Arden hands me a bowl and grabs the other for us to bring to the twins.
“Dinner!” He calls and the babies clap their little chubby hands as we give them their bowls. In a miraculous twist of fate, only about twenty percent of the food ends up on the couch, which means an astounding eighty percent actually landed in their tummies. Arden and I took turns scarfing down our food while they ate theirs so that we all finished at the same time.
After about thirty minutes, I grab all the containers and start to clean up the kitchen while Arden sits on the couch with the twins.
“Probably too late for dessert, huh?” I ask as I head back into the living room but the sight I see causes a knot to form in my throat.
Arden is sitting on the couch, Jane in his lap and Joey laying under his arm. Both kids are sucking their thumbs with their eyes glued to the TV screen–Arden’s included. He looks completely natural sitting there like that. Also too natural.
Not wanting to disturb the peaceful moment, I turn to head back to the kitchen but Arden’s face stops me. “Don’t even think about it, brat. Get your assthp over here.”
“Your cleverly disguised curse words are getting better and better,” I say as I head toward the couch and take the empty seat. Immediately, Joey crawls his way over to me and curls himself onto my lap. I pull him in close, cuddling into him, taking in his baby scent.
“Did you just sniff that child?”
“Oh my god, how do you always ruin every good moment that’s ever existed?”
Arden chuckles. “Every good moment ever?”
I huff. “Yes. It’s actually quite a feat, I’m impressed.”
“And I live to impress you, brat.”
“I know,” I scoff but I can’t help the way it turns into a genuine smile. A smile that keeps creeping onto my face when I’m around a certain best friend’s older brother.
My eyes droop, threatening to close when a knock sounds on the door. Joey is passed out on my lap and I carefully shuffle him over toward Arden and Jane’s sleeping forms so I can open the door.
“Hi!” Dr. Wilson cheers from the doorway and I quickly shush her. “Sorry, hi,” she whispers. “How did it go?”
I open the door wider, giving her a view of the entire living room which houses her sleeping twins and my sleeping fake boyfriend, all cuddly and adorable. Dr. Wilson grins widely. She enters the apartment and her husband follows so they can both grab one kid each.
Quietly, without waking any of the sleeping souls, Dr. Wilson scoops up Joey and her husband is able to extract Jane’s sleepy grip from around Arden’s arm. He doesn’t stir so they head back toward the door and whisper their goodbyes, promising to venmo me for the hours I spent with the twins.
I close the door gently behind them and tiptoe back into the living room. Sitting back on the couch, I settle into a comfortable spot, sneaking a peek over at Arden.He really is gorgeous. Looking super peaceful, too. Oh well.
“Oh my god! Where are the twins!” I scream at the top of my lungs and Arden jumps up from his seat. He looks around himself to see if any hiding toddlers are there and gives me a worried look when he comes up empty.
I can’t even keep up the charade for longer than three seconds. Immediately, I fall into a fit of giggles, in between which I’m able to get out the fact that their parents came to pick them up.
“You are pure fucking evil, Danika Freeman,” Arden fumes from above me. “You think it’s funny to trick me? You think you can just get away with that?”
I’m still laughing when Arden grabs the couch pillow and smacks me in the back of the head. My laughter immediately stops. “You did not.”
Arden smirks, holding the pillow in front of him now as a shield. “I did.” His expression is playful like he’s ready to tussle. Oh, I’ll tussle.
Grabbing the pillow from behind my back, I whack Arden in the leg and head in quick succession. I don’t even know what happens next. I’m holding the pillow in front of my face to guard me in between throwing hits and Arden is doing the same. At some point, the pillow slips from Arden’s hands and he tries to grab mine from my arms.
I’m not letting go of it that easily though and as I pull it back from him, Arden comes along with it, his body now hovering over mine. His eyes wide. His lips inches from mine.
And I move without thinking.
Reaching up, I connect Arden’s lips to mine. It’s a quick kiss. A kiss that we’re not sure we should be doing but we’re doing it anyway. A kiss eerily similar to one we shared last year but this time, the situation doesn’t be more different. Arden’s lips soften for mine but only briefly.
As if coming to his senses, he leans back away from the kiss. Looking back and forth between my eyes, he analyzes me for a few seconds before seeming to come to a conclusion in his own mind.
“Yeah, fuck it.” Arden moves with a swiftness I wasn’t expecting, capturing my head in his hands, his lips urging mine to open for him. And they do, easily.
I’m not thinking about the consequences. Right now, all I’m thinking about is those little breaths he’s letting out as his tongue slips over mine. He bites my bottom lip and I have to hold in the moan that threatens to escape.