Page 21 of Stealing It
Chapter Eight
Magnolia
IPICKED UP KENDALLfrom the high school and now I’m sitting at the kitchen table, swirling a glass of red wine while Jenny gives me the latest gossip. “Did you know it was three guys, not two? He didn’t even know until after the divorce.” Jenny’s playing her favorite game of seek and tell.
“I think something is up with Aidan,” I butt in, changing the direction of our conversation completely. “Before you say I told you so, I want you to know that’s not what I mean. Like, we could have had dirty, furious sex at his house and instead we ended up sitting at the beach talking. For an hour. He held me in his arms.”
“Woah, like you think this might be super real, like legit, put a ring on it, super real?” Jenny asks, draining her wine. Kendall and Juliet filter into the room for their popcorn that just finished popping, talking about some sort of ponytail holder they saw on Instagram. Jenny and I stay silent, waiting for them to disperse. I haven’t been completely honest with her about my feelings for Aidan. Until recently, I wasn’t honest with myself about my feelings for Aidan. Now, not only am I confident I’m falling for him, I think the falling might have already happened.
“Super, legit real, Jenny. I wasn’t expecting anything more than maybe exclusive casual dating, but he seems to be all in. It’s hard to be sure because it’s just been Paul for me, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this before,” I say, tilting my wine glass to watch the wine dance around, my mind spinning future possibilities that make me giddy. “I told you about the night at Magnolia’s Steals how he talked to me about the affair, and Paul, and everything.”
“And the wild, hot sex you had after,” Jenny adds, hissing it under her breath. “You told me.”
I hold my pointer finger against my lips. “Keep your voice down. I haven’t told Kendall anything. And I definitely don’t want those images in her head.”
Jenny widens her eyes. “You can’t fall in love without telling her, Magnolia. Give the kid a heads up before new daddy waltzes in and rocks her world. She’s almost an adult. I think with the history with Paul, you need to be completely honest with her. What if she freaks out? You told her you were dating, right?” Kind of. In really loose terms I wasn’t sure she’d understand.
“Yeah, I told her you wanted me to go on coffee dates and like, make friends with men and women my age to expand my horizons.”
Jenny shakes her head, her lips pressed into a duckbill. “You need to come clean.”
“I don’t want her to think she won’t be my number one priority, you know? Will she feel abandoned? I don’t think bringing another man into her life is smart. Why not wait until she’s moved out?”
Jenny snarls, “Please tell me your plan for this then? Keep the man a secret until she goes to college and then saysurprise here’s your new daddy!”
I shrug. “That is a horrible idea,” she continues, “An idea I doubt Aidan would agree to anyways. Does he not want to meet her?”
I think about what he said tonight, about how I was essentially meeting his family by meeting his SEAL teammates, and the guilt hits me square in the chest. “This is different. It’s tricky with Kendall. She’s still so sensitive. I’d cut it off now if I could, but I think I’m in too deep.”
Jenny smiles. “This is rich, Magnolia. You are so in love with this bad boy. At least introduce me to him.” She pours herself more wine, her third glass.
“You staying over tonight then?” I tease.
“I wasn’t planning on it, but this is too good. Drink up. We have things to discuss.”
Shaking my head, I smile. “Want to meet him? Maybe we can meet for dinner this week. I can have him bring a friend.” I waggle my brows.
“Hell to the no. Don’t entangle me in this testosterone induced mess. I have a date with Harry, the plumber, on Friday. He’s a nice, stable man. Doesn’t even have kids!”
I snort. “Fine. Fine. I just can’t describe what I felt tonight,” I say, floating back to the beach, his arms wrapped around me. For a few moments, I forget the world existed outside of our moment. It was ethereal. The moon, the waves. The sound of his voice. The beats of his heart against my back, a steady symphony.
“Sounds like falling in love,” Jenny says, taking a sip, eyeing me over the rim.
“I’d challenge that, but I’m not sure you’re wrong. It never felt like this with Paul. It always just was. This is different. I feel like it’s a story I’m actually a part of, not one that was predestined because of the circumstances. It’s mine. Ours.”
“God, that’s deep, Magnolia. I might want a piece of this, after all. Are all of his friends whores too?”
Rolling my eyes, I remember meeting them earlier. “Kind of. Some ooze whore more than others. They’re also good at trying not to ooze whore, so it could be an act. I think you have to get to know them first and you can gauge for yourself.” Jenny is a beautiful woman, but like me, she’s been single for a long time. The difference is, she’ll go on a date every once in a while. The dates never escalate into anything else, and then she begins back at square one. She calls it harmless hunting.
“Mom,” Kendall pops her head into the room. “Can we go down to the beach? Sandy Beach,” she says, clarifying. It’s right down the path, past the docks a bit. It’s small, but sometimes there are parties there.
“It’s late, honey. Why didn’t you go earlier?” I ask.
Juliet pops her head in. “Come on, Mom. Just a quick bike ride and we’ll be back before eleven.”
“What’s down there?” I ask.
Jenny clears her throat. “Who is down there?”
