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Tyler
“You shouldn’t stare like that,” Marisa said when she walked out of the bedroom, and my tongue practically fell to the floor, panting like a dog in heat.
“You shouldn’t look like that,” I countered.
Her laugh was music to my ears. She was dressed in a killer champagne-colored dress covered in polka-dotted sequins. It may have had long sleeves, but she looked sexy as anything I’d ever seen. Especially in the glittery stiletto heels she wore, which matched perfectly and showed off her toned legs. Her naturally bronzed skin glowed, and her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail on top of her head, a few loose tendrils framing each side of her luminescent face. “You are a vision, Siren,” I told her. “I can’t wait to get back and celebrate with you by seeing what you have on underneath that dress.”
“Mmm.” She was very coy in her response. My dick twitched at the memory of her on my bike in her dress. Come to think of it, that dress had been polka-dotted too.
“We gotta go. Now. If I start thinking too hard, I’ll get too hard. And then we’ll never leave.” Marisa laughed and grabbed my hand.
“Let’s go celebrate, Sandman.”
It was New Year’s Eve, and everyone was gathering to celebrate at Jackson and Catherine’s.
Something had been off about Marisa since she told me about her partner, his disappearance, and the questionable circumstances of the aftermath. Almost as if she’d been walking on eggshells, she was acting weird. I didn’t think I’d done something wrong. In fact, I felt like we’d only been getting closer since she opened up to me. I wanted to take things up a notch, but with her words “no-strings-attached” and “booty call” forever engrained in my head, I wasn’t sure that was what she wanted. Whenever I got close to mentioning it, something happened, and I told myself, “Don’t go there.” I knew she liked me. I knew she liked the sex. I knew we had fun together. And she even gave me my own mug. But I still didn’t know if she wanted me like I wanted her.
She didn’t know that I’d gone through the case files she gave me and started putting together my own investigation. I wouldn’t share anything with her unless I had something that would lead to good news. So far I hadn’t. It seemed like she was letting me in. But it wasn’t far enough.
I wanted inside. Inside her secrets. Inside her head.
Inside her heart.
* * *
The sign on the front of the Coles’ door stating, “Come on in, we’re already celebrating!” made Marisa and I laugh.
We could hear the voices of everybody even before we opened the door. I took Marisa’s hand and led her inside.
“Sandman and Marisa are here,” came Jackson’s booming voice.
“Yay!” Catherine cheered as she hurried forward to us. She hooked her arm through Marisa’s. “I can’t wait to introduce you to all the girls,” she said as she led her away from me and to the group of ladies standing on the other side of the room. I could only imagine what they would talk about without any men around.
Jackson handed me a beer.
“Ooh, Sandman in a three-piece suit.” Mark’s words were a catcall as I walked up. “You know what that means?”
“That I have a better fashion sense than you?” I answered before hearing the retort I was sure would be next out of his mouth. “Tell me, Twilight, does that shirt come inrealmen’s sizes?” I asked, referring to his tight shirt.
“I’ll have you know, Charlie picked out my outfit, bastard.”
“Of course, she did,” Ben said. “She wanted to prevent any chance of embarrassment.”
“Exactly,” I added. “She didn’t want you wearing one of your typical shirts that you wear to show off those hunks of meat on your arms.”
“You’re just jealous,” Mark said, flexing.
“How could anyone be jealous of a grown-ass dude wearing teenager’s clothing?” Snickers sounded. “I mean, what do you do, shop in the children’s section when you go to the department stores to update your wardrobe?”
“Ohh,” he sang out. “Is that why you’re still single, Sandman?”
“Not at all. It’s just hard to find a woman for this much man,” I cracked back without missing a beat. My eyes automatically moved to where Marisa was. Ben and Liam were laughing as they left to grab some more beer.
Mark’s eyes followed mine. “You like her. But, does she like you?” He was messing with me, and I knew that.
I shrugged and took a swig of my beer. “What’s not to like? I’m a veritable, honest-to-goodness legend in the sack. A hotbed of passion and romance.”
“Cockiness masking fear. You’re so transparent.”
