“You deserve a fun night out. I do too actually. We should go together to try these mai tais! Wendy can probably babysit.”
Summer nods. “I’d love to!”
She avoids eye contact with me when she brings over the sliced cheese and some premade jalapeño poppers.
“Can we go look at the house before it gets dark?” Cheri asks.
“Of course! Come see. I need your opinion on a few things.”
“Mommy, when can we eat?” Amelia asks.
“After we look at the house, baby.”
“Come over here and help me, kiddo. You can roll the hot dogs over.”
Later that night, after Cheri and Amelia leave, Summer and I clean up together in silence before going into the studio. She kicks her shoes off before walking to the sink and removing the minimal makeup from her eyes. I sit down on the bed, watching her wash her face and rub things into her skin. She bends over the sink, and my eyes follow the way her skirt lifts up in the back. My throat dries up.
“You just gonna sit there and watch me?”
An apology is on the tip of my tongue, but I don’t know where to start with it. My birthday gift might help … if she even accepts it.
“Do you want to open your gift now?”
She freezes while brushing her teeth, eyes jumping to mine in the mirror. “Gift?”
“Birthday gift.”
She finishes up brushing and rinsing her mouth out before slowly turning to face me.
“I didn’t realize you actually got me something.”
My eyes stay level with hers before dipping down over her body. Her nipples pucker beneath her thin shirt under my perusal. Yet again, my dick hardens without my consent.
“It’s what Dad and Clara would have wanted.”
Her features give nothing away as she stares at me with a neutral expression for a few more moments before slowly nodding. “Let’s do it in the morning.”
I nod. “Okay.”
While I was trying to make time pass today, I went to the store to get breakfast ingredients and stuff to make mimosas in the morning, hoping she’d actually come home for it.
Because that’s just how pathetically far you’ve fallen.
“I’m going to shower,” she says.
I nod. “Okay.”
“Don’t wait up.” She turns and walks into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
I wake up to the bed jostling, like someone is gently shaking it. My hand is gripping Summer’s hair again, this time lower down, near the ends. It’s wrapped around my fist. I keep my eyes shut so I can pretend to be asleep again, until I hear her breathy moan. My eyes flicker open.
The room is still mostly dark, with a tiny sliver of light beginning to filter in. Her body shifts, and she sighs. The bed is still moving, and I realize it’s because she’s moving it with her body…
Fucking hell. She’s touching herself.
She’s lying on her stomach, face turned away from me. All I can see is her hair wrapped around my fist and the tops of her shoulders. She’s wearing a white tank top again.
“Mmm,” she moans again, following it with a soft whimper.
