The Sweet Spot

by Ariel Ellman

  “So you’re the reason Sawyer hasn’t been home in two months,” Sebastian replied with a grin, giving Siobhan a once over and shaking his head with a laugh. “You’re a fucking piece of work Soy.” He adjusted himself and relaxed back against the couch next to Ani.

  “I better be the feckin reason she hasn’t been around,” Siobhan replied, plopping down into the overstuffed chair across from the couch.

  “Please, she knew she had me after the threesome at Bobby’s,” Sawyer snorted, plopping down onto Siobhan’s lap. “In fact, she’s practically made me her chase her down like a bitch in heat,” Sawyer complained, sticking her tongue out at Siobhan.

  “That’s a lot of shite and you know it,” Siobhan replied in disgust. “She’s a fine ting, and Jaysus she knows it too.”

  “She means I’m hot shit and full of myself,” Sawyer translated with a self-satisfied grin.

  “Can you believe the cheek on this one?” Siobhan asked Sebastian and Ani in disbelief. “And I was worried after that night at Bobby’s too. Didn’t want her to think I was a slapper. It was a one-time ting ya’ know,” she confided. “Bobby knows me from his cousin. I did a shoot in New York with her, and he knew I was in Boston that night, so he rang me up and sent me a photo of Sawyer. Bobby was talkin’ like a wet wellyboot, but she was so feckin gorgeous I went to his flat anyway.”

  “She didn’t know he wanted a threesome,” Sawyer laughed. “But we were both so into each other immediately that we decided what the fuck, we kind of owed Bobby for the hookup.”

  “Makes sense,” Sebastian grinned, and Ani hit him, shooting him a warning look.

  “Ani come into the kitchen and help me make cappuccinos for everyone,” Sawyer said to her sister, hopping off of Siobhan’s lap and heading over to the kitchen area.

  “She’s a model,” Sawyer whispered when Ani followed her.

  “No way, really?” Ani replied drily. “The six foot, 90 lb blond thing with big pouty lips that she has going on kind of gave it away.” She rolled her eyes at her sister then glanced back over at Sebastian and Siobhan, keeping her eyes on them while she passed Sawyer the milk and cups.

  “Oh leave Sebastian alone,” Sawyer cried in exasperation when she noticed Ani watching him interact with Siobhan.

  “What, he has a thing for Irish blonds and she’s the real deal,” Ani replied, giving her sister the finger.

  “Get real A,” Sawyer laughed. “You’re the only Irish blond Sebastian O’Reilly has ever had a thing for. Besides, Siobhan is a straight up lesbian, trust me. She wouldn’t let Bobby touch her. Boys are not her thing.”

  Ani ignored her sister and continued to watch Sebastian and Siobhan talking and laughing across the room.

  “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this jealous,” Sawyer murmured wonderingly as she passed the first cappuccino over to her sister. “Not even when Jordan’s old assistant was throwing herself at him and he had to let her go. Remember her? That hot big-titted brunette? You would have had to be a fucking corpse not to notice her, but you didn’t even bat an eyelash,” Sawyer reminded her sister.

  “I never worried about Jordan cheating on me,” Ani replied thoughtfully.

  “But you worry about Bast?” Sawyer asked her sister in amazement. “Sebastian, who has worshipped you since you were in diapers?”

  “I don’t know,” Ani murmured thoughtfully. “Sometimes I think it’s always been the other way around. I was the one who pined after him for years before he kissed me. I was the one who took multiple busses to the prison to see him for years even when he refused to see me,” she reminded her sister. “He’s the one who didn’t want to see me for the last fifteen years. He was the one who waited almost a year after he got out before he came to see me.”

  “Oh A,” Sawyer sighed, putting the cappuccinos and a bowl of sugar cubes onto a tray. “I’ll never understand what it is about Bast that makes you doubt yourself,” she murmured. “Maybe that’s why I loved you and Jordan together so much. You always accepted that he loved you, you never doubted it, and it gave you a confidence that shaped you into the woman you are today. You’re not a sixteen year old girl anymore Ani,” Sawyer declared to her sister as they walked over to the couch. “You’re a strong, beautiful, desirable woman.”

  “Who’s a desirable woman?” Sebastian asked as they approached the table.

  “Your girlfriend,” Sawyer replied pointedly, setting the tray down on the table.

  “The most desirable in the world,” Sebastian murmured in agreement, pulling Ani into his lap and gazing at her quizzically.

  Ani mustered up a weak smile in return and leaned her head back against Sebastian.

  “So what are your plans for the day?” Ani asked Sawyer and Siobhan. She could feel Sebastian’s thoughtful eyes on her as she leaned forward and picked up her coffee.

  “We’re actually just going to hang out around here. It’s been a long week,” Sawyer replied.

  “Yeah the guy in charge of my shoot is a total back pocket in a shirt, completely feckin useless,” Siobhan complained, taking a sip of her cappuccino. “The whole week’s been complete ballax, retakes every feckin day, I’m completely knackered.” She put her cup down and leaned her head back against the chair.

  “Well it was nice meeting you,” Sebastian said to Siobhan after they finished their coffee. He stood up and pulled Ani to her feet with him. “We’ll let you guys relax. I think we might go to the beach and back to my place for a little bit.”

  “Really?” Ani asked Sebastian, raising her brow at him as he slipped his hand into hers and led her back to her room. “I thought you were completely knackered too,” she said sarcastically mimicking Siobhan as they walked into her room and Sebastian closed the door behind them.

  “Ani Mackenzie are you jealous?” Sebastian asked Ani in wonder, with a devilish grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye.

  “No!” Ani protested vehemently as Sebastian scooped her up and laid her down on her new bed. As promised, Sebastian had built Ani a beautiful headboard out of weathered driftwood and a platform framed with colorful buoys, and the bed looked perfect against the white washed walls and deep blue floor that Sebastian had painted.

  “Me thinks you doth protest too much,” Sebastian murmured, brushing the hair out of Ani’s face and kissing her gently.

  “And it’s not Mackenzie anymore,” Ani muttered, feeling her face heat up with embarrassment.

  “What’s going on Mackenzie?” Sebastian asked Ani, pointedly ignoring her comment about her name.

  “I remember you used to always call me Mackenzie when we were kids and I wondered if you would call me O’Reilly if we ever got married,” Ani whispered.

  “Is that so?” Sebastian replied, studying Ani with a tender look. “Did you think about us getting married a lot?” He kissed her lips gently.

  “I was pregnant with your child asshole, of course I thought about it,” Ani replied, pushing Sebastian off of her and staring across the room blankly.

  “A, what’s going on?” Sebastian asked quietly.

  “You never asked me to marry you,” Ani murmured, feeling her eyes fill up with tears.

  “You were sixteen,” Sebastian replied in exasperation. “I was waiting for you to grow up. Of course I was planning on marrying you. You were the only girl who I ever wanted to marry and have a life with. You are the only girl who I ever wanted, and you’re the only woman who I want now,” Sebastian said softly, pulling Ani back into his arms. “Do you really doubt how I feel about you?” he asked Ani incredulously, kissing the tears away that slipped out the corners of her eyes.

  “I don’t know,” Ani admitted. “You’re the only person who has ever made me feel vulnerable. I feel like I’ve been chasing after you for years, waiting for you to want me.”

  “I would marry you today, this second,” Sebastian murmured against Ani’s lips. “Do you know how it makes me feel to hear you say that you’re not Ani Mackenzie anymore? To know that you
are another man’s wife? The only name that I ever wanted you to have was O’Reilly. In my heart you’ve always been Ani O’Reilly, a rún mo chroí.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Sawyer is like a Goddamn frat boy. She is the biggest fucking pig I know. Of course she’s dating a drop dead gorgeous model who’s blond and Irish and speaks Irish and is like a wet dream come true for you,” Ani sighed mournfully. “I feel like Siobhan is the real deal, she’s like me, except five hundred times hotter and more authentic.”

  Sebastian burst out laughing, holding his chest and gasping for air as he drew in deep wheezing breaths.

  “Oh A, you are too much,” he gasped, pulling Ani against him and hugging her tightly. “Siobhan is a skinny Dublin guttersnipe,” he grinned. “You’re right about one thing, she is perfect for Sawyer. She’s trashy and fiery and looks like she just got out of high school. She ate Sawyer out while Bobby fucked her doggy style,” Sebastian reminded Ani with a grin. “She’s Sawyer’s wet dream come true, not mine, baby,” Sebastian kissed Ani tenderly and whispered Irish love words in her ear as he held her against him. “You’re my real life walking wet dream,” Sebastian whispered against Ani’s neck, sliding the straps of her tank top off of her shoulders and trailing kisses down her neck. “The perfect combination of sugar and sass, curves in all the right places; you’re the one I dream of seeing barefoot and pregnant in my kitchen.” Sebastian sucked Ani’s nipple into his mouth. “You’re the one who I dream of at night and I yearn for in the morning. You and only you,” he promised, easing Ani’s legs open underneath him.

  “You want me barefoot and pregnant in your kitchen?” Ani murmured in wonder.

  “It’s all I think about,” Sebastian confessed as he kissed his way down Ani’s body. “I want you to be completely mine.”

  “I can’t help being jealous,” Ani confessed with a sigh. “You’re so hot and grown up now.” She gasped as Sebastian kissed his way up her thighs. “Whenever we’re together I see women staring at you and I know what they see. You’re all muscle and mystery, brooding watchful eyes, strength and confidence. You’re like a panther in a jungle, every woman who sees you wants to fuck you,” Ani sighed, closing her eyes and finally giving into the sensation of Sebastian’s lips on her skin.

  “Like a panther in a jungle,” Sebastian murmured against Ani’s thighs. “Oh sweetheart, you’re the only one who sees me like that,” he laughed, trailing kisses up and down Ani’s thighs. “I’m an ex-con baby. I scare small children. I’m the guy mother’s warn their daughters to stay away from,” he teased, licking his finger and sliding it inside Ani.

  “Well the mother’s may warn their daughters to stay away from you, but you’re the guy the daughters sneak out the window for,” Ani gasped as Sebastian finally slid his finger out and slipped inside her with a moan. “You’re the one the girls are willing to risk everything for; you’re that guy now,” Ani moaned as Sebastian thrust inside her and licked a path up her neck.

  “Do you know that I would fight to the death for you?” Sebastian whispered before he finally collapsed onto Ani with a shuddering moan.“I can’t believe Jordan let you go without a fight,” he admitted, trailing his fingers across Ani’s cheek. “I wouldn’t have gone quietly into the night you know.”

  “Jordan’s been fighting your ghost for me for the last ten years Bast. He knows it’s time to let me go,” Ani replied sadly.

  “I’m sorry A, I didn’t mean to be a dick about it,” Sebastian murmured, kissing Ani softly.

  “I know,” Ani sighed.

  “I’ve been so busy lately we haven’t even had a chance to talk since you and Jordan told Raffi about the divorce. How is she doing with it all?” Sebastian asked gently, rolling onto his back and pulling Ani against him.

  “She’s handling it. I don’t think that she was particularly surprised since we’ve been living apart for months now, but there is still a finality to divorce that makes it more real,” Ani replied softly.

  “More real for Raffi or for you?” asked Sebastian.

  “For all of us,” Ani admitted.

  “You still have time to change your mind,” Sebastian said with an unreadable expression. “The divorce isn’t final for 60 more days.”

  “You’ve been keeping count?” Ani replied raising her brow.

  “Wouldn’t you?” Sebastian challenged. “Ten minutes ago you were jealous of a teenage anorexic lesbian, how would you feel if I had a wife?”

  “Siobhan’s twenty-two, she’s not a teenager,” Ani replied, sticking her tongue out at Sebastian.

  “How would you feel if I had a wife A?” Sebastian asked again, his deep green eyes dark and serious.

  “I’d rip her fucking eyes out and stomp on her heart,” Ani confessed with a sigh.

  “Well there you have it,” Sebastian murmured, kissing his way down Ani’s body. “All things considered, I think I’ve been pretty tame about the whole Jordan situation.”

  “You’ve been a saint,” Ani agreed with a sigh, closing her eyes and sucking in her breath with a gasp as Sebastian teased her nipples with his tongue. “I love you Sebastian O’Reilly,” Ani whispered as she opened her legs for Sebastian again and wrapped her arms around his back.

  After Sebastian had proven to Ani twice that she was the only woman who he wanted, they headed out to the beach for the day and spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the waves and collecting shells and sea glass. They finished off the day with lobster rolls at their favorite clam shack and milkshakes on the way home from a drive-through. It was the perfect day, and Ani felt like they were teenagers again when they used to cut class and go to the beach or sneak out onto the O’Reilly boat at night to have sex.

  “Wow, you guys made out like bandits at the beach!” Sawyer exclaimed when Ani and Sebastian walked into the loft that night with a net full of shells and sea glass.

  “We did get some amazing shells,” Ani agreed, glancing down at the pile that Sebastian had spread out on a towel on the kitchen counter.

  “Ay this one is savage,” Siobhan murmured, picking up a piece of turquoise sea glass that almost matched her eyes perfectly.

  “You can have it if you want,” Ani offered, leaning back into Sebastian’s arms. She noticed that Sebastian was making a point of keeping his hands on her when they were around Siobhan, and she laughed inwardly at her ridiculous spout of jealousy over her sister’s twenty-two year old girlfriend and Sebastian’s attempt to make her feel better.

  “I’m fine,” she whispered to Sebastian, turning around in his arms and kissing him. “I love that you’re trying to reassure me, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to prove anything to me or anyone else,” she murmured against his lips.

  “I like having my hands on you,” Sebastian whispered back, pressing Ani against him. “I dreamed of my hands on your ass for fifteen years. Now that I have you back, I’d like to crazy glue you to my side,” he admitted, lowering his lips to her neck.

  “Oh my God, you see what I mean?” Sawyer cried to Siobhan in exasperation, motioning to Ani and Sebastian. “I told you it’s impossible to be around them and not think of sex. They are ALWAYS all over each other!”

  “Relax the cacks, I think it’s feckin savage they can’t keep their hands off of each other,” Siobhan said with a salacious grin, leaning forward and kissing Sawyer. “I’d eat chips from your knickers any day.”

  “And that my friends is why you haven’t seen me for two months,” Sawyer announced, pulling Siobhan off to her room. “That line alone. I’d eat chips from your knickers, and said with her accent? I’m a goner.” Sawyer waved goodnight to Ani and Sebastian as she pulled a laughing Siobhan into her room and slammed the door.

  “I’d eat chips from your knickers any day too,” Sebastian murmured against Ani’s neck huskily.

  “And I love you for it,” Ani murmured in reply, pressing tightly against Sebastian and kissing him deeply.

  “I think someone’
s buzzing the door,” Sebastian murmured against Ani’s lips. When the door buzzed a second time they both heard it and Ani walked over to answer it.

  “Who is it?” she asked, peering through the peephole. “Jordan, Raffi!” she exclaimed in surprise when she spotted her husband and daughter standing at the door. “Is everything okay?” Ani asked in concern, pulling the door open. It was after 10:00 p.m., and it was Jordan’s night to have Raffi.

  “Hey,” Jordan said, standing in the doorway uncertainly. “I tried your cell several times but it kept going to voicemail. Sorry about just coming over,” he apologized, glancing at Sebastian uncomfortably. “I know it’s late.”

  “I’m sorry, the battery died and we were at the beach all day and just got back. Come inside,” Ani replied, holding the door open. “You okay baby?” she asked Raffi when her daughter ran into her arms and buried her head into her mother’s chest. “What happened?” Ani mouthed to Jordan over Raffi’s head.

  “I don’t know,” Jordan replied, shrugging his shoulders helplessly as they walked over to the couch to sit down. “She just wanted you, and I tried to call you and when I couldn’t reach you, she started crying and wouldn’t stop.”

  “Can I get you anything to drink?” Sebastian asked quietly, standing in the background.

  “No, thanks, I’m fine,” Jordan replied, glancing at Sebastian briefly and then looking away. They’d only actually seen each other two other times since their first encounter in the bakery. Ani tried her best to make sure Sebastian wasn’t around when Jordan picked up or dropped off Raffi.

  “Jordan?” Sawyer called, opening her door and popping her head out. She was only wearing a robe and it was obvious that she was naked underneath it, but she ran out to give Jordan a hug anyway. “I thought I heard your voice,” she cried happily. “Are you dropping Raffi off?”

  “Sort of,” Jordan hedged uncertainly, glancing at Ani for help. Ani was holding Raffi against her and rubbing her hair as she whispered in her ear.

  “You want to stay sweetheart?” Ani asked her daughter, brushing the hair out of her eyes and lifting her chin up to meet her searching gaze.