Page 22 of Reunion
“Well, shit. Strike what my father said: lawyer life sounds like the suck. I’ll stick to my nine-to-five and my view of a bagel shop’s awning.” When my phone started ringing again, I was tempted to throw it in Dane’s fancy self-flushing toilet that had scared the bejesus out of me at 3:30 in the morning. “Fuck!”
“Go.” Dane squeezed my shoulder and brushed a quick kiss over my cheek before he pulled back and gestured for the door. “You have my number.”
“Yeah, okay, going. Sorry.” I hoofed it out of there, and it wasn’t until I was back in my car on my way to my parents’ that I realized I’d not kissed him goodbye, thanked him, or anything. I couldn’t decide whether that meant I’d made a nice, uncomplicated exit, or just a rude one.
* * *
“Spill,”Shay demanded after she cornered me near the omelet station at the farewell brunch. I glanced over at Aaron, deep in conversation with our cousin, Jeffrey, and then back to Shay. Dane stood with my father, who was gesturing animatedly with his coffee mug. Dane glanced up, caught my eye, and smiled. I stuffed another bite of bagel in my mouth, tempted to gesture that he should move back another foot from my dad. Dad was a repeat-offender coffee slosher when he got going. Especially if the subject was politics. From the velocity of his mug, I gathered that was indeed the case. I bit back a grin as Dane figured it out for himself and took a step back.
“There’s nothing to spill,” I told Shay around the bagel and in my bestplease-drop-itvoice.
“You’ve been sitting like you’ve got a pine cone in your ass. I’m a concerned sister, now.” She batted her lashes sweetly. “And if you got together with Dane, I want to know so I can squeal with delight internally.”
Wow. I thought I’d been subtle, but apparently not. “It’s creepy that you’ve taken notice of my sitting posture. Is this open conversation about my sex life going to be a regular thing?”
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “It’s sex. Sex is fun.”
“Sex is private.”
“Pffft.” Shay reached for an orange slice off the fruit display, ate half, and then set the rest on my bagel plate. “Fine.”
I popped the rest of the segment into my mouth and admitted as casually as I could manage, “He caned my ass, then fucked me stupid, and now I feel a little like an idiot. Like, he reallymighthave fucked me stupid. How’s that for a brotherly welcome? Have we strengthened our sibling bond now?”
Shay grinned at my sarcasm. “I think so, actually. But why would you feel like an idiot? I think it’s wonderful. He hasn’t been down for playing like that for a long time. Since—”
“I know. He told me about his ex. That sucks. And he’s also superhot and incredibly good in bed and it was fantastic,” I said in a rush.
“You two areperfectfor each other, though.” She waggled her brows at me.
“Perfect for anight. I got weird and then made everything else weird and left without really even saying a goodbye. In fact, I’m pretty sure I apologized as I went, and I’m not even sure for what.”
“Yeah, but that’s fixable,” she countered.
“Mmm. Maybe. Shouldn’t we be talking about your night, though? It must’ve been momentous, considering how you so diligently saved yourself for your wedding night and all,” I teased. “Actually, never mind. I don’t want to know any more than I already do.”
She laughed. “The funny part is that it was probably the quickest quickie in the history of quickies, because we were both exhausted. I’d be curious to know what percentage of people actually have satisfying sex on a wedding night. I’ll bet it’s not many.” She poked me. “But you’re avoiding my question.”
“Dane and I live in different cities. We’re virtual strangers now. It was one of the best hookups I’ve had, but there’s no long-term potential there.” I listed off the practical considerations. “Stop trying to play matchmaker. Is this some kind of side effect of marriage? Does it get better or worse?”
“Probably worse. If I start urging you to have children, please take me to a doctor. My mom is already asking if Aaron and I are going to start ‘trying’ soon, and it’s driving me crazy. I want to tell her I’ve spent the last decade plus tryingnotto have a baby per her stern advice to me at fourteen, so it’s gonna take me a minute to shift gears. Maybe more than a minute.”
“Someone pressuring you to do something is driving you crazy? Imagine that!” I lowered my chin and gave her a pointed look.
“Okayyyyy. I get it,” she relented with a cackle, then snatched the rest of the bagel off my plate. “It’s just that Dane….ehh. Whatever. Yeah. I need another mimosa. I’m not planning on boarding a flight to paradise sober.”
Fresh cup of coffee in hand, I rejoined Dane at our table, where a lively conversation about football was in progress that I had no intention of participating in.
After a few minutes, Dane touched my forearm. “I’m about to head to the office. Walk me out.”
“I’m sorry I left so abruptly this morning. It was rude,” I said as we leaned against his car—some fancy Audi model as sleek and streamlined in appearance as Dane.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and arched his back in a stretch. “You were flustered. And maybe a little rude but”—he smiled—“I’m capable of mercy.”
I drank him in, the dark tousled hair and deep-set eyes. I’d been watching him all morning, trying to match up the man he was now with the boy I’d known in high school. There was much that was the same physically; it was the intangible aspects of him that registered as different. And strangely enough, that inspired a free-floating sense of jealousy in me for the years I’d missed.
But he certainly seemed happy now, regardless.
“I wish we hadn’t grown apart,” I admitted. “I feel like that’s my fault.” I’d been thinking about that all morning, too.