Becoming Us (COMPLETE)

*Forty Seven*

In the days after Mandy's party, the three of us fell into a routine I loved. Every day, whoever was home from work would have their meals together and hang out watching tv, or taking care of the house, or painting.

Carey liked to watch Tre work as much as I did, just chatting and lounging while his ideas came to life and filled the canvas. One of his newest works featured an image from the night we made our relationship clear—a dark-skinned hand and strong forearm resting across a tan, muscled stomach. It was beautiful.

At night, so far, either Tre or I had gone to bed before Carey, and he'd come to our room to sleep. In the morning, I woke up with the three of us twisted together, cuddling. It was my favorite way to start the day. Even when I had to get up early to go to work, knowing I was going home to them put a bounce in my step and daydreaming between customers made my shifts fly by.

This evening had been slow with only a few families coming in for dinner, and now, coming up on closing time, Mandy and I had nothing to do but clean and prepare for tomorrow. As I stood at the counter rolling silverware into napkins, she was in the back helping Carlos fill the cold sides fridge.

As I grabbed another napkin, I realized Tre had a party at his studio tonight and he'd be home even later than me. This would be the first time Carey would be home before both of us and nerves clenched my stomach. Would he go back to his own room and close the door the way he'd done before? I hoped not.

Mandy appeared beside me, bumping my hip with hers and making me jump. "Ten minutes." She sighed. "I'm ready to get the hell out of here."

"Me too."

She smiled started rolling silverware beside me. "I know you're ready to get home to your man."

I opened my mouth to tell her I wanted to go home to both of them, but stopped myself. We hadn't told anyone yet, and there was no way Mandy would be quiet about it. She'd say something to Carey the very next time she saw him, and I wasn't sure he was ready for that.

Plus, I wasn't sure how she'd react. Would she judge us and think it was wrong or be excited for us? Rather than find out now, I said, "You're looking pretty happy yourself this week. Are you sure you didn't find yourself a man the other night?"

"I told you, I had fun, but I'm not looking to keep anyone around right now." Mandy focused a little too hard on folding the napkin in front of her.

"You know what I think?"

She huffed. "What?"

"I think you like one of those guys you were sitting by and I don't know why you won't give him a chance. You clearly had a good night together."

She smirked. "My night was better than good." She glanced at me and rolled her eyes. "Fine. There's been some texting and I might eventually make time to do it again. But I can't deal with dating or any needy-ass man shit right now."

"That's up to you." I shrugged and collected everything into boxes so we could finish for the night. "You deserve some time for yourself though, and I'm glad you had fun."

"Thanks, girl."

We locked up, carried everything to the back, and collected our stuff. "Goodnight, Carlos!" I hollered toward his office, where the light spilled into the hallway.

"Goodnight, girls," he yelled back. "It was a good day. Thank you."

***

Carey's jeep was parked in the driveway at home. The lights were off, except for the foyer light he'd left on for me. As I'd expected, he'd gone to bed. My stomach sank when I stepped inside and saw that his bedroom door was closed.