Kiss and Make Up (gxg)

Chapter 5

As I walked back to my SUV the next day, I was mentally slapping myself. Tortilla chips, three kinds of salsa, queso dip, avocado, tomato, onion, and cilantro for guacamole was the loot from the first store. The other bags were filled with a few bottles of Patron silver tequila, Cointreau, a bunch of limes, kosher salt, and a couple shakers to make the margaritas. Did I go a little overboard? Yeah. Was Harper going to be teasing me about it for the entire day? Of course.

Normally I would have brought a few bottles of wine and a case of beer, but this seemed like it would be more fun. And maybe Shiloh would like it. Not that it mattered of course. I would do this for any friend, not just a brand new, extremely sexy one with a great ass.

Shit, I was pathetic.

I liked Harper and Reid's house a lot more than mine. They had a nice four bedroom colonial style home, with two stories and a lovely deck out back that allowed for a nice view of the pool. They had a good sized fenced in lot for privacy, and none of the silly trappings that my house had. Every room in their house was used, and they were all decorated with love. When I was at her place, it felt like home. Mine felt like a vacation rental owned by some assholes.

I'd texted Blake that morning about selling the home, and I wasn't shocked that he said to go ahead. With our agreement, we would have been splitting the proceeds at the time of the divorce anyway, so this way we just got the money sooner, and it made sense for me to not be in a house that reminded me so much of the futility of the last decade of my life. It would be like a free therapy session to sell it and no longer have it a part of my existence.

I was immediately in a good mood when I pulled into their driveway, and I unloaded my groceries and the small overnight bag with a change of clothes and bathing suit, since there was an excellent chance that I'd be spending the night in the guest room in the basement. No, that's wrong, I knew very well I would sleep there because I'd probably drink my weight in margaritas. I never went out to bars, so the previous night was an outlier. But when I was here at Harpers house, I knew I was in a safe place, and I could trust myself to allow a few extra drinks. I'd even brought a coffee holder with Starbucks for us adults to start the day right.

I let myself into the house, we both had keys for each other's house, and walked into pandemonium. Reid was carrying food through the kitchen and out to the back deck while their kids, Trey and Eden were screaming at each other over their game controllers, and Harper looked like she was at her wit's end. But as soon as I stopped in, it was like I brought the eye of the hurricane with me.

"Oh! Thank God you're here!" Harper cried as she walked quickly over. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek, then grabbed the coffee with her name and might as well have put a funnel in her mouth and poured it in as fast as she started drinking it. "You have no idea how much I needed you!"

"Me or the coffee?" I asked with a snicker.

"Yes!" she replied, grabbing Reid's cup and putting it on the counter where he'd be sure to see it on the next trip. "You know the kids are angels when you're here."

Indeed, the kids were now looking at me with wide eyes, like I was the strict nanny or something. They were adorable, though I knew that there were days that Harper would want to run screaming from the house. Trey was four, and never grew out of the terrible twos. Eden was six and was incredibly artistic, but sometimes that meant paint or markers on walls. When I arched an eyebrow at them, they quickly whirled, and started playing together with no more arguing. I had no idea why they acted that way around me. Did I have some resting bitch face to kids? I have no idea. I'd never been strict with them or anything, so maybe it was just that they didn't know how to deal with another adult. Oh well. It worked for Harper. She would invite me over whenever she needed them to be quiet. It was worth a half hour drive to see her relax.