Page 162 of Girls Will Be Girls
“I got this one for you.” He passes me the icy amaretto filled to the brim in a whiskey glass. “Your favorite.”
I take a sip as I hide my smirk. “How do you know it’s my favorite?”
I run my fingers up and down his thumb in my hand, slightly distracted by his warmth.
“I can read you like a book, baby girl.” He smirks back.
“Oh yeah?” I goad, looking down at our intertwined hands, rubbing at his slightly rough palm.
I’ve never noticed how nice his hands are before. His thumb is particularly good-looking. I know for a fact he’s the only man who could make me call a thumb good-looking.
“Mmhm.” He lowers his lips to my ear. “Like right now, I know you’re thinking about my fingers curling deep inside of you as my thumb does the work to make you scream.”
My cheeks heat instantly as I whip my gaze back to him.“Jesus,”I whisper.
He leans back and grins at me with a cocky smile. “Question game?” He says.
I nod, still reeling from his completely accurate assessment of my thoughts. “Okay.”
“Am I wrong?” He smirks.
“No comment.” I take a big gulp before holding my cold drink to my heated cheeks.
His smile spreads wider than I’ve ever seen. “Strike three.” He says. “So, I win?”
“Fine, yes, you win.” I roll my eyes. “What’s my punishment?”
He smiles wider, his eyes raking over my body so appreciatively I feel like I’m naked. His hand lowers down my hip until he’s squeezing my ass in a quick feel. “You’ll find out later.”
His squeeze turns into a quick slap before he rejoins the group like he didn’t just rearrange my insides.
I look up at him, slotting himself with ease into Elijah and Gordy’s conversation on the other side of the table. He takes a drink and winks at me, and I think I’m edging closer to letting him use the L word.
25
OH, HOW I LOVE BEING A WOMAN
I’m feelinga lot of sensations this morning.
Dry mouth, fuzzy head, puffy eyes, but they’re all pushed aside for the winning feel of Lou’s arm draped over my waist, holding me against him possessively. His warm body, the feel of his breath against my neck, his stubble rubbing along my skin, all like a quiet symphony, reminding me of last night.
Once our overflowing table had been drunk dry, we retreated to our usual place. The bar was busy, but luckily Frida is so close with the owner that she has no problem hopping over to fill up a tray of drinks for us even when she’s not working. We stayed, laughed, talked, drank, danced, sang until it was closing time.
I never realized how heartwarming it is to watch the man you like slot into your group of friends as if they’ve known each other for years. Lou has already been added to the group chat and the boys-only group chat. They all accepted him as one of us without any fanfare, it was just a given.
Watching him bond with Elijah over some fantasy series they’re both reading, both of them talking about it like excited little boys, made my heart flutter. Dylan felt it too when we shared a knowing smile.
Our boys are going to be friends.
Never has something I didn’t know I wanted made me so happy.
We have also started discussing this year’s group Halloween costume. As reigning costume contest champions — having been the cast ofWhite Lotuslast year — there was a lot of pressure.
I almost wanted to cry when it was just expected by everyone that Lou would be participating. But I’d cried enough already, I couldn’t cry over something so silly, even if it made me feel warm and giddy inside.
With the cast ofSuccessionas the front-runner this year, he was given the pivotal role of Tom Wambsgans to my Gregory Hirsch. He has taken the responsibility of this important role very seriously, so I’m hoping that means he’s for real about being here for Halloween.
We haven’t discussed what our future is yet. All I know at this point is that we most definitely have a future, and that we’re falling hard and fast, but I don’t know any of the logistics. With Lou now planning on quitting his job, I don’t know if that means he’s open to moving this way.
