by Amy Brent
“Fuck James. Let’s just enjoy it right now, alright? I still want more of you. I always want more of you.”
She spread her legs further apart for me. I slid a finger inside her.
She blinked water out of her eyes and sighed happily as I fucked her with my fingers. The water was hot on my shoulders. The steam fogged the glass around us.
Allie turned around and lifted her ass in the air for me. She looked back at me over her shoulders. “If you want more, take it,” she said.
So I did.
Chapter 32
Allie
I had been extremely lucky to walk into work late that morning to discover that James himself hadn’t yet arrived. There was a message on my desk that he wouldn’t be in that day due to a personal family emergency. I assumed he and his wife were meeting with their lawyers to sign the divorce papers. She was probably the happiest woman alive at this very moment, knowing she was about to be free of him forever.
So I took advantage of his absence and called Melissa. I asked her to join me for lunch, and she happily agreed. I hadn’t told her how everything with Steven had taken a turn for the better, and I was eager to sit down with her to share some good news for once. She had been my rock when things got tough, and I wanted her to know that I was finally happy. Things were looking up.
She agreed to meet me at a fun, swanky bar down the street from my office. At one in the afternoon, I arrived and found us a table by the window. Then I waited for her to get there.
It didn’t take very long. She showed up in a rush, dropping her purse and briefcase on the floor beside her chair and shrugging out of her ankle-length black winter coat. She sighed like she was decompressing, and then smiled at me. I stood up and gave her a hug, and then we both took our seats.
“You look great,” I told her.
“You too little sister. There’s a glow about you. What’s that about?” Melissa asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
I grinned. She had seen right through me. “Well, I have some things to tell you. It’s a long story. A lot has happened since I saw you last.”
“Saw me? You could see me through all those tears and over that bucket of ice cream?”
“Hey, now,” I scolded. “No need to remind me of how bad it was. I remember quite well.”
We were interrupted by the server and took a minute to place our orders. Once that was taken care of Melissa rested her chin on her knuckles and leaned in close. “Tell me everything. What’s happened?”
I couldn’t stop the smile that stretched my cheeks. I was smiling so big that it hurt. I was blushing.
“Oh, my God, Allie,” Melissa said, a smile of her own breaking across her face. “Seriously. Tell me. I can’t handle the anticipation.”
“Okay,” I said, still grinning like an idiot. “Steven and I are official.”
“Official? Like, in a relationship official? Are you kidding?”
“Nope, not kidding. He asked me last night. We’ve never been better. He gets why I didn’t tell him about Andrew and the whole near pregnancy thing. And he said that as long as I never keep a big secret from him again, he wants to be with me. Not friends with benefits be with me, but like, be with me.” Those damn happy tears were resurfacing in my eyes.
Melissa let out a delighted squeal. She popped up out of her chair and rushed to my side, where she squeezed me in a big hug. When she went back to her seat, she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt with excitement. “I’m so happy for you, Allie. Oh, my goodness. You’ve wanted this for so long. You both deserve this.”
“Thanks, Melissa.”
“You know,” she said. “Mom thought you and Steven would end up together. She told me she figured one day the two of you would get married.”
“Married?” I gaped. “I don’t know about that. You and I both know that Steven is afraid of commitment. Besides, if I’m with him, I don’t need anything to prove our love to other people. I’ll take whatever he’s willing to give me.”
“Uh, huh,” Melissa said with a smirk. “So if he ever did ask, you’d tell him you didn’t need the ring or the wedding?”
“Well, of course not.”
Melissa and I both burst out laughing. She shook her head at me. “Seriously Allie, everyone has been itching to see the two of you get together. All our friends talk about it. I can’t believe you and Steven never noticed.”
“No way,” I said, shocked. “People have been thinking he and I would be a thing all this time?”
“Yeah, for ages,” Melissa shrugged.
Suddenly, a shadow was cast over our table. Melissa and I both looked out the window and started laughing when we saw Chance and Steven pressed up against the glass making faces at us. We waved for them to come sit with us.
Seconds later, Steven was squishing in behind me and sitting in the chair beside me. He draped one arm across the back of my chair and leaned back. I could feel him looking at me. “What were you ladies talking about?” he asked with playful curiosity.
“You,” Melissa and I both said in unison. We started giggling once more.
Steven raised his eyebrows. “Oh yeah? About this morning?”
My cheeks burned fiercely. I shot him a horrified look, and he threw his head back and laughed. As Melissa and Chance started chuckling, I covered my face with my hands and shook my head. “You’re the worst,” I groaned.
Steven rubbed my back and continued laughing. “Ah, you know what you signed up for.”
“Yeah,” Chance said, “and it’s about bloody time, too. I’ve been waiting for years. Everyone has.”
“Apparently,” I muttered.
Steven and Chance ordered their meals, and the kitchen timed everything well so we could all eat together. We laughed and chatted about unimportant things. It felt so good to be sitting with the people I loved; it felt better to be sitting with them as Steven’s girlfriend. It was a feeling I never thought I would have.
When we were done eating, Steven dropped enough cash on the table to cover everyone’s bills. When we all insisted we would pay for our own, he told us to stuff it. Then he looked at me and put his hand on my knee.
“Want to come to my place tonight? I want to cook you dinner. Come straight after work, if you want.”
“Of course, I want to come over,” I said, smiling as he leaned in and kissed me.
“Alright, you two,” Chance teased. “Even though you’re together now doesn’t mean we want to see it in action. Keep that shit in the bedroom, will you?”
Steven held my face in both his hands and kissed me harder. I giggled and tried to pull away, but he held on fiercely, intentionally proving to everyone in there that he didn’t give a damn whether or not they wanted to see us kissing.
When he pulled away, he smirked proudly at Chance, who rolled his eyes at the ceiling. I was blushing again, and I could feel the heat on the back of my neck. It had never felt so good to be embarrassed.
Melissa was watching me with happy eyes. She didn’t seem to mind the impromptu display of public affection. If anything, she seemed pleased to have seen it.
“You two are meant for each other,” Melissa said as she got up and put her jacket on. “I have to get back to work. I’ll catch you guys around. And Steven,” she added, “you’re a lucky guy. There aren’t many people good enough for my baby sister. But you get the stamp of approval.”
“I am lucky,” he agreed, pulling me against him and kissing the top of my head.
Melissa left smiling. The three of us sat for a little while longer chatting. Chance left after fifteen minutes, and Steven and I stayed huddled up beside each other people watching through the window.
“I should probably go back to work,” I said, wanting nothing more than to stay with him.
“Probably,” Steven admitted, sounding as put off by the notion of separating as I was. “But you’ll be at my place before we know it. The wait will be worth it. Maybe I’ll make something new.”
“Whatever
you make, I’m sure it will be delicious,” I said as we stood up and put our coats on.
“You have so much faith in me.”
“Your cooking has never disappointed me before,” I said truthfully. “Besides, I’m really only in it for the good company.”
Steven smiled at me and kissed my forehead. “Me too.”
He walked me back to the office. We held hands the whole way. It was weird at first, but once we were a couple blocks down the street, it started to feel right. He stopped in front of shop windows and pointed at things he thought I should buy. His eye was drawn to clothes I was too nervous to wear out in public. I didn’t like being the center of attention. Steven thrived off of it.
He pointed at a red dress in one window. “You would look so good in that,” he said, pulling me back to him by the hand when I made to keep walking.
“It looks expensive,” I said, my eyes scanning over the sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves. “I wouldn’t have anywhere to wear something like that. It looks like a Christmas dress.”
“Maybe I need to take you somewhere worthy of wearing it,” Steven said, and we left the shop window behind.
He brought me back to my office, and we said a long goodbye in the parking lot. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other. He showered me with kisses and kept pulling me back to him every time I tried to leave. Laughter bubbled up out of me as I put up a weak fight of trying to get away. Neither of us wanted to part.
I was so in love with him.
“Steven,” I pleaded, “I have to get back in there. I’ll see you tonight. I’ll come right after work.”
“Okay, okay,” he submitted, letting my hand fall from his. “I’ll see you soon. Every minute is going to feel like torture.”
“Stop being such a romantic,” I laughed, walking away but looking back at him over my shoulder. He stood staring after me with his hands in his pockets. He was smiling.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around how I had gotten so lucky. My heart was light in my chest as I went inside and took the elevator up. Even if James Lipton had been at work, he wouldn’t have been capable of ruining my mood. I hadn’t felt so genuinely happy in a long time. I was fairly certain that Steven felt the same way.
When I sat back down at my desk, I pressed a finger to my lips. I could still feel the softest tingle there; the remnants of Steven’s kiss. I sighed and turned on my computer monitor. I was useless for the rest of the day and didn’t care. I watched the clock, desperate to get out of the office and be back in Steven’s arms.
Chapter 33
Steven
I shook the lighter, irritated that now was the time it would run out of fluid. I tried lighting the candles on the dining room table once more, but when the lighter clicked, no flame sprang from the end.
“Are you fucking serious?” I muttered to myself, shaking the lighter more vigorously. I tried for a third time. Finally, it lit, but it was only a tiny blue flame. I managed to light one of the candles before it snuffed out. Then I used the lit candle to light the other two on the table.
I stood back to admire my work.
I wasn’t much for decorating, but I was proud of how everything had come together. I had set the table with three candles of different heights in the middle. My plates matched the napkins, and I had even gone through the trouble of setting out the salt and pepper. A bowl of salad rested beside the candles, and on the opposite side was a basket of baked bread. I hoped Allie would be impressed.
I had been slaving—well, sort of slaving—over a new spaghetti recipe. I knew how much Allie loved pasta. It was her go-to on any food menu. I was hoping to blow her away through her taste buds.
There was a knock on my front door. I caught myself literally jogging down the hall to go let her in. Jesus, man, I thought, get a hold of yourself. You’re acting like a sixteen-year-old boy on a first date.
The thought made me smile. I hadn’t felt this excited to see a girl in my life.
When I opened the door, Allie stood smiling up at me. She was holding a bottle of red wine in one hand and a box wrapped in pink ribbon in the other. She held them both out to me. “I brought wine and treats for later,” she said as she stepped in, and I took everything from her hands.
“I was wondering what was taking you so long,” I said.
“So long?” She laughed. “I’m only fifteen minutes later than I would have been if I came straight from work.”
“Yeah. It was a long fifteen minutes for me, alright?”
“Alright,” she grinned, hanging up her coat on the coat rack. We went into the kitchen, and she spotted the table setting. “Oh, Steven, this looks terrific. And the aroma! Holy smokes, it’s amazing! What did you make?”
“Spaghetti,” I said somewhat proudly as I rummaged in one of my drawers for a corkscrew. When I found it, I set to work on opening the wine. I poured us each a glass and then set to filling our plates with pasta and sauce.
Allie sipped her wine and watched me. I brought the plates to the table and pulled her chair out for her. She sat, smiling up at me like some sort of beautiful angel who had been banished to earth and then looked down at all the food. “Steven, you outdid yourself. This is so nice.”
“I wanted to do this for you,” I said. “You’re too special to me for me not to show you how much I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Allie said.
I lifted my wine glass. She tapped hers to mine. “Here’s to the future as a couple,” I said, “finally.”
“Finally.”
While we ate, we laughed and chatted. I basked in Allie’s constant laughter and admired the way the flames from the candles danced in her eyes. She was spectacular. I felt like I was seeing her for the first time. I saw the freckles on the bridge of her nose that she used to try to cover with makeup when we were teenagers. I saw the crinkle in her nose when she laughed. The cute way her earlobes stuck out a tiny bit, and the dramatic curve of her cupid’s bow lips made me smile. She was so much more than just a girl.
She was my girl.
“Remember the time we went to Kanaka Lake together?” I asked, watching Allie for a reaction.
Allie smiled and nodded. “Of course. I thought there was a group of us going, but when I got there it was only little old you. Not that I was unhappy about that. I was secretly thrilled that I had you all to myself for a day. And shirtless, to top it off.”
I chuckled. “I felt the same way. Besides the shirtless thing. But of course, you looked great in a bikini. That was the first time I ever saw your boobs.”
“Wait. What?” Allie asked, looking up from her plate and pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth.
“Yeah.” I laughed. “Remember? We were play fighting in the water. Your top came undone. It came off when you were under water. You were mortified. I had never seen your cheeks so red before.”
“But you said you didn’t see anything!”
“I lied.” I shrugged. “I didn’t want you to be embarrassed. But, so we’re clear right now, I saw everything.”
Allie roared with laughter when I winked at her. “Oh, my God. So typical of you Steven. That was actually a decent thing to do. I never would have gotten over it. I was so shy back then.”
“I know. That was one of my favorite things about you. You were always blushing. So damn cute.”
Allie blushed across from me, and we both laughed. When we had ourselves back under control, she put her fork down. “Steven,” she said, a little more seriously now. “I want you to know. Those three months when we weren’t talking, were literally the worst ninety days of my life.”
All the humor was gone from her eyes. “Same,” I said. “Ask Chance. He had to peel my drunken ass out of the nightclub because that was the only way I could cope half the time.”
“I promise I’ll never hold anything back from you again. Even if it’s as small as me getting a hangnail at work. I want you to know everything. We’re in this thing together.”
; I reached out and took her hand across the table. “Allie, it’s alright. I trust you. I promise to never hold it over your head. You and Andrew, I mean. It wasn’t my place to judge or question. I love you, and we’re past it. We are so past it. I’m ready to focus on our future, not our past.”
Allie smiled. I saw the beginnings of tears in the corners of her eyes. “I love you,” she whispered.
I ran my thumb over the back of her hand. “I love you, too.”
Allie sniffled and looked at the ceiling to get herself back under control. When she looked back at me, she was smiling. “It’s crazy to think of what life is going to look like now, don’t you think?”
“How do you mean?” I asked. “As in, we’ll be keeping toothbrushes at each other’s places?”
“Sure,” Allie said. “And having sleepovers all the time. Like the good old days, but better, because we’ll share a bed.”
“And we’ll have lots of crazy sex.”
“That too.” She giggled.
“I was thinking,” I started, “that maybe you should have a drawer here. Or four. You know I don’t use half of mine. You can keep whatever you need to here.”