The knock on her front door echoes throughout her apartment and Tinley can’t contain her excitement. An entire weekend of alone time with Marek, no sneaking around at all—they can just be together and act like they’re in a normal relationship for once. Maybe she’ll actually convince him that it’ll be fine to tell Dakota about them dating. It’s not like she’s going to spill the beans to anyone at work. She’s her roommate, and Tinley trusts her with everything. They’re practically sisters.
With one last glance in the mirror, she heads out to answer the door. It’s so weird—she was never the kind of girl who got excited and would primp before a guy came over. She runs quietly so he can’t hear her feet pounding on the hardwood then straightens her shirt before opening the door.
“Hey.”
She leans against the doorjamb and immediately undresses him with her eyes. Licking her lips, she can’t help but feel excited by the idea of weekend-long marathon sex. She’s never really cared about her lack of sex life before, but now with Marek, she’s absolutely addicted. “Hi.”
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah, sorry.” She shakes her head and steps to the side so he can enter. “I’m just super nervous for some reason. I don’t know what’s going on with me.”
He enters the apartment and closes the door behind him. He drops his duffle bag on the floor next to their feet and instantly wraps his arms around her, pulling her toward him. He plants his lips down on hers, and she lets out a small sigh as she relaxes into him. His hands work their way down her backside, and he squeezes on her butt, forcing them together even closer. He runs his tongue along her bottom lip, and she immediately opens up for him. As soon as their tongues tangle, she runs her hands through his hair and moans as his arousal becomes evident on her stomach.
He pulls away and places his forehead against hers, and both of their breaths come out labored. “Better?”
Better? What’s he talking about? “Huh?” she responds in a daze, forcing herself up onto her tiptoes to continue the very hot make-out session.
“You said you were nervous, so I was distracting you from your nerves. Are you better now?”
She pulls his head down. “I’ll be much better as soon as you stop talking and put your mouth back on mine.”
He chuckles and starts to say something else in response, but Tinley beats him to it and pulls his lips back down to her own. She has every intention of using this weekend to its fullest and doesn’t want to waste a single minute with talking, at least for now.
He pushes back from her slightly, and Tinley starts to pout. “What’s the rush? We have all weekend. Have you eaten yet? Maybe we can start with some dinner?”
“Ugh, why do you always have to be so adulty about stuff? Can’t we just skip dinner and go straight to dessert?” Of course, her traitorous stomach decides to give her away and grumbles. So maybe she hasn’t eaten anything either and is ridiculously starving, but who can think about food when there’s a gorgeous man standing in front of you? Definitely not Tinley.
He chuckles and replies, “Normally I would be completely on board with that idea, but I’m actually really hungry, and it sounds like you are too, so we should probably do that first.”
“If I must feed you, I guess we’ll just start there, but as soon as we’re done eating, you’re mine.”
She makes good on her word. As soon as the last bite of food from his plate touches his mouth, she’s instantly on him. This time he doesn’t put up a fight, and she thanks the gods over and over again for bringing this man into her life.
Chapter 24
The heat from the sun instantly warms Tinley’s face as she wakes up, and the smile on her face is permanently etched there. She knows she’s not alone as the scent of Marek wraps itself around her like a warm fuzzy blanket. She stretches her arms above her head and rolls over, opening her eyes and finding that he’s already awake beside her. He’s lying on his side and has his head leaning on his hand. When she woke up yesterday morning, he was in the exact same position. “Are you going to watch me sleep every time we’re in bed together?”
“You make it sound like I’m doing something creepy. I haven’t been awake for that long, you know.”
“Sure creeper, that’s what you want me to believe. I know the truth—you’re secretly plotting my demise while I sleep.”
“Yeah, and where would that get me?”
She contemplates for a minute, dramatizing her thought process by tapping her finger against her chin. With a shrug, she replies, “I couldn’t tell you. It’s not like we’re married and there’s a life insurance policy at stake.”
He releases a laugh and looks at her like she’s crazy. “Somebody has watched one too many Lifetime movies.”
“Have you watched some of those? The storylines can get intense, and the really crazy thing is that some of them are true stories.”
“You sound like my mother right now.”
Well, that was definitely not what she expected to come out of his mouth. Her nose scrunches up, and she almost has to roll away from him. That should never be something that comes up while they’re in bed together. She’s not one for making rules for the bedroom, but that should be a given.
“You really want to talk about your mother while we’re in bed together? Just think about that for a minute.”
“Good point. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“Sounds like a solid plan—and speaking of solid plans, is little Marek happy to see me this morning?”
“I don’t know, maybe you should find out for yourself.”
He pulls her toward him for a good morning kiss, and they proceed to find out just how excited he is to see her.
“Do you have any tissues in your purse?”
Tinley never knows what she has in that thing. She always shoves stuff in there and then forgets about it later. It’s a good thing she doesn’t have Hermione’s bag, she’d probably find a way to shove everything she owns in there. She goes digging around in the bottomless pit and her hands land on an old napkin. It’s not crumbled, so good chances that it hasn’t been used before.
“Here you go.”
She passes it over to Marek, and he brings it up to his face but stops and smirks.
“So, who’s Jared? Should I be worried you’re going to be leaving me for this faceless guy? Or do you have a purse full of these things and poor Jared didn’t make the cut?”
Jared? She has no idea what he’s talking about. She reaches for the napkin and quickly snags it from his hand. Sure, enough there’s a phone number under Jared’s name. What the heck? And then it dawns on her where exactly this came from. She can’t help but laugh because this definitely isn’t a regular occurrence for her. Outside of rarely stepping foot into a bar, odds are more likely Dakota will get hit on than herself.
“That’s from the Dating in the Dark night. The waiter gave me his phone number, and I never had any intention of using it. I actually completely forgot it was in there until just now.”
She hates that their weekend is coming to a close. They just finished up the best lunch at a cute little soup shop near her apartment building, and they’ve been walking through the park since they finished. Her hands shake as they take a seat on a bench. She knows how she’s been feeling about Marek lately, but it feels too soon, and what if he doesn’t feel the same way? That’s not the kind of rejection she would be able to handle, not after everything they’ve been through already. In the short amount of time they’ve been together as a couple, she has changed so much as a person, grown so much.
Turning toward him, she blurts out, “I really want to tell you something, but I don’t want to make a fool of myself. So…I’m going to wait a little bit longer.”
He suddenly stands up and pulls her up with him. “It’s really getting late, and I should probably get going.”
“Thank you for coming over this weekend. It was absolutely perfect.”
She leans into his embrace and
holds on tight. They didn’t get a chance to talk about how they could move their relationship to the next step, but after this weekend, it’s clear that’s exactly what she wants to do. She’s tired of hiding.
Marek leans his head down and plants a gentle kiss on her cheek. He tightens his grip on her and whispers in her ear, “Tinley, I love you too.”
She squeezes him tighter and breaks down crying. Ugly tears force themselves down her face, and she can’t hold back the sobs that start racking her body. Marek leans back slightly, and his eyes go wide at the destruction she’s creating.
“Are you okay? Why are you crying?”
She barely calms herself down enough to get any words out. “I can’t believe how beautiful and perfect that was. I love you so damn much, and you just solidified my feelings with your proclamation.”
“So, these are happy tears?”
“So incredibly happy. I can’t stop them, that’s how happy I am.”
He wraps his arms back around her body and pulls her in close. She continues sobbing into his chest, and it takes her forever before she’s finally able to calm herself down. This man that she currently has herself wrapped around is her forever; she knows that now. He’s been here right under her nose this entire time, and if it weren’t for her sister and best friend pushing her, she would have never seen it. Now she can’t imagine ever living her life without him. This is the epitome of perfection.
Chapter 25
Recently, Tinley has been sucked into all the cheesy romance movies filling up her feed on Netflix. She was never a romantic movie kind of girl, but lately, she just feels in the mood for romance. Being with Marek has definitely brought out a different side of her. Plus, they keep popping up for her to watch. They might also keep showing up because she’s watching all of them, but she’s not one to question it. This latest one has her completely sucked in. A happily ever after seems pretty much impossible at this point, which means the ending is going to be over the top and epic. She gets giddy just thinking about it.
The two main characters are about to finally give in to their true feelings and share that first kiss when the front door to her apartment flies open. Tinley quickly pauses the movie and looks up as her roommate comes storming into the room. Her face is covered in tears, and her makeup is completely ruined. “Dakota are you okay? What’s wrong?”
She just solemnly shakes her head and continues toward her bedroom. What the hell could have happened at work to have her this upset? She never gets upset about anything work-related. “I don’t want to talk about it. Just drop it.”
“But—”
“No, Tinley. I said drop it.” Then she walks out of the room and slams her door.
The familiar sound of the lock clicking into place echoes down the hallway, and Tinley suddenly feels uncomfortable in her own home, almost like she’s intruding on whatever is going on with her roommate. Rather than stick around any longer, she picks up her phone and sends off a quick text to Marek. Maybe they can get together.
Me: Hey, what are you up to? Dakota just got home from work and she’s acting super weird. I’d rather not be here right now. Do you care if I come over?
As soon as Tinley sends off the text, she contemplates what she just said. She and Marek haven’t been together for all that long, but it’s still kind of weird that she’s never been to his place before. He’s always coming to her instead. A few seconds later, her phone lights up with a notification, and she instantly feels let down.
Marek: Sorry, it’s not a good time. Can we talk later?
Me: Yeah, sure.
She gets up from the couch and considers going into the kitchen to whip up a batch of cupcakes, but then she pauses. The old Tinley would make cupcakes every time she was bored, sad, or even hungry, but the new Tinley does not need someone else to keep her company to be happy. Instead, she decides she needs to go out and do something for herself for a change. Her hair and makeup are still fixed up from when she was at work earlier, but the yoga pants she currently has on won’t cut it.
When she comes back out into the living room, she’s pleasantly surprised to find Dakota standing there digging around in her purse. Her makeup is completely freshened up, and she’s swapped out her flats for heeled boots and her T-shirt for a ruffled blouse.
“Dakota, where are you going?”
“Out. I need to get completely shitfaced. Are you coming or staying?”
She doesn’t need someone to keep her company, but going to the bar with Dakota will definitely be a lot more fun than going by herself. Besides, it definitely seems like she could use a good cheering up, and hopefully, she’ll tell her what the heck happened in the hour between Tinley leaving work and Dakota getting off for the day. And maybe she can finally figure out what she’s been hiding. Even after the mysterious trip she took, Dakota has been completely quiet about what she’s been doing on her laptop every night. Wordlessly, Tinley grabs her purse and keys and leads the way downstairs. As they head down, she pulls up the Uber app on her phone. It’s sounding like it’s going to be a long night, and she has a feeling neither one of them are going to be okay to drive after it’s all over with.
Tinley lucked out that the password was exactly the same as last time. She figured she had a fifty-fifty chance that they constantly change it or keep it the same. Lucky for her, they don’t change it, so it’s not so secret after all—which reminds her, she never did get a chance to ask Marek why he didn’t tell her the password to get in in the first place. It’s possible that it didn’t cross his mind because he doesn’t have to use it when he comes here.
They step foot into the darkened room, and Dakota’s eyebrows go up as she takes everything in. Tinley isn’t nervous this time like she was before, so she’s able to appreciate the atmosphere alongside her roommate, including the giant clawfoot tub in the middle of the room. How did she miss that last time?
“So, how did you find out about this place anyway?”
It seemed like a good idea to bring Dakota here, but now Tinley is seriously questioning her own judgment. Of course, her friend would want to know how she found out about the place. It’s not like Tinley goes barhopping or trolls the internet looking for hip new places to go to. No, instead she spends most nights at home with a glass of wine, a cupcake, and Netflix. She’s more yoga pants than high heels, that’s for sure. She pretends like she doesn’t hear her roommate’s question and instead drags her off toward the bar so they can start drinking immediately; hopefully, Dakota will start spilling her secrets rather than the other way around.
“What do you feel like drinking? Should I get a menu from the bartender or do you know what you’re in the mood for?”
“Alcohol. I don’t care what’s in it, I just need alcohol and a lot of it.”
Okay, so it’s going to be one of those nights. Tinley motions for the bartender to come over so she can place an order.
“What can I get started for you ladies?”
She can only remember the name of one drink from last time. She didn’t get a chance to try it, but it sounded delicious. So, she orders those to start off with. “We’ll each start with a Giggle Water, and if you could bring us a menu as well, that would be great.” She motions to her roommate and says, “This one has no idea what she wants to drink but plans to drink a lot of it. She’s upset about something but won’t tell me what it is. I’m hoping some liquid courage will help loosen up those lips.”
Dakota starts laughing as she takes a seat at the bar and looks up at all the liquor bottles lining the wall behind the bartender. “What the hell is a Giggle Water?”
“Just trust me, you’ll like it.”
Famous last words right there.
Chapter 26
Tinley yelps out in pain as she rolls over in bed. Never ever again is she agreeing to go out with Dakota to a bar. All that leads to is mistakes and hangovers—awful, horrible hangovers that are excruciatingly painful. On the upside, she’s in her own bed, so no walk of shame,
and she’s in love with an amazing man, so no awkward morning conversation with a one-night stand. Good thing for silver linings and all that, but what she can’t get behind is the sun blaring through her blinds. She definitely needs to invest in some blackout curtains.
She flops out flat on her back and assesses the damage done to her body because something is definitely wrong. Starting at the bottom and working her way up, she wiggles one foot and then starts with the other but screams out a list of expletives. The pain radiates from her ankle all the way up her leg, and she curses her roommate and her need to get drunk last night. It’s apparent that they both got way more than they bargained for.
Her bedroom door flies open, and Dakota comes charging in. “What’s going on? Why did you scream?”
She attempts to sit up but loses all strength and flails back down onto the bed. “What the hell happened last night and what is wrong with my ankle?”
Tilting her head to the side, her roommate looks at her in confusion and then steps toward the bed. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She lifts the comforter on the bottom half of her body and screams out, “Holy shit! What the hell did you do to your ankle?”
“What are you talking—oh!” Sitting up, she pulls her covers all the way off and looks at the offending ankle. It’s a rainbow of black, blue, and purple and has swollen up to twice its size. “Shit, Dakota. That doesn’t look good at all.”
“You’re right. I’m going to go change my clothes, and we’re going to the hospital.” She picks up a pair of sweatpants and slippers and throws them at Tinley. “Here, maneuver these on and I’ll be right back. We can piece together what happened last night on the way there.”
“Fuck my life.” She reaches for her phone on her nightstand to send a quick text to Marek and finds a few missed texts and one missed call from him.
Dating in the Dark (Dating Trilogy Book 1) Page 12
