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VALENTINE
Iwaited in my living room, pacing the floor. I didn’t want to be alone tonight and as Derek was the one that put in the rule that nobody could spend a night with me until we’d all been on a date, I’d decided to call him. Being alone last night had been okay, but Derek had followed me home and checked the place over, there’d been no headlights to freak me out. I’d started to think the stalker was going to abandon his stalking game.
I was fine until I got in my car and drove myself home. Those some square headlights showed up not long after I pulled out of the parking lot, coming far too close to my car more than once as I drove home. That had put me on edge, an edge I was teetering on already because of everything going on.
I felt like I was walking a tightrope and this whole relationship thing wasn’t helping. It was, but it wasn’t. This was a chance to have a relationship with all three men who I’d been obsessed with after since I was a teenager, at once. One sentence kept playing over and over in my mind. Derek wanted us all together that first time. And after that, there’d be more, so much more, I hoped. All of us together, but also spending time alone with each other, just two of us at once, to form our own bonds. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I wanted it so much, but at the same time, I was stressed the fuck out.
A knock at the door stopped my spinning thoughts.
Derek was here.
My body buzzed suddenly, excitement flowing through me. My poor brain and body couldn’t take much more of this. I was constantly on edge, full of anxiety one minute and excitement the next. I felt as if I was being pulled from both ends and the tear was about to start in the middle of that tug of war.
I took a deep, cleansing breath and moved to the door, twisting the locks without looking. A stupid mistake, made more stupid when I opened the door without looking through the peephole, but luckily it was Derek standing on the other side, not my unknown stalker.
“Evening,” he said casually, as if he came to my house every night. As if he hadn’t just seen me an hour or so ago, in his club, naked on his stage. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his tight blue jeans, a red t-shirt over his broad chest doing little to hide just how powerful he was.
“Hi,” I said, pushing the door back and letting him in. “Thanks for coming.”
“Always, Val. Whenever you need me, you call me.” He waltzed in, as if his mere presence didn’t calm me instantly.
“Good. Want a drink? I have a stash of red wine in the kitchen.” I told him. I felt my cheeks heat up as a red stain traced up from my neck.
“That sounds fine,” he said and took a seat on my couch. He looked around, and I wondered if he noticed the sparseness of the room now because he knew why it was so sparse. All of the pictures on my wall had been destroyed along with my table so the walls were bare but the outlines of the frames, lighter against the paint, remained as reminders.
I didn’t see judgement, or any other emotion, on his face and nodded to myself. “How are you doing tonight, Val?”
“I’m okay, just a bit on edge. I needed a familiar face to calm me down.” I admitted, feeling silly now, but he was here, so there was no backing out. “Let me get the wine.”
I grabbed two glasses, the bottle opener, and a bottle of wine before I headed back into the living room. I opened the wine after I sat down, pouring the two glasses until they were full. That’s how I usually poured it, even if I was only supposed to fill half the glass. It wasn’t like I was going to put the cork back in now, was it?
“Are you worried about my dad?” I asked, not realizing it would choke him.
Derek sputtered, pulling the glass away from his mouth. “Damn girl, let me swallow first before you ask something like that.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled, cringing inside. “Are you?”
“Kind of. Not in a violent sort of way, more a ‘he’ll never speak to me again’ kind of way.” He looked troubled then, letting something show through finally. I’d known Derek all my life. He wasn’t an easy guy to read. He’d show happiness, anger sometimes, but worry? I’d never seen that on his face, really. “I hate to ruin what relationship I have with him, but most importantly is being with you.”
“Dad will get over it.” I reassured him. “Dad doesn’t care what I do or who I do it with, so long as I don’t come home with a baby in my arms needing a place to stay. Besides, I remember him telling me once I needed a guy like you in my life.”
That made him sputter again. “A guy like me? What the hell?”
