Page 93 of Castings & Curses

Ash’s buddies, otherwise known as the entire fire department, were there. They were recognizable by their blue cargo pants and blue t-shirt non-uniforms. Technically they were all on call, but since they could get to a fire anywhere in Belvoir County just as easily from our backyard as the station, a bunch of them were here.

Later, and I knew this from experience, all the firemen here would head back to the station so the guys holding down the fort could come on over for some neighborly backyard fun. Memorial Day was weeks earlier, and the Fourth of July was weeks away still. There was no other reason than it was June, and the weather was perfect for this.

At least it had been when I was a kid. Every summer seems to be getting hotter and hotter, no thanks to climate change. But that didn’t stop us from having fun.

I set the pitcher down on one end of a long line up of picnic tables, picked up another pitcher, and headed back into the kitchen for a refill. I learned the secret to my sister always having drinks ready to go, it was a trick our mother had taught us many a moon ago how to make the perfect party lemonade. The biggest secret was to prepare it by the gallon ahead of time and keep it in the deep freezer until the morning of the big barbecue. The floor behind Terri-Ann’s kitchen table was lined in gallon after gallon of premade lemonade concentrate. All I had to do was pour it in the pitcher, add water and a scoop of ice out of the cooler. If I didn’t do it that way, someone— probably me— would have been stuck spending the entire morning, and the duration of the party, making lemonade.

Liv squealed, and I saw her dart across the lawn. I followed her trajectory and saw Eric long before I saw Sarina. Liv was excited to see Sarina, I was excited to see Eric.

He looked good in that fireman’s outfit. I swear it was too tight across his ass and thighs, and the shirt was at least a size too small. His hair was slicked back. Damn, he was hot, really hot.

He gave Liv his attention, and then followed her finger when she pointed at me. The smile he gave me when our eyes met absolutely melted body parts and clothing. If all went well, I could sneak him away for some more of those toe curling kisses. There were enough adults around to keep an eye on our kids.

I stood there holding the empty pitcher like a dork as he strode toward me.

“Hey Paisley.” He didn’t pause, he didn’t glance over his shoulder to see if someone was watching, he leaned down and kissed me on the mouth in front of everyone. Not that anyone was actually watching us.

“Was that okay? You look nervous,” he chuckled.

“No, that was fine, I just didn’t expect it, that's all. I mean”— I turned and started walking back into the kitchen— “that was kind of a kiss in front of everyone, as if you didn’t mind if anyone knew you kissed me voluntarily.”

He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest as I poured more concentrate in, and then added ice, and finally pressed it all against the water dispenser on the fridge door.

“Are we supposed to be a secret?”

“Well, I hadn’t thought about it. Do you really want to be seen with me?”

During the time I had allowed myself to forget I had cast a spell wishing for Dylan, public displays of affection didn’t bother him. And then as the wish faded and cracked, he stopped kissing me where other people could see. Then eventually he stopped holding my hand. Bit by bit, it all eroded away. This baby I was gestating was the sloppy result of a pity fuck. Only I hadn’t realized it at the time. After all, I had still been in love with Dylan.

Eric crossed the kitchen and took the pitcher from my hands and set it on the table. His hand was cool and damp when he captured my chin and tipped my face up to look at him. “Your ex must have really done a job on you to make you think I wouldn’t want to be seen with you. Now, if this is something we need to keep quiet because of the girls, I will try to be more circumspect. But I’ve dreamed about those lips of yours for the past few days. I am going to kiss you.”

“Yes, please.” I told the voices in my head to shut the fuck up. Why on earth would I have thought he didn’t want to be seen with me? This wasn’t some love spell that was going to break.

His mouth was everything a perfect kiss should be. There was warmth, and softness. He tasted just sweet enough to not be bitter, like salted caramel. His tongue was smooth, and he moved his lips over mine as if he were tasting me, taking delicate nibbles of something fine that deserved to be savored. Kissing Eric was like art. It needed to be appreciated. There needed to be a foundation of understanding and concepts before theories were tested, and rules broken.

I liked his form. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He groaned into my mouth. I took a breath and stopped the kiss. It was not what I wanted. It was the exact opposite of what I wanted, but if we kept kissing that way…

“We need to slow down,” I said between panting breaths.

“Why? I like you, you like me. We are adults.”

“And I’m like ten seconds away from trying to figure out how to climb you and pull your clothes off. We need to slow down, and maybe take a cold shower.”

“Could we take that shower together?”

He stood there tall and smirking at me.

I let my eyes lower down and then back up.

“Did you just check me out for climbing?” He asked.

I shrugged. “Maybe. Come on, we have a party out there that needs lemonade.”

“Yeah, but I think we need to discuss this tree climbing fetish you seem to have.”

I laughed as I pushed back out through the screen door.

“Maybe we should go on an actual date before we explore any of those dangerous pole climbing activities.” I blushed the second the words were out of my mouth. I had been picturing lumberjack competitions, not erotic dancing on his flesh pole. I was just making it all worse in my head.

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