“Damn you, Cale. You’re still a pain in my ass,” I say to myself while gripping the door handle and jumping out to catch up with him. “Well, it’s definitely going to be easy to talk to my parents now,” I tease. “So thanks for that image.”
Without bothering to knock Cale opens the screen door and lets himself in, holding the door open for me. My mom is standing in the kitchen mixing some kind of dessert when we walk in. It smells like chocolate. Cale loves chocolate.
“Oooh. Oooh.” My mom cleans the chocolate off of her hands hurriedly, and smiles as Cale walks over to her with open arms.
“Did you miss me?” Cale asks while squeezing my mom in a bear hug and shaking her back and forth.
She pulls away and grabs his face, looking him over. Her smile is so big that it looks like her face is going to split open. “You know I did. Look at you,” she squeals. “Oh my goodness.” She backs away and looks him up and down, taking in his large build. “You have gotten so much bigger since the last time I saw you, Cale, and more handsome too. Oh my. Come here.”
She grabs my arm and pulls me next to her, while holding onto Cale’s waist. “It’s so good seeing you two hanging out again. It makes me feel young again. Isn’t this something?”
Rolling my eyes, I kiss my mom on the cheek and laugh. “Yeah . . . yeah. Where’s Aspen and Slade?”
My mom releases her grip on both of us and points to the back door. “They’re outside with your father.”
“It smells so good in here,” Cale says before kissing my mom on the cheek. “I’ve missed your cooking. Don’t be surprised if I eat all that dessert you’re working on.”
My mom blushes while going back to stirring her dessert. “Yeah, well what can I say? That’s why I made so much. I learned my lesson eight years ago.” She turns to me and winks. “The food is on the grill and should be ready to eat soon. Just hang out for a bit and keep your father company. We all know he doesn’t get it very often.”
“Alright, Mom. Let me know if you need help.”
My mom shakes her head and motions toward the door. “Nope. Just go and enjoy yourselves. Scoot.”
Cale places his hand on my lower back and guides me toward the sliding door. “Your ass looks fucking delicious in those shorts,” he whispers, before sliding the door open and pulling me outside. “Can’t wait to taste you later.”
I break into an instant sweat from his words mixed with the heat. As soon as my dad sees us, he waves us over, holding up a beer for Cale. I just need to get away from this man before I melt into a damn puddle at his feet. He’s the perfect distraction.
Pulling away from Cale, I rush over to Aspen and sit down in the chair next to her while Cale goes to hang out with my dad and Slade.
My dad stands up as soon as Cale approaches. Handing him a beer, he grips Cale’s shoulder and greets him with a smile. I’m actually surprised to see how happy my dad looks to see him. I knew he always liked Cale. He just didn’t want to admit how much.
I turn to Aspen. “This is torture,” I say in a hurry.
Aspen takes a sip of her pop and looks over at the picnic table where the guys are hanging out. “Tell me about it. I’m bored already. Mom talked our leg off when we walked in the door and dad keeps talking about his work.”
I shake my head and look in Cale’s direction to see his tight muscles flexing as he grips his beer and laughs along with the guys. “No, I meant Cale. All I want to do is take him up to my old room and jump on him. It’s like I can’t even be in the same room without touching him. You know?”
Aspen smiles at my comment and lifts a brow as she watches the guys. “I definitely know, sister. Welcome to my world.”
We sit here, just watching the boys for a few minutes, before Aspen speaks up, breaking the silence. “So what are you and Cale anyway? Are you doing this whole ‘friends with benefits’ thing? Or what? That could definitely get messy, so be careful.”
I let out a frustrated breath and grab for Aspen’s pop, taking a quick drink. My mouth suddenly feels extremely dry. “I don’t know, Aspen. I care about Cale a lot, you know that, but I really don’t know what he wants out of this. I’m worried if I ask him that I’ll mess up what we have. I can’t have that. We’ve been friends for too long, so I’m just sitting back and enjoying the ride.”
“Literally,” Aspen replies.
“Shut up,” I say, while punching her in the thigh. “Can you talk any louder?”
“Ouch, asshole.” Aspen smiles, taking another sip of her pop. “Nothing to be ashamed of.”