Page 39 of Instinct & New Identity

“Thanks.It’sa bit overwhelming because my sister’s given me about four hundred choices for every floor tile, cabinet color, and roof shingle, butIthink it’s coming together nicely.”

“Maybe you should share some of your dream homePinterestboards withJenny—you know, for some ideas,Cat,”Valsaid from the other side of the room.

“No, those are just for fun, and this isVince’shouse,”Catdeferred, her face now red.

“Oh,I’malways looking for any ideas.Pleaseshow me.I’dlove to see them,” my sister said as she clapped her hands together.

I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing whatCatliked.Moreand more,Icould see a future withCat, so her opinion mattered to me.

“Cat, please sit by me at dinner so you can show me some of the things on yourPinterestboard on your phone,” my sister all but begged her.

BeforeCatcould respond, my cousinTracycould be heard from the hallway.

“Archer’s here!”Tracyscreeched loudly.

“The shit show is about to begin,” my sister said. “Let’sgo.”

We followed my sister, who practically raced down the hallway, as didCatandVal.Atthe entryway, we foundArcher.Heheld a food dish in front of him as if to use it to blockTracyfrom getting too close.

Val took a few steps closer toArcher.Iwasn’t sure if she was doing it to get a better view of whatTracywas about to throw down or if she was trying to insert herself to pissTracyoff more.Eitherway, this girl had a big pair of brass balls.

“Archer, so good to see you again,”Valsaid as she leaned forward, huggingArchertightly…and a little too long.

Archer’s eyes met mine, and they were full of mirth, which indicated he knew exactly whatValwas doing and thought it was hilarious.

I nodded atArcherand then made my way back to the kitchen.Ifanyone could handle this it wasArcher, andIwanted no part of whatever cat fight might take place.JustasIentered the main room my mother announced lunch was ready to be served and for everyone to take a seat.

In an effort to limit arguments, my mother had decided on assigned seats.Mostpeople adhered to what my mom had chosen, thoughIhad seenTracymoving hers earlier, no doubt closer toArcher.Iwas happy to seeCatwas on my right, followed byJenny, thenValandArcher.Tracysat directly across fromArcher, likely so she could play footsie with him.Tomy left was my dad at the head of the table.MyAuntConniesat across from me with my mom to her left, then myUncleEric, myAuntBetsy, andChet.

The setup worked, andIwas impressed by my mother’s ingenuity for peacemaking seating arrangements.Mostimportantly,Iwas thrilledIwas seated next toCat.Beingseated next to her while she wore that orange sweater that was stretched to perfection against her chest would also strain my ability to keep from getting hard at the table.

16

CAT

Vince’s gaze seemed to be on me every timeIlooked his way.Myskin felt as if it were on fire from all the heated looks he sent my way.Iengaged in conversation with the people around me as much as possible as a distraction.Vince’ssister,Jenny, was the best at that.Shehad me pull out my phone practically the momentIsat down soIcould show her my dream homePinterestboard.

She loved a lot of my ideas and told me my boards matched what she was already planning to do toVince’splace.Shesaid things like, “Oh, that looks just like the colorIwas going to use for his bedroom,” or “Iwanted to use those same cabinets for his kitchen,” and “Vinceis definitely a clawfoot bathtub kind of guy.That’sthe exact oneIwanted for his bathroom.”

She had me believing most of her comments until the last one.Vinceabsolutely didnotstrike me as a clawfoot bathtub kind of guy.Istarted to sense she was taking the ideasIhad and pretending they wereVince’s.Why,Ihad no idea.

Vince’s mother had broughtHarryback into the room wearing a new sweater he definitely did not have when we brought him here.Shetried to sit him in her lap while she ate at the table, but there were too many people forHarry’sliking, so he jumped off and scurried away.Sheseemed distraught at the thought that her new best friend had run away, soItold her he was uncomfortable around a lot of people, and that seemed to appease her for the time being.

The meal was great, and despiteVince’swarnings, there was no real family drama while we ate.

Vince,Inoticed, kept stealing little touches here and there throughout the meal.Histhumb would caress the back of my neck while his arm rested on the back of my chair.Twice, he rested his hand on my left leg as though it were an armrest of a chair.Theyweren’t sexual in nature.Hishand never crept up my leg to inappropriate space.Atthe same time, they also weren’t touches that a friend would do.Ididn’t know what to make of them, butIalso didn’t want to draw any attention to it, soIjust tried to pretend they didn’t happen.

Feeling more and more likeVincewas undressing me with his eyes every timeIlooked over at him,Idecided to get some space and use the restroom.Excusingmyself,Inavigated my way down the hall to the bathroom.

I took a moment to breathe in there.Ihad decided this morning thatIwould giveVinceand me a chance, and if he wanted to keep going and see if this went beyond friendship,Iwould be stupid not to try along with him.Knowingthat was whatIdecided and then having to spend much of the day with him staring at me every timeIlooked in his direction was daunting.Itmade it hard to focus.Twicehis mom and sister had asked me questions, andIhad to ask them to repeat them becauseIwas distracted.

I fixed my hair a little after washing my hands and had just opened the door to exit whenTracywalked up.

“Oh good.Twobirds with the same rock, or whatever the saying is,” she said to me, clearly messing up the common phrase. “It’sclear that you andVincehave a thing going on, or he at leastwantsthere to be a thing.Wordof advice?Becareful.He’smy cousin, and he’s cool, but he’s a player.”

I started to interrupt her, not really wanting to hear what she had to say, but she kept going.

“He’s a legend with women.Iknow a couple of women who have been with him personally and many others who have heard all about him.Hewill be a good time in bed for you, no doubt, but if you’re looking for a man who will stick around and play family man, he ain’t it.”

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