Page 68 of That First Night
“You can talk to me, James.”
“I don’t want you to leave,” he admits, as more tears form in his eyes.
“I-I,” I stutter and pause to gather my words. “James, who said I was going anywhere? I’m not going anywhere, buddy.”
“My mom,” he says through sniffles. “She left.”
“Oh James,” I sigh as I pull him into my embrace for a hug. For someone so small, he should not be carrying such heavy emotions with him. I never knew he really thought about his mom this way. Other than the time he was sick and asked for her, I haven’t ever heard him mention her. There’s an ache in my chest at his admission. I care so deeply for him. Honestly, I love this kid. I really do.
Pulling out of the embrace, I use my fingers to delicately wipe away a tear that made its way down his cheek as I look him in the eyes. “I love you too, James. I hope you know that. I’m so happy you’re a part of my life and one of my bestest friends.”
A smile formed on his tear-filled face. “You’re my bestest friend too.”
“Let’s get this stuff all cleaned up and hang your picture on the refrigerator. Your dad should be home soon for dinner,” I say as I start cleaning stuff up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kali and Avery moving and I turn my gaze to them. Both are wiping their eyes. “Not you too,” I say with a small smile.
“That moment we just witnessed was just so beautiful, Peyton,” Avery says.
“James is so lucky to have you in his life,” Kali adds as she wipes another tear from her eye.
“Guys.” A shy smile forms on my face. “You know how much I love him.” I toss my arm around James' shoulders. “He’s my best little buddy and I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Right, dude?”
“Right!” James says as he wraps his arm around me in the same way my arm is around him.
“Alright, James.” I clap my hands together to break the big emotion fest happening right now. “Run upstairs and get washed up. Bring your bin upstairs with you. I am going to get dinner started. Okay?”
“You gots it, Pey!” he says halfway out the kitchen with the bin in his hands.
The girls take turns getting cleaned up in the bathroom while I wipe down the kitchen table and move to start getting ready for dinner. When the girls enter the kitchen again, Avery let out a shriek. “It’s showtime!” she screams.
The three of us know what that means so my head shoots to the floor to ceiling windows in the kitchen. I don’t know how I missed that while I was cleaning up. “Let’s go out on the balcony!” I say as we move quickly to get outside so we don’t miss it.
We make it out there and stand to admire the most beautiful sunset we have ever seen. No wonder they call this building Sunset Square. We have a perfect view being at the top of the building. It’s overlooking Central Park and we can see the sun slowly moving its way to the horizon.
“Every time I see a sunset, I can’t help but think of Kate,” Kali sighs.
Kate is a fictional character, of course. It’s one of our favorite books we have ever read thanks to Kali aggressively pushing us to read it.Bright Sideby Kim Holden. Our lives changed when we read it, not to be dramatic or anything. But it taught us valuable lessons in life and it’s a book that will forever hold a special place in our hearts.
“It’s truly unfair you get to experience this epic showtime every night, Peyton,” Avery adds.
“Truly one of the greatest perks of living up here,” I say.
“You mean greater than getting to fuck Daddy?” Avery scoffs.
“You had to ruin the moment?” I tip my head back and a laugh erupts from deep in my stomach. “That is a really great perk, huh?”
“So, you’re finally okay with all of this, Pey?” Kali asks.
I breathe a sigh of relief with them as I turn my gaze to the beautiful sunset and consider her question carefully. I feel their eyes on me as I finally admit, “Yeah, I guess I am.”
Avery squeals next to me and does a little dance where she’s standing. “Finally! It’s about time you settled down a little bit.”
“Woah,” I throw my hands up in defense. “I didn’t say we were settling down. We are still taking it all in and I guess we will see where it goes. We only fucked the one time. The second time he watched me fuck myself in the bathtub.”
“HE WHAT?” Avery screams.
“This is a story for another time,” I laugh. “Thomas should be home any minute. Let’s figure out dinner.”
As we come back in from the balcony, I see Thomas is already standing in the kitchen. I stop dead in my tracks and drink him in. He’s wearing dress pants and a simple button-down shirt that is rolled up just enough to expose the veins on his tattooed forearms. His dark hair is done in his classic modern side part. It reminds me of a darker version ofJustin Timberlakecirca 2013. Certainly not his ramen noodle phase, but the hot, sexy phase.
