“You can bring a girl home,” Braden answered. “You just can't sleep with her.”
“Okay Braden!” Tyler warned. “Please remember that you are twenty-seven.”
“Seriously, guys, this is not even close to polite conversation,” Beth chimed in. I actually found the conversation rather amusing, truthfully. Drew kind of cracked me up. Talk turned to the fundraiser, though, and we continued with that as the soup was cleared and dinner was served.
The conversation then turned to what everyone's plans were for the evening. Drew and Beth had planned to go out to a club with a group of mutual friends and Tyler and Claire were planning to go out and catch a movie. Braden and I were invited along with both groups but he politely declined on our behalf, citing a stressful week and our desire to rest up before the fundraiser the next day. Drew snorted derisively and Beth kicked him under the table none too subtly.
By dessert I was starting to nervously anticipate the evening ahead. The fact that Braden had been running his fingers along my inner thigh for several minutes didn't exactly help me to calm down. It was already past seven-thirty. It couldn't be long before the others left. When we were finished with our dessert and coffee Drew and Beth went off to get ready and Claire and Tyler retired to the family room, where Braden and I joined them. I was being quieter than usual, but so far during this visit, I hadn't done anything awkward and the Pierces were so nice that I had started to relax with them.
“You know, Braden, there will likely be a lot of familiar faces there tomorrow and I'm not sure you'll be thrilled to see all of them,” Claire said. “Marla might possibly be there for example.”
“Oh great!” He cringed and turned to me. “Marla's a shallow, narcissistic harpy who I used to date years ago. She still can’t believe that I broke up with her.”
“Can’t believe it as in ‘how could he have done that?’ or can’t believe it as in she thinks you’re still her boyfriend?” I asked a little nervously.
“She doesn’t think I’m still her boyfriend, but she refuses to believe that anybody wouldn’t want to be her boyfriend, including me.” I could tell that I was just going to love Marla.
“Cameron will be there for sure,” Tyler added.
“Terrific.” He turned to me again. “Cameron’s my cousin. Marla cheated on me with him. I should probably be thankful since I wanted an excuse to break up with her anyway, but I wasn’t in on the plan, you know?”
“It was so long ago, Braden. I wish that the two of you would just put it behind you,” Claire said.
“Yeah, we’ll see. I do think that maybe I’ll have a little chat with him. There’s something I’d like to ask him about.”
“The Masons will likely be there with Felicity,” she went on.
“The Masons want to marry their daughter off to me.” Braden explained. “The mother, Mrs. Mason, is a snob with the warmth of a glacier and her daughter, Felicity, reminds me of Wednesday Addams but more Goth. I think the father might be a hologram.”
“And will you be marrying the lovely Felicity?”
“I would be more likely to marry Cameron.”
“Cole Stephenson will be there of course,” Tyler noted, looking uncomfortable.
“We need to steer clear of him for sure,” Braden said, giving me a disgusted look. “He's a state representative and a complete political animal. He would sell his soul to get elected to a federal congressional seat. He’s also a social climber and a lecher. His eyes won't leave your cleavage.”
“This sounds like a fun party.”
“Most of the folks who'll be there will be quite nice,” Claire said in an apologetic tone.
“I'll just smile and nod a lot,” I replied
“Braden should do that more often. We're hoping you'll be a good influence,” Claire said to me.
“Maybe I'll be a bad influence,” Braden said, smiling at me in a way that made me glance at my watch. It was almost eight-thirty already. Claire noticed my gesture and quickly checked her own watch.
“We'd better get going, Tyler. I don't want to miss the beginning of the movie.”
Claire and Tyler wished us a good night and excused themselves. As soon as they were gone Braden turned to me with a naughty smile. Without a word he pulled me onto his lap and began nuzzling my neck. I nuzzled him back and we worked our way to each other's mouths and started kissing. Just as our tongues were becoming deliciously entwined I heard Drew.
“Christ, Braden, can't you even wait until we leave the house?”
“Braden's head fell back onto the top of the sofa in exasperation. I slid off of his lap and felt myself blushing as I tactfully retreated to my own seat and straightened out the skirt of my short summer dress.