Page 25 of Taco Daddy

Now, it was her turn.

Andres

This was one of those moments when he didn’t know if he wanted to spank or cuddle Rita.Spank because he wanted to get her out of her head or cuddle because he knew she was anxious.Either way, he wished he could make her nerves go away, but at this point, the only thing he could do was open the door for his friends.

“Hello, come on in,” he said, opening the door for a second time.It didn’t surprise him that Owen and Marcus had arrived at the same time.They were both very punctual.He was pretty impressed that Rita’s friends had beaten them—maybe they’d sensed how much she needed their support.

“Good to see you.”Owen grinned, shoving a six-pack of beer at him like an offering.

Marcus shook his head in bemusement, following behind Owen with a small case of sparkling water.Though Marcus occasionally imbibed, he’d moved to the ‘my body is a temple’ mentality after his health scare.He didn’t make a big deal of it, but when he said he’d bring drinks, it was never anything with alcohol.

Turning his head, Owen grinned as he caught sight of the three women in the living room.

“Hello, Taco Girl, we meet again.”

“You sound like a supervillain on a bad tv show,” Marcus complained, following Owen into the house.Andres knew the exact moment Marcus was visible to the women when Eden gasped.

“Marcus?!”Her tone of voice was full of shock and confusion, and Andres’ steps halted.The drinks were heavy but not enough to keep his attention.

Marcus stalled out, tilting his head at her, then his eyes opened wide in a moment of shock and recognition.The confusion followed immediately after.

“Edie?You dyed your hair pink.”

“You’re not wearing a suit… and you shaved your head… and you have on a t-shirt.”Eden’s voice went higher after each pause, becoming upset.“And don’t call me that!”

“Why didn’t you tell me Marcus was one of Andres’ friends?”

“Why didn’t you tell me Edie-Eden was one of Rita’s friends?”

The two of them spoke in unison, Eden turning to Rita and Marcus turning to Andres.

Owen took a step back, putting his hands up and scooting out of the firing line.The outburst distracted them from glaring at Andres and Rita.

“Uh… I take it you two know each other?”Bree asked tentatively.She glanced at Owen, who had moved next to her, wondering what he was doing there.

“You could say that,” Eden replied, pressing her lips together.

“She’s my ex-fiancée.”Marcus crossed his arms over his chest, but he wasn’t angry.The crossed arms seemed more like a defensive move.While Marcus had talked a lot about his ex, he’d never said her name.It was like the whole thing was too painful for him to talk about.

“What a crazy random happenstance,” Rita said with a nervous giggle.Her grin looked pasted on.“I guess this is why you should probably tell your friends your ex’s name, huh?”

Eden opened her mouth.Closed it.Tossed her pink hair.Andres didn’t point out that Marcus had always called his ex by her nickname when they’d talked about her.He’d also said she was prim and proper.There was no way Andres would have ever guessed Eden was Marcus’ Edie.

“Yeah, guess I didn’t do that.Anyway… where’s the sangria?”Eden sauntered toward the kitchen.

Andres was impressed at her recovery time.

A muscle in Marcus’ jaw twitched as if he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut, though his eyes tracked Eden’s progress across the room.

“In the fridge.”Rita looked after her friend with concern before stepping forward and holding out her hand.“Um, hi, nice to meet you.I’m Rita.”

“This is Marcus and Owen.”

Everyone exchanged greetings and introductions, though Eden and Marcus kept a wary distance between them.Whatever the farthest distance away from each other was, that was how they positioned themselves.Didn’t stop them from looking at each other, though.

Andres noticed, with interest, that Owen kept looking at Bree, though his understanding was she was in a serious relationship.Her boyfriend hadn’t shown up, though, and no one mentioned him as the conversation progressed.Being part of the same book club as Rita, he knew Bree and Eden were both interested in Daddy Doms, and if Eden was Marcus’ ex, then she had experience.

Whether Bree would actually enjoy the reality… well, that was up in the air.Between that and the boyfriend, he should probably warn Owen.

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