“For real,” she said. “I am absolutely in love with you, Matt.”
I stood up and lunged over at her, picking her up into a hug. She laughed as she went airborne, and when I set her down on her feet, our lips crushed into one another. It was like I couldn’t get enough of her and wanted to inhale her. She kissed me back with just as much intensity.
I broke the kiss and looked into her eyes.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you,” she responded.
I laughed as I kissed her again, and she pulled me by my shirt as she backed up out of the kitchen. She kept backing up until we reached my door, and she blindly reached for the handle to open it. As soon as it was open, we went inside, and I shut the door behind us.
We collapsed onto the bed together, lying sideways, her leg on top of me as our tongues wrestled with each other and brought in the taste of each other desperately. I reached for the belt of her robe and pulled it open slowly. She was wearing my sweatshirt again and a pair of yoga pants underneath. I slid my hand around her backside to pull her closer to me so she could feel how hard I was.
She rolled me to my back and mounted me, taking off her robe and tossing it aside before leaning down to kiss me again. As we kissed, she worked the buttons of my shirt open and let her palms slide across my chest and stomach. Then she reached for my pants and unbuttoned them, lowering the zipper as she raised her hips to give herself the room to pull them down.
My cock sprung out, and she grasped it in one hand, stroking it against her core, still in the yoga pants. Then she kissed my neck, slowly moving down my chest until she scooted down to my shins, giving herself access to my cock. She dove her lips down over it, taking me in and sucking me. I groaned loudly as she rose her tongue up the underside of me and swirled at the tip before diving back down again. Lovingly, patiently, she stroked me into her mouth, and I felt myself grow harder than I had ever felt.
I reached down and pulled her sweatshirt off, first by grabbing the sleeve and pulling until she let me get it off her. She wore a tank top underneath, and as soon as the sweater was off, she took off the tank, too. Then she knelt so that my cock rested between her breasts and rubbed them up and down my shaft.
Reaching for her, I pulled her back up to kiss me again as I hooked my thumbs in her yoga pants. They came off easily, and she tossed them away. Then, I pulled her into position, straddling me just below my cock. She sat up and continued to stroke me, adjusting herself over me so that each stroke brushed her clit. Her eyes rolled back, and she suddenly moved me into position and sat down, plunging my rod deep inside her.
Chloe cried out and began to rock immediately. Her mouth fell open, and she moaned as she slid my cock deeper into her than I had ever felt. She was tight and wet and pulsing around me, and I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to last before I came. Her eyes opened again and focused on mine, and the intensity was unlike anything I had ever felt. There wasn’t just lust there anymore. This was powered by something stronger, something deeper.
She collapsed into me, crushing her breasts into my chest as I grabbed hold of her ass in both hands and guided her in up-and-down motions on me. She moaned deeply in my ear, just inches away as she rode me, and I could sense she was nearing a climax. Her cries were getting shorter, closer together, and breathier. She was slamming down on top of me, and suddenly she sat up, her body clenching and her voice filling the room.
“Please,” she breathily cried. “Please fuck me.”
I rolled her onto her back, pulling myself up into position on top of her. She wrapped her legs around my waist as I plunged into her. Her cries of passion were met with my own as I balled up my fists on either side of her, using my hips to rock into her as hard as I could. She vibrated and curled and squirmed under my body, and I knew she was writhing in the throes of a climax.
When she finally calmed some, I brought my lips to hers and then slid down to her breasts. I took one between my lips and sucked, getting another moaning cry from her. Then I exited her, moving my lips down to her hips. She filled her hand with my hair as I plunged between her thighs, letting my tongue slide through her folds.
Chloe pulled at my arms, urging me to change position so that we lay opposite of each other. On our sides, I pulled one leg over me and licked her clit as I plunged a finger deep inside her. As I did, she took my cock into her mouth again, sucking me and moaning with each thrust of my finger. I could feel how wet she was, how eager her body had prepared itself for me. Her hips rocked as I licked her, and she tried to take all of me into her mouth. Her lips nearly reached my base, and I felt myself reaching a climax of my own.
I pulled myself from her mouth and maneuvered around her. Pulling one leg up over my arm, I drove into her again, her body prepared and waiting for me, already stretched and wet. The sensation was overwhelming, and our eyes were locked into each other once more. I slammed my cock into her in slow, deep motions and saw the ecstasy in her expression. She was close again, and so was I.
Increasing my speed, I felt myself getting dizzying close to losing control. Our eyes stayed trained on one another as I pounded into her faster and faster.
“Come with me,” she cried. “Come with me!”
I roared, and my cock exploded inside her. She writhed as an orgasm rolled through her as well, and the combination of both of us riding that wave together was unlike anything I had ever experienced. When I was finally empty, she pulled me into her breasts, and I caught my breath, my head rested on her and my body satisfied.
30
Chloe
A week later, our day off together rolled around again. It felt completely different this time. I wasn’t dreading an evening holed up in the spare room alone or curled up by myself on the couch watching TV and wondering if he was going to come out and join me. And hoping he didn’t come out and join me. And wishing he would come out and join me.
And hating myself for both of them, and for not being able to just deal with the situation I’d put myself in.
What a massive and wonderful difference a week makes. That day off I woke up feeling madly in love and content with the whole world. It was an incredible feeling being wrapped up naked in Matt’s arms without a care in my mind. I didn’t have to worry about anything or try to come up with ways to be convincing anymore. I didn’t even have to try to hide what was really going on in my mind and my heart and pretend everything was exactly the way we planned it.
Because it wasn’t anymore. For either of us. We loved each other, and I wanted everyone to know. If it wasn’t awkward and dangerous and straight out of a bad TV movie, I would have climbed up onto the roof and shouted out to all of Portland that I loved my husband. Hopefully, Matt would have been right there beside me in that fantastical scenario, loudly proclaiming his love for his wife. If not, at least I hoped he would be down on the ground prepared to rescue me if I tumbled.
I didn’t even have to think about where this relationship was going. We’d already gone there. It was an almost blissful feeling, and I couldn’t get enough of it.
“What do you want to do today?” Matt asked, tilting his head to kiss my forehead.
“I don’t know,” I said. “We could pretend to be hopeless visitors to the city and go wander around all the tourist attractions.”
He nodded slowly. “We have gotten really good at pretending things.”
I laughed and gave him a playful smack on the belly. That earned me getting flipped over onto my back and tickled as he kissed and chewed on the side of my neck.
A while later, we tumbled out of bed and made it out to those tourist attractions. I had been in Portland for some time by that point, but nowhere near long enough to feel like I knew everything about the city. There were still plenty of parts of it that Hannah would talk about, and I would have no idea what she meant.
We had a long list of places to see but ended up in Washington Park, and I never wanted to leave.
“This is incredible,” I
said, turning around slowly in the middle of a hiking trail as I looked up at the canopy of foliage over our heads. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
Matt laughed as I continued down the trail, trying to keep my head tipped all the way back so I could keep looking at the trees as I went.
“Look where you’re going. I don’t need you falling in the middle of the arboretum.”
“I don’t want to miss any of it,” I said. “There are trees in here I’ve never seen before.”
“I’m pretty sure there are trees in here almost nobody has seen before,” he said. He gave me a questioning look. “I thought you socialites liked to jet-set all over the world and see everything.”
I made a face at him. “I’m not a socialite. Besides, traveling was usually to places like the islands, Greece, Europe. That kind of thing. We didn’t do a whole lot of hiking through the woods.”
He laughed again. “This isn’t hiking through the woods. There are only about twelve miles of trails in here. I’ll bring you to Forest Park one of these days. One of the main trails there is thirty miles by itself.”
“We could get lost in there forever.” I reached for his hand.
“I know that was meant to be a sweet and romantic sentiment but considering it’s about five thousand acres and a lot of it is just straight-up woodland, it’s really a distinct possibility.”
“You’re no fun,” I said with a playful pout.
He tugged my hand and pulled me back to wrap his arms around me and give me a deep kiss.
“If you want to go get lost somewhere, I will get lost with you,” he said.
“Thank you.” I threw my arms around his neck and gave him another kiss. “That’s all I ask.”
We wandered through the park for another few hours, roaming the trails and sitting in the Japanese garden before exploring the rose garden. He told me it was a test garden, trying out new breeds of roses from all over the world. There was something humbling and astonishing about that. Even though I’d only been in Portland for a few months, I was feeling strangely proud of it.
We’d originally planned to get dressed up and have a fancy date night that night, but when we got home, we were both worn-out from the long day at the park. Instead of going out, I got in a hot bath while Matt ordered Chinese food.
Soaking away in the bubbles and anticipating a night in nothing but one of my husband’s T-shirts, eating on the couch, was officially far better than putting on heels and dealing with a crowded restaurant.
The next morning Matt found me in the kitchen, leaned against the counter eating cold leftovers straight from the takeout container.
“That’s a well-balanced breakfast,” he said.
I looked down into the container. “It’s beef, broccoli, onions, and rice. I think that’s pretty balanced. Protein, vegetables, grains. The rice is even brown. Besides, what makes it good enough for dinner but taboo for breakfast?”
He thought about that for a second. “Societal expectation.”
I made a face at him. “Yes, because we embody that so thoroughly.” Using my chopsticks to pluck a piece of beef out of the container, I held it out to him. “Come on. Take a walk on the wild side.”
He smiled and ate the bite. As he chewed, he looked at the container slightly questioningly. “Does that taste right to you?”
I ate another bite. “Yes. It’s delicious. Why?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just doesn’t taste like I thought it should.”
“It’s cold,” I said.
“That’s probably it. Alright, you finish your weird breakfast, and then we should really get some laundry and stuff done around here before work. We’ve been neglecting it a bit over the last week.”
I grinned. “I wonder why.”
He kissed me and headed for the shower. I finished eating and made my way to the bedroom to change clothes.
That evening we headed into work together, and Matt kissed me before we parted ways in the middle of the bar. Hannah was standing nearby and rushed over as soon as Matt walked away. She took me by my wrist and pulled me off to the side so no one could hear us talking.
“How’s everything going?” she asked. “It seems better between you two.”
I nodded. “Things are much better. We talked things out and are working on our communication. We had a really great talk and figured everything out. Things are better than ever.”
Hannah let out a little squeal and hugged me. “I’m so happy to hear that. I told you things would get better. You just have to be a little bit patient and try.”
“You were right,” I said. “Everything is going great now.”
And I felt exactly that good, like life was finally working out and things had fallen into place, right up until later that night. A couple of hours before closing, the late-night menu rolled out, which meant a whole lot of very greasy fried foods to appeal to those who had been drinking throughout the night. Matt and Jordan made it a very specific point not to over-serve anyone, but there was nothing like a few beers to make a massive spread of breaded, fried food sound magnificent.
A table had ordered one of the most popular items, a tower of onion rings made special with a few twists straight from Tyler, and I was bringing it to them when my stomach revolted. I didn’t know if it was the liberal sprinkling of garlic over the onion rings or the smoky mixture of ranch dressing and barbecue sauce on the side, but something about the smell hit me wrong.
I managed to set the plate down on the table with a wobbly smile and run to the bathroom before throwing up. A few seconds later, Hannah rushed in after me.
“Chloe?” she said from the other side of the stall door. “Are you okay?”
I sank to the floor and rested my head back against the wall. “I think so.”
No sooner had the words come out of my mouth than another wave of sickness hit me.
“You don’t sound okay,” she said.
“I’m not,” I said when I finished. I remembered what Matt said about the Chinese food I had for breakfast, and my heart sank. “I think I might have food poisoning.”
“Oh, no. I’ve been through that. It’s awful. Alright, I’m sending you and Matt home.”
“No,” I argued. “It’s busy, and I already went home early a week ago. I can’t leave you without the two of us. I’ll be fine.”
She waited while another wave came and went down the toilet.
“Yeah,” she said. “That’s not making anybody feel good about hanging out here and we don’t want to risk you passing it to someone else. You need to get home and get rest. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot that can be done about food poisoning but just letting it run its course. Sleep, drink a ton of sports drinks and water. Don’t worry about anything until you feel better. Do you think you can get up?”
I managed to drag myself to my feet and unlocked the door. “Yeah.”
“Good, because it would not have been cute if I had to wriggle myself across the floor to get under there to you. Come on, let’s get you outside, and I’ll get Matt.”
“I think I might be cashing in my ‘in sickness’ card a bit early in this marriage.”
“Fortunately, it’s renewable,” Hannah said. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’ll reciprocate before terribly long.”
The ride home was touch and go to say the least. Matt had to stop a couple of times, and by the time we finally got there, I felt like I was turned inside out. He brought me in and helped me to the bathroom so I could brush my teeth. Then I changed into pajamas, and he tucked me into bed. For the rest of the night, he took care of me. As my stomach settled, he brought me water and sat beside me watching TV so I wouldn’t be alone. Finally, I fell asleep.
31
Matt
Chloe feeling sick was simultaneously pitiful and adorable. Shuffling between the bed and the bathroom in fuzzy slippers and a bathrobe, her hair askew, was a side of her I had never seen. My heart broke for her for feeling so badly. I wanted
to help her in whatever way I could and also baby her. She deserved that. Everyone deserved someone doting on them and making them feel better when they felt sick. While I hadn’t had anyone to do it for years now, Mom instilled in all of us that the best way to get to feeling better was to be babied and do absolutely nothing but focus on getting well.
I was doing my part to make sure she was as babied as I could make her. Bringing her another cup of soup was about all I could do that morning, aside from making sure she had a bucket and a pitcher with tons of ice and a glass for water. I sat at the foot of the bed and rubbed her legs over the blanket. She was curled up on one side, looking tired and sad and still, somehow, cute. I could mostly only see hair as her head was buried under a pillow, and the blankets were pulled up to her chin. Her eyes were barely visible in the shadow under the pillow from where I sat.
“I’m getting a little worried about you, Chloe,” I said.
“It’s fine,” she grumbled. “It hasn’t even been a whole twenty-four hours yet. I’ll get better.”
“Are you sure? You seem miserable.”
“I’m sure,” she said. “It’s probably one of those bugs that comes and goes. You should go on into work.”
“I don’t really want to leave you. What if you need help?”
“I’ll call you,” she said. “The bar is only a few minutes from here, and you can come to me if I need help. But I won’t. Because it’s fine.” A tired smile crossed her lips, and I frowned.
“You promise you’ll call if you need something?”
“Promise,” she said. “Pinky swear.”
One hand came out of the mound of blankets on the bed, sticking straight up in the air, pinky pointing up. I hooked it with my own and shook. Then the hand slowly descended back to the pit it came from. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m going to get out of here.”
The Marriage Contract Page 17