Page 23 of Falling Together

Erin gave her a pointed look. “Don’t act like you didn’t use your whole paycheck to buy Nolan gifts when he was sick.”

Blair was pretty sure she spent more than a week’s paycheck on those gifts, but she wasn’t going to admit that. It’s not like she actually needed the money, since just having a job was enough to convince her parents to keep giving her money from her trust fund every week.

“That was nothing. Also, it was kind of my fault he got sick, so it’s the least I could do.”

Erin held the drink out toward her. “Well, this is the least I can do when you spend every day entertaining my tiny demon.”

Since it would be rude to refuse such a kind gesture, Blair reached out to grab the drink. It should have been such a simple thing, but her fingers brushed Erin’s as she grabbed ahold of the cup. Their skin had barely grazed, but that didn’t stop Blair from becoming frozen in place.

Tingles started at the tips of her fingers and quickly spread throughout her body. She let out an almost inaudible gasp at the feeling. She couldn’t help herself. Blair hadn’t been shy throughout college. She came out her junior year of high school, and throughout college, she had many women in her bed. But no one had ever elicited the response she had when Erin’s fingers touched her. Her body often ached for relief when she was having sex and on the edge of an orgasm, but her body had never physically ached for a person the way she was aching for Erin right now, which was crazy because they had barely even touched. The contact was so slight, Erin probably didn’t even notice it. At least that’s what Blair assumed until her eyes met Erin’s, and they also looked like she had been shocked to life for the first time. Was it possible that Erin was feeling this too? Did the brush of Blair’s fingers make her want to forget the world and get lost in Blair’s body? Because, if Blair was being honest with herself, that’s exactly whatshewanted. She wanted to lead Erin upstairs to the bedroom where she looked unfairly cute doing her work on Fridays, and she wanted to trace her body with her fingers and her tongue until Erin screamed out her name. When Erin was still trying to catch her breath, she wanted to…

“Airplane!”

Every fantasy flew from her brain as a small, but mighty, human slammed into her back. The unexpected impact caused Blair to lose her balance, which in turn caused her drink to fumble from her hands right onto the front of Erin’s blouse. Luckily, Erin had catlike reflexes which kept the whole drink from dousing her, but at least a third of the cold drink was now dripping down the front of her blouse.

“Oh shit.” Blair quickly turned around to grab paper towels and bring them to Erin. Except, instead of handing the paper towels to Erin, like she should have, she did just about the dumbest thing ever—began wiping the drink from her blouse, from spots that reallyshouldn’tbe wiped by someone like, say,the babysitter.

She let the towels drop and slowly backed away, like someone about to be placed under arrest. “I’m so sorry.”

Much to her surprise, Erin just laughed. “It’s definitelynotyour fault.” She looked at Nolan. “Honey, you can’t just attack people without warning.”

Nolan shook his head. “I didn’t. I came to the airport. Bear is the airplane.”

Erin shared a secret smile with Blair, and while this moment wasn’t nearly as charged as the last, it was still nice. It was as if they had their own language that only the two of them understood. Logically, she knew this wasn’t actually the case. Adults always had looks they gave other adults that kids wouldn’t notice, but with just the two of them and Nolan in the room, it really felt like it was something special just for them.

“I don’t think Blair knew she was the airplane. Which is probably why she just lost half her drink on Mommy’s shirt.” She winked at Blair, then focused her attention on Nolan. “Could you please tell Blair that you’re sorry? Mommy got her this drink to help her feel better after what I'm sure was a long day, and now she only gets a little bit of it.”

Instead of looking at either of them, Nolan stared down at his feet. “I’m sorry, Bear.”

Erin put her hand on Nolan’s head and smiled at Blair once again. “I’m sorry too. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Blair chuckled. This woman was way too nice. “Make what up to me? Half of a drink is still more than you had to give me. You don’t owe me anything.”

“Since I created the thing that caused half of your drink to end up on my shirt, I feel like I do. And I will. I promise.”

Erin wasn’t lying. A day later, when she came home from work, she not only had a new latte for Blair, but also a peanut butter crepe. When Blair insisted she didn’t have to do that, especially the crepe, Erin answered, “Consider it interest, accrued from yesterday’s mishap.”

After taking a big sip of her latte, Blair glanced at Erin. Since Erin was distracted by Nolan at that moment, Blair was able to take her in more without her noticing. Around Nolan, Erin always had a smile on her face, even when it was clear by her eyes that she was tired and maybe even a little bit sad. Obviously, Blair noticed that Erin was hot the first time she saw a picture of her, but it was so much more than just her looks. Erin was beautiful, but not just physically. She was one of those rare people who became better looking the more you got to know them, because she had such a beautiful soul. She had so much on her plate and still thought of Blair. Blair, who didn’t deserve anything from this woman. Blair, whose life had been so easy thus far. Erin had to work so hard for what she had, and Blair had everything handed to her. It wasn’t fair, but it also made Blair like her even more (which also wasn’t fair since she knew shecouldn’tlike Erin).

When Erin’s eyes met hers, crinkled at the corners from her smile, Blair knew the truth. This was no longer a lush. It was a full-on, heart-pounding, can’t-possibly-end-well crush.

Chapter 9

Blair

By the following Monday, Blair had it all figured out. She knew how to squash this crush before it became anything worse. She needed to stop blurring the lines between babysitter and something more. She couldn’t show up in Erin’s room on Fridays to bring her food when she was too busy to stop working. She couldn’t stick around after Erin got home from work (even if Nolan asked her to). She needed to be Nolan’s babysitter and nothing else, because she knew the heart crushing reality—that was all she could ever be.

She decided to spend the weekend relaxing, so she didn’t look exhausted when she showed up at Erin’s house on Monday. That way, Erin wouldn’t feel tempted to stop and get her a drink again, something she had done one other day last week because she said Blair looked like she could use it. Today, that wasn’t the case. Erin had actually made a comment about how chipper Blair looked for a Monday morning, which somehow made Blair feel even more energized.

Blair was so energized, she decided to put her and Nolan’s lunches into a cooler and head to the pool early. They arrived only a few minutes after opening, which meant they would probably have the pool mostly to themselves for a little bit. As they got closer to the entrance, Blair’s thoughts were confirmed. It didn’t look likeanyonewas there.

When they made it to the gate, she figured out why.Pool closed for cleaning. We will be open again tomorrow,read the handwritten sign.

Blair threw her hands in the air. “For God’s sake.”

Nolan grabbed Blair’s leg and rested his whole body up against her. “What’s wrong, Bear?”

“The pool is closed.”

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