her place tomorrow and discuss the sink. I’ve found some options, but I’m starting to think a full kitchen renovation might suit the house better. I don’t like the possibility she might sell or even rent. If she can design the place the way she wants, she might stay.
Right, dude. Like she’ll stay because she loves a new kitchen sink.
It’s worth a shot, but I’m not really in the frame of mind to think such things as I walk her out to the street.
“Wow, it’s so dark here,” she marvels, looking up at the sky. “No streetlights to lead the way.”
“No bright lights for my big city girl,” I tease, tugging her to me, settling her between my spread legs as I lean back against her driver’s side door, blocking her entrance. I want to tug her into the back seat and fuck her six ways to Sunday, erasing any thoughts of Gabe and the assholes who didn’t love her and then restore the afterglow of last night. However, I have had too much to drink.
She leans against me, arms tucked between us, so her chest doesn’t fall against mine. It’s defensive, and I’d call her out on it if she wasn’t playing with the collar of my T-shirt, stroking her fingers along the neckline. It feels nice. I like when she touches me. She isn’t afraid to go for what she wants. I don’t need to be king of the bedroom, so I have no problem bowing to a queen.
“You smell like mosquito spray,” I whisper, nuzzling my nose into her neck, trying to inhale her real scent of rain showers and sunshine. The scent overwhelmed me when I had her in my truck the day I picked her up with her groceries, and it hasn’t left my senses.
“You doused me in it,” she says, referring to the repellent.
“Oh, yeah. I think I missed a spot.” I press a kiss to her neck, and she tilts her head to give me better access. I like how she responds to me.
“I also think I missed one here,” I say, reaching for the collar of her dress and tugging it to the side, nipping just below her throat. While most people had on jeans or shorts tonight, Emily showed up in a dress. The floral print is too colorful, but it’s all her. She’s brightness.
“And here,” I whisper, leaning in for her lips.
Suddenly, a high-pitched voice screeches, “What is this?”
Fuck.
I turn my head with Emily still between my legs.
“Jess?” The female comes into view, but I don’t need to see her to know who it is.
“Sami,” I reply, choking on her name. I’ve told her I no longer want to keep hooking up, that we could still be friends but no longer with benefits. She clearly didn’t get the memo and called the other night to meet up.
“Is this why you couldn’t come over the other night?” She eyes Emily, who’s trying to wiggle from my grasp. Suddenly, my own limbs feel heavy as if all I’ve had to drink slams into me at once.
I hold tight to Emily’s hips as she tries to step away. “No,” I command her.
“I think I should go,” she whispers, her head ducking.
Sami has no boundaries, and she saunters right up to my side while I’m still holding Emily. Only Emily gives me a firm shove, breaking our connection. She stumbles back.
“No,” I respond, reaching for her, but she takes another step away, giving Sami the leverage she wants. Sami slips in front me, pressing her body to mine and blocking out Emily.
“Jess.” My former lover grips my face, so I’m forced to look into the dark eyes of a woman I’ve spent too much time with over the last year. “It’s me. You don’t need that.”
When her head tilts, I know she means Emily. She’s so wrong, though.
I hear Emily mutter, “It’s always the next girl.”
No, no, this is not that!
I push at Sami’s hips, hoping to move her off me and away from Emily. Only Sami does what Sami does, and her lips land on mine. In the time it takes me to spin and fight Sami off me, Emily has slipped into her car. The engine starts, and the doors lock. I push Sami back and reach for Emily’s window, flattening my palm against the glass.
My heart screams, don’t leave, but I haven’t given her a reason to stay.
This is a shit storm, and it’s all my fault.
Rule 14
Love is more than