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“Yeah.” She pulls in a deep breath. “I called her to vent. I needed someone to agree with me.”
“And did she?”
“Yes. She did.” Vivian elevates her chin in a regal tilt. That’s my girl.
“Good. We all need friends who take our sides.”
I sit and pat the sofa in invitation for her to join me. She literally looks over her shoulder like she’s gauging the distance from couch to front door, before sitting primly on the edge of a cushion.
“So, now what do we do?” she asks her hands.
“Finish our drinks. Go to bed. Talk about when we’re introducing your father to Lake Michigan.”
Her laugh seems to surprise her. “You’re crazy.”
“Like a fox,” I mutter.
She looks tired, but not like she’s beat. Like she’s finally able to relax. Like she’s trying on the idea of my falling for her and it’s a more comfortable fit than she expected.
“I have nothing to lose,” I tell her. As lies go, it’s a whopper. My heart is thundering, and it’s suddenly hard for me to breathe.
“Everyone has something to lose.”
She called me on it. We’re not as different as she’d like to believe. My real family was as neglectful as hers, but in a different way. I had too little, she had too much. She believes wealth saved me, but that’s not entirely true. I was saved by hope. William and Lainey Owen gave me hope and purpose, and that was why I left the familiar walls of the juvenile delinquent center.
It’s hope that made Viv’s brother, Walt, accept the job I offered him tonight. It’s hope, and a hefty dash of Steele family stubbornness, that made him announce his plans to marry Dee. His grumbling about the hard lines I drew was a deflection. He wanted to say yes to me so badly he couldn’t sit still. Like his sister, Walt fears hope too.
“You’re right to be wary. Life isn’t without risks.” I slide her hair from her cheek. She’s watching me with wide eyes and yeah, there’s a glimmer of hope bursting through.
“And I’m a risk?” she asks.
“The biggest one I’ve ever taken.”
Her smile quirks to one side and a second later she’s on top of me. I wasn’t ready for her, so she succeeds at knocking me to my back. The wind is stolen from my lungs when she closes her lips over mine. I slip my tongue into her mouth and she accepts it greedily. For long minutes, she’s kissing the life out of me, writhing over top of me. I don’t mind her changing the subject to a language we both understand. Sex is our primary form of communication, after all.
My hands roam over her back, her ass, her legs, and then travel up her skirt. I don’t know if she’s in a hurry to make me forget my proclamation, or if she feels the same way I do but wants to show instead of tell.
Me? I don’t care why she’s attacking me, only that she is. It’s better than her icing me out.
If you thumb back through my timeline, you’ll notice I spent most of my thirty-six years not understanding a hell of a lot about love. My mother’s depiction of love was to take what she could for herself. Even her subservience to my father was about her getting rather than giving. She needs to be needed, and in my family that’s as dangerous as a loaded gun to the temple.
As Vivian moves her lips over mine, I wonder if I have the same tendency to need to be needed. Do I love her because I need her to love me? Am I as misguided as my mother?
No.
The answer comes swiftly enough that I trust it. Vivian doesn’t come with any guarantees, which I’ve known from the start. She may never love me in return. Not the most pleasant realization, but that also feels true.
For right now she’s here. With me. Accepting my hands as they pull off her clothing. Accepting my cock as I slide deep and settle into her luscious body. As long as she’s here; as long as she wants me, I have nothing to complain about. She doesn’t have to make a grand announcement. It’s enough to have her in my house, her warm, breathy pants heating my neck while I drive her into the arm of the sofa.
All good things are simple. That’s what I’m saying.
Humans tend to complicate life, but life isn’t complicated. Maybe, I think as I maneuver my hand between her legs, if she stays around long enough, I can help her understand that.
If.Big if.
But hell, why not try?
