couch with her, which I’d done a hundred times, somehow seemed too risky, so I slid onto a barstool. “Where’s everything? Those hideous fucking lamps are gone.”
She took a deep breath and swished her wine around. “Three days ago, he took them. They were his.”
“Figured.” I didn’t know what she wanted. Was I supposed to sympathize? She had dozens of girlfriends, each with two shoulders to cry on. What the hell was I doing there?
“He found out you were coming to the opening. And he just went off. ‘Why’s this guy still hanging around? Why can’t you cut him loose?’ Blah blah.” She downed her wine. “He doesn’t understand. Or didn’t understand. As you can see, he decided to stop trying, which I guess is for the best.”
“I’m sorry to hear it, but I’m not taking the blame for it.”
“Jon. You don’t have to get defensive.”
“Jess. What do you want, if not to blame me?”
She was a bundle of nerves, which no other person would notice because she never wasted a movement. She didn’t have a set of sweet little tics like Monica. Jessica was still water, her tension revealed in her gaze, which sat in the middle distance.
“I should be frank,” she said.
“You be anyone you want.”
“Not funny.”
I waited until she was ready, because she’d get to it if I stopped cracking wise, and I had the feeling I would want to hear it.
She took a deep breath. “I think Erik had something. I think he was seeing something I was pretending wasn’t there.”
She was squirming. Oh, this was good. Delicious even. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t want to assume she was going where I thought she was because I didn’t want the rug pulled from under me again. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d implied she wanted me back and then turned the conversation back on itself.
“You’ve always been there for me.” She looked up, right at me.
“We were married,” I said. “I told you, I take that seriously.”
She took half a step toward me. I’d been through that before with her, and I wouldn’t lean into her half a centimeter I didn’t have to. I hoped with the same fervor, but I was gun shy. Even when she put her fingers on top of my hand, which she hadn’t done in a while, I was torn. After the divorce, she’d still touch me, but she’d back off like a hosed down cat as soon as I went for her. I was impatient with the games and horny as hell from being around Monica. I felt like a caged animal.
So when she touched my face, I froze, convinced I would spin her by the hair and bend her over. That wouldn’t do at all. Not if I was going to have her again.
“You’re being shy, Jon. That’s not like you.”
“You going to push me away?”
“No. Not this time.”
Fine. I put my hands on the sides of her face so she couldn’t turn and pushed her against the bar. I choked off her squeak with a kiss. She kissed me back. She really did.
The drop in my chest was relief. My stomach tightened. To have my life back. To be back to normal again. With my wife at my side, a sealed unit, unbreakable. I touched my old self when I put my hand on her breast. The completed me, at my fingertips.
I pulled her skirt around her hips and hitched her up. She put her legs around my waist, and I carried her inside.
It was dark with those ass-ugly lamps gone. I wanted light to see her, to believe it. Oh, anything could go wrong between us writhing on the couch and me actually getting my dick in her. I remembered my promise to Monica, but I could explain the next day. I’d be sorry to see that sweet thing go, but woman would tolerate infidelity, and I cared too much about both of them to sneak around. Jessica had to be my choice. I’d taken a vow, begged for it to be honored, and waited so long that turning away the possibility of a reunion seemed ludicrous.
I pulled the top of her dress down.
Gorgeous in the moonlight. Those breasts, with little rocks for nipples at the tips. I sucked them
She took a deep breath and swished her wine around. “Three days ago, he took them. They were his.”
“Figured.” I didn’t know what she wanted. Was I supposed to sympathize? She had dozens of girlfriends, each with two shoulders to cry on. What the hell was I doing there?
“He found out you were coming to the opening. And he just went off. ‘Why’s this guy still hanging around? Why can’t you cut him loose?’ Blah blah.” She downed her wine. “He doesn’t understand. Or didn’t understand. As you can see, he decided to stop trying, which I guess is for the best.”
“I’m sorry to hear it, but I’m not taking the blame for it.”
“Jon. You don’t have to get defensive.”
“Jess. What do you want, if not to blame me?”
She was a bundle of nerves, which no other person would notice because she never wasted a movement. She didn’t have a set of sweet little tics like Monica. Jessica was still water, her tension revealed in her gaze, which sat in the middle distance.
“I should be frank,” she said.
“You be anyone you want.”
“Not funny.”
I waited until she was ready, because she’d get to it if I stopped cracking wise, and I had the feeling I would want to hear it.
She took a deep breath. “I think Erik had something. I think he was seeing something I was pretending wasn’t there.”
She was squirming. Oh, this was good. Delicious even. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t want to assume she was going where I thought she was because I didn’t want the rug pulled from under me again. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d implied she wanted me back and then turned the conversation back on itself.
“You’ve always been there for me.” She looked up, right at me.
“We were married,” I said. “I told you, I take that seriously.”
She took half a step toward me. I’d been through that before with her, and I wouldn’t lean into her half a centimeter I didn’t have to. I hoped with the same fervor, but I was gun shy. Even when she put her fingers on top of my hand, which she hadn’t done in a while, I was torn. After the divorce, she’d still touch me, but she’d back off like a hosed down cat as soon as I went for her. I was impatient with the games and horny as hell from being around Monica. I felt like a caged animal.
So when she touched my face, I froze, convinced I would spin her by the hair and bend her over. That wouldn’t do at all. Not if I was going to have her again.
“You’re being shy, Jon. That’s not like you.”
“You going to push me away?”
“No. Not this time.”
Fine. I put my hands on the sides of her face so she couldn’t turn and pushed her against the bar. I choked off her squeak with a kiss. She kissed me back. She really did.
The drop in my chest was relief. My stomach tightened. To have my life back. To be back to normal again. With my wife at my side, a sealed unit, unbreakable. I touched my old self when I put my hand on her breast. The completed me, at my fingertips.
I pulled her skirt around her hips and hitched her up. She put her legs around my waist, and I carried her inside.
It was dark with those ass-ugly lamps gone. I wanted light to see her, to believe it. Oh, anything could go wrong between us writhing on the couch and me actually getting my dick in her. I remembered my promise to Monica, but I could explain the next day. I’d be sorry to see that sweet thing go, but woman would tolerate infidelity, and I cared too much about both of them to sneak around. Jessica had to be my choice. I’d taken a vow, begged for it to be honored, and waited so long that turning away the possibility of a reunion seemed ludicrous.
I pulled the top of her dress down.
Gorgeous in the moonlight. Those breasts, with little rocks for nipples at the tips. I sucked them
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