Page 58 of Wild For You
He shrugged. “All right, you ladies have fun. I’ll see you later.”
Rory tugged at my arm to get me to move in the opposite direction, but I was stuck in place, watching Andrew’s retreating back as he carried my items in one hand, his crutch in the other.
Something felt off.
I wanted… I wanted him to kiss me goodbye, even though I knew we couldn’t do that out in the open. Either way, that notion didn’t stop my desire for it.
“Come on, Kels,” she said impatiently, clearly wondering why I still hadn’t moved.
“Sorry,” I apologized to Rory. “I just want to watch and make sure he gets across the street okay.”
Rory sighed but nodded, then turned her back to me to chat with her sisters, just as Andrew stopped at the corner before crossing the street. When he reached the other side, he glanced at me over his shoulder like he felt me watching, and he winked, making me smile.
It wasn’t a kiss, but it would have to do for now.
Alex had to return to the cake shop to finish up an order that would be picked up tomorrow morning, and she and Nate waved goodbye as he walked her across the street, but the other two Easterly sisters said they’d join Rory and me for the movie. Marisol declined, even though we whined and begged her to join us. She claimed she needed to get back home to start on dinner.
Nash was one lucky man to be blessed with Marisol’s cooking every day. I’d never leave my house if I had her running the kitchen.
After the movie, which was basically a two-hour-long Devyn Dane thirst trap that caused every woman in the theater to squeal during several scenes, Rory suggested we all go out for drinks. Thankfully, Autumn must have noticed my fear of how to navigate the situation. Not that I told her I was pregnant, but shehadbeen the one to tell Andrew to buy the test in the first place, then sent him the doctor’s number when he asked for it mere hours later. I was sure she had an inkling.
“Let’s plan for a night when Alex can join us. Maybe Friday?”
Rory pulled out her phone and then agreed. “Talon and I are here through the end of the week, so that works for me.”
Aspen quickly agreed as well, then all eyes turned on me.
“I don’t think I have anything going on.” I internally cringed, because sometime between now and then, I was going to have to come up with an excuse to duck out of the meetup.
It was around 6:00 p.m. when I walked into the house after Rory drove me home. She and Talon had a beautiful home on the farm that they rarely used. They always offered for me to stay there when I was visiting, but I preferred the bed-and-breakfast. There was no chance of walking in on the two of them enjoying their married life on the kitchen counter, like I had once before.
“Andrew?” I called out as I closed the front door behind me.
“Out here!” he called from the backyard, and I saw the door had been left open a crack. As I opened the sliding glass door all the way and stepped through, I found a small bistro table nestled off to the side on the back deck. String lights that looked like Edison bulbs hung from above.
“What’s all this?” I asked when I noticed the table was set for dinner.
Andrew walked away from the grill he was manning and stepped up in front of me, his crutch resting against the exterior wall of the house. His hands reached for my cheeks, the tips of his fingers delving into my hair as he brought his face closer to mine.
Our lips sealed together, and I was lost in him.
The kiss ended too soon, but Andrew didn’t pull back more than an inch or two. “I wanted to do that earlier.”
“Me too,” I confessed in a whisper.
“You know, I don’t usually eat dessert before a meal, but right now, I’m considering bending all the rules.”
And the look on his face made it clear—he wasn’t talking about pie.
Chapter Thirteen – Andrew
I fucking missed her while she was gone. A handful of hours and I was losing my mind. I had no idea what was happening to me, but when it came to Kelsey, I didn’t care.
The moment I sat next to Nate at the sports bar, he pointed out that something had changed in me and immediately attributed the change to Kelsey. He wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t know what my friend was seeing.
“She makes you a better version of yourself,” he said.
“I’m still not interested in relationships.”
