AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER16
Griffin
“We dated for two months mostly long-distance. Where was our first date?” Emma asks, stabbing the last bite of triple fudge brownie sundae on the dish between us. She ate nearly the entire thing, but I don’t mind. I ordered it because I could tell she wanted it.
Before I can respond, she’s answering her own question.
“Oh, I know! You surprised me with a weekend away for Valentine’s Day. Somewhere cozy and romantic…like Vermont! Stowe is gorgeous in February. Do you ski?” She waves, indicating she doesn’t need an answer. “It doesn’t matter. They have luxury chalets that we wouldn’t have wanted to leave anyways.”
She continues down her list.
“You live in Vegas, but are planning to move to New York. We’re condo shopping. Preferably Gramercy or the Lower East Side. Not our forever home, but a good starter place before we have kids. Do you want kids? I want two, so you’ll have to say you do. Close in age so they can play together. That was the hardest thing about being an only child, no built-in playmates.”
“Emma.”
“Yeah?” She looks up from her phone.
I motion to my phone and the questionnaire I filled out. “Do you want to know my answers?”
“Of course.” She scrolls through it again. “Hobbies: reading, rock climbing and playing pool.” She looks up, scrunching her nose. “You know what would be good to add?” She smiles brightly. “Sailing. Have you been?”
My eyebrows lift. “In Nevada?”
“Right.” She makes a face as she scrolls through the questionnaire. “Tattoos?”
“None.”
“I have a butterfly on the inside of my right ankle. I’d wanted a tattoo for a long time and finally decided to get it a few years ago.”
She kicks her leg out to the side, lifting her foot in my direction. I reach out to catch her heeled foot in my hand, holding it there so she can relax her leg. There, beside her ankle is a simple outline of a butterfly. It’s the size of a quarter, and only an outline with no color.
“I was supposed to get it colored in, but I couldn’t decide on the color, so I never went back, just left it blank.”
My thumb traces over the ink next to Emma’s ankle. I don’t even realize I’m doing it until I feel the gooseflesh break out on Emma’s leg. Touching her like this shouldn’t feel second-nature.
My eyes lift to find her staring intently at my thumb on her ankle. Her lips are parted, her breathing heavier than it was a moment ago. How badly I want to slide my hand farther up her leg, part her thighs, and run a knuckle over her center.
Then, I remember I have to fight against my instincts when I’m near her. Every moment in Emma’s presence is a battle against my body’s desire to explore hers.
Our conversation over the course of dinner was a perfect example of best intentions gone awry. I told her last night we should be friends, but the moment we started talking about sex, I couldn’t stop myself from asking her how she pleasures herself. Now with the details she’s given me, I can imagine her spread out on her bed, a fuchsia vibrating dildo sliding between her legs. I wonder how often she uses it. If she’ll play with it while I’m here. I already know that fisting myself in the shower will be a daily occurrence over the next three weeks.
I set her foot down, and she straightens back into her seat. The moment is gone and she’s back to the questionnaire. That’s been the focus of this dinner. I know it’s the main focus of why I’m here, to prepare for the interview with the bridal magazine editor, but this questionnaire thing feels clinical. I haven’t been on a date in forever, but this isn’t how you get to know someone.
“What do we have in common? If our marriage wasn’t a mistake, what would have made us click and know that we wanted to be together forever?”
“Sometimes you just know?” I offer.
“Favorite board game.” She reads my response. “Yahtzee. Oh, I love Yahtzee!” Emma shouts like she’s won the lottery.
I snap and point at her. “There it is. The connection.”
“We’re basing the foundation of our marriage on Yahtzee? It’s a dice game.”
“The best dice game EVER.”
“True.”
“And no, we’re not basing the foundation of our marriage on it. That is based on my inability to be near you and make rational decisions.”
