her mother and I are friends, it’s the most painful friendship I’ve been a part of? That every part of me screams she and I are meant to be more than friends, but more than friends simply isn’t in the stars for us.

“We are…” I start to say, but Piper is waving frantically across the lobby.

“Mom!” It feels like my entire body was somehow doused in lava and ice water simultaneously. I can smell the soft strawberry and coconut wafting off her, feel the shift in energy when she’s near.

“Hey, birdie,” Audrey says. I feel like I’m intruding by watching her stroke Piper’s hair with so much care and love.

God, she’s such a good mom.

Why is that so hot?

“Hi, Mama,” Piper says, turning and wrapping her arms around Audrey’s middle. “I’ve missed you.”

My heart could melt at the sweetness, but the same cannot be said for Audrey, whose eyes narrow as she takes a step back out of her daughter’s embrace.

“What did you do?” she asks flatly.

“Nothing!” Piper insists, her voice still dripping with sweetness.

“Piper,” Audrey says sternly. “What did you do?”

Piper and I speak over one another, two trains colliding.

“Nothing wrong!” she exclaims

“She invited me to dinner and your Gilmore Girls marathon tonight.”

The absolute betrayal on Piper’s face almost makes me laugh.

“Oh,” Audrey says, glancing between Piper and I. “I… oh.”

“No need to sound excited,” I say teasingly. I immediately regret it when her face falls even more somehow.

“No, no, you’re welcome to join us,” she stammers.

“I was actually telling Piper I have plans tonight, but thank you for the kind invitation,” I say, plastering on my brightest smile.

The smile I put on when my parents are complaining about one of my siblings.

The smile I put on when one of my siblings complains about my parents, or Kat, because everyone’s always complaining about Kat.

The smile that makes people think I’m fine, that I’m happy to do it for them.

That I’m not aching for someone to offer to lighten the load for me, for once.

“Actually, you told me you didn’t have any plans,” Piper corrects me matter-of-factly, and I fight the urge to slap my hand over her mouth.

“Right-o,” I say, my smile unshakable. “I did say that. But alas, I was…”

“Ren, I want you to come.” I don’t know who’s more taken aback when the words leave Audrey’s pretty lips, me or Piper.

“ Really ?” the two of us say, voices laced with glee and confusion, respectively.

“Really,” Audrey says. Her smile doesn’t quite meet her eyes, and it worries me. “It’ll be nice to have someone who doesn’t talk shit about my favorite TV show the entire night.”

“Mr. Q is a smart man,” Piper says. “He’s gonna hate it, too.”

“Well, I guess we’ll find out tonight,” I say. “Can I bring anything?”

“Princess Leia.” Piper’s response is so quick I’m convinced getting my cat to come over was her plan the entire time. “And her food. And whatever else she needs for a Gilmore Girls marathon.”

“Is that okay with your mom?” I ask cautiously, eyes meeting Audrey’s again. Now, her eyes are sparkling, and she’s resting her chin on her open palm, covering what I know is the most beautiful smile.

“That’s fine,” she says, voice shaking with her hidden laughter. “You and Princess Leia and her cat food and whatever else you want to bring are more than welcome to join us tonight.”

I arch my brow and hope my face is expressing what I want it to.

Challenge accepted.

Later that evening, I’m standing on Audrey and Piper’s enviable front porch, Leia’s cat carrier slung over my shoulder, and an apple pie I spent way too much time figuring out how to make in my hand.

“Where is she?” Piper says, whipping open the front door and squatting so she’s eye level with the cat carrier. Leia begins to purr in greeting. “My baby!” Piper squeals, taking the cat carrier from me without asking. I don’t mind, I think the way she loves my cat is the sweetest thing ever.

Although, to be completely honest, I live in fear Leia will be catnapped. Or is it catnapping if she goes willingly?

“Mom’s in the kitchen,” Piper tells me, not taking her eyes off the cat carrier.

“She got a bunch of ingredients for pizza, including dairy-free cheese because apparently you’re lactose intolerant, which is sad because does that mean you can’t have ice cream?

” She takes a deep breath before continuing her monologue.

“And then Mom got worried maybe you were a vegetarian or vegan, so we have fake meat and veggies and…”

“Piper, breathe,” Audrey calls from the kitchen. “Why don’t you come make your pizza and let Mr. Q and Princess Leia get settled?”

Piper’s face falls. “But I haven’t gotten to show Leia the toys I got her!” she whines.

“Why don’t you go show her and get her settled, and make your pizza in five minutes?

” I ask, squatting so I’m her height. She smirks at me, and I realize it’s probably a different experience for a teenager than to the elementary school students I interact with on a daily basis.

I clear my throat and stand to my full height. “Is that okay with you, Aud?”

“Yep!” Audrey responds, “Five minutes, Piper. I’m setting a timer.”

Piper zooms off with my cat, presumably to show Leia her new toys.

I shuffle into the kitchen. “Hey,” I greet Audrey as I place the pie on the counter.

She looks over her shoulder at me and smiles. She has flour smudged on her nose and it’s walking the line between precious and sexy as hell, considering I want to lean forward and lick it off. “Hey! Glad you made it.”

I look around to make sure Piper can’t hear before taking another step towards her. “I’m sorry if I’m intruding. I can fake a stomachache or family emergency if you want it to be a you and Piper thing.”

“Ren, if you take that cat away from her, I’m definitely being put in a nursing home.”

I laugh. “Fair. It’s kind of cute how much they love each other,” I say, stepping forward to reach around Audrey and grab a black olive from the buffet of toppings.

Of course, Audrey takes a step back from the counter at the exact same time, and before I know it, her ass is nestled into my crotch.

I hear the sharp inhalation of her breath, but we don’t jump apart like we should. Which is both wonderful, because touching and being close to her is wonderful, and awful, because there’s a zero percent chance she can’t feel my erection, which is growing at an alarming speed.

“Well,” she breathes, “hello, there.”

“General Kenobi,” I wheeze.

I one hundred percent just cock-blocked myself.

Or… maybe not. She’s still not moving. Should I be the one to move? I don’t want to pull away. Her ass is soft and she’s so close and smells delectable and—

Beep .

We jump apart as her phone alarm goes off and I pull out a chair at the kitchen table, sitting in an attempt to hide my now painfully-hard cock.

“That’s… that’s five minutes, Pipe!” she stammers, fumbling with her phone. Her cheeks are pink and her front teeth are digging into her lower lip. But she doesn’t seem uncomfortable, which I’m counting as a win for me.

Piper slides back into the kitchen in socked feet, Leia securely in her arms. Damn, this cat only lets me hold her when Mercury is in Gatorade or something, but she’s happy as a clam to be carried by Piper.

Audrey barks out a laugh. “Is that…”

“A Princess Leia Halloween costume?” Piper finishes proudly, holding out my cat who is indeed dressed as her namesake, complete with a hat made to look like her famous buns with holes cut out for the cat’s ears. “Yep. I think she likes it more than the toys I got her.”

I eye Leia warily. Son of a bitch, she’s literally being dangled in a dress and hat and she’s still purring. The disrespect children show their parents these days.

“Do you like it, Mr. Q?” Piper asks, hope shining in her eyes.

“I love it,” I say, taken aback when I realize it’s true. I do love it. I love how safe and comfortable Leia is with Piper, even in a Halloween costume, and how happy that makes Piper. “More importantly, I think she loves it, too.”

Piper beams with pride and pulls Leia closer into her, nuzzling her head with her cheek. Leia’s purrs increase in volume as she returns the nuzzle, making Piper giggle.

“How about you direct me while I make your pizza so you don’t have to put Leia down?” Audrey asks, grabbing a pizza pan and spreading out one of the balls of dough on it.

Piper starts listing ingredients and I try to focus on what she’s saying.

Pineapple. This child likes pineapple on her pizza.

You’re Italian, Lorenzo, channel your distant cousins’ dismay for the fruit on pizza.

Think of how hilarious they’d be yelling about it, how fast they’d be talking, and how chaotically their hands would move.

Pineapple on pizza must be considered a mortal sin in Italian culture…

Great. Now I’m thinking about this fantastic pina colada I had last summer which is making me think about how Audrey’s hair smells like coconut which makes me think about how soft it had felt running through my fingers when we…

This backfired.

“Want to make yours, Ren?” Audrey asks after putting Piper’s pizza in the oven.

“No,” I answer pathetically.

Piper is on the floor with Leia, playing with a feather attached to a stick I’ve never seen before. I assume it’s one of the new toys Piper got for Leia.

Audrey’s eyes lower, like she has X-Ray vision and can see through the kitchen table.

“You did this!” I try to scream at her through my expression. “You did this, so you should fix this . ”

I’m my own worst enemy, because I’m thinking of Audrey fixing the problem with her hand and mouth.

I stifle a groan and rub my hand over my face. It’s gonna be a long night.