Keeping Her Love

by Tiger Hill

  “Want to go for a little ride?” Rhett asked as he opened his door.

  “Always,” Tula returned.

  Rhett fired up the engine and a sweet purr emerged. They drove off into the night, not sure of where they were going, and not caring. Leaving the quaint suburb in Davis, they headed for the highway, going north on 80. Whether to Sacramento or Tahoe, they had no idea how far they would venture that night.

  “So what’s the deal with your brother?” Asked Rhett without wasting any time to pad the question.

  “My brother?” Asked Tula innocently.

  “Yeah. It seems like she has a problem with me or something. I don’t even know where it’s coming from. Is he just like that?”

  Tula shrugged. “I don’t know what’s up with him lately. We were always the best of friends growing up. Maybe it’s just a bit of tough love, you know? He’s probably ribbing you because he wants to know what kind of guy you are. My parents are easy with their love, but Max needs a little confirmation that you aren’t a creep.”

  “He acts like a creep to see if I will act like a creep?”

  Tula shrugged again. “I don’t know, to be honest. This is just a guess based on my psychological identical twin powers. I could talk to him about it if you want.”

  “No, no,” Rhett said with a little wave. “I guess that explanation is good enough.”

  So he wants me to gain his respect, huh? He thought as he stared ahead at the freeway. Fair enough, if that’s his game. Maybe I could try to make something happen to get on his good side. If he keeps acting like a prick to me, though, I’m going to end up writing him off.

  “I guess I can’t ask if he’s been like this with other guys, since I’m your first boyfriend,” said Rhett.

  “Yeah, true,” Tula responded. “And my favorite boyfriend so far.”

  Rhett sent her a little grin. “What an honor.”

  Tula’s hand slipped on Rhett’s thigh. It wasn’t the most erotic grab that Tula had slipped, especially compared to where she had grabbed earlier that night. Tula’s soft hand rubbed softly at the top of Rhett’s firm muscle, as if she were doing so thoughtfully.

  “How goes it at the bakery?” Rhett asked.

  “Same as always. I did invent a fun new pastry, though—a salty caramel tart. I decorated parts of it with caramel popcorn. It’s pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. Even the vegan one is pretty good.”

  “Sounds good. It’s about time you stopped working for old man Karma, don’t you think? I love the guy, but it kills me that you’re wasting your talents on an hourly wage. That guy is making a killing off of your creativity.”

  “Well, that’s not the only reason he’s making a killing. But yes, some of the people working at the shop do admit that business picked up after I came in. And I mean, Karma has given me a raise a few times. It’s not like he’s not appreciative.”

  “Yeah, I understand. It’s just, you know, I want to see your dreams come true.”

  Tula squeezed his thigh as she turned to look briefly into his eyes. “It’ll happen. These things just take time. It costs so much to start a business, especially when I need to buy so much equipment and pay for the overhead. I mean, it’s not easy to set up a place for a reason. A person has to really want it.”

  “I’m sure Karma realizes what he’d lose if you quit and opened your own place.”

  “I wouldn’t want to directly compete with him, of course. I did learn a lot from him, and he’s always treated me well. We could move from Davis to Sacramento or something. Or even go to San Francisco.”

  Rhett felt himself internally groan. Not San Francisco. It’s impossible to find parking, and I’d be scared out of my mind that some asshole would jack my car. I can deal with Sacramento, though I would prefer Davis.

  “Well, at least you still live with your parents,” mentioned Rhett. “They seem pretty cool about you living with them for free. So I guess a couple thousand dollars to save a month is nothing to sneeze at. The amount that they want to gift you is also pretty generous.”

  “Yeah, that’s true. Everyone told me it would be lame to live with my parents, and that no guy would want to go out with me. I guess you proved them wrong.”

  “A beautiful face helps.”

  They turned to kiss one another briefly. Rhett was already becoming hard, especially since Tula’s hand had crept up higher towards his groin. It was all becoming too wonderfully uncomfortable for him—he had to pull over somewhere. He eventually—somehow— found a place around Sacramento to park the car. It was a nice overlook of the city, the beautiful lights spread out just below them. Rhett shut off the car, took a little sigh, and then turned to his girlfriend.

  Tula looked as beautiful then as the first day Rhett laid eyes on her. Tula wasn’t just a pretty face, either—her kindness and generosity of heart was really, deep down, what made Rhett fall so hard for her. Tula always went out of her way to help someone who needed it, and was always thinking of bringing something special (and often sweet) to cheer someone up when they were down. Rhett had never heard a negative word about someone else come out of Tula’s lips. That couldn’t be said of most of the people on the planet, and Rhett valued this quality very deeply.

  They joined for a soft kiss. Their lips barely touched, but that was more than enough to get their blood running and their hearts racing. Rhett put a hand through Tula’s sandy hair, pressing his lips a little harder on her. Tula’s mouth opened, allowing Rhett entrance inside of the hot interior. Rhett let out a little moan as his tongue dipped inside, probing gently at his girlfriend’s tongue.

  Tula’s hand reached up farther towards his boyfriend’s groin. Rhett groined, slightly agitated that the touch was so delicate. His own own palm reached under Tula’s skirt, and he chose to go straight for the kill: the tips of his fingers pushed aside her panties and found the soft exterior of her pussy. In a rare instance of aggression, Tula pressed Rhett’s hand on top of her, rubbing it around.

  “You sexy thing,” Rhett whispered into her ear, kissing along her neck.

  “Everything is going so well for us,” Tula responded, letting Rhett kiss her as she laid back in the leather seat. “It makes me want you.”

  I want you, too, thought Rhett. I want you in a deeper way, though. In a more permanent way.

  As Rhett kissed along Tula’s neck and down her chest, he unbuttoned the front of his blouse Tula was white and smooth beneath her clothes, completely kissable. Rhett could feel Tula tremble beneath his lips as he descended lower and lower…

  Until Tula’s phone began to ring.

  They both ignored it the first time it went off, a simple jingle that resembled the sounds of chiming bells. It killed the mood a bit, but it didn’t put such a damper on things that they felt they should stop. Their genitals were still tingling with excitement and their will to make love to each other fairly strong. When the phone went off a second time, Tula sighed aggressively and began to reach into her white purse.

  “It’s my mom,” said Tula as she looked at the screen. “Should I answer it?”

  Rhett pulled away from her, slight concern on his face. “Do you think it’s an emergency?”

  “I don’t know. She usually doesn’t call more than once if she just wants to mention something to me.”

  The phone continued to ring, and with it, their chance to make a decision.

  “Just pick up,” said Rhett. “Then we can forget about it.”

  Tula did so. “Hi, Mom? Is there something wrong…? Oh… Oh, no… That’s really not good. How did it happen? Uh huh…”

  Rhett’s eyes widened as he picked up on the concern in Tula’s face.

  Tula stayed on the line for another few minutes before announcing, “I think that we need to go back to the house right now.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  “Apparently there was a fire.”

  “What? In the house?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t cook today, I’m pretty sure, but
Mom told me that there was something of mine in the oven, and that it’s been on for a long time. If my mom hadn’t come down for a glass of water, the entire kitchen might have gone up in flames. The oven is toast, for sure. Not that my parents couldn’t afford to buy a new one, but they weren’t happy to find something of mine inside. The fire department and everything is over there right now.”

  “Wow, are you serious? But she was the one who made the roast beef today. Wouldn’t she be at fault for leaving the oven on?”

  “Well, she told me that she was positive she had shut it off. I really don’t remember anything about it, but it’s possible I left something in there.”

  “But you were with me and your family the entire time. Tiramisu doesn’t need to be cooked, does it?”

  Tula sighed, buttoning her shirt back up. Rhett couldn’t help but feel that the nails were hammered in the coffin considering the potential for a ‘happy ending’ to their evening.

  “I don’t know what happened,” mentioned Tula. “There must have been some kind of mistake that was committed by someone. My parents have home insurance, so it’s not a big deal. It probably doesn’t even matter if we find out who is at fault or not. As far as I’m concerned, it was an accident, so it doesn’t matter.”

  “It doesn’t matter that it was your sweet mother who left something in the oven, but tried to pin it on you?” Rhett suggested with a smirk.

  Tula returned a suggestive look. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? I’m sure a month from now, we’ll have all forgotten about it. For now, I guess we need to get back.”

  “Right,” Rhett responded, turning the ignition. “I suppose we’ll have to pick up where we left off some other time, huh?”

  “Yeah. Sorry about that. My mom is really flipping out right now. She can get a little antsy when stuff like this happens. One time, she actually crashed her car into a pond. Oh my god, that was really traumatic for me when she called on her cell phone! She was panicking throughout the whole thing, thinking that she was going to drown. When I told her that I had to hang up the phone to drive to her, I felt so guilty. Luckily, she had Max to talk her through it.”

  “Well, we can’t keep her waiting, can we?”

  Rhett sped through the night to get back to Tula’s house. He was being a little reckless as he drove down the highway—often surpassing a hundred miles per hour—but he figured that the built-up testosterone probably had something to do with it. Where Tula’s mother would become upset at any disturbance to her safety, Tula herself was giddy to go fast on the pavement as they passed cars and trucks. Rhett could always tell that his girlfriend was a little scared when he hit the throttle, but the way Tula screamed and laughed only encouraged Rhett to act like an obnoxious speedster.

  When they pulled up in front of Tula’s house, full of adrenaline and joy from breaking the rules of the road, a loud ‘SCREEECH’ sounded throughout the peaceful neighborhood.

  “Oh, shit!” They giggled to each other, realizing that they had probably woken up the entire neighborhood.

  A few firemen eyed them warily from their large trucks across the street. Once Rhett had gotten their attention, the men seemed to stare in wonder at the little piece of heaven that had driven in front of their eyes. The Camaro always got the attention of passersby, particularly of men who knew a priceless classic car when they saw one. Moments later, the curtains behind the large windows in Tula’s house parted. Mrs. Florian had a small scowl on her cherubic face.

  “Oh, man. I better go,” said Tula, planting a kiss on Rhett’s cheek.

  “You don’t want me to go with you at all?”

  “No, don’t bother. It’s going to be a drama-fest, I can guarantee that. You don’t want to be there. Besides, my parents probably won’t be too happy with the entrance we performed after being out after-hours. You don’t want to get yourself involved in all of this.”

  Rhett immediately felt guilty, thinking that he had perhaps let Tula’s parents down in some way by being reckless.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Tula added, forcing a smile. “We’ll talk tomorrow, okay? I’ll let you know all the gory details.”

  “If you say so.” Rhett returned the kiss on her cheek. “Talk to you tomorrow, love.”

  “Bye, darling.”

  Tula got out and went to the front door while Rhett made the drive back home. It was only around ten minutes away from his girlfriend’s neighborhood, but all the same, it seemed like a long time to get to his residence. He missed Tula the moment the woman was out of sight, the way he would have missed his left leg if it ever disappeared. Rhett wanted nothing more than to be around his lover for every hour of the day, seven days a week. He didn’t know whether it was just dumb love or something much deeper. Regardless, his dumb, young head wanted to act on his feelings.

  As he pulled into his parking spot at the apartment complex his lived at, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He pulled it open and stared at the shining silver band presented on the little pillow. There was a large round ruby mounted, Tula’s favorite gem, with small diamonds acting as a halo around the jewel. All he could do was sigh when he looked at it. It’d been two weeks since he bought it, and he felt as compelled as ever to make his engagement with Tula come true. But he hadn’t.

  Cold feet wasn’t the issue. If Rhett knew that his girlfriend would respond positively to him getting down on one knee, he would do it right away. He was simply scared that Tula would reject a proposal made so soon in the relationship.

  I want her, Rhett thought. I think about her constantly. I want her dreams to come true. I want her to open her bakery. I want to own a house with her. I want to be the person she kisses before she falls asleep, and the person she sees when she wakes up in the morning. I want to make her feel so good as a person. But I don’t want to push her away by scaring her off.

  Rhett shut the box closed.

  Soon. I’ve met her parents, so at this point, it’s just a waiting game. I don’t know if I can wait much longer, though.

  Chapter 2

  Rhett later found out that not much was discovered about the incident with the oven. Fingers were pointed for the night that the firemen were there and papers were filed with Mr. and Mrs. Florian’s insurance company. When the fancy new high-tech double oven was installed a week later, the whole problem was put down as a happy accident. Mr. Florian even jokingly suggested that they set fire to the spare room that he wanted to turn into a home gym.

  Weeks passed with little of concern occurring. Tula and Rhett continued to talk on the phone, go on dates, and fornicate in the back of Rhett’s Camaro. Rhett kept carrying around the little velvet box in his pocket for some reason. He guessed it was like a security blanket or a teddy bear to him, always reminding him that he had a special day planned in the future for he and Tula. Hiding it in his pocket had the unhappy consequence of nearly getting himself caught with it. He and Tula were making out when Tula’s hand graced over the lump in Rhett’s pants. Rhett had to feign denial delicately, not raising suspicions in Tula’s mind. Quickly inserting his tongue into Tula’s pussy helped greatly to alleviate suspicions.

  Rhett finally decided that he couldn’t take holding in the secret anymore. He invited Tula out for a weekend in Sacramento, suggesting that there might be a romantic interlude up in Tahoe. Tula agreed to it happily enough, having the weekends free, and so the date was set for the big day. But much to both of their disdain, Tula came into a bit of a hiccup a day before the trip: one of her co-workers had to call in sick for the birth of his wife’s child, and her boss needed an extra hand for a fancy brunch. Tula, being the reliable worker that she was, agreed to show up.

  “But only for a few hours,” she explained to Rhett over the phone.

  Rhett sighed, though he tried not to make his disappointment too apparent for Tula’s sake. “A few hours, and then I can pick you up?”

  “Of course! At eleven, at the latest. I’m so sorry that I had to spring
this on you. Karma is just in a really bad spot right now.”

  “No, no. Don’t blame yourself. It’s fine with me as long as we can still go together.”

  “I’m so glad that you understand! I’ll see you then, love!”

  “See you then.”

  Rhett walked into the bakery the next morning to a flurry of excitement. Every table in the warm and kooky cafe was taken by satisfied patrons, whether their eyes were glued to the glow of their laptops or their mouths were chattering back and forth with a good friend. The walls were decorated with rock and roll memorabilia from the 60s and 70s, most notably from the bands Grateful Dead and Moby Grape. The smell of the place was simply wonderful, due a lot in part to Tula’s baking skills and the natural ingredients used for the products. Rhett felt a bit out of place in the establishment, dressed in a leather jacket, sturdy blue jeans, along with carefully-greased black hair. He had nothing against vegans, free love, or old rock music, but he was certainly the odd man out that morning. Most of the time, he came in so close to sunrise that only a few old-timers were sitting in the corner reading their newspapers. In the cafe that day were a lot of young hippies and college students.

  He went to the front counter after waiting in line for a few minutes, asking the familiar cashier if Tula was around. Instead, Rhett got to hear an earful from the infamous Karma Worldpeace about how the morning was and how he felt about where his mind was in the context of the mood of the universe. Karma was a keen businessman, often able to target what it was his customers were craving while also being fair and reliable for his employees, but he certainly didn’t look the part. He often wore Birkenstocks to work, a worn-out tie-dye T-shirt, and shorts that were a bit too short by Rhett’s standards. Karma’s white hair was also often flying all over the place, probably seeming quite hospitable to the neighborhood birds.