Close to You

by Kristen Proby

“They’re back here,” Cami says, pointing. She leads us to the far side of the restaurant, where Riley, Mia, Kat, and Addie are already munching on fresh fruit.

  “Hi!” Riley says, smiling. “We haven’t ordered yet. Addie was just starving, so we had them bring some fruit.”

  “I’m telling you,” Addie says after I kiss her cheek and sit between her and Cami. “This baby is going to be a football player. All I do is eat. He’s going to make me gain a hundred pounds.”

  “Not if you eat the right things,” Riley says, and spears a strawberry.

  “I don’t want celery, Ri,” Addie says.

  “How are you, big brother?” Mia asks.

  “Good.” I glance around and notice that all five pairs of eyes are on me. “What?”

  “Glad you could join girls’ breakfast,” Kat says with a smirk.

  “She made me come,” I insist, pointing at Cami. “Tell them.”

  “I did,” she admits, and chews on a slice of melon. “We’re going to the movies later, so it seemed logical to bring him.”

  “But I can leave,” I offer, and push my chair back, secretly hoping they’ll let me escape, but they just laugh.

  “No, we’re just flipping you shit,” Kat says. “Just beware that there will be girl talk. We’re too comfortable with you to censor ourselves.”

  “There’s no alcohol here,” I reply. “I think I’m safe.”

  But my stomach clenches when they all snicker.

  I’m in trouble.

  “So, as I was saying,” Addie continues. “This baby is sucking the life out of me.”

  “I think that’s a bit dramatic,” Cami says.

  “No, it’s true. My boobs hurt so bad. Jake and I were having sex, and he had me bent over the bed, and he reached down to grab my tits and I almost kicked him in the balls.”

  “And there it is,” Mia says with a laugh. “Welcome to girl talk, big brother.”

  I simply shrug and study my menu. These women are a lot of fun, and maybe slightly crazy. I’d rather be anywhere but here, but if Cami wants me here, I’ll stay.

  I’ll do just about anything that Cami wants me to, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

  The waitress comes to take our orders and refresh our drinks.

  “So, we hear you dropped the L-bomb,” Riley says, and sips her orange juice.

  “Riley!” Cami hisses, then hides her face in her napkin.

  “What? Is it a secret?”

  “It’s not a secret,” I reply, and laugh, rubbing Cami’s leg under the table.

  “We tell each other everything,” Addie says, almost apologetically. “To be fair, she didn’t text us until yesterday.”

  “Yeah, it’s not like she texted us while you were in the heat of the moment,” Kat says. “That would just take it too far.”

  “Ew,” Mia says. “You know, talking about sex before was all well and good until you started banging my brother.”

  “And boy, do we bang,” Cami says with a smug smile. “A lot. Like, over and over again.”

  The other girls all laugh their asses off while Mia makes gagging sounds.

  “Did you just shudder?” Riley asks Mia.

  “Hell yes. I don’t want to ever have a reason to think of my brother naked.”

  “He’s impressive naked,” Cami says.

  “I can see that,” Kat says as her eyes travel up and down my torso. “You should take your shirt off, just to give us a sneak peek.”

  “I’m not sharing him,” Cami replies, rolling her eyes. “You’ll just have to take my word for it.”

  “Thank the baby Jesus,” Mia mutters just as my phone rings. I glance down and recognize the number.

  “I’ve gotta take this.” I kiss Cami’s cheek and excuse myself. “Hello.”

  “Hey, Palazzo,” my old Navy buddy Ringo says. “Sorry, I know it’s Sunday, but my day is jammed tomorrow, so I thought I’d get a head start.”

  “No worries. What’s up?”

  “I spoke with Lucas last week, and he mentioned that you might be interested in a flight instructor position.”

  I take a deep breath and shove my hand through my hair. “I can’t fly.” My voice is flat, and the rage and sense of loss boils up the way it always does when I think about the fact that I’ll never pilot another plane.

  “Not in the air,” he clarifies. “I’d like you to teach in the classroom, and oversee the program up there for me. You’d be the boss, which you’re good at.”

  I frown. “You want me to stand in a classroom and bore the fuck out of people? If anything, I should be in the air.”

  “But you can’t be,” Ringo says softly. “You got a shitty deal, man. I’m just thankful that you’re okay. And I could seriously use you. I’m expanding the private flight school from San Diego up to Portland. You wouldn’t have to travel at all.”

  “That’s awesome, Ringo, but classroom work?”

  “Sleep on it. Think it over and call me back this week. I’m not in a huge hurry for an answer, but the only answer I’ll accept is yes. You’d be excellent at keeping everything in order, and you’re a good speaker. You’re not going to bore the shit out of anyone.” I hear him sigh. “How are you, man?”

  “Better,” I admit. “Physically, pretty much all healed up. I’ve been working for my dad and keeping busy. I have a girlfriend.”

  “So you’re settling down.”

  I stare blindly as a kid picks his nose in his stroller, his mom hurrying down the sidewalk. Am I settling down?

  I guess I am.

  “I suppose you could put it like that.”

  “Perfect. Call me this week.”

  And with that, he’s gone. The thought of working in a classroom doesn’t get my blood flowing, but I like that I wouldn’t be a peon. I’d be running the show, and God knows I have plenty of experience running shows.

  Come to think of it, teaching people who are excited about flying doesn’t sound like a bad gig.

  I’ll think about it later, but the truth is, I just can’t see myself working in construction forever. I like it fine, but it doesn’t excite me.

  Everything about flying excites me.

  I make my way back through the restaurant and am almost to the table when I hear Kat say, “This period is killing me. Like, instead of it raining men, it’s raining red.”

  “That’s so gross,” Cami says, but she’s laughing as she takes a bite of her bacon. She glances up and sees me. “Hey, babe. Your food’s here.”

  “Good. I’m hungry.”

  “I’m telling you,” Kat continues without missing a beat. “I’m gonna have to invest in an industrial-sized box of tampons or something.”

  “Oh my God! Do you remember when we went to that party our senior year with Cami?” Mia says, pointing to Addie.

  “Aw, poor Cami,” Addie says, hiding a giggle behind her hand. “She wore white pants.”

  “And didn’t expect Mother Nature to show up that night,” Cami adds, shaking her head. “It was so mortifying.”

  “You recovered,” Riley says. “You’re wearing white pants today.”

  “Do you know how long it took me to wear white pants again?” Cami demands. “I didn’t wear them until just a couple of years ago, and now with this reminder, I’m rethinking it all over again.”

  “I hear you,” Kat says, nodding. “It’s like Subway.”

  “Subway?” Mia asks with a frown.

  “Yep, I ate at Subway and got food poisoning when I was like twelve, and I’ve been afraid to eat there ever since. Whenever I drive past there, my butt clenches.”

  The girls all erupt in laughter, and I can’t help but join them.

  “I’m so glad that my gastrointestinal issues make you laugh,” Kat says, her shoulders straight. She eats her eggs. “It was horrific.”

  “I can imagine,” Mia replies, and frowns at her eggs. “Like these eggs. I ordered them over medium, and the yolks are runny. If these are over medium, I’m Selena Gome
z.”

  “You always order the most difficult thing in the world to cook,” Riley accuses her. “And I think you do it on purpose.”

  “Of course I do,” Mia replies with a sniff. “What if that twit applies for a job with me? I need to know if they can actually cook. And if you know what you’re doing, it’s not the hardest thing in the world to cook. You just have to pay attention and not fuck it up.”

  “Are you going to send them back?” Cami asks.

  “No. I actually like the yolks runny.” Mia grins and takes a bite of one of them. “But now I know that the idiot in the kitchen doesn’t know how to cook eggs.”

  “We don’t even have eggs on our menu,” Cami reminds her.

  “That doesn’t matter,” Mia says. “If they can’t cook eggs the way I ask, how can they be expected to cook a steak the correct way?”

  “Whatever you say,” Riley says, and rolls her eyes at me. “Has she always been this difficult?”

  “She’s always been demanding. Mia knows what she wants, and she gets it. It’s as simple as that.”

  “She’s a pain in the ass,” Kat says, but winks at Mia. “But we love her.”

  “Yes, that’s pretty much always been the consensus.” I chuckle, looking at my sister fondly. “But, with that comes a woman who’s excellent at her job. Do you get many complaints about what comes out of the kitchen?”

  “Hardly ever,” Addie says. “We don’t ever want you to change, Mia.”

  “Good. Because I’m not going to.” Her lips twist. “I wasn’t willing to change for a man. There’s no way in hell I’m changing for you bitches.”

  “Wait.” I lean forward, frowning. “A man wanted you to change?”

  This is news to me.

  “It was a very long time ago,” Mia replies, waving me off. “And it was never going to happen.” She shakes her head at me, telling me to kill the subject, but I don’t like this. I know that I was gone for a long time, and I missed a lot, but I’m just now realizing that I was gone for some very big moments in my sister’s life.

  I should have been here to cut that dick’s balls off.

  “I’m full,” Cami says, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her belly. “Take me to the movies now so I can gorge myself on popcorn.”

  I grin down at her. “Anything you want, babe.”

  “Ugh.” Mia rolls her eyes. “You guys are disgusting.”

  Chapter 13

  ~Cami~

  “I love sleeping in,” I say with a big yawn, and smile at Scoot, who is perched on my vanity desk, watching me get ready for my day.

  Landon just left for work, after bringing me a mug of coffee and then letting it get cold while he reminded me just how much he loves me in the shower. Of course, then he was late and had to dash out the door, but I don’t have to hurry today. My work is caught up and I don’t have any meetings or calls until noon.

  I sip my now cool coffee, not caring in the least that it’s not hot, and run a comb through my damp hair, slather on some face moisturizer, and while that soaks in, I lift my blow dryer.

  I close my eyes and enjoy the warm air, sighing contentedly. My body feels . . . well loved and sated, which sounds corny even to me, like something out of a book, but that’s the best way to describe it. I have sore muscles in places I never even knew I had muscles.

  Good job, Landon.

  I grin and set the dryer down, then frown when I can’t find the eye shadow I just pulled out of a drawer a minute ago. I glance to the floor, then glare at Scoot.

  “Stop pushing my stuff on the floor, you little menace.”

  Scoot simply blinks at me with those big, yellow eyes. He’s too adorable to get mad at. At least, now that my wounds have healed, that is. As I reach for a brush to start applying makeup, my package of pills catches my eye.

  “Can’t forget this,” I say, and push a pill out of the packet, then wash it down with a sip of the cold coffee. “And I’m almost out. Don’t let me forget to call in for a refill.” I scratch Scoot behind the ears. “You’re the only baby I need around here for a while.”

  “Meow,” he says, as if he agrees, and pushes his face into my hand.

  “Aw, you’re coming around, little guy.” I grin and return my attention to the mirror, just as Scoot bats an eye shadow back onto the floor. “You’re coming around just in time to irritate me.”

  I bend and pick up my favorite Urban Decay. “Stop that.”

  Scoot goes to work bathing his tail, as if he doesn’t have any idea what I’m talking about. “Yeah, you’re not innocent.”

  I give him one last stern look, which doesn’t seem to faze him in the least, and set to work on my makeup, which on a day like today takes only a few minutes.

  But it gives me quiet time to think, and there hasn’t been a lot of that lately.

  My life has changed in the last few months. I mean, for the most part it’s the same. My friends, my job, my home are all the same. But with Landon in my life, it feels so much bigger. Full.

  Just when I think I can’t love him more, he says or does something like this morning that tips me over into that more category.

  Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see Scoot reach his little paw out and bat at my mascara until clunk, it’s on the floor.

  “I saw that,” I say without looking directly at him. He watches me for a heartbeat, then bats my eye shadow onto the floor, and without a pause, sends my blush over for good measure. “Who taught you to be such a pain in the ass?”

  “Meow.”

  “Yeah, meow yourself.” I pick him up and put him on the floor and point at his face. “Stay down.”

  I reach for my mascara and decide to hurry before Scoot jumps back up to wreak more havoc, then sit back and stare at my own reflection. “You’re being bullied by your cat.” I shake my head. “Sad.”

  Apparently, that’s his cue to jump back up again and sit, his tail swooshing over the side. “You’re a bad cat.”

  “Meow.”

  “Well, as long as you know.” I quickly finish my makeup and stow it away before Scoot can use it for hockey practice again. “Come on, bad cat. Let’s get dressed. I have some shoes you can hide behind, but if you so much as lay a paw on them, it’s off to the pound for you.”

  “WHY DO YOU have bite marks on your Jimmy Choos?” Riley asks as she sits next to me at the bar. Kat’s pouring us both some wine.

  “Because I have a suicidal cat,” I reply, and sip the cool, crisp Chardonnay. Leave it to Riley to see the tiny marks on my heel.

  “Excuse me?” Riley says.

  “I warned him not to touch them, but I screwed up and left them on the floor and I went to the bathroom, and when I came back, there he was, nibbling.”

  “Maybe your cat doesn’t speak English,” Kat says. “Maybe he’s Spanish. Or French.”

  “Well, then I’m screwed because I don’t know either of those languages,” I reply, and frown as I stare down in my glass. “He’s just going to eat all of the shoes.”

  “Who’s eating what shoes?” Landon asks as he wraps his arms around me and buries his nose in my neck. “You smell delicious.”

  I grin as Kat rolls her eyes. “Her cat apparently eats shoes for breakfast.”

  “Scoot ate your shoes?” He rests his chin on my shoulder.

  “He gnawed on them,” I reply with a sigh. “And they’re designer.”

  “Maybe it’s because you pile all of your shoes in a mountain in the middle of your microscopic closet,” Riley says.

  “I keep most of them in boxes, but the ones that I wear a lot do end up on the floor.”

  “I’m building your closet,” Landon says, his voice pure silk next to my ear. He could be reciting the freaking alphabet for all I care. My imaginary panties are sopping wet.

  “Oh God, she’s biting her lip,” Kat says to Riley. “Stop turning her on while she’s working.”

  “I’m not working,” I whisper, and close my eyes. “Say something else.�
��

  I feel his lips curl into a grin against my ear. “I’m going to make you dinner tonight.”

  “We’re meeting Brian and his new girlfriend for dinner.” But hot damn, my nipples are hard.

  “Brian has a new girlfriend?” Riley asks.

  “And I’m going to run you a hot bath when we get home,” he continues, as if no one said anything at all, “and then I’m going to wash you from head to toe.”

  “I need another drink,” Riley mutters as Landon plants his lips against my ear and whispers.

  “And then I’m going to fuck you against the vanity in your bathroom.”

  Oh God.

  I swallow hard as he kisses my cheek and pulls away from me, my back suddenly cold where he had been pressing against me.

  “You seduced her into a coma,” Kat says. “Good one.”

  “It’s been way too long since I last got laid,” Riley grumbles as I blink my eyes open and swallow hard, shifting on my stool.

  “Well, I guess we should go,” I stammer, needing to clear my throat twice.

  “Can you walk?” Kat asks with a smirk.

  “Of course I can walk,” I reply. Jesus, I hope I can walk.

  “Ready?” Landon asks, offering me his hand. When my gaze climb up his body, his eyes are hot, watching me carefully with not a little humor.

  “Are you enjoying this?” I ask as I take his hand and scoot off the stool.

  “More than you can ever imagine,” he says, and chuckles. “Come on, I’ll buy you dinner.”

  Before he can lead me out of the room, I lean in, gesturing for him to bend down so I can whisper in his ear. “I’m not wearing any underwear under this skirt. That ought to give you something to think about.”

  I pull away as Kat and Riley bust out laughing. Landon’s lips twitch, his eyes are no less hot.

  “How could you hear that? I was whispering!”

  “Sweetheart,” Kat says, saluting me with a glass, “you must have learned to whisper while riding in a helicopter in the middle of a hurricane.”

  “Are you saying I’m not subtle?”

  “You’ve never been subtle,” Landon says, hitching a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “Come on, let’s get to dinner before I pull you into your office and take your desk for a spin.”