Plus One by Aleatha Romig

Author:Aleatha Romig [Romig, Aleatha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary
Publisher: Romig Works, LLC
Published: 2017-05-15T18:30:00+00:00

KEVIN AND SUSAN walk hand in hand up the stairs toward the house as our Uber drives away. When I start to follow, Duncan holds tight to my hand but doesn’t move. Instead, he stares up at the sky.

“What?” I ask once we’re alone.

“There are so many stars.”

“Yeah, once we get away from the city—”

His warm lips capture mine. My breathing hitches as I melt toward Duncan’s chest. When we finally break our kiss, he says, “Let’s go for a walk.”

“Okay.”

The moon is barely a sliver, leaving the sky black as space, dotted with thousands of twinkling diamonds of all sizes and clarity. Duncan leads me toward the barn, but instead of going in, we walk around to the back.

“I’ve never been as happy to see anyone as I was you in that club,” he says.

I smile. “You didn’t seem like it when you first turned toward me. You looked kind of angry.”

“I thought you were another woman hitting on me or your brother or cousin…”

My chest fills with pride that he didn’t want me to be one of those women—another woman. “I admit I was a little freaked out at what I’d find.”

Duncan leads us to two old lawn chairs leaning against the back of the barn. They look a little rusty. The night air fills with the sound of creaking as he unfolds them. “Do you think these will hold us?” he asks.

“One way to find out.” I gingerly sit on the old nylon weaving.

Duncan does the same. Other than a few stretch noises and more creaks, they seem to hold. “Why?” he asks.

“Why what?”

“Why were you freaked out?”

I shrug and look out over the field, up to the stars.

“Kimbra?”

I sigh, unsure if I should be honest or play it off about Jimmy. The seconds tick by. In the distance crickets sing and an occasional toad croaks.

Duncan reaches over and takes my hand. After a reassuring squeeze, he asks, “Were you worried about Jimmy?”

It’s my chance. I can pretend. That’s what this weekend is about, right?

Instead, I nibble my lip and make the decision to be honest. “I guess I was concerned about Jimmy. Sheila was freaking out. But that wasn’t why I was nervous.” I look down at our intertwined fingers. Duncan’s grasp is warm and sure. My gaze moves up to his eyes before I speak again. “I know this is pretend and you don’t owe me any kind of monogamy, but as I stepped into that club, I didn’t want to find you with another woman draped all over you. I didn’t want my fantasy to end, not yet.”

The starlight illuminates his chiseled chin and protruding brow. Slowly his cheeks rise in a smile as small lines form near the corners of his eyes. God, he’s so handsome. I don’t have any right to hold him back. He’s a player. It’s who he is. Asking him not to be is like asking the river to flow backward.

Duncan squeezes my hand again. “Turning and seeing you was my fantasy.

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