Page 46 of The Rest is History

He takes the socks from me, places them carefully back into the bag and opens the nightstand drawer.

It’s only by God’s grace that my phone pings at the exact same moment my eyes land on a monster – and I do mean, fuckin’ monster – dildo, all purple and angry-looking, lying innocently inside the drawer. Reece’s eyes fly to mine. I try to look away before he realizes I’ve spotted his monster, but it’s all too late.

His face. Oh, my God. I pull my lips into my mouth to keep from smiling, but nothing is ever going to save us from this.

Reece slams the drawer shut and reaches up to scratch his head. “You didn’t see that,” he says with the most awkward laugh in history.

I shake my head, swallowing my laugh. “I saw nothing but high standards.”

My phone buzzes with a phone call and gives him the perfect getaway.

“Hey,” I say, answering Pippin’s call.

“Hey, Ash is home. Come over for dinner. I made stew.”

“Stew?” I ask dryly.

She laughs. “Did I say stew? I meant apple pie.”

“You made it or you bought it?” I ask suspiciously, while I try to get the image of Reece fucking himself on that toy out of my head.

“I made it, Sawyer, okay? I don't know why when Asher buys apple pie it’s cute and sweet, but when I buy apple pie it’s a travesty against humanity,” she grumbles.

“Because when you make it, it tastes like Faye’s.”

There's silence on the other end. I didn’t mean to tell the truth and make it serious. “You big baby,” she says softly. “Come over. I made apple pie for you.”

I walk out of the bedroom to find Reece in the kitchen, pouring two glasses of pop. I . . . don’t want to leave him alone. He might cry thinking about his baby, and if Pippin buying apple pie is a travesty, then leaving Reece by himself to be sad when he has friends is something worse than that.

“Hold on a sec, Pip. Tell Ash to check his texts.”

I swipe across my screen and send Asher a text: I want to bring Reece over to Pip’s place for dinner. Is that okay?

He answers immediately: Yes, bring him over.

Me: And did she really make stew?

Ash: Lol. No. She made chicken teriyaki. Coincidence, because that’s Reece’s favorite.

Me: Okay, see you soon.

I return to the call with Pippin. “Hey, Pip. Can I bring one of our friends over?”

“Sure. See you in a bit.”

Reece looks at me curiously.

I end the call. “I hear your favorite food is chicken teriyaki?” I ask him, taking the glass from him and gulping it down.

“Yeah?”

“You wanna come over for some at my sister’s place?”

“The one with the baby?”

“Yeah. You can meet Ezra.”

“Are you sure?” His eyes light up and my God, with Asher’s permission, I think I could fall in love with this soul.

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