Mistakes Were Made(97)

She allowed herself to think about it. Just this once. Everything she’d said to Rachel still applied, but there was no harm in admitting— if only inwardly—that Rachel had been right, too: Erin and Cassie were basically dating. Before spring break, their relationship probably landed more in the friends with benefits category. The benefits weren’t even that frequent—they’d flirted, but never sexted after Valentine’s Day. After their night in Boston—which had definitely been a date—they’d started making dinner together over FaceTime. Since summer break started, they’d had plenty of benefits, Cassie coming up before Parker came back from Adam’s or sneaking down the hallway after she’d gone to sleep, but they’d had dates, too. The times Erin was in Boston for work and they’d go out to dinner before going back to Cassie’s apartment. The times Erin pretended she was in Boston for work then drove down, just to meet Cassie. Once they’d gotten lunch and hadn’t even had time for more than a kiss goodbye.

And now Cassie was on her way over for dinner, just the two of them. Tonight, Erin let it feel real.

Cassie arrived while Erin was cutting cucumbers. She didn’t wait for her to finish before kissing her.

“How was your ride?”

“Good,” Cassie said, running a hand up Erin’s arm. “This is better, though.”

Goose bumps followed Cassie’s touch, but Erin shook her head. “Patience is a virtue.”

“I’ve never been particularly virtuous.” Cassie kissed her again. “Can I help with anything?”

“Nah,” Erin said. “There’s not much to do.”

Cassie let out an exaggerated sigh and took one of the stools at the kitchen island. They chatted about their weeks while Erin sliced radishes. Whenever Erin glanced over her shoulder, Cassie’s eyes were on her, interested, intent. Erin forced herself to focus. It was that or slice open a finger.

She hadn’t realized Cassie had moved closer until she set down the knife and was suddenly pulled back, Cassie’s hips pressing flush against Erin’s ass.

“Maybe dinner could wait?” Cassie murmured.

Erin fought not to melt in Cassie’s grip. “Once the water boils, I’ll take a break while the noodles cook.”

“I don’t want to kiss you while the noodles cook,” Cassie said, nuzzling her nose just below Erin’s ear. It was embarrassing how little pressure it took on Erin’s waist to turn her around. “I want to kiss you now.”

She did just that.

Perhaps dinner could wait. It’d taste better if the vegetables marinated longer, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. And really, who cared how dinner tasted when Cassie tasted this good?

Erin broke their kiss only long enough to push the cutting board and radishes out of the way so she could boost herself up onto the counter. Cassie stepped between her thighs and Erin locked her ankles behind Cassie’s back. Before she could get her lips on Cassie’s again, Cassie leaned slightly away and grinned up at her.

“I thought patience was a virtue.”

“Turns out I’m not particularly virtuous either,” Erin said.

She scratched her fingernails against Cassie’s scalp and thought about scratching them down her back later. Cassie practically purred.

At some point, there was a noise, Erin’s brain wasn’t working well enough to identify it, and she pulled away from Cassie to look in the direction it came from and—

“What the fuck is going on here?”

Erin knew this was bad, but if anyone was going to walk in on them, she was glad it was Adam. She didn’t give a fuck what he thought of her.

Cassie leapt back, but Erin merely slid off the counter, not bothering to put space between her and Cassie.

“None of your business,” she said. “You could’ve knocked.”

“I could have knocked?! You could have not been making out with our daughter’s friend!” Adam was already shouting. His eyes were narrowed, his face going redder by the second.

Erin’s heart was beating triple time in her chest, but she ignored it and raised her eyebrows. “Why are you here, Adam?”

He kept yelling. About how she was disgusting and what was wrong with her and he couldn’t believe she would ever blah, blah, blah. She truly did not care what he thought about her. None of it was anything worse than she’d already told herself.

As he was lecturing her on appropriate behavior, though, Parker appeared behind him.

Erin moved out of Cassie’s orbit. Her heart bottomed out. Dropped to the soles of her feet, maybe further, maybe it disappeared altogether. She didn’t know. Couldn’t think. She could no longer hear Adam. The sound in her ears had gone static. Her vision tunneled to Parker’s face, which was blank, blank, blank, her mouth a flat line. Maybe if Erin could think, she would’ve reacted quickly enough to stop this before it got worse—Parker technically hadn’t seen anything. Maybe if Erin said something, interrupted, anything, Parker wouldn’t have found out. Instead, Erin stood frozen while Adam circled back.

“How about this—I’ll knock from now on as long as you don’t fool around with your child’s friend.”

Parker’s face didn’t change, but she did open her mouth. “Dad.”

Adam jumped. Apparently he hadn’t noticed her come in, while Erin hadn’t taken her eyes off Parker since she’d arrived.