and gentle as we step outside. It’s sprinkling again, and the rumble of thunder above threatens to usher in another summer storm. “I drank way too much, and now I can’t feel my face. Why’d you let me drink so much?”
My plan was for us to walk the neighborhood. To get to know each other. To take our time and enjoy each other’s company as organically as possible.
“You were having a good time,” I say.
“You didn’t drink that much.” Aidy pouts.
“I sampled.”
“I should’ve sampled.”
Lighting flashes over our heads.
“One-thousand-one. One-thousand-two . . .” Aidy says, just before the grumble of thunder fills the air.
“What are you doing?”
“That’s how you know how far away the storm is. It’s two miles away.”
“Is that true?”
“I don’t know.” Her heels scuff the cement, and we walk slowly, though the rain seems to be coming down faster by the second. “That’s what Wren always said when we were growing up. I never fact-checked it.”
I glance at her mouth, watching the way it moves as she rambles on about her sister and how smart she was and how she’s a bit of a know-it-all but that’s just Wren. And then I realize her red lipstick has worn off over the last two hours by all the drinking and talking and smiling she’s done.
A loud clap of thunder makes Aidy jump, and she silences her commentary as she looks at the night sky. Up ahead, I hear the rain pelting the sidewalk, moving closer in our direction, and it occurs to me that I left our umbrella back at Prohibition. To our left is a black and white striped awning belonging to some boutique that closed hours ago. Taking her arm, I lead her beneath it.
Positioning her against the limestone wall of the shopfront, I lift my hand to her face, her eyes slowly meeting mine. Her mouth curls in the corners before her gaze falls to my lips. Bending down, I claim her, the way I’ve wanted to since I first picked her up three hours ago. Her mouth belongs to me. Her smile. Her effortless sweetness.
My lips graze hers, as if I’m unable to separate myself from her. Rain pours outside the awning, pelting above our heads and gushing all around us.
“Come home with me tonight, Aidy.” I’m not asking. I stare into her sapphire eyes, and she bats her long lashes, exhaling. My hands fall to her waist and I pull her against me, kissing her once again. Her lips are soft, pillowed. Their taste? Addictive. “For some insane reason I can’t seem to get enough of you.”
“I always knew you were the crazy one,” she says, standing on her toes and kissing me. “Fine. You twisted my arm.”
28
Aidy
“Oh my God, Aidy.” Wren greets me at the door Saturday morning, her face white as a sheet and her hands gripping my wrists. I thought I could slip in without her noticing, but of course the one time I do, she’s up at the crack of dawn. Judging by the look on her face, something terrible happened or she’s freaked out by the fact that I didn’t come home last night and forgot to let her know.
“What? What it is it?”
“I’ve been trying to call you,” she says, her voice trembling and body shaky.
“Where’s Enzo? My phone died last night. What’s going on?”
“Enzo’s fine. He’s at his dad’s,” she says, face white as a sheet. “Aidy, I’m pregnant.”
“Wren . . .”
She releases her grip on me and backs away, falling limply into an arm chair. Her expression is still dazed.
“Are you sure? Like you’re one-hundred percent positive?” I ask.
Her lashes flutter, and her gaze flicks into mine. “Go check the bathroom. I took five tests this morning. Every single one is positive.”
I abandon my bag, letting it slip off my shoulder and down my arm, and I take a seat across from her. “Okay, so this . . . this wasn’t planned, but it’s okay because you have Chauncey and he’s amazing and he’ll be such a great father. Does he know yet?”
She nods, slow. “Yeah. He was here this morning when I took the tests.”
Brows furrowed, I ask, “Where’d he go?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. He just had this panicked look on his face, like he was just as shocked as I was, if not more so. And he was quiet. And then he left.”
“Jesus.” I bury my face in my hands. Heaven help Chauncey if he so much as abandons my sister.