by E. L. Todd
“Smart move.”
“You’re lucky I don’t hit women.”
“It wouldn’t matter,” I said. “You have a terrible swing.”
He clenched his jaw then watched TV.
“Dinner’s ready,” Janice called.
We moved to the table, and to my surprise, Slade pulled out the chair for me. It was automatic and he did it without thinking. He didn’t even look at me, clearly not noticing what he just did.
I sat down and didn’t comment on it.
He sat beside me but didn’t touch me like he normally did.
Ryan and Janice sat down.
Ryan chewed his food then snuck glances at us. “Trouble in paradise?”
“She’s annoying,” Slade blurted.
“And you’re mean,” I said.
“Slade.” Janice stared him down with her typical hard expression. “Trinity is a godsend. Don’t pull your typical shit with her. I want another daughter and grandbabies. Don’t mess this up with your stupidity.”
“Grandbabies?” He dropped his fork. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here…”
I picked at my food and didn’t say anything.
“Just watch it,” his mother warned.
“What are you fighting about anyway?” Ryan asked.
I launched into a detailed account of the story.
“So…” Janice narrowed her eyes at Slade. “You’re arguing over something that has absolutely nothing to do with either you.”
“It has everything to do with us,” Slade argued. “Cayson is my best friend—”
“And Skye is mine,” I added.
“Just stay out of it,” Ryan said. “Your lives will be easier if you do.”
“Well, Slade won’t stop being a jerk to her,” I said. “He’s totally rude and attacks her out of nowhere.”
“Well, she’s a—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” Janice pointed her finger at him. “Skye is your flesh and blood. Nothing is more important than family. And frankly, her relationship with Cayson is none of your business. Stay out of it, Slade.”
Slade turned to me, menace in his eyes. “Why do you have to turn everyone against me?”
“You do that all by yourself,” I said darkly.
He turned back to his plate and barely ate anything.
When dinner was over, I helped Janice do the dishes. Ryan whispered something to her when everything was put away. Then they headed toward the hallway.
“We’re going to read in our room,” Ryan said. “Good night.”
“Good night.” I knew they were just trying to give us some privacy, in the hope we would make up.
Slade didn’t acknowledge them. He stared at the TV with his arms across his chest.
When their footsteps died away, we were alone.
Slade didn’t turn around and look at me.
I stared at the back of his head. “I’m leaving.”
“Good.” He didn’t turn around.
“You aren’t even going to walk me to the door?”
“Do you need a horse-drawn carriage too?” he snarled.
“Fuck you, Slade.” I grabbed my purse and opened the door.
“Fuck you too.” Menace was in his voice.
I slammed the door as hard as I could even though I knew his parents would hear it. Then I marched down the stairs and headed to the lobby. I was a little hurt he didn’t walk me to my car. He always did to make sure I got there safely. I could take care of myself, but it was still sweet of him to do that. A part of me wanted him to chase me, but another part wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible.
I reached the sidewalk then headed to my car.
“You left your brownies.”
I turned around and saw Slade right behind me. He must have been following me. I eyed the container in his hands. “I brought it for dinner. They’re supposed to stay here.”
“Well…” He fumbled with it. “I thought you might like it back.”
“I don’t,” I hissed.
He held it in his hands while he scanned the street. “Where’s your car?”
“A block over.”
“Well, I’ll carry this for you so you don’t have a reason to come back…” He started walking.
I moved beside him, wondering why he cared so much about giving me back my brownie tub.
When we reached my car, he put the box in the passenger seat then stepped back. He waited for me to get in the car.
I narrowed my eyes at him, putting the pieces together. “You’re such a liar.”
“Excuse me?” he spat.
“You only brought that down here so you had a reason to walk me to my car.”
“What?” He made an offended face but it wasn’t convincing. “No. I just want to make sure you don’t stop by again.”
“You’re so full of it…”
“Am not!”
“You aren’t fooling me.”
He rolled his eyes and stepped back. “I don’t give a damn about what happens to you. Someone could mug you and I wouldn’t blink an eye.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against my car. “God, you’re a terrible liar.”
He ground his teeth together and his eyes burned.
“Just admit it. You look like an idiot when you lie.”
He crossed his arms and didn’t say anything.
“Fine. Go back to your apartment then. I’m going to sit out here and play with my phone for a while.”
His face started to tint in anxiety.
“Go.”
He didn’t move. A storm was brewing behind his eyes, and he was struggling to contain everything he was feeling. His shoulders became tense and a slow, quiet growl emerged from his lip. “Just get in the damn car!”
“No.”
“Fine.” His hands gripped the top of the car on either side of me. He was close to me, his face easily visible under the streetlamps. His quick movements didn’t scare me. Nothing did. “I wanted to make sure you got to your car okay. Get over it.”
I loved beating him in our twisted arguments. I liked forcing him to admit he cared about me more than he could stand. He pretended to be indifferent but it was all an act. I always won every argument. He was an easy opponent. “That’s what I thought…” I stared into his face, noting his strong jaw. A light layer of hair had come in since he didn’t shave yesterday or today. His blue eyes burned by their own radiance, and his lips were pressed together hard. His hair was a little messy like always, a product of drying his hair with a towel and nothing thinking about it twice.
He came closer to me, pressing his body against mine. “Does caring about you make me weak?”
“No. Pushing me away for a stupid reason does.”
“It’s not stupid,” he said hotly.
“No. Just you are.”
His face moved closer to mine. “You’re the one who’s fucking me. Who’s stupid now?”
“And I ask myself why every day…”
His eyes narrowed in response. He clearly didn’t like that response. “I’ll show you.” He gripped my wrist and dragged me away from the car.
“What are you doing?”
He dragged me into an alley then moved behind a dumpster. Then he threw me against the wall. “You clearly need a reminder of why you stick around.”
“I’m not having sex in an alleyway.”
He undid his jeans then reached for mine. “So, a bathroom at a bar is just fine? Or the dumpster outside of the Plaza is classier? And my frozen apartment building is totally different?” He yanked down my jeans then moved my underwear over.
“People could be watching.”
“Let them.” He lifted me up entered me without preamble.
My arms automatically hooked around his neck and I released an involuntary moan.
“You’re wet…interesting.” A cocky smirk was on his lips.
His size always stretched me the right way. The sex with him was
great, and sometimes I wondered when the fire would burn out. But the longer we were together, the better the sex became. He knew exactly what I liked and how I liked it. He made me come every time, making sure I was satisfied before he found his release. And he stayed faithful to me even though I feared he wouldn’t.
He gripped my thighs and thrust into me. “Now tell me you love me.”
I gripped his shoulders and lifted my weight while we moved together. The sidewalk was just a few feet away and people were passing, their conversations loud. If anyone made a detour, they would see us humping like animals. My lips found his every few seconds, and we shared a heated embrace while he hit me in the right spot.
“Tell me,” he pressed.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” I said with a shaky breath. In the heat of the moment, those words came to me. Every day was an adventure with him, and while some of those days were worse than others, I never wanted to give up. Slade was my whole world. Without him, I couldn’t go on.
He passed for a moment, still deep inside me. He looked into my eyes, emotion coming into them. Then he changed his pace and held me closer. His strokes became gentle and even. He kissed me gently, his mouth giving me purposeful embraces. Our lips moved past each other and our breath was taken away.
Slade made love to me in the dirty alleyway. It was dark and there was bound to be someone lurking nearby, watching us move together against the concrete wall. The distant smell of the garbage was unavoidable, and the silhouettes of moths were noticeable in the light of the streetlamp. But that didn’t mean anything to us. It was just him and I. And we made could make anything, no matter how dark, beautiful.
***
“Please tell me this is a joke.” I held the gown in my hands.
“Just wear it. You don’t need to do anything other than stand there and blush.” He pulled out his tunic and belt.
Slade had some crazy ideas but this had to be the worst. “This is insane.”
“Look, I made seven bucks on the sidewalk just from tossing out a few quotes from Shakespeare. People tossed the money at me then walked away. Seven bucks in ten minutes is a killing.”
I had to remind myself that I loved him, no matter how crazy he was. “I’m not doing this.”
“Just stand there, okay? I’ll serenade you and spin my sword around.”
“And where are you doing this?”
“Central Park.”
“I think you have to get permission from the city first.”
“Whatever,” he said with a shrug. “I’ll do it until I get caught.”
“You have a job,” I spat. “Why are you doing this?”
“I need extra cash. I want my own space.”
“Whatever happened to gambling?” I asked.
“That’s not steady money. Sometimes I win big, sometimes I lose money.”
I held up the dress. “And you think this is steady?”
“It’s more reliable, at least.”
I tossed the dress back on his bed. “I’m not doing it.”
“Oh yes, you will!”
I eyed his outfit. “Where are your tights?”
“Tights?” he asked. “Who said anything about tights?”
“Uh, the characters in his plays wore tights.”
“Says who?” Slade asked. “It never says that in the stage directions.”
“It’s implied.”
“Well, I’m not doing that.”
“So, I have to wear this stupid gown and you get to wear jeans?” I asked incredulously.
“So…that means you’ll do it?” he asked hopefully.
“Just ask your dad if you can have more hours.” Why wouldn’t he see reason? “That makes more sense than this.”
“But I don’t have to claim this on taxes,” he said. “This is just extra cash flow.”
“Just be patient,” I reasoned. “You’ll get another raise in no time.”
He gave me a deadly serious look. “It took a year for me to earn my first one.”
“Because you were being a brat most of the time. Now that you’re serious about it, your dad will reward you more often.”
“Well, we’ll do this until then.”
“I’m starting work tomorrow,” I said. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Don’t have time to just stand there and listen to me quote Shakespeare?”
“You know like three lines! What makes you think we can pull this off?”
“We’ll wing it. If I need help, I’ll ask Cayson to pitch in.”
I gripped his arm. “You cannot breathe a word of this to anyone.”
“So…that means you’ll do it?” he asked with a smile.
I shook my head. “This is the stupidest plan you’ve ever had.”
“Come on, I’m a good-looking guy blurting out romantic lines. We’ll make a killing.”
“No.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
He scooted closer to me on the bed. “Come on…it’ll be fun.”
“What part of this sounds fun?”
He kissed my neck. “Come on, baby. I need a beautiful woman to play the part. You want me to ask someone else.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Don’t you dare.”
“Then be my leading lady.”
I had a very strong suspicion this was going to be an enormous mistake. “Fine. But if it goes as bad as I think it will, I won’t do it again.”
“It’ll be fine.” He kissed my cheek then handed me the dress.
It was scarlet red and full of ruffles. “Then you better wear tights.”
He cringed. “Do I have to…?”
“If I have to look like an idiot, so do you.”
“But I’m going to be…on display.”
“Again, your problem. Not mine.”
He sighed. “Whatever. I really need to get my own place so we can move in together.”
My skin prickled and my heart rate increased. “You want to move in together?”
“Yeah…” He looked at me like I was crazy. “I didn’t make that clear?”
“I just…I don’t know.” I didn’t know what to say.
“Unless you don’t want to…”
“No, I do,” I said immediately. “I just wasn’t sure if you wanted to.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He moved his arm around my shoulders.
“That’s just…a big commitment.” For most of our relationship, Slade attested he couldn’t give me what I wanted. But he changed for me and gave me everything I dreamed of. He made me happy, even when he was annoying, and our love was something that couldn’t be denied. I was glad I was patient with him.
“It’s just moving in together,” he said. “It’s not like we’re getting married or something.”
“No, but people usually move in together if they intend to marry fairly soon.”
“Oh…” He shrugged and didn’t say anything. What did that mean? “Are you nervous for your first day?”
“Extremely.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so. Just tone down your annoying habits.”
My eyes burned in offense. “What annoying habits?”
“You know, your personality and how you nag all the time…just don’t do that and you’ll be fine.”
“I don’t nag!”
“You’re nagging now!”
“Am not!” I smacked him again.
“And don’t hit people. That’s annoying too.”
I sighed in irritation.
He nudged me in the side. “Kidding. But pissing you off is a lot of fun.”
I raised my arm to hit him again but changed my mind.
“You’re learning…”
I hooked my arm and rested my head on his shoulder. “Be nice to me. I’m nervous.”
“You’ll do great. And if anyone gives you a hard time, I’ll take them out.”
“What if they are girls?” I asked.
<
br /> He shrugged. “I don’t care. I’ll slap them around.”
I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me. “You’re lucky I love you.”
“And you’re lucky I put up with you.”
Chapter Sixteen
Roland
When I arrived at the office, I adjusted my tie and tried to appear calm. The nerves were getting to me, and I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t even met the guy I was working under. He might be worse than Nora.
I reached the lobby and approached the secretary. “Good morning.”
The young brunette hardly looked at me. “How can I help you?” she asked in a bored voice.
“I’m working with…” What was his name? “Herald?”
She looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. “Who?”
That wasn’t it. It was something weird, reminding me of a candy bar. “Heath,” I said excitedly. “I’m here to work with Heath.”
She didn’t seem amused. “Down the hall.”
Where down the hall? “Thanks.” I didn’t bother asking for clarification because I knew she wouldn’t give me anything. I put my hands in my pockets while I walked, hoping I looked like I belonged here.
When I made it to a large room full of cubicles, I assumed I was in the right place. The windows faced an adjacent building, and the sun was shining through. A few people were seated in their cubicles, typing or sipping coffee. It was fairly quiet despite the constant tapping of keyboards and the beeping of the fax machine. I walked through the rows hoping to see a nametag for my new boss.
After I passed through the rows several times, I didn’t see anything to help in my journey.
“Roland?”
I turned around and saw a man standing in black slacks, a blue collared shirt, and a dark blue tie. “Hi…”
He extended his hand and offered me a smile. “Heath.” His voice was heavy with an Irish accent. He had blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a strong jaw. He was my height and lean and toned.
I shook his hand, grateful he was more friendly than everyone. “Hi, I’m Roland.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve been expecting you.”
“I’m excited to work with you,” I said politely.
“Enthusiasm, great.” He returned his hands to his pocket. “Come with me.” He nodded the correct direction.
I followed behind him until we reached a corner desk. His cubicle had another desk next to it. A second computer and a few shelves were placed next to it.
