Commitment

by Golland, K. M.

  “Why not?”

  I furrowed my brow. “Because you have a massive, red handprint on your arse.”

  “Yeah, because you hit me too hard. If your hand had connected a little softer, it would’ve been … I don’t know, hot.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  She smirked; a little sexy, a little embarrassed.

  “Hmm … noted.” I shuffled closer and threaded my fingers through her hair, gently pulling her head toward me and kissing her lips. She tasted of mint and Tash. It was a delicious combination. “What else do you think is hot?” I murmured, trailing my mouth across her cheek to her neck.

  She sucked in a ragged breath. “Summer and Mexican food.”

  I nibbled her ear. “Very funny.”

  She winced and I pulled back. “Don’t tell me that was too hard as well. Fuck, I might as well give up.”

  “NO!” Her fingers clenched my chin, her eyes peering deep into mine. “Don’t ever give up, not on me, not on us. Promise?”

  I searched her pleading face, a flicker of uncertainty and unease stabbing me in the chest as to why she was all of a sudden so intense. “Of course, love.”

  She nodded. “Good. I love you today.”

  “And I love you everyday.”

  Tash pulled my lips back to hers and kissed me softly, her hand moving from my chin to the back of my head, our tongues stroking one another, and our fingers biting into skin.

  “And I wasn’t wincing at your nip,” she explained. “I was winching because I put to much pressure on my butt cheek.”

  “Tell me what can I do to ease your pain.”

  She smiled but it lacked conviction. “It’s not that bad.”

  “You’re the world’s worst liar. You know this.”

  “Okay. It hurts like sneezing a pineapple.”

  “And you’ve done this … when?” I drawled.

  She narrowed her eyes. “You wanna help me take some of the pain away that YOU caused?”

  “You know I do.”

  “Fine. Trixiebell has an Aloe Vera plant in her backyard. Go break off a big, fat, juicy leaf for me.”

  “Now? I asked, incredulously. “It’s gone midnight and I’m in my jocks.”

  “So? It’s gone midnight. No one will see your jocks.”

  “What about her dogs? Buster is a psycho.”

  “Buster is a puppy, he’ll be inside with Trixie and Leo.”

  “I don’t care about Leo. I’m not even sure Leo is still alive. He doesn’t move.”

  “He’s alive, Dean. He’s just old.”

  “He’s beyond old. He’s decaying.”

  “Ow. Ow. Oh, the pain.”

  She was lucky I felt guilty as shit and that she was so fucking adorable, because as I swept the blanket away from my body and got out of bed, the last thing I wanted to do was go frolicking in Trixie’s jungle. Pun definitely unintended.

  * * *

  Despite being the height of summer, the temperature at one a.m wasn’t exactly kind to the old fella shrivelling in my jocks. Shit! I should’ve at least put on a t-shirt. The silver light cast by the full moon hung high in the night sky above allowed decent visibility over both Trixiebell’s and our backyard. It also increased my chances of returning with Tash’s fucking Aloe Vera leaf without suffering a broken neck. Then again, what’s another broken bone tonight?

  Hoisting myself up over the fence, I cursed Mother Nature for creating splinters when one entered the skin of my finger. You’re a man not a mouse, Dean. Man. Not. A. Mouse. Granted, a mouse wouldn’t have to trespass on its neighbour’s property in the early of the morning in its underwear because it mouse-spanked its mouse-spouse’s mouse-arse. So a being a mouse as opposed to a man was not such a bad alternative.

  Landing with a thud on the ground, the loud snap of … something, echoed and triggered a symphony of squawking birds and screeching chickens.

  “Shit!”

  “What? What was that?” Tash whispered, the flashlight on her phone blinding me when she shone it directly into my face.

  I held up my hand to shield my eyes. “I don’t know. Get that shit off my face. I can’t see.”

  “Sorry. I thought it would help.”

  “Well, it would if it wasn’t aimed right at my face.”

  “Fine. Don’t worry about it. I’ll go back inside then.”

  She went to climb back down the fence. Damn it.

  “No! Wait! Tash, come back. You’re helping. Just shine it where this stupid plant is.”

  “I don’t exactly know where it is.” She pointed her phone toward the yard, light bouncing off various animal hutches and plants.

  “Go back. What the hell are those?”

  “Ferrets, I think.”

  “Why? Why does she have ferrets?”

  “I dunno. Why do we have kids?”

  “Good question.”

  “Oh oh! Over there!” Tash shone the light on a prickly looking plant.

  “You mean the big bastard covered in thorns?”

  “Yes. That’s the one.” For the love of wives with sore arses. “Are you complaining, Sir Spanksalot?”

  I paused and playfully glared up at her, unable to see through the darkness the shit-eating grin on her face, which was peeking over our six foot five fence. I knew she was wearing it, though. I knew because I could feel its shitty radiation.

  Treading carefully through Trixie’s yard, I bypassed the ferrets, snuck past the chickens, and stopped at the green obnoxious spike-fest that bloody well better soothe Tash’s welt.

  “Shit, I didn’t bring shears,” I called out.

  “You don’t them. Just break it off.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. It’s covered in … teeth!”

  “It’s not a fucking shark, Dean. It’s not going to bite you. Hurry up. I’m getting cold.”

  “I’ll give you friggin’ cold,” I murmured under my breath.

  Carefully taking a leaf in my hand, I worked to break it halfway down the stem when the fucking thing bit me. “Jesus!”

  Shaking it off, I went to finish the job when an atrocious squawk sounded next to my ear, the screech vibrating through my head and causing my body to abruptly levitate and land on the entire shark-toothed, prickly, green arse-soothing fucker of a plant.

  “Argh! Fuck!” I cried out, scrambling to get to my feet again.

  The brightest light I’d ever seen nearly knocked me back on my arse, and for a second I thought a UFO was hovering over my head and Trixie’s family had come to take her home.

  “Who’s there?” she called out. “Show yourself you petty thieving wanker.”

  The spotlight was burning holes into my retinas, so I covered my eyes and tried to block its force with my other hand, and as I held my arm up, a wall of paws, fur, and muscle barrelled into my chest, knocking me back onto the plant.

  “Thata boy, Buster. Take him down.”

  “Trixie! It’s Dean,” Tash yelled.

  “What? Dean? What the hell are you doing in my backyard at one in the morning?”

  “Ask, my wif—” I tried to talk, but each time I did Buster would lick my mouth. “Buster, stop it. Get off!” I spat. “Trixie!” Spit. “Call your dog.” Spit. “I can’t.” Spit. Spit. “Move.”

  “Buster! Buster, come here, boy.”

  The Boxer pup — which weighed a bloody ton — leapt off me and ran back to Trixie. I sat up, continuing to shield my eyes and peeled myself off the plant of death for the second time, only to come face-to-face with Leo, a one thousand plus year-old Golden Retriever. He stared right at me, or right through me — I don’t even know if he knew what he was staring at — then turned around and made the trek back inside.

  “Here,” I heard Trixie say.

  The ray of spotlight burying into my face was blocked by her towering form, illuminating her cherry red hair and fluorescent pink onesie like a halo. I looked up at her offered hand but noticed the shotgun clasped in the other.

&
nbsp; “Is that real?”

  “Of course. Here, get up!” She yanked on my hand and practically hurtled me over her shoulder. Fuck me … she definitely has to be alien of some kind.

  “What are you doing with a shotgun?”

  “Protecting myself … what else?”

  “Do you have a license for that thing?”

  She pointed to my jocks. “Do you have a licence for those?” Shit!

  Tash burst into laughter. “They’re very purple, aren’t they? I love them.”

  “They were a present,” I huffed, cupping my hands in front of junk.

  “They are hurting my eyes,” Trixie said, raising her arm to her forehead.

  “I’d say that’s your spotlight. Anyway, I best be heading back home.”

  “Wait! You never said why you were in my yard. Fess up.”

  “He was trying to steal me a bit of your Aloe Vera plant, Trix. Apparently it bit him.” Tash burst into laughter again.

  “Ha fucking ha. It did bite me. That plant is vicious.”

  “And squashed!” Trixie exclaimed. “What have you done to it?”

  “I’m sorry. I fell and then Buster kinda pushed me onto it.”

  She bent down and assessed the damage, which was fairly extensive. I felt awful. I’d trespassed and ruined her property. Plus, she was bearing a firearm.

  “Is it dead like, Leo?”

  She glared at me. “Leo is not dead. And no, neither is this. It’s salvageable.”

  “Good. Sorry. Can I have a leaf … please?” I held out my hand and offered her a smile.

  “Depends. What do you want it for?”

  “Yeah, Dean,” Tash giggled. “What do we want it for?”

  I ran my tongue over my teeth to calm my shit, because if that vivacious wife of mine wasn’t careful, I’d handprint her other arse cheek when I got home.

  “We would like it for skin inflammation,” I explained calmly.

  “What type? Sunburn? Rash? Herpes?”

  “No. None of that!”

  “Then what?”

  “Why do you need to know?”

  “Because I need to know what we’re dealing with here.” She broke off a leaf.

  Just. Like. That.

  “Are you sure it’s skin inflammation? Aloe is also an excellent sex lubricant.” Trix held it out to me and waggled her eyebrows.

  I took the leaf from her and said, “Thanks,” then headed back to the fence.

  “Wait!” she called out. Trixie broke another three leaves and handed them to me. “Here. It also assists with penis enlargement.” Her lips pursed and her eyes flicked to my package. “Thought you could do with some more.”

  Trixie slapped my back.

  Tash nearly fell off the fence.

  Leo walked into my leg.

  And I just closed my eyes and hoped that when I opened them there really was a UFO hovering above me to take my neighbour — and Leo — far, far away.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Tash

  My poor, poor husband. But seriously, what the hell had he been thinking? This morning when we woke it was one of those rare occasions that we were both up and getting ready for work at the same time, and to say we both looked like collateral damage … well, that was an understatement.

  I was limping; Dean was limping. His hand was bruised; my arse was bruised. I had a bump on my head; he had a splinter in his hand. But hey, we had several Aloe Vera leaves and one of the longest laughing sessions we’d experienced in a very long time.

  It had been nice.

  I’d also had a nice drive into work that morning for having skipped the peak hour traffic, and as I stood at the base of the staircase in the Atrium, overseeing the Easter festivity decorations being put together and hung, I couldn’t be more excited.

  Easter was fun.

  Easter was chocolate.

  “Ms Jones, the giant carrots, Easter eggs, and bunny ears have just arrived.”

  I looked up from the design layout on my iPad and met Dylan’s frazzled face. “Thanks, hon. What delivery dock? Please tell me it’s seven. I don’t want them carted through the shopping precinct.”

  “Yeah, it is. Dale and Reed are there now, carrying out the security checks.”

  “Did you say Dale?” I asked, shocked but feigning just how shocked I really was.

  It had been four weeks since I’d seen him, and during those four weeks he hadn’t texted me once. He’d respected my wishes not to do so and, although I was grateful for his compliance, the distance had drilled a new hole in my chest.

  “Yeah, Dale.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know he was back.”

  “He’s been back for a week.”

  “A week?” I exclaimed, immediately regretting my overreaction. “I mean, I wish I’d known. There’s been a few things I need his expertise on.”

  “Oh, well … sorry. Someone should probably have told you.” Dylan shrugged and walked off to resume his work.

  I’d thought of Dale often, even though I’d tried not to. I was only human, and it was hard to completely shut out a person who had come into your life at a certain time for a certain reason without knowing exactly what the reason was. Someone with such a strong presence in your life didn’t just disappear because you wanted them gone. They left a mark — one that couldn’t be erased.

  During the weeks he’d been absent, I’d focussed majority of my thoughts and energy on improving my marriage. That said, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to missing him. I missed our friendship, our chats, laughing, and just having fun. And knowing that it was wrong, I also missed his attention and our flirtatious ways. How could I not? It was exciting. Regardless, that didn’t mean I wanted to rekindle the taboo, because I didn’t. I knew we could never go back to that kind of behaviour. That part of our relationship was over. But it also didn’t mean that everything else had to be too. We could still be friends. We just needed to talk.

  I was ready to do that now. I just hoped he was as well.

  Searching for Allison among the flurry of people, I spotted her blonde head at one of the chocolate making workshops. She’d come in early to help set up.

  “Ali, the big props just arrived at dock seven. I’m gonna head down there and check that everything is good.”

  “Okay. No probs. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things.”

  “Thanks.” Turning on my heel, I headed through the City Towers lobby en route to the dock seven receiving door.

  I tapped my ID pass across onto the security lock and waited for the door to open, a gust of wind hitting me as the glass panels parted to let me through. Dale’s unmistakable presence swam over my body, the surface of my skin alert and the hairs on my arms perpendicular. But it felt different this time around. Less consuming. Instead, it just hovered in space before me, out of reach.

  As if sensing I was there, Dale looked up and our eyes locked on one another. So many emotions bounced back and forth: surprise, guilt, disappointment … uncertainty. But it was how quickly he diverted his gaze and deliberately chose not to greet me that sparked my anger to trump them all. What’s his problem?

  “Morning, Tash,” Reed said, as I approached the back of the delivery truck.

  “Morning.” I turned to Dale, my tone less welcoming. “You’re back!”

  “It would appear I am.” His gaze flicked to me for the briefest of seconds before he continued assessing the items being lifted onto the dock by the receiving team.

  His icy reception stung and I couldn’t match it. I just didn’t have it in me.

  “Did you enjoy your break?” I asked, timidly, trying to probe him into talking to me. It was pathetic and I felt like an idiot, but I couldn’t help myself. I needed a reaction from him. Anything but the cold shoulder he was offering.

  “Yep. It was just what I needed.” This time when he spoke he didn’t bother to look at me at all, instead stepping around me instead of politely asking I move out of his way.

  He was being a
childish jerk.

  “Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about a few things?”

  He stopped what he was doing, his stare meeting mine. “What things? You can talk now. Here.”

  I noticed Reed from out of the corner of my eye pause what he was doing and turn his head toward us, Dale’s curt and unpleasant attitude drawing unwanted attention. Screw you! I’m bigger than this bullshit.

  “Never mind. It’s not important. It was but not anymore.” I turned my back to him and shortened the distance to Reed. “Is everything okay with this delivery so far?”

  “So far so good.”

  “Good.” I made my way to one of the receiving team members and double-checked the details on the manifest. “If anything is different, please let me know before signing it all off. Our timeframe for adjusting errors is very tight. We may have to make-do if there is any discrepancy.”

  The burley young man nodded and went back to checking the inventory on his iPad.

  “Okay. If everything is good, then I’m good too,” I announced, deliberately brushing past Dale as I headed back toward the Lobby.

  Tears pricked my eyes as I once again tapped my ID pass, but I refused to let them fall. I’d let far too many fall in recent times, and enough was enough. I wasn’t a crier. I didn’t do tears. Tears were fear I was not in control of, and I was stronger than that. If he wanted to pretend I wasn’t there, that I meant nothing … that four weeks apart could so easily obliterate anything and everything between us, then so fucking be it.

  His choice not mine.

  My intent when fighting ‘fire with fire’ was never wanted to expunge him, just the situation.

  “Tash!”

  Hearing the deep tone of my name on his tongue halted my movement, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and face him. Not without first taking a deep breath to calm every emotion that wanted to burst from me and bruise him.

  “You wanted to talk?”

  “Yeah, I did. But it’s fine. I get it. Go back to work.”

  The doors slid open and I went to take a step forward.

  “Don’t you think the time for ‘talking’ has passed?”

  I paused, spun around and walked toward him, one hand on my hip, the other pointed directly at his chest. “No. I don’t. I think the time is perfect.”