"Hannah, let me call you back." Janet broke her playful stare at Eddie to put her cell back on the table and began to work her charm. With her elbows on the table, she rested her chin on the tops of her hands, fluttered her eyes towards his direction and sweetly said, "Eddie…"
He wasn't stupid, he knew she wanted something; whenever she got all sweet and innocent like that, that usually meant she had an idea… and that smile. How could he ever say no to it?! It was just too cute. With a mouth full of pancakes he mustered out, "What…"
She sat up straight, flipped her hair behind her shoulders and got all confident. "Okay, here's the thing. Hannah's babysitter bailed on her for tonight and we, including Pizza Girl, were really looking forward to just hanging out, letting loose, you know- girls being girls in a bar! And I know you and Phil have hot plans for tonight but-"
Physical Phil jumped in excitedly saying, "We could watch Sam! God I haven't seen that kid forever, hey, he could spend the night too!" Eddie glared at him and noticed Pizza Girl was impatiently awaiting an answer even more so than Janet.
He turned towards her and replied, "J- you know I like Sam, but it's a Saturday night! Don't take this the wrong way but I don't wanna spend it staying inside not able to drink because there is a 10 year old running around the house. Look, you and Pizza Girl are already here, both of you have the day off… why don't we just all hang out tonight? Since you didn't get here till late last night because of work, we all didn't get a chance to enjoy each other's company. It could be fun!"
"'Enjoy each other's company?' When did you get all proper? Whatever, anyway, we already planned tonight out, and not that I don't love being with you babe, but I really love doing shots with Hannah too!"
"Oh I know! I've seen "The Ridge Girls Gone Wild" parts one, two, and three before! Phil even saw part one, and I think two…right Phiz?"
"Yup!"
Mortified Janet defended herself, "Okay, we don't need to tell Pizza Girl what happens at our late night summer party's. She might not want to stick around here if she knew the truth…" Hannah and Janet had a reputation of enjoying their summer vacations a little too much in the Ridge. But in a town that small, creative minds can be your worst enemy. The gang all agreed to keep it under wraps for Sam's sake, but they all knew the girls could out drink the guys if the time was right. And let's just say, they are the smartest drunks you've ever seen!
Pizza girl chimed in, "Maybe I'll hear about it a little later down the road, but for now, a girls night sounds amazing! Eddie we can all hang next weekend or something. We could all make dinner together and watch a movie! Please Eddie…"
"Come on big guy, I can still make my pasta and we can hit up the Wii with Sam. Does he have one Janet?"
"Nope, he doesn't. But I'm sure he'd love it! Hannah won't get him one because she knows he would be plastered in front of the TV if she did; he already is horrible with his video games."
Janet, Pizza Girl and Physical Phil were all gleaming at Eddie with hopeful faces urging him to agree. After a few moments Eddie sighed and caved in. "Oaky, we will watch Sam tonight and he can sleep over."
A "Yay" came about all of them in unison and Janet leaned over the table and laid a big wet one on his cheek.
"But I'm telling you J, you're missing out on Supreme Combat Showdown night!"
Pizza Girl quickly said, "No, you're not. Free drinks at a bar are so much better!" They all laughed together at the table and finished their first servings of pancakes and coffee.
When Phil and Pizza Girl went to the kitchen to make another batch of pancakes, Janet took this opportunity to show her gratitude towards Eddie. She scooted her chair closer to his, rested her left hand on his muscular leg and played with his sexy, messed up morning hair with her right. "Thank you for doing this. I know you will be great with Sam, you always are. I'll tell Hannah to make sure he brings some things to do just in case. And Pizza Girl and I will probably spend the night at Hannah's, so if you drop Sam off in the morning you can still see the aftermath of "The Ridge Girls Gone Wild" part four!"
They both let out a little laugh while Eddie put his right hand on hers that was on his leg and fidgeted with her bracelet he gave her for Christmas. She never took it off, not even in the shower, which he warned her about because he didn't want it to break. But she wouldn't hear of it; the bracelet was a part of her now. Just like he was a part of her.
He looked into her flushed face, still from the events that happened the previous night, and gave her a hard, hot kiss. Janet noticed how amazingly sweet his lips tasted; maple syrup will do that to you! She pushed his head into her lips to let him know she didn't want him to stop. When he finally broke the kiss, they stayed close enough to each other's face to smell the coffee on their breathe. Eddie quietly broke the silence saying, "The only thing I want to see tomorrow is you in my shirt again, that is after I see you with no shirt on."
That's when Phil and Pizza Girl came back in the room carrying a mountain of pancakes and the coffee pot. Obviously Eddie said that loud enough for them to hear because Phil surprised them with, "As long as you don't see her with no shirt on here! Unlike you two, some people actually like to get some shut eye every once and a while…" Eddie and Janet jumped back into their own seats; humiliated about what just happened, Janet's jaw dropped, and Eddie was speechless! They couldn't deny that they had a few wild nights in Eddie's room, but didn't think that it kept Phil up.
"Sweetie, I thought we agreed to just let it go…" Pizza Girl could tell what he said made the two of them uncomfortable.
"But this was your first time, I've had many restless nights the past month!"
Eddie cleared his throat, took Janet's hand once more and looked right at Phil. "Janet and I have nothing to hide. If we get a little too loud, all you have to do is pound on the wall or something. Doesn't mean we will stop, we just won't be so loud." It was true, Eddie could care less if people heard them or knew that he and Janet were sleeping together. All the more power to them! He was never shy about his sex life with the other women and wasn't about to be with Janet.
Janet on the other hand did mind when people listened to them having sex. Being intimate with her boyfriend is supposed to be… well, intimate! She didn't care if people found out they were sleeping together, (it was kinda a given considering they have been going out so long) it actually made her more confident and feel better about herself. Because, as shallow as it may seem, he was Eddie Latekka; formally known as the town's man whore. She was the girl who got him to settle down for the first time in, forever, and people talked! She didn't mind the second glances while walking down the street, or when she was asked at Sully's if it was true that she was going out with him. She liked the positive attention for once!
In a soft voice Janet responded saying, "Sorry guys, we will go to my house next time."
"No! We will go wherever we want J! Just because Phiz here is a light sleeper, it should not affect our sex life." A little more calmly Eddie looked directly at her and genuinely smiled saying, "If I want to be with you, I'm ganna be with you. I don't care where we are or who might hear us. It's just you and me J, always."
How could she not be flattered? In that moment, her reaction changed from being mortified to confidently proud; he made her feel so comfortable with anything that involved the two of them. She didn't know what to say, so she just nodded. It was enough for him to know she understood.
"Okay then. Now that that's settled, want more pancakes J?" She nodded again and before he could reach for the plate, she kissed him tenderly on the lips. Yup, still sweet.
"Leave the casual acts of affection when we aren't all eating together, please!"
"Shut up Phiz! You can kiss your girl too if you want." Phil rolled his eyes and before he knew it, Pizza Girl laid one on him too.
Once the make out session stopped, Eddie served everyone their second helping of pancakes, then grabbed the syrup and on Janet's plate intertwined "E 3 J". It was so endearing; she didn't want to eat it!
Phil saw what Eddie wrote with the syrup and sneered, "Wow, how creative." Janet heard him but she just continued to stare at her plate, for what seemed like eternity.
"Aren't you ganna eat that?"
"Eventually Pizza Girl, when the syrup merges into one big blob on my pancake!" She beamed the rest of breakfast and Eddie couldn't help but feel responsible.
TBC.