Page 62 of Riverside Reverie

When I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner around five o’clock, my cell phone chimed.

Jasmine: Tell Des you guys can come over for dinner. Be here around six-thirty.

I still had an hour and a half to kill, so I decided to grab a shower.

Twenty-minutes later, and I was feeling refreshed. I dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans and a grey Henley, then knocked on Desmond’s door. A moment later, it swung open.

“Yeah?” he asked, wiping the sleep from his eyes. He had to be back at work tomorrow night. I felt bad for waking him up, but knew he had to eat something—and would be pissed as hell to miss the invite next door.

No matter how tired Desmond was, he never turned down an opportunity to be around Jasmine.

“Jas invited us over for dinner tonight,” I told him.

“Cool. What time?”

“Six-thirty?”

“Alright, great. I’ve still got time for a shower.” Desmond had the master bedroom with the ensuite bathroom. He hadn’t wanted to take it at first, but I figured it made more sense for him to have the private bathroom with him working nights a lot of the time.

While I waited for six-thirty to roll around, I stopped off in my room and made my bed. I’d been in a hurry this morning and had left it a rumpled mess. I normally kept my spaces clean and tidy. It was a habit instilled in me from my days living with my parents. Coming home at the end of a long workday to a mess wasn’t exactly relaxing, so my younger sister and I had a list of chores we’d had to accomplish each day before my parents got home.

I wasn’t sure if Lux was going to want to come back and spend another night in my bed, but if she did I wanted to welcome her to a clean room.

The minutes seemed to trickle by, but finally it was six-thirty and Desmond and I were stepping out onto the back porch and walking over to tap on the sliding door. We could see Lux and Jasmine in the kitchen, drinking glasses of white wine and dishing food out.

Lux heard us knocking and looked over, surprised to see us at the back sliding door. But that was usually how we called on each other, especially when invited over. Game nights were a semi-regular occurrence when both Desmond and I were home. Usually, we’d have dinner and then play cards or a board game.

Jasmine gestured at us to come in, and Desmond opened the door. “Good evening, ladies.”

“Hey guys, hope you’re hungry. Lux’s been cooking up a storm; tomato-cream pasta with sautéed mushrooms and grilled chicken.”

“It smells incredible, thank you for inviting us over” my voice sounded way too formal, but I couldn’t help it. It was a miracle I’d even managed to string words together at all.

Lux looked like a freakin’ domesticated vision, standing in the kitchen serving the meal she’d made. Her red hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and she was wearing a pair of form-fitting denim jeans that made her ass look even more delicious than the incredible dinner she plated for us.

Normally, seeing an attractive woman in a kitchen didn’t do much for me—I wasn’t one to buy into that traditional stuff. Gender roles weren’t something my parents had focused on while bringing us up. Olivia and I were both expected to learn how to cook and do our own laundry. It was my parents’ goal to make sure we were self-sufficient by fourteen.

But Lux…she invited a fantasy into my mind looking like she did. A fantasy that I didn’t want to focus too much on, because it was the opposite of taking things slow and easy so as to not overwhelm her.

“Let me help you with that,” I said, reaching for the breadbasket in Lux’s hand. She smiled, letting me take it, and turned back to the counter to grab two of the plates. We walked over to the small round table.

“Where’s Talia?” Desmond asked while Jasmine grabbed the other two plates.

“She’s on a hot date with Eliza, so she won’t be joining us tonight,” Jasmine grinned, setting the plates down on the table.

“Good for her,” I commented with a grin. She had been sort of seeing Eliza casually for a while now, but Talia had some reservations about commitment, and Eliza wasn’t exactly out of the closet with her family yet. I got the impression Talia wanted more.

I was glad to hear they were figuring it out, though. Talia had brought Eliza to a few bonfires and parties, so we’d met her a couple of times.

“So, what did you guys get up to today?” Lux asked, pulling a chair out and sitting down between Jasmine and me.

“Not too much. I did some stuff around the house and Desmond took a nap.” I answered.

“I’m back on midnights tomorrow,” Desmond explained.

“That must be tough,” Lux said sympathetically, her eyes softening.

“It can be, but the pay’s great,” Desmond shrugged before taking a bite of pasta. “Damn, this is delicious, Lux.”

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