Page 46 of On My Side (Quiblings #3)
Ren
Playlist: Smiling All the Way Back Home | Tom Odell
“So,” I say, tapping my thumb on the steering wheel. “How do you feel about watching A New Hope tonight? We can stop and get Leia on our way to the cottage.” I’m trying to keep my cool, but my insides are bursting at the idea of introducing my favorite film franchise to my favorite girls.
“Actually,” Piper says from the backseat. “Mom, can I stay at Annika’s tonight? You can drop me off on the way home.”
“Pipe, tomorrow’s a school day.” Audrey turns her neck to look at her daughter. “Should you really stay over tonight?”
“Annika goes to school too, Mom.” Piper’s tone shows how silly she thinks this conversation is, and how confused she is that the answer wasn’t an immediate and emphatic ‘yes.’
“Did you finish your homework?” Audrey asks.
“Did you always finish your homework when you were my age?” Piper fires back.
“Ooooh,” is my very mature and supportive response.
“That’s not the point,” Audrey sputters. “I also got pregnant around your age, is that your next step in your ‘taking after my mom’ mission you apparently have?”
“Gross, no.” Piper sounds disgusted at the idea of pregnancy. “Mom, pleeeeeease? It’ll give you and Ren time alone and you can bring me my backpack and a change of clothes in the morning.”
When I glance in the rearview mirror, Piper’s gray eyes, so much like Audrey’s, are wide and her lower lip is pushed out. I am very familiar with the famous puppy dog expression children give their adults. Personally, I fall for it every time.
While I don’t want to insert myself into Audrey’s parenting… I do want to be alone with her. Desperately.
I guess Audrey wants to be alone with me, too, because she lets out a heavy sigh. “Fine. But we’re getting your stuff first because I don’t want to have to bring it to you in the morning.”
“Deal,” Piper agrees quickly.
When we get to the cottage, Piper runs inside at the speed of light. Audrey turns to me with a soft smile on her face. “After we drop Piper off, do you want to run to your place to feed Leia and grab your necessities?”
My cheeks are as hot as the sidewalk in August. “Actually,” I say slowly, “I was thinking… would you want to maybe come over?”
Audrey blinks in surprise, and I don’t blame her. The only time we’ve spent at my apartment is the first time she invited herself over.
“Oh! Yeah, we can do that,” she stammers, and I’m certain her blush mirrors my own.
“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” I say hurriedly. “We can come back if that’s easier for you…”
“No, no,” Audrey says, but she still seems anxious. “I’d, um, love to come to your place.”
“Hey,” I say, taking her hand in mine and bringing it to my lips. “Tell me what you’re actually thinking and not what you think I want to hear.”
She’s silent for a moment. “I’m scared,” she whispers, squeezing my hand. “It’s not that I don’t feel safe with you, I do. Safer than I’ve ever felt. But there’s something about the control and comfort that comes with everything happening in my space…” She trails off, looking away from me.
“Hey.” I gently clasp her chin, and turn her face back to me. “I understand. I wanted to show you the studio, but this makes sense and I’m not annoyed or anything like that, and—”
“Studio?” Audrey’s eyes grow wide as she interrupts me. “You mean like… where the magic happens?”
“If by ‘the magic’ you mean my audios, then yes.”
Audrey anxiously taps her right hand on her thigh, chewing her bottom lip as she stares out the passenger side window.
“We can come home after and spend the night here, if that’s what you want.”
Audrey clears her throat. “Okay. Yeah, I want to see the studio.”
“I need to shower first, though. My entire crotch is still sticky with Coors Light, or whatever the hell Steve was drinking.”
“Speaking of… what’s going on with that? Kat seems miserable.”
I sigh and run my left hand through my hair. “He’s a tool. She doesn’t listen to any of us and she’s stubborn as hell. We’ve all tried to talk to her about it, but she gets so defensive.”
I squeeze her hand as Piper tumbles out of the cottage, her school backpack fastened on her back and an overnight bag dangling from her left hand as she locks the door.
“I miss her,” Audrey says quietly. “Your sister was my best friend for a long time.”
“What happened between you two?” I ask her. It’s one of the great mysteries of my life, why Audrey stopped hanging out with Kat. “Was it just you getting pregnant?”
Audrey’s smile is sad. “It’s not my story to tell.”
I have no idea what that means, how an event she was directly involved in isn’t her story to tell, but I don’t say anything as Piper clambers back into the car and Audrey weaves her fingers in mine as we drive away from the cottage.