Page 11 of Almost

I prop myself up onto my elbows to enjoy looking at the view Kiera’s giving me. “Have I told you what a great ass you have?” She really does.

Kiera grins and shakes it for me, much to my delight and torture. “Dinner with my parents in thirty minutes, you might have time for another cold shower if you hurry.”

I smile at her as she spritzes perfume onto her wrists, dabbing it onto her neck. “Maybe I will,” I say confidently,standing up and shedding my pants and briefs right in front of her. The red creeping up her neck, and the way she can’t meet my eyes, tells me that she’s flustered. Unfortunately, I do end up taking a shower alone. It’s quite the blow to my ego, but still exactly how I expected it to go.

We end up meeting Kiera’s parents at one of the nicer restaurants in town, but all I really want right now is a burger. A blow job sounds nice too. A burger and a blow job. Man, that’d be heaven.

I completely missed everything her father said about how the Panthers are predicted to do next season. Kiera nudges me under the table with her foot and I sit up straighter, trying to act like I heard everything. I feel like such a jackass right now.

“I think we’ll do well. We just drafted that new running back out of Oklahoma. I’m hoping that we’ll make it past the Conference championships this year,” I say, probably repeating what he just said, but her mother only smiles. Kiera’s family is so polite. It’s nice, but a little intimidating at times.

“I’m hoping for grandbabies sometime in the next year while you two are hoping for a Super Bowl run. Kiera always wanted a minivan full, Sebastian, so I hope you’re ready for a big family.”

“Mom!”

I can’t help but laugh; I’d love nothing more than to have a household of kids. “That sounds great to me,” I say, leaning over in my seat to kiss Kiera’s flaming cheek.

“Says you because you won’t be the one giving birth,” Kiera protests causing her mother to laugh.

“It’s not all that bad. Your brother had thebiggesthead; that was terrible. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, sweetie. It’s all worth it for the end result. ”

Then Kiera changes the subject entirely. “Oh! I completely forgot to tell you guys, but we hired the most amazing photographer. She’s the one who did Owen’s wedding, it’s his sister actually.”

“Oh really? Isn’t his sister your ex-girlfriend, Sebastian?” her mother asks, looking skeptical. Everyone is skeptical about it except for Kiera. Why can’t Kiera see that?

She waves it off with a short laugh. “Oh, they’re ancient history. More childhood friends and siblings than exes. Thalia is really nice and so talented. Mom, you would love her.”

I cover up my laugh with a short cough because nice is not how I’d describe Thalia, nor would I describe her as a sibling. Owen has always been like my brother, but I’ve never seen Thalia that way.

Things would be so much easier if I had.

I take a sip of my water as Kiera continues on about Thalia. I haven’t been able to shake what Lia said about telling her the truth. It’s not that I purposely didn’t tell Kiera that I proposed to Thalia. It truly just never came up.

When I first started seeing Kiera, I wasn’t entirely sure about getting into another relationship. I’d pretty much shut myself off from an emotional connection with anyone. She never pressed about my previous relationship after I said it ended badly—which it did—because I didn’t lie or intentionally hide why Thalia and I broke up.

In fact, I do my best not to even think about my relationship with her. I’ve learned to do the bare minimuminteraction-wise with her when it comes to holidays at her parents’ house to at least try and keep the peace.

Things went further downhill once I started seeing Kiera. Thalia’s brought home a few guys over the past few years, but with how much she travels, they only made an appearance a few times before we never see them again. The one that really got under my skin was when Eric came with her one night. That was a real surprise, and he actually stuck around for a while, but last I heard, they broke up.

If last week at the gallery taught me anything, it’s that Thalia and I have no business being left alone together.

My pride is the only reason I can think of for why I can’t apologize for what I said to her at Mimi’s funeral. Calling Thalia a bitch was a low blow, but instead of calling her that, I should have apologized. Now why I felt the need to hurt Thalia when I know this is already hard for her, I’m not sure. I guess I’m still the asshole she’s always thought I was.

A part of me was pissed that she brought up how Kiera calls me Seb. Sure, it was weird at first because I’ve never gone by it before, but I never corrected her. Hearing Thalia call me it just felt…wrong. I didn’t like hearing her call me it. I’d take asshole any day over Seb.

I don’t know how everything goes so wrong whenever I’m with her. Owen would kick my ass if he knew what happened at the funeral. I want to kick my ass for it too. I’m going to apologize to her because it’s the least I can do at this point.

On my way out, I noticed there was a stack of portraits lying on the floor that I recognized from some of the trips we took together. It’s been bringing up plenty of memories: good and bad.

Another nudge from Kiera draws me back into the conversation. I didn’t realize I’d zoned out. “Hey, where’s your head?” she asks while her parents talk, concern on her face and I smile easily. Everything with Kiera is easy and simple, just the way I want it to be. It’s one of my favorite things about her.

“I’m here. I’m sorry, baby. I think I’m just a little tired.”

My answer is enough for her to relax because Kiera squeezes my knee reassuringly.

I want everything with Kiera; she’s shown me that life doesn’t have to be hard, and everything with Thalia was hard.

Sixty-four days, and she’s gone for good. After that, I get to spend the rest of my life with Kiera. That’s what I’m going to continue focusing on.

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