Our Way

by Swan, T L

“How are you?” I ask.

  “Good, good. Nothing new here. Back to you. Have you caught up with all of your friends?”

  “Yes, I’ve been out to dinner every night this week.”

  “Oh...” She seems taken aback. “Have you seen Nathan at all?”

  And there it is. She knows I haven’t. “Not yet. Hopefully soon.”

  “You should let him know you’re in town. He would love to see you.”

  “Yeah, I was going to call him tonight, actually.”

  “Oh, great.” She gasps as if her work is done. “Well, I’ll let you get off the phone then so you can call him.”

  “He’s probably busy.”

  “No, he has nothing going on.” She snaps as if frustrated.

  I smile broadly. Why, you sly, old fox. “Okay, I might. I’ll see how I feel.”

  “Well, you should just go over there.” “I’ll see.” I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from laughing out loud. How didn’t I see her fishing for information before?

  She hesitates, and I know she’s wondering how to ensure I call him. “He’d love to see you.”

  “Yes, I’ll call him. I promise.”

  “Great. Goodbye, dear.”

  I hang up and giggle. His mother is in matchmaking heaven. I fall onto the sofa and scroll through my phone. What will I text him?

  Hmm, what says friends with benefits without expectations? I scroll through as I think. I know.

  An idea comes to me, and I get the giggles as I type in an emoji.

  I wish I could see his face when he opens this. I text him.

  ?

  I hit send and burst out laughing.

  My phone pings almost immediately.

  Tonight?

  I smile like a school girl as I type in my reply.

  Yes, please.

  xoxo

  I wait for his reply. I imagine him on his couch, pondering his reply.

  What’s your address?

  I jig on the couch and type in my address, and then another message bounces in.

  About 8:30 p.m.?

  I jump from the couch in excitement.

  Sounds great.

  xoxo

  I glance at my watch. Oh shit, that’s only an hour away. I need to shower and wash my hair. I glance down at my legs. I need laser. This won’t do. I need to be irresistible and downright fucking hot.

  I make my way to the bathroom and get my razor out. Hmm, it’s not in my makeup bag. I tear through the bathroom cabinet. None.

  “Shit. Where are all my fucking razors?” I haven’t seen any since the move. Did I throw them all out?

  Surely not?

  I march into my bedroom and begin to look through my toiletries like a mad woman. You don’t send someone an eggplant and then turn up hairy.

  I can’t believe I sent someone an eggplant. I giggle at the prospect. What the hell? I’ve hit a new low.

  I keep looking for a razor on a mission. “Fuck it.”

  I go back into the bathroom and tear the cupboard apart and then sit on the floor in a dilemma.

  I have two options: run to the store two blocks away and grab a razor, or turn up looking like a gorilla.

  “Store.” I grab my keys and run out the door in a rush.

  An hour later, I pour myself a wine. The last hour has felt like running a marathon. I felt like I was in the Amazing Race or something. The closest store was out of razors, so I ran to the one six blocks away, got caught in the rain, my shoe got caught in a drain, and I fell over and bruised my knees. I ran all the way home and shaved my legs and all my bits, then I discovered that I’m out of hair conditioner after I’ve already washed it. So now I look like a fuzzy bear… but at least my body is as smooth as a baby’s bottom.

  Just how he likes it.

  I sip my wine. He had better appreciate all of this preparation.

  There’s knock on the door and I hunch my shoulders up in excitement.

  He’s here.

  I tighten the cord on my silk robe I’m naked underneath it, aiming to be a sex kitten. I open the door in a rush.

  My face falls when I see a man standing there. “Delivery for Eliza Bennet.”

  “Oh.” I frown. “It’s very late.”

  The delivery man widens his eyes. “And urgent, apparently.”

  It’s a big box, hmm. “Okay.”

  “Please sign here.” He hands me over his screen. I sign it and go back inside.

  I shut the door and look at the large, pink box.

  “What in the world?” I slowly take the lid off and peer into the box. It’s a cane basket, filled with eggplants.

  I burst out laughing. “Are you serious?” Oh my God, only him. There’s a small white envelope, too. I open the card and read it.

  You ask,

  I deliver.

  x

  I take an eggplant out, hold it in my hand, and I laugh.

  Only Nathan.

  Nathan

  I smile against my wine glass as I imagine Eliza opening the box.

  Well, it serves her right for being a smartass.

  I glance at my watch, willing to bet any money that she turns up here. I know her better than she knows herself, and I know that she won’t not see me if she has made up her mind to do so.

  I sip my red wine and roll it around my mouth when there’s a knock at the door.

  I smile and stand up. Right on cue.

  I open the door. “Yes?”

  She’s standing in the foyer, wearing her cream, silk robe. She has an overnight bag with her. Her long, dark hair is down, and she smiles, revealing her beautiful dimples.

  “Eliza!” I act surprised.

  She rises onto her toes and kisses me quickly. “That wasn’t the kind of eggplant I had in mind, Nathan.”

  “Oh, really?” I raise a brow and my eyes drop down her body as the crisp smell of soap teases my senses. “Did you catch a cab here wearing only that?”

  “Uh-huh.” She marches past me, into the apartment. “The driver had a semi.”

  I smile. “I don’t doubt it.” I close the door and watch her as she looks around.

  “I forgot how beautiful this apartment is.”

  I look around as I try to see it through her eyes. “Wine?” I ask.

  “Yes, please.”

  I go the kitchen and pour her a red wine, refilling mine, too. “I’ve only just come back,” I admit.

  She sits up on the counter like she always does, and I stand between her legs.

  “What do you mean?” She lifts the glass to her lips, and my cock clenches in anticipation as I watch her. Wonderful memories of her sitting on the counter just like this flood back like a tidal wave.

  I need her back.

  “I didn’t come here for a long time. I stayed at my old apartment,” I continue.

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know. After I had the meltdown, I didn’t want to come back.”

  Her face falls. “You had a meltdown?”

  I nod. “I had to take a couple of weeks off work.”

  She drops her head and stares at the floor for a moment.

  “What?” I ask.

  “It makes me sad that I wasn’t here for you.” She grabs my T-shirt and pulls me in for a kiss. It’s slow and sensual, and it wakes up all those intimate memories of us. “Have you spoken to anyone about this meltdown?” she asks softly as she pushes the hair back from my face.

  “No.” I kiss her again, my tongue sweeping through her open mouth.

  Fuck, the way she kisses.

  “I’ll come with you, if you want.” She watches me for a moment. “Don’t you want to know why?”

  “I don’t want to think about it. And I know why. I was under a lot of stress.”

  “Baby.” She kisses me again. “You also have some unsettled issues. We have unsettled issues.” She kisses me again as if to soften the blow. “I’ll come to the therapy session with you if you want. I’d like to get to the bottom of our problem
s. I want to fix them.” I smile down at my beautiful girl, and hope fills me. Maybe we are going to be all right.

  “You’d do that?” I ask.

  “Of course, I would.”

  I stare at her for a moment and narrow my eyes. “Did you already fuck the eggplant?”

  “What?” She smiles. “Why would you say that?”

  “Well… you’re being all sweet and Eliza-like. Kind of how you are after you’ve had the crazy fucked out of you.”

  She bursts out laughing, and I smile as I watch her. “You don’t actually fuck the eggplant.” She smiles. “It’s a figure of speech, Nathan.”

  “Yeah, you do,” I tease. “The eggplant goes into Tiny while I fuck your ass.”

  Her face falls. “Wait… what? Since when?”

  “Everyone knows that.”

  “I thought it was just like a funny thing people sent.”

  I grab a handful of her hair and pull her face back to meet mine. “You really should do more research on your emojis before you send them out.”

  “Obviously.” She smiles as I kiss her. “I should have asked for a dick pic instead.”

  She’s joking, and I’m joking, but I can’t hide my feelings.

  I want her back. I want us back.

  I kiss her softly. “Why would you want a dick pic when you could have the real thing for forever?”

  We fall serious as we stare at each other and an ocean of closeness swims between us. “Nathe, you know I love you, right?” she whispers as her eyes search mine.

  “Then come home!” I kiss her softly to plead my case. “Please, come home. I can’t live without you for another moment.”

  “We need some time apart to readjust. I just want to date for a while.”

  “How long?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t push it. You understand, don’t you? You broke my heart, Nathan. I have to take my time with this. I just can’t switch it back on.”

  I stare at her but can’t push words of acceptance past my lips, they will just be a lie.

  I don’t want another second apart.

  I clench my jaw to hold my tongue. I want to scream and yell and fight and argue my case… but I know that me throwing a tantrum is only going to push her further away. I exhale heavily. I have to wait this out and use my head or I will lose her forever.

  “I can make an appointment with a therapist if you want?” she offers.

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Do you want me to come?” She asks softly.

  I shudder at the thought of her hearing something that I don’t want her to. “No, I want to go alone.”

  “Okay.” She smiles up at me and kisses my lips. “We should probably move into the living room.”

  “We should?”

  “Uh-huh.” She jumps down and leads me out into the living room. She sits me down on the couch. She takes a cushion and puts it on the floor between my legs.

  My arousal begins to ignite as I watch her. She puts her hair into a bun, and then she drops to her knees in front of me.

  “What are you doing?” I rasp.

  She unzips my jeans and pulls them open with a sharp snap. “Worshipping my eggplant.” She takes me in her mouth, and her tongue ripples around my cock.

  I tip my head back and spread my legs wide. “That’s it,” I whisper.

  She smiles around me and cups my balls as she flicks her tongue over my end.

  I feel a fire start within me. I watch as her cheeks hollow when she sucks.

  Eliza gives the best head jobs on Earth. There’s nobody hotter than her.

  I clench my jaw to try and hold myself back.

  She begins to work me hard with her hand, and pre-ejaculate beads. She moans softly when she tastes it.

  Her eyes darken as she watches me. “Fuck my mouth,” she breathes around me.

  I exhale heavily and take her head in my hands as I slide my cock deep down her throat. “I will, baby. I will.”

  Eliza

  Nathan’s alarm goes off and I smile sleepily. I’m wrapped in his arms, feeling like a goddess. Something has changed between us. We didn’t fuck last night; we made love.

  Sweet, tender love. I know Nathan’s body was made for fucking but his heart was made for loving, and I loved it hard last night. The closeness between us is back, and with every kiss, every touch, I lose a little more of the hurt we caused each other.

  He hits snooze on his phone and then he kisses my temple.

  “Play hooky with me today,” I say quietly.

  I feel him smile behind me. “Don’t tempt me.” He kisses me again before climbing out of bed and disappearing into the bathroom.

  I hear the shower turn on, and I doze back off to sleep. It’s so nice having nowhere to go and nothing to do. I could get used to this lifestyle.

  Nathan walks back into the bedroom only a few minutes later, making me stir. He’s wearing his navy suit, he’s all dressed up and he smells delicious. He sits on the side of the bed and leans down to kiss me again.

  “I’m going, baby.”

  I smile sleepily up at him. “Okay.”

  He brushes the hair back from my forehead. “Don’t go back to your place. Stay here.” He kisses me softly. “We can have dinner together tonight.”

  I wince as I remember…. Oh shit.

  “I can’t tonight.” I pull him down on me and kiss him. “Tomorrow night.”

  “Why not tonight?”

  “I have plans.” My sleepy relaxed state begins to dissipate.

  “What plans?”

  I frown. “I’m… I’m having dinner with Henry.”

  “What?” He jumps to a standing position. “Over my dead fucking body.”

  “It’s only to tell him that I’m not interested in him.” I lie back down and close my eyes. It’s too early for this shit.

  “You haven’t told him that you aren’t interested yet?”

  “I haven’t spoken to him, so I’m sure he already knows, but when he asked me to dinner tonight, I thought that telling him in person was the decent thing to do.”

  He marches out into the living room and I put my forearm over my eyes, what is he doing now? He storms back in and shoves my phone in my face. “Call him.”

  “What?”

  “You call him now and tell him that we’re back together.”

  “Nathan.”

  “Fucking call him!”

  I get out of bed. “I’m not calling him. He was a good friend to me while I was in New York. I owe him the respect of telling him in person.”

  “No.”

  “We are not back together yet, Nathan—cut it out. I’ll go to dinner and tell him, and then I’ll come back to stay here with you afterward.”

  “No.”

  “You don’t have a choice.” I march into the bathroom. I sit down to go to the toilet, and he marches in.

  “I saw you kiss him, remember, Eliza? I know what he wants!”

  I roll my eyes at his dramatics. “Do you mind?” I gesture to me sitting on the toilet. “I’m kind of busy here.”

  “Cancel. I mean it.”

  “Will you get the hell out while I go to the bathroom?” I yell. “Give me some fucking privacy.”

  He storms out.

  So much for waking up in my dreamy love bubble this morning. I finish up and wash my hands. I brush my teeth and try to tame my just-fucked hair with my fingers.

  God, I’m a mess.

  I walk out to find Nathan pacing. The veins are sticking out in his forehead.

  “I’ll get ready here. You can drive me there and pick me up, but I am going,” I say calmly. “The choice is yours, Nathan. I’m not taking your bullshit. You know I don’t want him.”

  “He wants you.”

  “I don’t care.” I bark. “I want you!”

  His face softens. “You want me?”

  “You know I do.” I mutter dryly. “Stop acting like the victim here.”

  He exhales heavily, his jaw still t
icking in anger. “You’ll be here when I get home?” he asks.

  I straighten his tie as I stare up at him. “Yes.” I kiss him. It’s like taming a fucking tiger being with this man. “And I’ll get ready here. You can drop me off, and then I’ll call you when it’s time to pick me up.”

  He stares at me, still unhappy about it.

  “Nathan, trust me, having this conversation is the last thing I want to do tonight. But I’ve been avoiding his phone calls, and he’s been good to me. I need to do this in person.”

  He exhales heavily. “Fine.”

  I smile up at my beautiful man and dust my hands over his broad shoulders.

  “You’re kind of cute when you’re jealous.” I smile as I run my fingers through his whiskers.

  “Fuck off.” He pushes my hand away. “Well, what am I going to eat tonight?”

  “Whatever you’ve been eating while I was gone. You’re a big boy now. I’m sure you can make yourself some toast.” He rolls his eyes. “Goodbye.”

  I kiss his lips, and he pulls away and turns for the door.

  “Have a nice day, dear.” I smile sweetly.

  “Impossible!” The door bangs closed, I smile and climb back into bed. I snuggle in and close my eyes. Things are looking up.

  * * *

  What was I thinking?

  This was the stupidest of all stupid ideas.

  I glance over at my irate cab driver-slash-friends-with-benefits-slash-jealous, psycho boyfriend. Nathan grips the steering wheel with white-knuckle force as he glares at the road.

  We had a fight over me wearing a dress. Apparently, it was too sexy. I wasn’t allowed to have a glass of wine while I was getting ready because I need my wits about me, and now he’s trying to tell me how long I have to eat.

  He pulls the car up in the parking bay and looks across the road, into the restaurant. “I’ll just wait here in the car,” he grumbles.

  My eyes widen. “Go home, or I am not coming to your house tonight. Cut it out, Nathan. You are acting like a child.”

  “And you are acting like you don’t give a fuck.”

  “About what?”