“Ignore everything that she says,” I whisper to Caroline right before Vivienne comes over.
“I have to say I always knew you would settle down with a model,” she says, and Caroline looks around. “She is exquisite.”
“Oh, I’m not a model,” Caroline says, and Vivienne laughs.
“Well, you are doing the world a disservice then.” She holds out her hand. “I’m Vivi.” She smiles. “And that eye candy over there is my man.” She winks at Caroline. “Cheri,” she calls Mark, and he grabs the beer Matthew is handing to him and comes over. “Come meet Justin’s girl.” She looks over at Caroline. “I hope he’s treating you well.” Then she leans in and whispers, “In and out of the bedroom.”
“Vivienne.” I shake my head.
“Okay, fine, in the kitchen also. I mean, in the shower and the couch. Ooohhh,” she says, “the car.” Then she turns to call for Mark again.
He walks over, and she wraps her arms around his waist. She has been around since I can remember and never ever brought a man around. Then she finally caved, or he beat her down, we are not sure which. He smiles at Caroline as they share introductions, and then he walks away.
“Are all the guys in your family hot?” Caroline says, and I glare at her.
“I mean, you are the hottest.” She’s laughing, and I grab her and kiss her hard, sliding my tongue into her mouth, and she pushes me away. “Don’t you dare in front of your family.”
“But you’re mine,” I say, and she crosses her arms over her chest. “Sweetheart.”
“Don’t you sweetheart me,” she says, and she walks away from me. I put my hand in my pocket, trying to make my cock go down, and my father comes over.
“What did you do?” he asks, laughing
“I stuck my tongue in her mouth,” I say, and he shakes his head.
“She’s a great girl.” I look at him. “Raised a great son.”
“She did,” I say, and we watch Dylan.
“I just …” he starts to say. “It’s not just her you have to think about, son.”
“I know,” I say, holding my breath and trying not to imagine my life without her in it.
“Do you think that maybe you rushed things a bit?” I look at him, and for the first time, I turn to look at my father with anger. Sure, I got mad at him as a teenager, but this is different.
“Were you sure about Mom three days in?” I ask him, and he looks over at me.
“I’m not the enemy,” he says.
“She’s the one,” I say, shrugging. “I don’t know why, and I can’t explain it. But I know.”
He nods his head. “As long as you know what you're doing.”
“I wouldn’t make her meet my family and move in with me if I wasn’t a hundred percent in this.”
“Cooper.” My mother calls him, and he walks away. I stand here with my heart racing, and my stomach full of nerves. I try not to let it get to me, and I bury it for now, but I know that I’m going to have to sit down with my parents and squash whatever doubts they have.
After dinner, I’m looking for Dylan, and he runs over to me.
“Can Michael sleep over?” he asks, and I look at Caroline, who just watches me.
“Sure,” I say.
“Can we sleep in the game room and do a fort?” he asks, and I shake my head.
“You can sleep in the game room but no fort.” It scared him the last time, and I can’t handle that again.
“Mom!” Michael yells, and Allison looks over. “I’m sleeping at Uncle Justin’s with Dylan.”
“Whatever,” she says, and I have to say this, this right here is what my family is. We trust each other with everything we have. “I’ll take them tomorrow.”
That night, Caroline is on pins and needles, and she gets up every hour to check on them and make sure they are okay. “Sweetheart,” I say after the tenth time, “if they need you, they will call.”
“But,” she starts to say, and I pull her tighter against me. “He’s never had a friend sleep over.”
“Sweetheart,” I say. Rolling her to her back, she opens her legs for me, and I lean down and kiss her.
“We are not even dropping the puck, Stone,” she says. “Can you imagine Michael catching us?”
“Chances are, he’ll know exactly what we're doing. He caught his parents in the act two or three years ago.”
“Oh my God,” she says, and I bury my face in her neck and turn to the side. It takes her a while, but she finally falls asleep.
`*`
“Are you sure you have everything?” Caroline asks Dylan for the tenth time, and he looks at me for help.
“Mom, I have everything, and if I need anything, I’m going to ask Allison or Max,” he says.
“You can call whenever you want,” Max says by the door.
“We are going to pick him up at around ten,” Caroline says and then looks at Dylan. “We have church.”
“Kiss your mom,” I say, and he comes over and hugs her around the waist, and she whispers to him. Then he walks to Michael, and they walk out with Max looking at us.
“I’ll send you texts,” he says and looks at Caroline. “It’ll be okay.” Then he leans in and pretends to whisper, “I’d feel bad, too, if I had to be alone with Justin.”
I push his shoulder while Caroline laughs. “Get out.” Shoving him out the door, I can still hear the sound of his laughter through the door after I slam it shut.
“What are the chances that we don’t go out for a date?” Caroline asks, and I see her fidgeting with her fingers.
“Zero,” I say. “Go get ready.”
“But …” she starts to say.
“But nothing. Go get dressed. I’ll use Dylan’s shower,” I tell her. “Be ready in an hour.”
“Now that Dylan is gone, we can shower together.” She tries not to laugh, but she sees me glare, and the laughter escapes her mouth. She turns and walks to my bathroom and closes the door.
I feel so nervous when I grab my things and go to the other bedroom and get ready. I’m fastening the button on my right wrist when she comes in the room, and I stop what I’m doing. She’s wearing the white lace dress, and it’s long sleeves. Her hair is tied up on top of her head in a ponytail. The dress goes until her mid-thigh and then flares out just a touch with a ruffle. “Can you zip me?” she asks, and I look at the rest of the dress. It goes high to her neck, the lace playing peekaboo with her skin. She turns, and I see that she isn’t wearing a bra, her skin a soft tan. I lean forward and kiss the back of her neck and slowly zip her up and then put my hands on her hips. She turns around in my arms. “You look so hot.”
She smirks, and I look at her, seeing that the dress goes tight at her waist a bit, showing off her hips.
“You’re stunning,” I say and lean to kiss her again.
“I’ll be ready as soon as I put my heels on.” She smiles. “You might have to hold me up.” Laughing, she walks out of the room.
“Forever,” I say quietly to the empty room. I adjust my hard-on now and run my hands through my hair. Going into my bedroom to get my belt, I find her sitting on the bed, leaning forward to tie the strap around her ankle. I grab my brown belt and shoes, putting on the matching blue jacket and pulling out the cuffs.