So Twisted

by Melissa Marino

  “I don’t think so. Besides, what are you supposed to say? You can’t throw Abel under the bus and tell Aaron what he said.”

  “I guess,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders. “Who knows if it’ll even make a difference. He was acting so cold when I left.”

  “He’s acting like a dude. I swear, they always talk about how girls get so clingy once the sex starts, but I think it’s the opposite. They turn all caveman and shit, like they peed on you or something to mark their territory.”

  “Ew,” I said. “Really?”

  “I don’t mean actually pee on you. No, that’s gross. Although, people have a fetish for anything. Maybe your handsome new lover has a few you’ll find out about.”

  “If he wants to pee on me, I’m out of there.”

  She rolled her eyes. “In any case, you were bitchy to him, and now he’s probably processing everything like you are.”

  She had good points. I just needed to wrap my brain around the whole thing. I needed to sort through all the emotions I was having, some of which I wasn’t ready to share with Evelyn. What I’d thought was simply an intense physical attraction now seemed like much more, especially after the previous night. There was a shift, a very surprising one. It was overwhelming, so palpable, I had to believe he felt it, too.

  “Check in with Abel and see if he went crying to him about the whole thing,” she said.

  “Really? I don’t know.”

  “What?” she asked before taking a sip from her wineglass. “Abel told you it was cool for him to be your go-to. You get an objective male point of view with the added benefit of Abel knowing how Aaron is.”

  She had a point. I wasn’t sure if it was the correct one, but I didn’t think it would hurt.

  I retrieved my phone from my purse in the kitchen and scrolled through my contacts to call Abel.

  It took three rings before a rough-sounding Abel answered. “Hey.”

  “It’s Callie. Are you sleeping?”

  “Ah,” he said clearing his throat. “No. I…hold on.”

  Muffled sounds of female laughter and something that sounded oddly like the slapping of skin filtered through my phone, damaging some major hearing artery.

  “Okay. I’m back,” he said with a chuckle. “What’s up?”

  “Are you seriously talking to me when you have a woman lying next to you?”

  “Nah. I was just sending her on her way.”

  “How do you do that? I just saw you drinking orange juice out of carton while spraying apple remnants all over the kitchen an hour ago.”

  I sighed loudly, shaking my head. The guy was attractive, of course, but Abel’s ability to keep his bed on a steady rotation of women was something to behold.

  “Well, now that you’re alone, I need some advice,” I said.

  “Lay it on me.”

  I explained the whole situation, my uneasiness, and Aaron’s reaction.

  “So what exactly are you asking me?” Abel questioned.

  “Did I mess this whole thing up already? What am I going to walk back in to when I get home?”

  “Oh, Jesus. Aaron is such a sensitive, feeeelingggggg asshole. You didn’t mess up. He’s pouting, and he’ll be fine. Trust me.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with being sensitive, Abel. You could probably learn a thing or two. And why should I trust you?”

  “Because I know Aaron and he’s a man. I’m also a man and I can tell you getting laid by a hot lady, who also is smart and stuff, is something we don’t want to fuck up.”

  Words of wisdom. Abel Matthews style.

  I spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening with Evelyn, drinking wine and eating Chinese takeout. I was in a pleasant state of drunkenness when I left the apartment after midnight, leaving my car behind and taking a cab back home. Lucky for me, I wasn’t technically back on the clock until seven a.m., and I’d need time to sleep off the wine and the day’s events. As I entered the dark house, a wave of panic came over me, wondering what would happen when I saw Aaron. As luck would have it, the house was quiet and he was nowhere to be found.

  I tiptoed up the stairs and to my room, quietly closing the door behind me. Feeling exhausted, I slipped off my clothes and put on my most comfy pajamas. I crawled into bed, pulling the covers over me tight, and waited for sleep to come. It didn’t take long before I was in a deep dream state, but woke startled when a touch grazed my face. I sat up, momentarily frightened, before I realized Aaron was standing next to my bed.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, confused.

  He sat down next to me, returning his hand to my face and caressing my cheek lightly. Even in almost darkness, I could see that the stressed lines of his face, his visible distress from earlier, were gone. In its place were soft, pleading eyes. His hand moved from my face to my hair, smoothing it down and carefully tucking a stray piece behind my ear. The space between his eyebrows creased subtly, alerting me to the fact there was something he deeply wanted to say but didn’t know how. Not that it mattered anyway.

  He didn’t have to say a word.

  But I did.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  He picked up my hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it softly before bringing it to his bare chest. I traced my fingers across the hard, solid lines of muscles and watched as his skin erupted into goose bumps. My eyes roamed his exquisite body, the only thing covering him was a pair of dark, cotton, boxer briefs. I continued my path up his chest until I reached his neck, intertwining my fingers behind it to pull him to me. Wanting to feel him closer, I leaned my forehead against his while his eyes grew lazy, closing slightly, as his breathing accelerated.

  His hands moved to cradle my face, lifting it gently to his. “Sorry,” he said, opening his eyes. He brought his lips to mine and kissed me gingerly.

  I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t care.

  In that moment, the only thing I needed was him.

  I needed his eyes to tell me I wasn’t imagining what I was feeling.

  I needed his lips to ease the conflict between my body and mind. I needed his hands…his fingers…to touch me, to erase my doubt.

  I needed his body to remind me that nothing else mattered.

  It was him and me.

  He gripped the back of my hair as his lips languidly moved against mine. Our bodies molded together as our lips parted and our tongues met. I whimpered faintly as I tasted him, the mixture of whiskey and peppermint. I leaned back against my pillows as Aaron followed and anchored himself above me. His leg moved up between my open legs as he lowered himself on top of me. A soft moan echoed from deep in his throat, causing me to press my body into his to be even more connected.

  The dimness of the room proved to be the perfect setting for this exchange, shrouding both expression and emotion in darkness. Wanting his skin on mine, I sat up, breaking our contact, and lifted my shirt over my head, tossing it to the floor.

  Confusion and greed replaced sex tonight. There were no more words exchanged so maybe it was me needing the space. I didn’t know why, but I was scared.

  No.

  I wasn’t just scared. I was petrified.

  The only thing that made it better was clinging to him tighter until we both drifted off to sleep, his body spooned up behind me.

  * * *

  “DADDY!”

  Aaron and I shot up from bed and looked at each other with half-asleep, confused faces. Knowing she was awake and was going to barge into his empty room any minute, Aaron hurried off the bed, grabbed his boxers and rushed into my bathroom. Before shutting the door, he said. “She’s going to wonder where I am. Tell her I had to run out.”

  He closed the door, and I jumped from the bed to gather my pajamas. Once I had them on, I opened my door and saw Delilah standing outside Aaron’s bedroom.

  “Hey, sweetie. Your dad had to run out. He’ll be right back,” I said.

  She skipped down the hallway to me. “Where did he go?” she asked.

>   Where did he go? Where did he go?

  “He’s not at work yet, right?” she questioned with a sad expression. “He promised, if I was a good girl the rest of the night, you’d take me to the park today since we didn’t go yesterday because he was mean.”

  I rubbed my temples from the blinding headache that formed. It was going to be a three-hitter day: aspirin, water, and caffeine.

  Caffeine. Good call.

  “No, he didn’t go to work yet. He went to Starbucks to get coffee,” I explained.

  “Is he getting me a hot chocolate?”

  “I’m sure he is.”

  “With whipped cream?”

  “Of course,” I replied. “So why don’t you go to your room and get dressed, and by the time you’re ready, he should be almost home, okay?”

  “Okay,” she answered and ran from the room.

  “And close your door when you get dressed, okay?”

  “Okay,” she shouted before I heard the slam of her bedroom door.

  One door closed…the other opened. My bathroom door flew open, and Aaron rushed out looking tired and disheveled.

  “Thanks,” he said, approaching me.

  His hand reached out and rubbed my arm. “No problem.”

  “I better go get dressed before she catches me.”

  “Sure.”

  “Sorry for a…crashing here…last night. I was just…you know…”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  It was all so awkward and uncomfortable, and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. The conversation was the most we’d talked to each other in twenty-four hours, and after the intense exchange the night before, I was much more comfortable leaving everything where we left it last night…in the dark.

  He started to exit the room, but right before leaving, he turned around, his expression concerned.

  “Callie?”

  “Yes?”

  “A double-shot vanilla latte, right?” he asked.

  A slow smile took some of the worry out of his expression, and I was both relieved and smitten. It may not be much, but the simple act of him remembering my drink of choice was something.

  “Yes,” I replied with a smile of my own. “Thank you.”

  While he was gone, I started breakfast, letting Delilah help me make funny shapes with pancake batter. She was already sitting down, eating her pancake she proudly said was a spider, when Aaron walked back in.

  He looked more awake and at ease as he handed Delilah her hot chocolate and me my latte.

  “You feeling okay?” he asked, looking me over.

  I rubbed my temples. “Too much wine with Evelyn last night, but I’m fine.”

  “Here,” he said, reaching into the cabinet above the stove. He took out an aspirin bottle and, after opening it, shook out two pills and handed them to me.

  He filled a glass next to the sink with water and extended it to me. “Take those and see how you feel. Do you want to go lie down for a while?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’ll be fine once this and the coffee kick in. By the way, I’m sorry about this. Showing up to work with a visible hangover is probably something my boss frowns upon.”

  He smoothed his hands over his white cotton shirt before shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “Well, I think your boss has a bit of a crush on you, so he might let it slide,” he said with a wink.

  My stomach did a flip-flop, and I was reminded for the moment, at least in this house, he was mine.

  He looked over my head to Delilah, who was occupied with her pancakes, and motioned me to the other end of the kitchen.

  His hand brushed up my back as I joined him. “I feel, like, I should say something…explain…about last night,” he said uncomfortably.

  I shook my head. “No, you really don’t have to.”

  I wanted to say more, but my brain made the words stop before I could let them out. I was navigating new territory, one in which I wanted to be everything he wanted me to be, but still be true to myself. I had no idea how I was going to do that. I’d been on my own for a long time and worked really hard to build a life for myself. I wasn’t going to sacrifice that for anyone.

  It was what my brain said. It was what I knew to be true, but things with him were too good to risk a truth with.

  He leaned down, bringing his mouth close to my ear. “I missed you,” he whispered. “I felt like a jerk for being such an asshole to you, and I thought I messed up.”

  “You didn’t…mess up.”

  He pulled away to look me in the eye once again before whispering back in my ear. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you when you were gone all day.”

  I pressed my lips together and processed what he said. I tried to think of an appropriate response, something between jumping on top of him, begging him to do it again, and running around the room screaming because I was so freaked out.

  “I understand,” was all I could manage.

  “I don’t know how we work this or what the rules and shit are, but I care about you and am having a good time.”

  “I am, too. I think we just need to take it one step—”

  “Is it time to go yet, Callie?” Delilah interrupted.

  “At a time,” I finished.

  He nodded his head at me. “We’re cool, then?”

  I looked into his beautiful blue eyes and saw all I needed to know. “Yeah, we’re perfect.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  AARON—

  Can we wake her up yet, Daddy?”

  “Shh,” I said, rushing down the hallway. “Not yet.”

  She was about to knock on Callie’s door, waking her early even after I told her to wait until at least eight a.m.

  “Why?” she shouted.

  I reached and took her hand, leading her toward the stairs. “First off, don’t shout.”

  She crossed her arms and pouted, but when I raised my eyebrows, she knew I was waiting for an apology. After mumbling an “I’m sorry” under her breath I pointed downstairs. I followed her and when we got to the bottom, I took her hand.

  “Second,” I said. “I told Callie to sleep in today. She’s been so busy with taking care of you and finishing school a few weeks ago that I thought she needed extra sleep.” It was the last Saturday in May and Callie had finished up her finals, planned and thrown Delilah’s fifth birthday party, and had barely had a break since. Plus, with her nightly visits to me, she could’ve used the added rest.

  She brushed a curl out of her face, her eyes still sleepy. “Okay. But when she wakes up then we can tell her the surprise?”

  “Yes, but not—”

  “What surprise?” Callie asked from the top of the stairs. Even with her hair in a messy bun on top of her head and no makeup, she still gave me an eyeful. Her short T-shirt that exposed a sliver of her midsection, and lounge pants that were sexier on her than anything else she wore just made me want her more. I recalled the night before, the way I peeled off her clothes, piece by piece, kissing and tasting my way across her body. I needed to have her; she had almost become my obsession, and I didn’t see that ending anytime soon.

  “Well?” she asked, crossing her arms.

  It was the same pout-arm cross as Delilah had just done. Two women under my roof, and I had to answer to them both.

  “We have a surprise!” Delilah said, jumping up and down. “Can I tell her, Daddy?”

  I narrowed my eyes at Callie, watching as a smile overtook her morning crankiness. “How about we give her a hint and see if she can figure out?”

  “Okay!”

  I knelt down and whispered in her ear. When I stood again, I nodded at her to tell Callie.

  “Pancake beans!” she shouted. “It’s a hint, Callie!”

  “Pancake beans?” Callie asked confused.

  Delilah and I nodded. Technically, it wasn’t exactly what I said, but it made for a more interesting reveal.

  “Delilah? Do you want to go eat a banana? We aren’t going to eat breakfast for at
least an hour.”

  “Yes, please. I can do it,” she said, running down the hallway.

  Callie descended the stairs, shaking her head at me. “What are you up to?”

  “Just…nothing.” I winked and pulled her into me as soon as she stepped off the bottom stair.

  She buried her face in the base of my neck, inhaling softly. “I don’t like surprises,” she mumbled against my skin.

  “Sorry she woke you,” I said, rubbing my hand across her back. “You looked so exhausted last night.”

  “She didn’t wake me. I’m on automatic once the clock hits seven a.m.”

  She lifted her head and looked up at me. Her hands wrapped around my waist, her fingertips dipping below the hem of my shirt. As soon as her touch met my skin, a heat came over me. I closed the gap between us, pressing my lips to her as she softly sighed.

  As we pulled away, she ran her tongue over her lips, like she was saving a bit for later.

  “Pancake beans, huh?” she asked.

  “Nothing fancy. I’m taking my girls out for the day.”

  “I’ll go get ready,” she said.

  And just because I couldn’t help myself, I slapped her perfect ass as she started walking away.

  And then left coffee in her Tinker Bell mug on the vanity of her bathroom so it was ready for her when she got out of the shower.

  * * *

  “So, I get the pancake part of the hint now obviously,” Callie said, slicing into her blueberry pancakes. Wildberry Cafe was my favorite brunch spot, and it was the perfect first stop for the day. It was always ridiculously busy, especially on the weekends, so by the time we got our food, we were all starving.

  “Was the beans coffee?” she asked, tapping her coffee cup.

  “Nope,” Delilah said, her mouth full of pancakes and lips smeared with chocolate. “It’s the Bean.”

  Callie brought a napkin to Delilah’s face, wiping away the mess. When she was done, she placed the napkin in Delilah’s lap and whispered something in her ear. Delilah nodded and went back to her pancakes. There was nothing on the surface of the interaction, but something inside me hurt. Callie had more maternal instinct than I ever saw in Lexie, but it was her genuine affection toward Delilah that made me see past the “nanny” label. It wasn’t just a job to her. It was who she was.