Page 67 of Not That Ridiculous

So much for my decision not to sleep with Kevin. He’d told me he was going to have sex with me, and that was it. I’d folded like wet cardboard.

I’d always known I would.

I had a terrifying suspicion that Kevin had worked that one out.

Phil stumped over and set his head on my lap. He whined sadly. He wasn’t sensing my turmoil and offering support or anything. It was just, Phil was there, I had two functioning hands at the end of my arms, and yet I wasn’t fussing him. Why not?

I scrunched his ears for a bit.

Once he slid to the floor for a snooze, I got up and paced the sitting room.

Was there anything I should be doing to prepare, other than tidying my bedroom?

This really wasn’t my wheelhouse. I was a terrible host at the best of times. I had next to no practice at it.

When you spend long, long days doing nothing but serving people delightful beverages and delicious snacks, the last thing you want to do when you clock off is invite people to your house, where you were expected to serve them delightful beverages and delicious snacks.

Jasper came around all the time. Liam came slightly less often but only because his work hours were more rigid. He made time for it. He loved Phil even more than Jasper did.

Pippa invited herself over on the odd occasion, but the person who came over most was Suzanne Lawson. Again, for Phil.

I hadn’t realised that so many of my limited pool of friends came over mostly for my dog.

The doorbell let out its sad littlemeep,followed up immediately by a loud and cheerful pounding.

“I’m coming!” I called out, rushing into the hall.

“You will be!” Kevin hollered back.

I wrestled with the door.

“Charlie?” Kevin said on the other side. “Hello?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I’m…hang on.” I braced a foot on the doorframe and strained to haul the door open.

I shouldn’t have worked so hard at the gym. My arms were as weak as noodles.

“Charlie?”

“I’m here! Give me a minute. It’s sticking again.”

“Want me to shove it from this side?”

“If you must, you can give it a little push.”

He gave it a big push, the door popped open, and Kevin fell through. I caught him before he took the pair of us down to the floor, and he slung an arm around my waist.

“Mm,” he said. “Hello.”

“Hi.”

He kissed me, and he entered my mouth the same way he’d entered my house—loudly, overwhelmingly, and making me flinch with surprise.

“Sorry,” he said, pulling back to bite my lips, then pressing his tongue back inside to show mine who was boss. “Mhm. You taste good.”

I licked my lips. “You taste like sugar. And…blueberries?”

“Gatorade. Chugged a couple of bottles on the way over. Gotta hydrate and make sure my electrolytes are well balanced.” He gave me a meaningful look. “Gonna be working hard for you, Charlie.”

---