Page 49 of Sweet Escape

But neither of us really cared anymore. About our relationship. About the lives we had that barely involved each other.

So I guess, in the end, it makes sense that everything fell apart.

I stay for the whole movie, even though my thoughts are too busy for me to latch on to much of the story. After, I take a slow, meandering walk back to the Firehouse.

Only once I’ve kicked off my shoes and flopped onto the couch in the corner of my room do I realize I have a text.

Murphy:I’m back! Did you miss me?

I grin, replying immediately.

Me:Desperately. How was SF?

Murphy:Great, actually. Wes’s mom decided to go to rehab, so we were there helping her get set up.

Me:Wow, that’s a big deal, right?

I don’t know anything about Wes’s family, but anything to do with rehab has to mean someone’s trying. Making the effort. And that’s really all you can hope for.

Murphy:It is. I’ll tell you more about it later, for sure.

Me:Awesome.

Murphy:But I wanted to invite you over for family dinner on Sunday. It’s the night before the harvest begins and it’ll be a lot of fun.

I consider it, wondering if it’s a good idea.

Not because I don’t want to see Murphy. Obviously, I want time with my friend. But because if it’s family dinner, my assumption is that Memphis will be there.

And as much as I enjoy yanking Memphis’s chain, now that we’ve hooked up a couple of times, it might be a little too much for me to constantly be in his space. Which is basically what I’ve been doing since I got here, even if it wasn’t entirely intentional.

I smirk.

Except for the vineyard tour. That was intentional as fuck.

Me:Are you sure I won’t be intruding?

Murphy:What? Definitely not. It’ll be like, thirty people. We have a big dinner and we play games and it’s this huge thing. You’ll love it.

My eyes grow wide when I see how many people will be there. I know nothing about harvest time at a vineyard except that it’s when all the grapes get picked. But I guess it makes sense that there will be more people to help with the job.

And if there are tons of people, it’ll be easier to avoid Memphis.

Not that I want to.

I want nothing more than for us to fall into bed again.

Or fuck in a supply room closet.

Or maybe in the back of a car.

I don’t actually care where it happens. I just know that it’s the best sex I’ve ever had, and it’s clearly having a positive influence on my music. So I’m not ready to give it up after two times.

So. It’s settled once I text Murphy back. I’ll go to the dinner. I’ll mostly ignore Memphis to make sure he has plenty of space.

And then I’ll proposition him for sex.

I smirk and roll my eyes at myself.

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