Page 12 of Bliss: Part 1
“Are you ashamed now that you kissed him?”
She frowned at me. “No. But you’re jealous.”
“Jealous?” I laughed, shaking my head. “No fucking way.”
“You are! You can’t stop muttering and cussing under your breath. It’s annoying. Stop it.”
I hated the tension. The anger. Especially when there shouldn’t be any. We were arguing again, and it was because of nothing.
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair and turned more toward her. “Lissy,” I whispered. “Let’s not fight.”
“Then be honest,” she challenged. “Say you’re jealous.”
I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath. My eyes dropped to Ashby’s back behind her, then I looked at her again. “Fine. I’m jealous. I hated watching you kiss him, and I wished you kissed me instead.”
Her eyes flashed with pride, then excitement. “I wish you’d kiss me too.”
I opened my mouth to tell her that it was wrong, but I couldn’t get myself to say it. Deep down, I still wanted to kiss her too, and I didn’t care about the consequences. Hell, there wouldn’t be consequences for Ashby, so why would there be any for me?
Still, I was too damn shy. And I hated it.
I didn’t want her to regret it one day. I knew I wouldn’t, but she might.
I smiled gently and pulled her closer to me, wrapping my arms around her as she pressed her body against mine. I kissed the top of her head. “I think I need time to think about this first.”
“Okay.” She didn’t push. Didn’t whine or argue.
“It’s late,” I then said, keeping my voice low. “We should sleep.”
She nodded, and we made ourselves comfortable under the blanket.
She stayed in my arms, with her face close to mine, and our legs tangled. I smiled at her, rubbing her back gently as we looked at each other. The TV was still on, but instead of an interesting movie, there was some cartoon playing.
“Dash?” she said, her voice quiet.
“Hmmm?”
“Wanna go to the lake tomorrow after work?”
“Of course. Think it’s gonna be a hot day anyway.”
She nodded, her smile soft. “I can’t wait for Dad and Odin to close the shop for six weeks. I need a break.”
I agreed. “We all do. And we all need to just relax again. We’ve been working so hard all year. But I just know that our dads won’t keep the shop closed for too long. They’ll miss work after a few days.”
She laughed softly. “You’re probably right. I won’t go back until after those six weeks. That’s for sure.”
“Yeah, me too.” I tightened my arms around her and pulled her even closer, feeling all her curves against my body. “I love having you in my arms,” I whispered into her hair. “Just wish he wouldn’t be here.”
I looked over at Ashby who was still sleeping, silent as ever, and not moving. We weren’t bothering him, but he was bothering me.
“You could’ve kicked him out.”
“He wouldn’t have left.”
“Damn right, I wouldn’t have.” Ashby suddenly moved, surprising us both.
I watched as he turned around, now facing us.
