The Fourth Time Charm: A Friends to Lovers Romance

by Maya Hughes

  “You were shouting at me from the bathroom. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

  “Oh yeah.” I dismounted him and fell into my seat. “Roll down the windows, it looks like we were recreating that scene from Titanic in here.”

  He turned on the car and rolled them down.

  A shiver shot through me and I flipped down the visor to check myself in the mirror. “What the hell did you do to my hair?”

  I rummaged through my purse for a brush and hair tie.

  “You weren’t complaining when I was massaging your scalp.”

  “Well, I’m complaining now. I’ll have to braid it. It looks like I was stuck in a category 5 hurricane.”

  “Let me do it. Turn sideways.”

  With a hint of side eye, I did as he asked and faced the passenger side door.

  His fingers worked into my hair from the front of my head down to the nape of my neck, separating the stands. Working with quick hands, he braided one side while I braided the other.

  I checked it in the mirror and tied off the ends with a hair tie. “You’ve gotten a lot better at this since the first time I saw Quinn after your handiwork.”

  “How many other fifteen-year-old guys would even attempt to braid an eleven-year-old’s hair?”

  Resting my head against the head rest, I looked to the one guy who’d been a fixture in my life since one of the worst years I’d ever lived through. He’d shown up in my life at the exact moment I’d needed him—when my dad left. “None.”

  The engine turned over and he pulled out of the dead end. “What did you say?” He glanced over.

  “Nothing. Thanks for helping with my hair.”

  “Showing up at my parents’ place with second base hair probably would’ve raised a few questions.” The kind any concerned and loving parent would ask. The kind mine never had. Going to LJ’s house was a knife that cut both ways. It was a window into a family I loved with my whole heart, and one I’d always felt I’d be on the outside of.

  He pulled in behind Jill’s burgundy sedan in the driveway. The two-story Cape Cod had white framed windows and gray siding. They’d had to repaint the garage after LJ and I had thought we were master sneaks after finding a can of red spray paint. Too bad we’d executed our plan by writing our names.

  LJ looked up at the wreath hanging on the front door and the light above it flicked on. All the lights were on, and Halloween decorations were covering the lawn. Spider webs stretched along the bushes in front of the walkway to the front door.

  He took my hand, squeezing it before hopping out.

  He made it halfway in front of the car before I flung my door open and stuck out my tongue.

  His hands flew into the air in defeat. “You’re such a pain in the ass.”

  “Some things will never change.”

  Our fingers brushed as we walked side-by-side, sending tingles rushing through my body. The edges of my mouth twitched.

  His pinkie finger hooked mine one paving stone from the front steps.

  “Stop it.”

  “What?” His look of mock surprise and outrage turned my twitchy, twinkle of a smile into full-blown laughter.

  I shoved him away and rushed for the door.

  Jill pushed it open and shook her head with her gaze shooting upward. “You two. I swear, sometimes I’m tempted to check your birth certificates to double check that you’re twenty-two and not ten.”

  “Happy birthday, Mom.” He held out the blue and yellow gift wrapped box with curly ribbons stuck to the front and kissed her on the cheek.

  She swatted his shoulder and he walked inside.

  “Happy birthday, Jill.”

  Her arms wrapped around me and she squeezed me tight. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.”

  Her motherly kind of approval hit me like a thud in the center of my chest.

  I squeezed her even tighter and inhaled her classic, floral perfume.

  She led me inside. “LJ told us about Venice.”

  Two years would be time away from them. No more birthday dinners. They might not even be living in this house anymore if LJ got his way. He wanted to upgrade them to a brand-new house. Maybe a brand-new state. Possibly a brand-new life.

  The living room and dining room were on either side of the small entrance hall big enough for a coat closet and a shoe rack. The kitchen was straight ahead behind the squeaky swinging door, and from the smells wafting out, Charlie had the birthday dinner special almost ready to come out of the oven.

  Birthdays in the Lewis Household were the warm, family affairs that I’d always hoped I’d have for myself someday.

  A cork popped. Jill yelped and grabbed onto my arm. “Charlie, I swear you’re trying to give me a heart attack.”

  “I told you I was going to open the champagne as soon as they got here.” He stood with a bottle wrapped in a towel, dripping the bubbly onto the hardwood floor.

  Her hands flew into the air. “I thought you meant once we sat at the table or after LJ and Marisa had at least taken their coats off.”

  “Quinn’s still in the shower, so we don’t have to worry about her badgering us for a sip if we finish this off quickly.”

  LJ shrugged his coat off and dumped it over the back of the couch. He went into the dining room and picked up two of the flutes, holding them out so Charlie could fill them. And fill them he did, waiting for the bubbles to settle before filling them almost to the top.

  “Jill.” Charlie held out a glass to her and held out his empty hand to me. “I’ll trade you. One coat for a glass.”

  “Unlike some people.” A pointed stare in LJ’s direction, I laughed. “I know where the coat closet is.” I unbuttoned my coat and opened the closet behind me, putting it on a hanger and taking the glass from him.

  “At least one of you does.” Jill sipped from her glass.

  Charlie stepped beside Jill and wrapped his arm around her. “A toast, to the most wonderful wife a guy could have. The kind who will tell me how stupid I look in a new pair of pants, but it doesn’t stop her from squeezing my butt when I’m cooking her birthday meal.”

  LJ and I groaned.

  The two of them looked at us in mock shock. “To Jill on her 49th birthday.” He lifted his glass higher in the air.

  “To Mom.”

  “To Jill.”

  We all clinked glasses and sipped our bubbly. Sometimes I felt like I was waiting for the studio audience applause when I experienced moments like this in their house. Even though I’d been invited and had witnessed them so many times over the years, I felt like an outsider looking in and trying to figure out how exactly this all worked. How could two people still be in love after all those years together?

  Walking to the living room, I grabbed LJ’s coat and hung it up beside mine. It was always easier to keep things tidy at LJ’s. Everything had a place here, and I’d never wanted to be a burden. I was always ready to help out whenever I could.

  “Way to show me up, Marisa.” LJ called out from the dining room where he set out the plates and forks.

  I finished my glass and set it down on the dining room table.

  A thundering set of footsteps pounded on the stairs. “Marisa!” Quinn turned the corner and flung her arms around my neck, nearly knocking me over. She was almost as tall as LJ, which meant she had a solid inch-and-a-half on me even though she was four years younger.

  “Quinn the Fin!”

  It was a nickname she’d earned by spending most summers in the town pool. I’d take her when Jill and Charlie were at the hospital and LJ had football practice. I swear, one summer my nose hairs had been burned off from all the chlorine.

  “Did I miss the toast?” Her shoulders sagged when she spotted the empty champagne glasses. “You guys took forever to get here, I was worried you were pulled off somewhere painting each other’s nails or something.”

  A fork clattered onto a plate in the dining room. I cringed. He was going to get us caught. Just what I needed, an awkward not-my
-family dinner where we were grilled about what was going on between us.

  She let go of me and grinned, her blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

  LJ called out from the dining room. “Doesn’t your big brother get a hug, Quinn the Fin?”

  Peering around me, she narrowed her gaze. “I told you not to call me that.”

  A sound of mock betrayal cut through the room.

  I covered my laugh with a cough.

  “What the hell, I’m your brother.”

  “Only by birth.” She folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes.

  “I see you’re ready for college, huh?” I hooked my arm through hers. “Come on, cut him some slack. He was so excited to come and see you.”

  “Could’ve fooled me. He hasn’t been home in months.” Under all the surly teenage sass was a hint of sadness. As much crap as she gave him, she loved him. They all did. They loved each other, which was why LJ worked so hard to make sure they didn’t have to worry about money.

  I got it. I absolutely got it.

  “I’ve barely seen him, and I live with him. The season’s been crazy. You know how it goes.”

  With a sullen nod, she dropped my arm and walked over to LJ and hugged him tight. “I missed you, doofus.”

  He smiled at me over her shoulder before initiating a bear hug. “I missed you too.”

  Squirming, she shoved him away. “You’re the absolute worst.”

  “I tell him that all the time.”

  Leaving them behind, I went into the kitchen. The swinging door creaked.

  Jill and Charlie jumped apart both facing the stove. It looked like someone was getting the birthday smooches in early.

  I didn’t try to hide my smile. Apparently, LJ and I weren’t the only ones to have our make out session interrupted. It was awesome that after twenty-five years of marriage they were still so into one another. It proved that not all relationships ended in a raging inferno. Most, but not all.

  “Can I help?”

  “No!” They shouted in stereo so loudly, my feet came three feet off the floor. I should’ve anticipated this reaction, even from LJ’s parents.

  Charlie untied the apron from around his waist. “How about…” He scrubbed his hand over his chin. “What about the…”

  Jill added the lobster into the pot of mac and cheese. “She could scoop the cookie dough.”

  He leaned in and whispered into her ear.

  A shudder ripped through her. “I’d blocked that from my memory. What about the…drinks? She could get out the wine.”

  My number one specialty. I’d never be like LJ’s parents, hanging out in the kitchen making meals with someone. As much as I tried, it usually ended with an inedible monstrosity.

  “Of course!” With a kiss planted on her cheek, he turned to me. “You know where the corkscrew is. The birthday girl will have white. I’ll have red. Find out what LJ would like and serve up whichever you’d prefer for you. Also keep an eye on Quinn—she will swipe your glass.”

  In this house, people cared that you’d tried to take a sip of wine. She was a lucky kid to be surrounded by so much love. I grabbed the corkscrew and opened the two bottles.

  They went back to their flirty low whispers.

  I stepped out, feeling like I was intruding on their quiet, celebratory moment.

  LJ wandered into the dining room and walked up behind me. We faced the doorway.

  His breath tickled the hairs on the back of my neck. “We need to finish what we started in the car.”

  A shiver raced through my body. I dropped my chin to my shoulder. “Not for the next couple hours.”

  His finger traced down the curve of my elbow.

  I jolted and splashed some white wine onto the table. “Shit.”

  Reaching for the stack of napkins at the center of the table, I yelped when LJ slid his hand into my back pocket and squeezed my ass.

  “What are you doing?” I whisper shouted, gaze darting to the dining room archway. My heart triple beat. If anyone walked in here, there would be questions—lots of questions.

  “Thinking about you.” He said it so easy breezy, with a wolfish grin.

  I stifled my smile, shoved him away, and wiped up the spill. “I swear, I’m sitting on the other side of the table.”

  He stepped back with a troublemaker tilt to his lips.

  A rushing flush crept up the back of my neck, heating it inch by inch as I imagined his lips everywhere his eyes roamed.

  Charlie came in with the giant platter of brisket.

  Jill carried the mac & cheese, and Quinn had the greens and rolls.

  I finished filling the glasses, including Quinn’s with lemonade, which she went into a full pout over. Scooting my chair in, I took a sip from my glass, trying to calm my tension after almost getting caught.

  And then the double cross. Quinn popped up from her seat. “I’ll sit next to Mom, you sit next to LJ since you two will be bickering the whole time and I’ll be caught in the crosshairs. LJ, switch with me.”

  My glare intensified at his triumphant smile.

  “I guess I’ll do it for you, Quinn. Don’t forget this.”

  He slid into his chair and I promised a world of hurt if he tried anything while we were at the dinner table. Or maybe I’d have to make a preemptive strike.

  Quinn launched into her college application breakdown. Five art schools spread out all over the country. There was an exchange of glances between LJ, Jill and Charlie while she showed me some of the new work she’d added to her portfolio. It wasn’t just paintings; she had some breathtaking multimedia work. Her art aspirations were well placed and well deserved. The tuition for RISD was astronomical, and I knew it all hung on LJ’s career prospects.

  She’d make it, and so would he.

  Other than a few failed footsie moments, dinner was uneventful. It was full of laughter, jokes, amazing food, and three of my favorite people in the world—scratch that. My favorite people.

  We donned our construction paper crowns and sang Happy Birthday way too loudly and with tons of extra flair.

  Jill blew out the candles on her cupcake and then we all dove in for the Lewis family traditional warm M&M chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream. It was an absolute mess. The melting ice cream dripped down the side of my hand.

  I licked it off and caught LJ’s eye.

  He looked back at me with an intensity so sharp I stopped breathing.

  “Get the girl some napkins.”

  Jill’s laughter-filled words snapped me out of the tingling tease tiptoeing down my spine.

  We finished up our dessert and grabbed our coats. The three non-departing members of the Lewis family hugged me tight and LJ’s dad hugged me last.

  “Thank you for making it possible for me to be here today.”

  My throat closed up and the burn built in the back of my nose.

  He rubbed my back and gave me an extra squeeze before letting go.

  At the bottom of the concrete steps, I looked back at the house that held so many happy memories for me. So many times growing up, I’d wished and prayed I could have a family just like theirs someday.

  LJ’s hand brushed against mine, tugging me toward the car. He dropped it after a couple steps and walked around his car, opening my door for me.

  Maybe keeping this all quiet was for the best. At least when it ended I might still be welcomed into this place that had become my second home—hell, my only true home.

  18

  LJ

  Marisa was quiet on the drive back, her arm propped up on the window. She handed me the money for the toll and stared out at the water as we passed over the bridge back into the city.

  “What did my dad say to you?”

  She jumped. “Nothing. Just thanking me for coming and dragging you along.” Her eyes twinkled with subdued amusement.

  I loved how easily she fit in with my family. How easily she’d always slotted in. Over the summer, when she wasn’t here, he
r absence had been palpable. It had felt weird. But we’d have to get used to it. She’d be gone for two whole years. The thought lent a bittersweetness to her accomplishment.

  I owed more to her than I could ever repay. It wasn’t the only reason I loved her, but she’d been there for me as much as I’d been there for her. When my dad got sick junior year, I’d been all set to play in a summer league and had my scouting invites. Surgeries, chemo sessions, and trips to specialists had meant my mom and dad weren’t home much, but Marisa gave up a scholarship to a summer Paris trip to help with Quinn.

  She deserved her time in Venice more than anyone. What other sixteen-year-old would give up their summer dream to stay home and watch a twelve-year-old she wasn’t even related to? Marisa. And she’d never stopped being there for me and my family.

  “Anything else on your mind?”

  “Just thinking of payback for the ass grab right before dinner.” There was a wistful, plotting tone in her voice.

  She’d flipped the coin toss and I was jogging to the line of scrimmage ready to continue the game we’d abandoned a couple hours ago.

  Palming her ass right in my parents’ living room after deciding we should keep things low key wasn’t my best idea in the world, but watching her and knowing I could get close to her and touch her as more than a friend made it hard to resist.

  Contending with the semi that had risen to attention had been the backfire on me.

  “Wasn’t licking the ice cream off your hand my payback?” Where I’d ended up with both elbows on the table and my napkin in my lap for maximum embarrassment protection.

  “That was me not wanting to sacrifice a bit of the ice cream to a napkin. I’m greedy like that. And greedy for a repeat of last week.” She rocked her head to the side with a blood-thumping, body-tightening look.

  “As soon as I get you—” My head slammed back against the headrest. “Everyone’s probably home and I have to be at the team bus by 6:15 tomorrow morning.”

  “And then you’re gone until Monday. What about tonight?”

  “Where—”

  She glanced into my backseat. It was crammed for people sitting, let alone what I’d want to do to her. “You and your stupid two-door car.”