The Rules of Dating My Best Friend's Sister(43)

“Oh my. Well, come in for a glass of wine first. I insist.”

Holden’s eyes flashed to me for approval. But it didn’t matter that I was trying to keep my distance from him if spending a few minutes together made my mom happy. So I smiled and nodded, and the three of us wound up spending the next half hour talking and finishing off a bottle of wine. Holden told Mom about his band and how he spent his days making repairs at the apartment building where he acted as the super, and Mom told him all about a month-long cruise she was planning for when my dad retired next year.

“Oh, that reminds me.” Mom pointed toward the bathroom. “Since you’re the maintenance man, there’s a leak in Laney’s shower. It’s coming from the faucet. I heard the drip when I was in there earlier, so I took a peek. The tiles underneath are starting to come loose from it, too.”

“Mom, we already made Holden late for one repair, and now you want to give him a new job? He’s already fixed so much around here, and they’re letting me stay for free.”

Holden put his hands up. “It’s fine. I’d actually rather know when the problem starts, rather than waiting for it to grow into something bigger. A little leaky faucet is easier to fix than retiling an entire shower.”

“Well, there’s no rush in getting to it,” I said.

“I have some time tomorrow. Will you be home?”

I shook my head. “No, I have a lot to do at work, so I probably won’t be around much on Sunday.”

“Alright. Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll work on it then. That way I can fix the loose tiles after I fix the leak, and they’ll have time to set before you need to get in there again.”

“Sure. Whatever works best for you.”

Holden nodded and slapped his hands on his thighs. “Tomorrow then. But right now, I need to get upstairs before the tenants who aren’t so easy burn the place down.” He stood. “It’s really nice to see you, Mrs. E. Tell Mr. E I said hello.”

Mom stood. “I will.”

I walked Holden to the door, while Mom went into the bathroom.

“It’s really good to see her,” he said. “I don’t remember you mentioning she was coming. Was it a last-minute trip?”

I nodded. “She surprised me this morning. I had no idea until she knocked on the door.”

“It’s not your birthday, is it? That’s in December, right?”

“No, it’s not my birthday.” I hesitated, but it felt weird not saying more. “She made me an appointment at a bridal-dress store that’s hard to get an appointment with. That’s where we were coming back from.”

Holden’s face fell. “Wedding dresses…”

I nodded.

“Did you buy one?”

“No. Nothing felt right.”

Holden looked back and forth between my eyes. For a second I thought he was going to say something, but then he looked away. “I gotta run. See you around, Lala.”

I shut the door feeling terrible, even though I had no reason to. After trying to collect my thoughts for a moment, I found my mother in the kitchen, opening another bottle of wine.

“More? When did you become a day drinker, Mom? Not that I’m complaining. I never do this.”

“I figured you might need another glass while we talk.”

My brows dipped together. “Talk about what?”

Mom’s back was to me as she pulled the cork out with a loud pop! She refilled both our wine glasses before turning and holding one out to me.

She sipped. “While we talk about how long your feelings for Holden have been back, and what you’re going to do about the fantasies you’ve been having about him.”

***

The next morning, I bolted upright in a cold sweat, completely out of breath.

Holy shit. I glanced next to me at the bed. Of course it was empty, but it still took me a couple of seconds to accept that my dream had only been a dream, and I hadn’t actually been riding Holden.

Oh my. That was the most vivid dream of my life.

The way he’d had my ponytail wrapped around his fist and yanked my head back.

The way he’d topped from the bottom, telling me to ride him harder. Faster. Take my cock.

I reached back and touched my ponytail. Goose bumps ran up my arms as I thought about how passionately we’d gone at it. Things were certainly not that intense with Warren—not by a mile. It completely freaked me out that my fantasy of being with Holden was better than the real thing with my fiancé, so I got up to splash some cold water on my face. When that didn’t work, I decided to take a long shower.

I was still pretty worked up even after drying my hair and getting dressed. But I was determined to get myself in the right headspace. So I made a resolution to focus on the things I should be focusing on for the rest of the day, namely my fiancé and my work.

First, I went back to the bridal salon Mom and I had gone to yesterday. I didn’t have an appointment, but the salesperson who’d helped us yesterday was there, and she helped me place an order for the dress I’d liked most. After, I needed to go into work for a while, but my head was still not fully where it needed to be, so I went back to the apartment to do something I’d never done before. During the train ride, I’d decided the only way to get Holden out of my head was to replace him with Warren. There was absolutely no reason I couldn’t get off to my fiancé. In fact, maybe part of the problem was that while I was taking the initiative to spend time with Holden, I hadn’t been taking any initiative with Warren. So I walked straight to my bedroom with my cell to my ear, determined to be more creative.