Page 85 of True Sight
“Alright, is our Wednesday night showtime over? Perfect, because I have an announcement to make.” Bailey claps her hands together, pulling the group attention to her. “Next week, Soldier and I would like to formally invite all of you over to our place for Thanksgiving. We will cook and provide everything you’d want to eat, we just ask that you all come and have a good time.” She smiles at all of us as Hank brings his hand to the small of her back.
“B, I love that idea,” Ophelia replies.
“Me too. I’ve always wanted to have a friendsgiving but never had enough friends to do it. Now I do,” Magnolia adds, turning a slight shade of pink.
“We might not look it but we’re more than friends, we’re family,” Kolbi states, glancing between all of us with steady eyes. Always the parental figure of the group he is.
“Can Ms. Ruthie come?” Magnolia asks quickly.
“Of course she can. Everyone is welcome to bring the important people in their lives. Including their secret girlfriends.” Bailey looks directly at me and winks. If only she knew that the most important person in my life will be four thousand miles away.
Unable to come up with any resemblance of a real answer, I just look at her with a pained smile. The thought of pretend dating Margaret on paper is one thing but having to do it in front of all of our friends is another.
I’m so going bankrupt on Friday.
33
HENRY
Iwake up to the feeling of his lips brushing along my collarbone in smooth succession. Slowly, oh so slowly, he kisses his way up into my neck, behind my ear, and over to my forehead. I grunt lazily as he kisses everywhere except my lips as he attempts to pull me from the steamy dream I’d been having.
“It’s time to wake up, sweets,” he whispers into my ear as he drags his hand across my exposed torso. I stayed at his place last night after he offered to take me to the airport for my hellishly early flight. While I’m more than happy to rise in the middle of the night to teach a class, getting up this early to sit on a metal tube for ten hours should be criminal. Ellie booked my flight in such a way that I’ll get there with enough time to sleep, shower, and move full steam ahead with her weekend wedding festivities. I’m ecstatic to see my best friend for the first time since moving to the U.S. but I’m less than thrilled to be leaving Charleston and more importantly, the people in it.
“Mmmm,” I groan. Rolling over, I pull the duvet over my shoulders and hold it tight under my chin. With access tomy back, he runs his hand down my spine and under the waistband of my shorts, cupping my ass in his hand. The move makes my dick react instantaneously.
“Be a good boy now and get up. Once you’re back, I’ll treat you like the little slut you know you are,” he growls into my ear, igniting all of my senses. I roll over quickly and pull him in, crushing my lips to his. My hands explore his exposed flesh since neither of us slept in anything more than our underwear and his own hard length presses into my hip.
“Make me your little slut now. All of a sudden I’m wide awake and needy,” I beg, bucking my hips up. He shakes his head against my lips and pulls away, smirking at me.
“No can do, we’re going to be late if I do. You’ll just have to be good and wait until you get back.” He looks down at me with wild eyes and I can feel myself scowling at him. “Come on, don’t give me that face. You get to go and spend the weekend with Ellie, remember? YoulikeEllie.”
“Yeah and I also like your dick in my mouth and one of those things I can have right now if you’d let me.” I try to pull him up to get access to what I’m craving but he stops me.
“Henry.” He resists. “What’s going on? You were so excited all week, why the sudden change of attitude? I was expecting you to be flying out of here and having to wakemeup, not the other way around.”
I wrap my bottom lip around my teeth and glance at him. “It’s just, I’m going to miss you.”
“It’s only five days, baby. You’re coming back on Sunday, it’s not forever.”
“Yeah but in those five days you’re going to be taking Margaret to your friendsgiving instead of me and all of yourfriends will think you’re dating,” I murmur, casting my glance away from him.
“Hey”—he pulls my chin back to look at him—“is that what this is about? You’re jealous of Margaret?” His eyebrows press together and he looks at me like he can’t believe what I’d said.
“I’m not jealous of Margaret, not really.” I sigh. “I’m jealous that your friends know about her instead of about me. Even if it’s fake, I wish they knew who you were really with when you aren’t hanging out with them.”
He worries his bottom lip before speaking. “I know it’s not fair that I’ve kept you from them but…I’m just not ready to tell them yet. About you, about us. I just need a little bit more time. I need it to be just us for a little while longer.” His voice trails off with a sigh.
I know in my heart that I agreed to give him the time he needs to tell his friends who he is and I’m happy to give him that time. But the thought of him pretending to be someone he isn’t because he’s afraid of what they might think makes my heart sink every time I think about it.
“I know you do and I can give you that time. Just, don’t fall in love with a woman while I’m gone, okay?” I lean in and give him a quick peck on the lips.
“I promise not to fall in love with a woman while you’re gone. I don’t even know how that would even be possible when I have the best boyfriend who’s coming home to me in less than five days.”
“Boyfriend?” My voice catches in my throat. We haven’t talked about putting any kind of label on what we are after we first got together. In my head, I’ve been calling Conrad my boyfriend for weeks but hearing him say that word aloud has a different impact.
“If that’s okay with you,” he murmurs, flicking his eyes between my lips which pull back into a smile and my eyes.
“Actually, nothing has ever felt more right.” I smile widely, pressing my lips to his once more.
