Page 81 of Your Pucking Mom

“I don’t have any friends,” she confessed. “I don’t know how to do this, so thanks for accepting my invite.”

This felt good. This was exactly what I was hoping for, and I was glad I accepted this invite. It was the right step toward my future.

42

ledger

I was annoyed that I accepted this invitation, or rather, Alex had forced this dinner on me. He was lucky he was family.

As we got to his apartment, I heard the laughter of two women, then grabbed Alex’s shoulders, forcing him to spin around.

“I swear to fucking God, if you’re trying to set me up, I’m going to walk out of here.”

“Stass just has a girlfriend over for drinks,” Alex said, but the way his shit-eating grin was still plastered on his face told me something was amiss.

As I entered the kitchen, my gaze fell upon the girls perched on the stools, and the air seemed to evaporate from my lungs. Time slowed to a crawl, drowning out the distant sounds of cartoons from upstairs and the hum of the dishwasher. All I could hear was her laughter echoing in the space around us. All I could see were her beautiful blue eyes widening as she leaped from her seat, fixing her gaze on me before glancing back at Stassi.

“D-did you know?” she asked me, her voice trembling as she struggled to speak.

I shook my head, my eyes dropping to my attire. “No,” I breathed. “If I had known you were going to be here, Sunshine, I probably wouldn’t look like I’d spent the last week stress eating and binge-watching TV.”

She surveyed my appearance, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “You look terrible.”

I chuckled softly. “Thanks.”

Auburn turned her attention back to Stassi, the smile gone and replaced by a furrowed brow, a silent question lingering in her expression.

“Stassi…were you…setting this up?”

Stassi fidgeted on her stool, her eyes shifting between Auburn, me, then Alex. “No, it wasn’t intentional. We were planning to have dinner tonight. I thought my husband and Ledger would come by later, after you’d left.”

Auburn’s brow furrowed. “Why would Ledger be coming over?”

Stassi’s discomfort grew as she dropped her gaze to her hands. “Oh, just…for our family dinner. I didn’t realize we had so much in common, and I didn’t want to ask you to leave. But I also lost track of time. Alex was supposed to get Ledger after he got home, but time slipped away from me.”

Auburn pushed in her chair. “I’m sorry. I overstayed my welcome.” Her head lowered, and I wanted so badly to walk over to her, lift her chin, and tell her it was all okay. Whatever she was feeling was okay, and I’d help her, but I couldn’t because she’d put this boundary between us.

“No.” Alex’s voice broke through my thoughts. “Please stay for dinner. The more, the merrier.”

I searched her eyes as she held my gaze. She kept looking between my lips and my eyes as if searching for her answer. She shook her head and turned toward Alex. “No, I can’t, but thank you.”

I was beyond desperate, my mind spinning with confusion and longing. “Thank you again, Stassi,” Auburn muttered as she snatched her purse from the counter and brushed past me, grazing my shoulder.

My head dropped.

“Go after her,” Stassi urged, her voice a desperate whisper. “Go, dammit.”

I glanced up at her, then at Alex, who offered me a sympathetic shrug.

“Fuck it,” I muttered. “Okay.” I pivoted on my heel just as the door handle began to turn.

“Wait, Auburn!” I called out, catching up to her, my hand grasping her wrist. We stood there in the dim hallway, the intensity of her blue eyes piercing through me.

Silence enveloped us, broken by the thud of my heartbeat echoing in my ears. My hand trembled against hers, craving the warmth I had missed for the past agonizing week.

“Please don’t leave.”

Auburn’s chest rose and fell rapidly, her pulse racing beneath my touch. I lowered my voice to a husky whisper, ensuring our conversation remained private. “I’ve missed you so much.”

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