I smirk. “Cleo’s best friend, Madeline.”
“Nooo . . . really? What’s the age difference?”
“Ten years.”
“Stop it.” Cora nudges my shoulder. “Wow, a budding romance with the youngest sister’s best friend, with a ten-year age gap? God, if that was a story, I would read it so hard.” She heads back into the apartment and I follow. “Do you think he’ll ever make a move?”
“No. There’s no way he’d cross that line, even though I think if Madeline wasn’t Cleo’s friend, he’d consider it.”
“This is incredibly fascinating to me. What’s holding him back, just that she’s Cleo’s friend?”
“I believe so. I mean, I haven’t talked to him about it, because I doubt he’d even admit to having feelings for her, but I don’t believe he’d be one to put Cleo’s friendship with Madeline at risk.”
“Makes sense.” She sighs. “Would’ve been a cute story, though.” Turning toward me, she wiggles her eyebrows. “Show me your bedroom.”
“Oh fuck, Pike!” Cora screams as she comes, her pussy clenching around my cock.
I bite down on her shoulder, grunting as I come as well, stilling my thrusting hips so her pussy does all the glorious work.
“Shit . . .” I mutter as I attempt to catch my breath and then unfold from our tangled position.
The comforter from my bed somehow ended up on the floor, and my sheets are wrapped around us, twisted and askew. Cora rolls away from me and presses her hand to her chest as we both attempt to catch our breath.
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah,” I say, my body still pulsing. “Jesus, you were loud.”
“Because I could be.” She curls against my side, her hand landing on my chest. “Not that I want you to get all cocky on me, but you’re easily the best I’ve ever had.”
I rest my hand on her thigh and kiss the top of her head. “Same, babe. Same.”
“Even better than your sex robot, Iris?”
I let out a loud laugh, not expecting that. “Yes, a thousand times better. No question.”
“Good.” She presses a kiss to my chest and props her chin on my sternum. I stare into her beautiful, grey eyes and know that the happiness I see in them is the same fucking happiness I feel right now.
I reach out and stroke her cheek with my thumb. “You’re gorgeous, Coraline.”
Her cheeks blush. “Thank you.”
“Not sure how I got so lucky, but I’m glad I did.”
“Fireball.” She winks. “Fireball and pretzels.”
“Remind me to keep those two things in stock at all times.”
She chuckles and tilts her head to the side. “So, you’re still sticking with me, then? Sticking to this marriage?”
“I have zero plans to go anywhere else. If I had it my way, I’d move you into this place and we’d be spending Saturdays bundled up and taking walks down the nicely decorated streets, hand in hand. We’d be braving the weather just to walk around the corner to the little coffee shop, where we’d spend the mornings sharing a scone and reading books. We’d go to my favorite Mediterranean restaurant every Thursday for trivia night, where we’d share a sampler, possibly sucking at every trivia question since I know nothing about American pop culture.”
“You think about that?” she asks.
“Yeah, I do. From the look on your face, I’m going to guess you don’t?”
“I’m just nervous to think about things like that. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with me.”
“Why does that sound like the clichéd beginning of a breakup?” I ask as I gently stroke up and down her back.
“It’s not. It’s the truth.”
“Can you tell me more about the truth? I mean, if you’re comfortable. Arlo said a lot of things that have me curious, but I don’t want to pry until you’re ready. Until you trust me with something that seems to be so close to your heart.”
She places her hand on my chest and then rests her chin on her hand as she draws even closer to me. “I think you’re getting pretty close to my heart, and maybe it’s time I start to share that space.”
“I would really like that,” I say softly, because it’s something I’ve never had. Iris was never warm and open. If I’m honest, I’ve often been envious of Aggie’s and Jade’s genuine transparency with each other. The trust. Joy in each other.