by Tamara Black
After she kissed me, she started laughing.
“What's so funny?” I asked.
“I'm just so happy.”
“Was I that good?”
I winked, which caused her to start laughing even harder.
“Just what a guy wants to hear after sex for the first time; laughter,” I said, using my best Rodney Dangerfield impersonation.
“Stop. You're killing me.”
The sexual orgasm had been wonderful, but laughing with her also brought intense bursts of pleasure.
“I need another glass of wine. You mind?”
“You read my mind. I'm gonna clean up first.”
“Don't get too clean, I like you a little dirty.”
She smiled then stood up. I followed her to the bathroom. After cleaning up, we put on our underwear and shirts and headed for more wine. We finished off the first bottle in the kitchen then retired back to the living room. Music continued to float through the air as we sat down next to each other on the couch. Her legs touched mine.
“Why didn't we do this a lot sooner?” she asked.
“I don't know.”
The mood in the room suddenly changed a little. Maybe it was the music in the background. I didn't know, and I didn't really care. All that mattered to me was that I was spending time with the person I cared about more than anything else in the world.
“Well, I'm glad we did. You're pretty good.”
I turned to her and smiled. “Thanks. You too. Ready for round two?”
She laughed as I started tickling her. We were soon wrestling, which stopped as we started kissing again. Feeling her skin against mine was divine. Time slowed once again as I explored her body and she got more familiar with mine.
When we finished the second time, we both ready for bed. It turned out to be the best night of sleep in my entire life. Her body next to mine under the covers made me think of a thousand of the world's best paintings all merged into one.
Our nights together continued to get better and better. We worked so well together that I started spending more and more time at her place. When she brought up me moving in, I didn't hesitate. I had been so worried that sleeping with her would screw up our friendship, but we only got closer.
With each day that passed, we grew as individuals and as a couple. Then I decided to take it one step further. It was the logical conclusion for us, especially when you considered what everyone said about most friends who took it further. And I had the perfect way to let her know how I felt.
NINE
Mercedes
“Will you get me a book from the library if you go today?” he asked me just as I was about to leave our new apartment.
“Yeah, what one?”
“I'll text you the title. Thanks.”
He waved from the couch. I waved back then walked outside. Three months after first sleeping together and things between us were still going great. I'd had my doubts at first, but we really seemed to be doing great. The apartment we'd picked out together was perfect for us in several ways. For one thing, it was super close to the library, like a block away, which I loved.
I still spent a lot of time there reading books, but Logan understood. All the fears I'd had before we slept with each other had been unfounded. The situation could still change, but after more than three months as a couple, our relationship seemed solid. When I got to the library, I still hadn't gotten a text from him, so I sent one to ask him what book he wanted.
Logan: Oh, forgot. Called, Breaking Up is Easy. Thanks!
As I read the text message, I wondered briefly if he was yet another victim of autocorrect. When another message didn't arrive, I stuffed my phone in my pocked and headed inside. I headed straight toward the self-help section. With every step, my heart sunk a little more. Was he trying to be clever in breaking up with me? That was something he would definitely do. His humor was horrible.
When I reached the self-help section, I slowly scanned the relationship titles. Then I saw it. A big, yellow book with heavy black type, “Breaking Up is Easy!” I hated the exclamation mark at the end of the title. This seemed more and more like Logan trying to ease the tension while breaking up with me. Was he fucking serious? Furiously, I grabbed the book from the shelf.
Then I noticed something. A slip of paper was slightly visible. I opened the book to somewhere near the middle, thinking that the page would hold some secret message for me to read. Maybe it was a break-up letter that Logan was too fucking scared to send me. As soon as the pages opened and I saw the piece of paper, I recognized the ornate doodles as something Logan had done.
Amidst all the flowers and curls were written the words, “Will you marry me?”
I dropped the book out of shock.
“That's not the answer I was hoping to get,” Logan said from behind me.
“Yes,” I said as I turned.
He held out his arms, and I ran into them. We held each other for what seemed like forever. Tears were streaming down my face, but they were quickly replaced by laughter. A rainbow of emotions were coursing through my body. I punched him in the arm as soon as I cooled down a little bit then smiled and hugged him again.
We left the library and went to celebrate at a neighborhood bar around the corner from our apartment. As we drank, we talked about plans for the wedding, including what we were going to do about a honeymoon. We both had a little money saved up, but we didn't want to spend it all on nuptials because we both knew the economy was likely to crash at any moment.
The more glasses of wine we consumed, the more whimsical and fancy the wedding and honeymoon became. As we walked home together arm in arm, I felt better than I had ever before in my entire life. I always knew Logan was special to me, but I'd never realized how good our love could be once we moved beyond the friendship stage.
And with such a solid foundation with years of friendship, I knew the odds of us staying together were really good. I felt like I'd found a magical way to get the best of both worlds. Part of me wished I had acted on my feelings sooner, but in the end all that really mattered was that we were getting married. I already knew he wanted to have two children, which was more than fine with me.
TEN
Logan
“Do you, Logan, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.”
“And you, Mercedes, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do.”
“You may kiss the bride.”
We moved forward and in my mind, I flashed back to the first time we had kissed on her couch. That moment seemed like lifetimes ago as our lips touched briefly in front of all our friends and family. The rest of the ceremony and the reception both flew by in a blur. When I came to my senses, we were in the back of a limo headed to a cabin on Lake Michigan.
After being realistic about our finances, we had decided that just getting out of Detroit for a week would be a good thing for both of us. While a small cabin on the Great Lake wasn't the most posh place to honeymoon, we loved the lack of boarded up buildings and poverty everywhere. If just for a moment, we wanted to forget that we lived in a dying city and no one cared.
Bringing Love Back
ONE
Danielle
As soon as I divorced Ethan, my life changed for the better. It could have just been a coincidence, but after a year of living in absolute hell, I tended to believe that leaving him and taking my name back was the best idea I'd ever had in my entire life. We never should have been together in the first place. I was a professional woman who worked in advertising and he was in construction.
I met him when he was working on the building owned by my employer at the time. After the divorce, I left my job and fled Miami and the rest of Florida. I wanted to get as far away from him as possible, so I moved to Seattle. Not long after I settled, I realized that I could put as much physical distance between us as possible, but I would never be able to forget him completely.
We had fought more than not when we were together, but the few times when we were good, the relationship was on an entirely different level. Thinking about it now, I realized it was probably due to our age. I had only been out of college for a year and was working my way up the corporate ladder while he worked for his brother-in-law's construction company.
Fate had brought us together and reality had torn us apart. I sat in my empty apartment on the top floor of the building and looked at the Seattle skyline out the window that stretched was the entire wall protecting me from the world. As usual, the sky was gray and dark, much like my mood. Until I moved away from Miami, I hadn't realized how much I loved the sun and nice weather.
My career was going great in Seattle, but my love life was non-existent. This was good in a way because it allowed me to spend more time getting ahead at work. And I had made a few friends in the new state so far away from where I had been born. Melissa was one of them. She was about half an hour late picking me up, which is why I was sitting on my couch staring outside.
A knock at the door startled me for a second. I stood up, walked over, and opened it. Melissa stood in the hallway. Her red hair and freckles made her look cute no matter what she was wearing or how she had her hair done. She gave me her puppy dog face as I glared at her. Slowly, the look of dissatisfaction slid from my face.
“You're late,” I said.
“I'm so sorry. Traffic was crazy, and Frank needed me to double-check Charlene's work again. Can you believe that bitch?” She shook her head. “Anyway, you ready to go?”
“I've been ready.”
I walked out into the hallway of my apartment building and locked the door. As one of only two apartments on the top floor, I didn't really have to worry about theft, but I still liked to keep it locked. Ethan had always said I was over protective, but he hadn't grown up in the poor section of Miami, a place that really existed.
“Have you eaten here yet?” she asked as we walked down the hall to the penthouse elevator.
“No, but I think we're lucky to be getting in. I hear they're booked for months.”
“It's not luck, bitch. I got the hookup.”
“I still can't believe you're sleeping with him.”
“We're not sleeping, baby,” she said then laughed.
I rolled my eyes as we rode down to the lobby. My stomach rumbled a little as the doors slid open. Outside, we got into the cab that she had rode over in.
“Thanks, dear,” she said to the driver as we climbed in the back. “Take us to Rhino's, please.”
“Swanky, yes?” the Slavic man with a beard said.
“Just drive, please,” I said.
I was in no mood for mirth, but I knew I had to get out of my apartment. The date was the second anniversary of my divorce. I hated that I still thought about it that much, but in some ways I missed him. The bad memories had faded more than the good ones, and I often wondered about him.
“You're in a mood tonight, I see,” Melissa said.
“I'm just tired.”
“Damn straight. All you do is work. You got a nice apartment, sure, but why work that hard if you never enjoy yourself, you know?”
“I know, it's just...”
“Bah. You should go to Vegas for a week.”
“I don't like to gamble.”
“There's more than gambling in Vegas.”
“I'm not looking for a man right now.”
“Hate to be blunt, girl, but you better start looking soon.”
Deep down, I knew she was right. Thirty was approaching quickly. We rode the rest of the way to the new restaurant in silence. She paid the driver when he stopped, and we got out.
“Two for Jensen,” Melissa said to the man at the door.
He checked a list then opened the door for us. It was like we had entered another world. The prices at the restaurant were outrageous, but the level of service and quality of the food and atmosphere was supposedly absolutely ludicrous. Looking around as we were led to our table, I realized everything I'd heard about the place was true. I really needed to get their marketing business.
Every time Melissa brought up Vegas or a vacation in general during dinner, I politely changed the subject as quickly as possible without giving her a real answer. By the time we were enjoying desert, she had broken me down. I couldn't stand to hear her lecturing me about nervous breakdowns, especially since she had a sugar daddy and didn't work for a living.
“Okay, okay, I'll go.”
“A whole week. It will do you good.”
“Doctor Lissa, huh?”
She smiled at me, and we were finally able to enjoy the dining experience in peace.
TWO
Ethan
I dealt the cards around the table then took another swig of beer.
“Piece of shit deal,” Jerry said then ran his hand over his slick, bald head.
Did he really not know he had such an obvious tell? I wondered. While I made a decent paycheck doing construction work in Miami, a little extra money never hurt.
“You gotta know when to hold them and know when to fold them, boys,” I said with a smile.
“I'm in,” Larry, to my left, said as he slid a chip into the pot.
“I'm in,” Devon said, also sliding a chip into the pot.
“Fuck this shit, I'm out,” Jerry said.
The rest of the hand went as I had guessed it would. As I scooped the chips from the center of the table like a Hungry, Hungry Hippo, I smiled and nodded my head.
“You boys done getting robbed yet?” I asked.
“You coming to Vegas with us?” Jerry asked.
“No, but thanks for the invite.”
“Come on, guy. You have to come,” he said.
“I have a lot of work to do.”
“Bullshit, man. You haven't had a week off in over a year. You're gonna burn yourself out.”
“Are we playing poker, or what?” I asked.
“I gotta go,” Devon said.
“Me too,” Larry said.
They cashed in their chips, what little they had left. Jerry stayed behind. We had one last beer in the kitchen as was our custom.
“Think about it at least,” he said. “We have an extra plane ticket for you, so just let me know.”
“I'll do that,” I said. “Sorry about taking all your money tonight.”
“Fuck you, guy,” he said as he laughed. “There's always next week.”
“Not if you're in Vegas.”
“I'm telling you man, you gotta come.”
“Nah...”
“You're not still beating yourself up over that Danielle chick are you?”
“Who?”
“Whatever, guy. I can see it on your face. You forget how much time we spend together at work and off of work.”
“I've just been wondering if she's the one that got away.”
“You got to be kidding, right?”
He shook his head then took another drink of his beer.
“I don't know. We fought, but she was right for me.”
“She did have a nice fucking body.”
“Hey, mother fucker, that's not cool.”
I glared at him. He smiled.
“Settle down, cowboy. You're stressed out. You need to come to Vegas with us. It wil be an adventure.”
We finished the rest of our beers in silence. When he was done, he stood up.
“Well, I have to go. Thanks for the game. Let me know if you change your mind.”
“I will. When are you guys leaving?”
“This weekend. Friday afternoon.”
I nodded. “Later.”
After he was gone, I cleaned up the cards and chips. I counted the money I'd won, just over a hundred and fifty dollars. When I saw the pile of neatly stacked bills, I thought about Vegas. Were the guys right? Did I need to let loose and sow my wild oats for a bit? I'd gotten into a rut after divorcing Danielle. I'd never really recovered completely after she left.
I went to be
d and laid there for at least an hour as I thought over everything that had gone wrong in my relationship with her. It all ended when we both got tired of the fighting. What was crazy was that our fights were never over anything real. She never cheated on me and I never slept around on her. We fought about dirty socks and other household chores.
When she left, I really took a hard, long look at my life. I was doing okay financially, but I was acting like a fucking teenager with all the partying that I did. That was when the poker nights had started up every week. They worked well as a way to keep me from going crazy not going out every night. As I got older, I actually enjoyed staying in a little more.
A lot of women had thrown themselves at me after the divorce. I had slept with a few of them, but for the most part, I just wanted to be alone. My entire life had been focused on being the center of attention. All of that changed when she left. I began to see life differently, and my habits and social life changed dramatically. At first I thought we might get back together, but then she left Miami.
She never told me where she went, but one of her friends from college let me know she was in Seattle. I felt bad about it at first, then Facebook had told me she had moved to Washington state and probably wanted to be my friend. I fucking hated Facebook and deleted my account after that day. Anyway, even though I knew where she lived, I'd never tried to contact her. I knew she would reach out if she wanted.
THREE
Danielle
A week after deciding to go to Vegas for a week to try to relax, I was all packed and once again waiting on Melissa so she could drive me to the airport. I had tried to convince her to come with me, but her sugar daddy kept her on a short leash. Whenever I thought about the situation was in, I was glad that I had graduated college.
When she finally arrived, I rolled my single suitcase down to her Lincoln Navigator. She opened the back and I managed to lift it up and inside the SUV. A moment later, we were headed toward the freeway and the airport. She was really quiet, which was strange for her. I figured she was fighting with her sugar daddy again and wasn't in the mood for one of my lectures.