Page 49 of Unsupervised
She tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. “I was hoping you’d perform with me. We could surprise your grandmother.”
Is she kidding?
“I’m not sure Happy Birthday is going to wow anyone.”
“Which is why I’m going to teach you a new song so we can play a duet.” Before I can protest, she adds, “I can make it simple, have you play the chords while I play the melody. Think how much your grandmother would love that. You’d have to come back to lessons a couple of times a week, though.”
“Devious. Playing the happy grandma card.” She grins when I shake my head at her.
“Is that a yes?”
Leaning on my elbows, I bring my face closer to hers, and I love her reaction, the way her lips part and her skin flushes. “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll learn another song and humiliate myself in front of all the elderly people and some students, if you’ll come back to Adulting Club.”
“You won’t humiliate yourself.”
“Is it a deal?”
She closes the distance between us, kissing me, and the urge to drag her to my bed is overwhelming. “Deal.”
I drop her off at her place a couple of hours later, since she has schoolwork to catch up on, but she promises to be at the Adulting Club meeting tomorrow and then I have a piano lesson tomorrow night. I’m not thrilled with the idea of playing when I know others will be watching, but it’ll make both Grandma and Kelly happy. I couldn’t say no. Let’s just hope the song isn’t too difficult.
If Kelly was worried that Adulting Club would be awkward after her absence and with our new situation, her mind can rest easy, along with mine. No one blinked an eye at her returning, and the last week has gone by with no issues. Actually, it’s been the best week I’ve had in a long time.
We’ve gone out to dinner both nights after the piano lessons, and I’m supposed to stay at her place tonight. She seemed hesitant to invite me, maybe because her friends are her age, younger than me, and I’ve had some of them in my class. It may be a little awkward, but if we’re going to make this work, we need to get past stuff like that.
Kelly answers the door, and I can hear voices and laughter in the background. “Hey, come in.”
Her hair is piled on top of her head in a bun, displaying her long neck, and all I want is to get my lips on it. I step inside and grab her around the waist, kissing her. When we break apart, she gazes up at me, cheeks flushed. “Hey beautiful.”
“Hey. My roommates have some friends over too. We can go in my room if you’d rather not hang out with everyone.”
“I’m fine. Introduce me to your friends.”
Her smile is bright as she grabs my hand and leads me into the living room where three girls and three guys lounge around. I recognize Owen, and I’ve seen Serena before.
“Mr. A! What are you doing here?” Owen exclaims.
“I typed asshole into my GPS and it led me straight to you, Owen. And you can call me Layton.” It seems to break the ice and after I’m introduced to everyone, I take a seat on the couch and Kelly sits beside me.
“All right, back to our conversation,” Marty says. “Why do women use so much more toilet paper than men? I can make a pack last a month. Have a few women over and bam, it’s gone.”
Zara rolls her eyes. “Well, we can’t shake our pee off like you can, you know.”
“That still doesn’t explain it,” Marty insists. “You chicks are ridiculous.”
Kelly leans over to me. “If you can’t tell, Marty is the sexist douche of the group.”
Owen speaks up. “I get it. With all the crevices and stuff, it must be like trying to dry a head of lettuce.”
Remee covers her face. “What the fuck? Are you an idiot?”
“Why, are you starting a club?”
It’s funny how much they sound like me, Travis, and Dalton when we get going. Some things you never grow out of.
It’s a fun evening. I spend some time kicking Owen’s ass in a video game and eating pizza. After a couple of hours, Zara suggests, “Let’s play ‘Don’t Get Me Started’.”
“Do I want to know?” I ask Kelly, but it’s Owen who answers.