Under the surface

by Jaye Cox

  The bedroom looks good, Dex had come a few days earlier and painted it light purple. Purple is her favourite colour; I’m so glad it wasn’t pink. Dex has been in a weird mood and I put it down to being in the house, but he is determined to make this work. We put together her bed and book shelf, a mini table and chairs, at least the toy box came put together in one piece; and when I say we put it together, Dex mainly did everything. I sat and teased him if he’d read the instructions, the process would be easier. There is a knock at the door and Dex is halfway through putting the book shelf together.

  “Come in” he yells out. I look over my shoulder and see it’s Sam, so I tell Dex I’m going to get a head start on drawing the princess crown on Harlow’s wall. I’m taping up the wall for the frame when Sam struts into the room; the atmosphere is instantly hostile, it’s no secret we don’t like each other. I have no exact reason to hate her, except she is a bitch. Quietly she starts hanging dresses in the closet and I do my best to ignore her. Dex brings in the bed and sets it up against the wall and walks over to me and puts his arms around my waist and leans his head on my shoulder and bites my ear lobe. I try pushing him away with my ass, but that turns into a big mistake, and it just makes him hard. “Stop, I’m trying to paint.” I say with a laugh.

  “I can see that,” he says, licks my neck and I get goose bumps.

  “Did you want something - besides trying to distract me?” I ask turning slightly.

  “Yes, before you distracted me I did. Winnie is bringing Harlow by to see her room before they leave to go see my parents’.”

  Instantly I freeze; I know I have met Harlow, but it was only the once and I don’t know if I’m ready to play the girlfriend part. This is his sister and her partner; and that’s huge. Yes he has met Ty, but it’s not the same. He was friends with Ty before he even met me. “I don’t know Dex; isn’t it too soon?” I ask frowning.

  “I agree with her, and that says a lot.” Sam remarks. I hadn’t totally forgotten she was in the room, but stiffen at the sound of her interfering comment.

  “You don’t get a say.” Dex snaps at her, but I know there is more going on; I told myself I didn’t want to pry.

  “Stop worrying babe, Harlow is almost four; she won’t know any different. As for Winnie, she is being nosy and if you don’t meet her soon, she will find a way to do it anyway. Like turning up at work, or even worse at Paulie’s; I wouldn’t put it past her to even turn up at your house.”

  Sam leaves the room giving us some privacy. I give in, because if she really wants to meet me, at least it’s while I’m in jeggings and an oversized t-shirt, now covered in paint. I at least look somewhat normal, geeze why do I feel so damn self-conscious about the way I look, Dex is covered in tats.

  “You better get a move on, and bring all the furniture in before she gets here.” I say, pulling the tape from the wall. Scrounging, I find the bag of goodies I had bought earlier and in there are some plastic gems and glue in it - the finishing touches for the princess crown. Dex gets a phone call, so it’s left to Sam and I to unpack the toys; what do I know about kid’s toys? So I leave it to Sam and I make the bed and add all the pillows. Heck, I’m not sure why a kid needs this many pillows, but what do I know. Once that’s done, I roll out the rug and look around - the room looks amazing. Sam is busy setting up the doll house and the only thing left now is the book shelf, and it’s one of those cube looking ones, I go about stacking the books.

  “That’s not how you do it” Sam hisses from behind me

  “It’s a damn book shelf, not rocket science.” I say

  “Just move out of the damn way.” She says, almost knocking me over. I have had enough of the way she treats me when I have done nothing to her. She switches the books around in order of height, and adds some mini tea set on one shelf and a teddy on another.

  “What’s your problem anyway?” I say, curious and hoping she may actually tell me since Dex isn’t around. She stands and is a little shorter then I am, but not by much.

  “You, you’re my problem.” She vents.

  “What did I ever do to you, besides like Dex? You sound like a jealous ex.” I know she doesn’t like him in that way, but the dig gets a reaction and she pushes me. I was at least expecting her to do more than that.

  “Really, you want to push me, what are we twelve? Next time pull my hair and scratch me why don’t you?” I say sarcastically. That makes her step up and we’re chest to chest, neither of us wanting to back down, until we hear a door open and a little voice yelling out daddy. Both of our puffed up chests deflate.

  “This isn’t over,” she says.

  “Looking forward to it,” I say and wink at her, walking out of the room. Harlow comes full speed towards us, pulling Dex behind her. Sam is talking to two women who obviously have to be Dex’s sister and her partner. The shorter of the two comes over and she looks exactly like Dex.

  “Hi, you must be Ruby.” She says, offering me her hand and when I take it, she pulls me into a hug, “it’s so nice to meet you. My brother wouldn’t tell me anything about you, I had to hear it from Robbie.” I look at her like I have no idea who that is. “Robbie, come here,” she says in a gentle loving voice.

  Robbie comes over, she is stocky and has short hair. She is wearing a tank top and I notice her sleeve looks a lot like Dex’s work. “Robbie, this is Ruby. Ruby, this is Robbie.”

  “Nice to put a face to the name,” Robbie says.

  “You should come over for dinner, when we get back from Hell.” Winnie says. I raise an eye brow at her. “Oh my parents, they’re super religious and I’m going to burn in hell for being a lesbian; alongside Dex, for getting someone pregnant before marriage.”

  “Why go?” I say, it just slipped out and sounds way more judgemental then I had intended. “I’m sorry, that was rude.” I quickly apologise.

  “Oh don’t be silly, it’s a logical question. We are going because my father is sick and is refusing medical treatment. He has asked to see Harlow, and Dex being stubborn bastard he is, won’t go and see him. Oddly I get it, because my father was horrible to him.” she says.

  “Guilt trips also only work on you.” Robbie says.

  “I hope you’re being nice.” Dex says coming into the hallway.

  “I’m always nice,” she says. “It was great finally meeting you, and don’t forget dinner when we get back.”

  Dex looks at me and I just shrug. Harlow makes Winnie and Robbie go look at her new room, and with a lot of hugs and kisses from Dex, she is willing to leave. Sam leaves at the same time they do; she knows she can’t do anything with Dex around. We go back inside and tidy up. Dex’s mood has gone back to the same as earlier. I suggest we go back to my place so I can shower and change, since I look like a hobo covered in paint. He agrees that we do need a shower, but there is no time to go back to my place. I can’t help but think about how we both seemed to luck out in the parent department.

  Opening my eyes and adjusting them to the brightness of the sun shining through the window, Dex rolls over and his hand slides across my stomach, I instantly feel the tingle between my legs and roll my eyes at myself; we fucked for hours last night and my body still hungers for more. Waking up in someone’s arms is something that will take me some getting use to; and I’m not complaining about all the sex, because that has been a welcomed bonus. Needing coffee, I slide out from under his arm and pick up his shirt from the floor and slide it over my naked body. It’s strange walking through this house, especially since I know it’s the house he intended to live in with his wife, Amanda. I make my way to the kitchen and flick the switch and put the coffee on. Discovering where the coffee mugs are is like a four day journey, I have to open every cupboard just to find them. In my mind, the natural place for them to be is right below or above the coffee pot; but here they are all the way over in the corner, which makes no logical sense. Pulling the top draw open for a teaspoon, I notice a pile of pictures. They are of Dex and Amanda and are just sitting on
top of the cutlery. I pull them out and smile as I flick through the pictures, finding one of him sitting at his drums - he couldn’t have been older than 18, and he looks like a totally different man without all his tats. He also looks peaceful and happy; not that I have never see him happy, but there is a spark in his eyes that isn’t always there now. It makes me chuckle though, seeing how dorky he looked like as a teenager.

  “What’s so funny?” Dex asks from behind me, making me jump and almost throw the photos clear into the air.

  “This,” I say handing him the photo, “look at you, you were so vanilla.”

  “I’ll show you I’m not so vanilla anymore if you bring that ass back to the bedroom.” He says, slapping my ass.

  “You can prove it to me after coffee.” I finish making our coffees and we sit at the table, I watch Dex as he flicks through the pictures and feel bad now that I have even pulled them out; I reach across and place my hand over his wrist to try offer some comfort. He looks up and smiles and tells me about where some of the photos were taken.

  What is really strange is that it feels weird seeing him with no tattoos, “I take it most of the tattoos are from after the accident?” I ask, and he nods.

  “Yeah, I never had many tattoos until after Amanda died. My colleagues would give me shit constantly, saying ‘what tattoo artist doesn’t have tattoos?’, but I believe you should only get tattoos that truly mean something. The no tattoos only lasted until she was taken from me, after that I just didn’t care, so I got most of my body tattooed. This was mostly to numb the internal pain with a physical pain; it worked for a small amount of time, but it didn’t last.”

  “I can understand that.” I say, taking a sip of my coffee.

  “Are yours because of what happened to you?”

  “Somewhat I suppose, I wanted to feel in control of my body and I found that in tattoos. I know it sounds stupid, but for me it worked. Also a small part was a cover-up; so people would only see my tattoos and take me at face value. That way they wouldn’t see ME, because I never wanted to be that vulnerable girl again, I wanted to feel strong.”

  “Enough with the woe is me, let’s go shower.” Dex says, putting his cup in the sink. I watch as Dex walks towards the bathroom in nothing but an old pair of jocks. I tried to ask him why he still wears them when he got new ones for Christmas, but all he says is his old ones are worn in and that’s how he likes them. I can see his silhouette through the steamed up shower screen and my body instantly responds as I pull his t-shirt off and slide the shower screen open.

  “Finally, I thought you got lost,” he says, lathering his body with soap.

  “Just admiring the view,” I say, stepping under the spray of water. Dex steps up behind me so his body is flush with my back. He starts washing my body, running the loofah first down my arms and across my breasts one at a time, then working his way down. Once the soap is rinsed away, he turns me around and pushes me against the shower wall and takes my nipple in his mouth and flicks his tongue over the nipple bar I have. I groan out in pleasure when he slides two fingers inside me, his mouth moves from my nipple and slowly works his way up my neck with small nips and kisses until he reaches my mouth. He takes my lower lip and bites me, not hard enough to draw blood, just hard enough for me to like it and feel it feed my building orgasm. Then he does his finger curl thing inside me and sends me right to the edge.

  “Fuck me Dex, I need your cock inside me now.” I demand. He instantly pulls his fingers out and grabs my ass and lifts me, my legs cross around his back and our mouths move together as he steps us out of the shower. He doesn’t bother with towels or turning off the water, just walks us to his room where he throws my wet body to the bed and I know he means business; I love my sex rough, and Dex is slowly learning.

  “Turn over and hold on to the bed frame, I want to see that ass high in the air.” I don’t respond, I just do as he says. My clit is throbbing and I need release, just the thought of him buried inside me is almost enough to make me to reach my peak. Coming up behind me I feel his tongue slide onto my clit and he starts fucking me with his tongue.

  “Oh god, I need more.” I moan, and Dex slaps my ass - hard.

  “Stop talking and sit on my face.” he commands. His face slides between my legs teasingly and I lower my body; his attentions to my clit start off gentle and then his tongue flicks across it more aggressively. My body starts involuntarily moving up and down against his face, his tongue feels like it’s everywhere all at once. He must know I’m getting closer when the pace of my movements gets faster and harder. Then he takes my clit between his teeth which has me crying out in pleasure and pain. He is so quick I don’t see him move from underneath me, without warning he is behind me and his cock slams inside me, with one stroke and a slap to my thigh my orgasm rolls through my body. I can feel my muscles contracting around him and my ears are ringing from the feeling, his pace is hard and fast and I know it won’t last much longer for him, he wraps my hair around his hand and I feel the water drip down my back, my head gets yanked backwards. “I want to see those eyes while I cum.”

  Even the burn from grip he has on my hair has me turned on. With one hand on the bed frame, I use my other hand to run a finger over my clit as he aggressively thrusts. I feel him get thicker inside me and with my second orgasm. I hear him make a growl and issue a slur of holy fucks between me screaming out his name as we cum together. When he moves from behind me my knees feel like jelly and I flop down onto my stomach onto his bed. I’m so sated I could quite easily go back to sleep.

  “We,” kiss “have,” kiss “to go,” kiss “to,” kiss “work,” he says, kissing his way up my back. I roll over and he now has pants on and I’m between his legs. He leans down and gives me a quick kiss, “or we are going to be late.”

  “I will have a quick rinse off and then we can leave.”

  “Okay but make it quick, I know it takes you forever to put your face on.” He says, getting off the bed.

  “Are you coming to shower with me again?”

  “Why, I like the idea of smelling you on me all day.”

  Dex is waiting with a coffee to go when I have finished getting ready, I have my car here because I start earlier then he does, and Dex has to stop at his sisters and feed her cat before work. The drive to work from here is quicker than from mine and Jash’s place and I get in just on time. Joe is here waiting for me already and so is Jash which surprises me, he is usually always late.

  “Don’t say anything, this little freak woke me up early and made me be here.” I shake my head in amazement.

  “He is such a liar, he needed a coffee and you were not around to make it, so he said he needed to convince you and Dex to stay at you and Jash’s place from now on; even if he has to listen to you go at it like rabbits all night.” Joes says.

  “It was one night I was away, and you could have made your own damn coffee.” I say, flicking on the lights as we walk inside. Jash has been banned from coming in the shop before I get here, because last week he set the alarm off when he forgot the code and Big Moe was totally pissed.

  “The last time I made coffee I broke the damn thing, and the little shit wouldn’t make me one, let’s change the subject. Where’s Dex, he sick of you already?”

  “Feeding his sisters cat, now get to work you two, we have a busy ass day and need to count all the stock before the New Year, and I need to get orders in today.”

  With that they are both off, and I get everything set because Big Moe is coming in early today. I hear the door chime go off and see Dex stalk through, straight over to the drums and he starts playing, and playing. Good thing the shops not open for another half an hour. What in the hell happened between when we left and now, because he looks pissed off and sad. After twenty minutes he puts his sticks down and he walks over and simply says,

  “Call out when my appointment is here,” then strolls away, barely acknowledging me at all. I wasn’t aware he had an early appointment but maybe it was a
last minute thing. I brush off his attitude and put it down to Dex having a moment. Usually I would fight back, but something tells me not to push it right now. His first appointment walks in and it’s none other than Sam and Sarah, who I found out is Amanda and Romeo’s sister, so that explains why she hates me. They both look at me like I’m below them, and it takes everything I have to not say anything. Instead I ask Joe to go get Dex. I watch as Dex walks out but doesn’t look at me. Now I know something is going on that he isn’t telling me.

  The phone starts ringing and I’m pulled from my thoughts.

  “Big Moe’s House of Ink, how can I help you?”

  “Hey Ruby its Romeo is Dex around?” He asks.

  “He is busy with your sister and Sam.”

  “Oh well, I will see him at rehearsal in a few hours,” he says, and the line goes quiet.

  “Okay then, I’m going to hang up now if that’s all?”

  “How was he this morning?” He reluctantly asks.

  “He was great, until he went to Winnies and then came here.”

  “Okay, thanks. I will see you tonight at Paulie’s.” He says, and hangs up before I can ask him what the hell is going on. I feel like I’m the only one that has no idea what is going on. Sam and Sarah leave without even paying, so I presume Dex will sort that out. I’m about to go talk to him and see what has been on his mind when he comes out.

  “Cancel my appointment for this afternoon” he says, and starts walking out. I’m not putting up with this, everything was great when we woke up and now this. Relationships are hard work, and one of the reasons I never wanted to be in one.

  “Wait.” I call out.

  “What, I have places to be.” he snaps.

  “You can’t just treat me like crap and cancel your appointments all the time.” That makes him turn around and look at me, the look in his eyes is feral and I know I’m about to get an ear full.

  “I can do what I fucking like, I don’t need your permission. Do your damn job and just cancel that appointment. I will see you tonight.”