Page 70 of Ordinary Secrets

When I return to the table, Liz is sitting in the chair next to Arella’s. I interrupt Arella’s explanation about why she’s wearing my boxers to hand her my black hoodie.

“Thanks.” She slips into it immediately, looking so adorable, I could kiss her. I’ll wait until Liz leaves though.

“You hungry, Liz?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Don’t fuss about me. I’ll grab something on the way home. I just wanted to say hi to Ari before I left, and tell her why I was upset earlier, and apologize for crashing your night.”

“You don’t have to stop anywhere. Here, you can have my steak. I’ll reheat it for you.” I pick up my plate and head toward the kitchen.

“What areyougonna eat?”

“We’ve got more food.”

Liz’s chair slides back as she stands. “No, really. I’ll just?—”

Turning on my heel, I glare at her. “Sit your ass down.” I point at her, then at the empty chair. She just got dumped. There’s no way in hell I’m letting her go home to eat by herself.

Liz raises her hands in surrender. “Okay. I’ll stay.”

A minute later, I return with a warm plate and clean silverware. I set it all in front of Liz with a fresh napkin, then leave to find myself something to eat.

In the freezer, there’s some frozen mac and cheese and a frozen pizza. The mac and cheese won’t take as long, so I choose that. Once it’s heated, I join the girls with it.

“Damn you, T,” Liz says, dropping her fork. “Now I feel bad. Are you sure you don’t want this?”

“I’m sure. Now, you’re gonna eat that piece of cow, and you’re gonna like it.” I take a bite of my highly processed pitiful excuse for nutrition, pretending to love it. “So, what were you ladies talking about?”

“Ari asked what I was doing this weekend. I told her that we’re having an appreciation party on July Fourth for the crew and their families.” Liz turns her attention to Arella. “As I was saying, Trey rents out the park, and the rest of the band brings all the food and drinks. This is our third year hosting an appreciation party, and we’ve decided to make it an annual thing.”

I butt in. “We?”

Liz rolls her eyes. “Okay,Idecided to make it an annual thing. Everyone loves it except you.”

“And you know why,” I mutter under my breath.

Liz shrugs nonchalantly as she shovels some mashed potatoes into her mouth. “Come up with a good excuse this year.”

Arella’s face crumples together. “Excuse for what?”

Liz and I glance at each other, then at Arella. I know Liz is gonna hate this, but I do it anyway because I just realized that my excuse this year is sitting right here.

“Hey, babe, you wanna come to the party with me?” If Arella’s there, she can be my reason to leave early that people can’t judge me for.

After Arella happily agrees to attend the party, we finish our meals, and then Liz heads home with a lighter spirit.

For the rest of the evening, Arella and I lounge on my couch and talk. Honestly, we kiss more than we talk, but I’m not complaining. I try asking more questions about her family until she asks me, “Why do you want to know so much about them?”

I give her a long-winded explanation about wanting to know everything about her because I really like her, then I go back to kissing her and stop with the questions.

Eventually, when my lips are numb, I lie back and motion for her to lie with me. Without hesitation, she does, nuzzling her head into the crook of my shoulder. She places a palm over my abs while I drape my arm around her back, resting it over her hip. Our bodies fit together as if they were made to.

It takes me a few minutes before I realize that I’m cuddling.I, of all people, amcuddling. And enjoying it! It feels so natural that it didn’t occur to me that I was even doing it. Maybe this cuddling thing I’ve been avoiding isn’t so bad after all.

Ultimately, our time together ends. Since her clothes haven’t finished washing yet, I tell Arella she can wear my shirt and boxers home. It’ll also be a good excuse to see her again.

When we arrive at her apartment, I walk her to the door like a fucking gentleman. Once our lips meet again, the gentleman inme is lost. Roughly, I shove her back against her door and pin her arms above her head. I kiss her until she’s moaned my name at least three times.

“I can’t get enough of you,” I say. Based on the way she keeps tugging on my shirt to pull me closer, she hasn’t gotten enough of me, either.

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