Page 62 of Overtime
“Friendships are supposed to be reciprocal. I’m supposed to be able to help you in return and there’s literally nothing I can do for you. You have it all at your fingertips. I don’t like that kind of imbalance.”
There’s a whole host of things only she can do for me. But telling her now while she’s crying her eyes out over her work project is not the time.
“I seem to remember you taking in a heartbroken college guy who had just broken up with his girlfriend after she cheated on him and listening to him rant and rave about how awful everything was. And then when he practically cried his eyes out to you—and Jesus Christ is that embarrassing in retrospect—about being a virgin with no game, you spent weeks building his confidence back up and teaching him every single trick you could think of. So I’m pretty sure I owe you a lifetime of favors.” I slide my hand under her chin and tilt her face up gently, so her eyes meet mine.
There are still tears on her cheeks, but she cracks a small smile.
“Yeah, but that wasn’t completely out of the goodness of my heart. I’d seen you in gray sweatpants without a shirt first.”
“Yeah, well this isn’t completely out of the goodness of my heart either. Don’t worry. I have ulterior motives.”
“Expecting repayment for your donations?” A smile flits over her lips, and I can’t resist any longer.
I lean down to kiss her, and she melts into me. Kissing me back like I’m her lifeline in all of this. Her lips brushing over mine in eager passes and then she crawls onto my lap, pinning me back on the bed, pushing my hands over my head, and grinning as she straddles me. She grinds down and then leans forward to kiss her way down my neck.
“What kind of repayment would you like St. George?” She grins, the brightness returning to her eyes, and I smile back for a second before I remember that there’s food and two people waiting for us downstairs.
I groan.
“What?”
“They bought dinner for all of us. They’re waiting downstairs.”
“Raincheck?”
“Raincheck.”
She stands and holds out her hand to help me up, but I use it do drag her back onto my lap one last time, kissing her again, and grabbing her up into my arms as I stand.
“I could get used to this whole guy-who-can-pick-me-up thing. You think you could throw me around a little more too?” Her fingers latch around the back of my neck as I carry her out the door and down the hall.
“I think that could be arranged,” I say as I sit her down at the steps and start to walk down them.
She stops though, pausing and grabbing my arm.
“Colt…”
I look up at her as I watch her face flicker through several emotions and then her eyes run over me, soft and reflective.
“Thank you.Truly.”
“Of course, Dollface.” I smile and grab her hand, lacing my fingers with hers and pulling her down the stairs alongside me.
THIRTY-TWO
Joss
After dinnerwe’re curled up on the couches watching movies in the living room like old times, only the furniture and the TV are much nicer than what we had in grad school. Violet and Ben are snuggling on their couch, and Colton and I are sitting a chaste distance away from one another on the opposite couch.
Although Violet and Ben are barely watching the movie, and I keep seeing the blanket they’re sharing shift and soft little laughs coming from Violet.
“Starting to wonder if we should give them the room,” Colton leans over and whispers under his breath. “I’m about to fall asleep anyway.”
“Hopefully they eventually find theirs. In the meantime though…” I smirk and then lay back, putting my head in his lap. “Me too. You make a nice pillow”
A smile flits across his lips and he brushes the hair out of my face, wrapping a strand around his finger and playing with the ends. The tender way he looks at me makes me melt inside. I glance up at the screen because I can’t bear it anymore, not without wanting to kiss him, and it’s one of my favorite scenes.
“I miss this. All four of us just hanging out and watching movies together. Eating takeout. Those were the good old days.”
