Page 34 of Sleepover

You’re better!

You’re just saying that because you’re my husband.

I’m saying it because it’s true.

I could usually make her believe it. She’d abandon her hairbrush or her eyeliner and come with me into the bedroom, and I’d finish convincing her.

I close my eyes against the pain, but when I open them again, Helen is tossing her hair and laughing.

Possessed by some impulse I can’t quite name, I set down my tools and head around the fence and into Elle’s yard.

Trevor, Helen, and Elle are standing in a small clump. Elle looks miserable, her shoulders slumped inward like she’s trying to disappear.

“Hey,” I call out.

Trevor looks up. An irritated expression crosses his face. Excellent. Ticking Trevor off is my new favorite sport.

“Hi, Simon,” Trevor says.

“Sawyer,” Elle bites out.

“Hi, Travis,” I reply cheerfully.

Elle doesn’t correct me, and Travis bristles. 2–0, me.

“This is Helen,” Elle tells me, indicating the other woman. “She and Trevor are getting married in a couple of weeks.”

“Which reminds me,” Helen says. Her voice is husky and rich. Her eyes are dark and rimmed with smoky makeup. She would definitely have made Lucy crazy. “We haven’t gotten an RSVP from you.”

She’s a sadist.

Elle opens her mouth, but Helen interrupts. “We understand if it’s too difficult,” she says sympathetically.

No, pityingly.

I can’t help it—I jump in. I tell myself I’m doing it for Lucy and all the other women in the world who feel intimidated by Helen, but the truth is, I can’t stand the smugness on Helen’s face, or the despair on Elle’s.

“That’s my fault. I’ve been trying to change some plans around. But we’re in. For sure. Right, babe?”

I put my arm around Elle’s slim waist and drop a casual kiss on her mouth.

Or, that’s my plan.

I forget, though, about the power of Elle.

I feel her breath on my lips. A slight shiver goes through her body, and I remember the way she responded to me that night in the alley. And even though the kiss lasts only a millisecond, I smell her skin and her flowery shampoo, and I taste her mouth.

I go from zero to sixty.

I want to tease her lips apart, find her tongue with mine, turn her into my arms, and take everything I want from her.

It’s Elle who keeps things from getting out of control. She gives a small, light laugh and slips her hand between us, pushing gently on my chest. “That’s right. We’re in,” she tells Trevor and Helen.

I have to give her kudos—it’s seamless. You can’t tell I caught her totally off guard.

“Hi, Daddy.”

Madden is suddenly at my elbow. Did he see me kiss his mom? He doesn’t seem unsettled or perturbed in the slightest. He hugs his dad, gives his stepmother-to-be a cool glance, and accepts her pat on the head.

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