Chapter 21
Marilyn
Sunday morning, Devan, Justin, Ricky, and I sit around Devan’s kitchen table, talking and laughing in a way that seems too good to be true. It’s casual and comfortable, the men in their nylon shorts and T-shirts, and Devan and me in our pajamas with our hair pulled back in ponytails. For the two of us, it’s like when we lived together. Sunday mornings were always our together time.
Unlike in our apartment in Muncie, it’s not only the two of us. Every now and then, Ricky reaches out, squeezing my knee or taking my hand. Together, Devan and I made a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and pancakes.
Justin adds another stack of pancakes to his plate.
“How many is that?” Ricky asks, leaning back with his coffee mug.
“I’m not counting, asshole,” Justin replies with a smile. “I remember you out-eating me at every meal.”
Ricky pushes his plate away from the edge of the table. “Those days are over. Sitting at a desk doesn’t burn enough calories to eat like that.”
Devan laughs. “We both like to cook, and it’s good to know it will be eaten.”
“You cook?” Ricky asks Justin.
“Yeah. I bet you do too, or you’re starving in that apartment.”
“I cook,” Ricky admits, “but not well. Eating out all the time gets old and expensive.” He turns to me. “Do you cook?”
“Is this a deal-breaker?” I ask with a grin, lifting my coffee mug to my lips. “You made me breakfast yesterday. I could get used to that.”
“Deal. I cook breakfast and you cook dinner.”
“Oh,” Devan says with raised eyebrows. “Are we talking about cohabitation?”
“No,” Ricky and I say in unison.
Again, he reaches for my knee. “Maybe spending the night now and then?”
“I can’t wait to meet Max.”
Justin rolls his eyes and stabs a giant bite of pancakes.
“What?” I ask. “His sister seems nice enough.”
“I didn’t even know he had a sister until Friday morning,” Ricky replies. “Waking up to strange, as in unfamiliar and sometimes odd, women in my apartment is a recurring theme.”
It’s my turn to lift my eyebrows. “How often does Max meet your dates the next morning?”
“I can say, unequivocally, never.” When I don’t respond, he continues, “I’ve been busy with classes, homework, and my brain-numbing job at the mall.”
“Hopefully, you’ll be able to quit that job soon.” I lift my hand, crossing my fingers.
Justin looks between me and Ricky. “Do you think it’s a good idea to work together?”
We both shrug.
“Why not?” I ask.
“It’s a lot of togetherness.”
“Not really,” I say. “I have my own office, and depending on what Ricky—excuse me, Rich—is hired to do, he could be in a completely different part of the building.” I smile his way. “It might be nice to have lunch together now and then.”
“Don’t you and Jill meet for lunch sometimes?” Devan asks.
“We do. Her law firm isn’t far from Parker and Stevens.”
Devan sighs. “I miss you two. It was great being together last night.”
“You can always come up to Carmel. We can do a girls’ night at my place.” I look around. “It isn’t as big as your home, but the three of us will fit.”
Devan stands to clear the table. I’m a second behind her.
“No,” Ricky says. “You two made this delicious breakfast. Justin and I will clean the kitchen.”
Devan laughs. “Justin cooks. He doesn’t clean the kitchen.”
Justin hurriedly chews the last of his pancakes. “We have this. Go, do whatever you need to do.”
Devan and I look at each other. “Okay, then,” she says. “I’ll shower.”
“Let me know when you’re done,” I say.
“Justin installed those instant hot water heaters in each of the bathrooms. We can shower at the same time and both have hot water.”
“Fancy,” I say with a smile. “All right, boys. Have fun.”
Ricky reaches for my hand and tugs me closer. With his lips mere millimeters from mine, he whispers, “Don’t lock the door.”
Heat sets my cheeks ablaze as I shake my head.
His lips brush mine. Without his saying another thing, his eyebrows jump, and the different shades of brown swirl in his eyes.
By the time I make it up the back staircase, leaving the bathroom door unlocked is all I can think about. I wondered if we would sleep together last night, but Ricky and Justin weren’t back by the time Jill left, and I was exhausted. When I woke this morning, there was a note on the pillow next to mine.
I want to wake you, but you’re too damn cute sound asleep. Instead, I’ll dream of you.
(Heart)
Yours,
Ricky
I tucked the note into my overnight bag.
Taking my things into the bathroom, I close the door. My concentration is on the small button in the middle of the doorknob. Time passes as I put my shampoo and other supplies in the shower, turn on the water—which is quickly nice and hot—and strip out of my pajamas. This shower isn’t like mine at my apartment. It’s the kind that is also a bathtub with a shower curtain.
The more I look at it, the more I realize it won’t be conducive to two.
Stepping into the tub, I let the hot water flatten and soak my hair. It’s as I’m lathering the shampoo that I hear the bathroom door open. Peeking from behind the shower curtain, I look out, meeting Ricky’s sexy grin.
“I don’t think there’s room in here,” I say.
Biting my lip, I watch as he pulls his T-shirt over his head, revealing his toned abdomen and bulging biceps. The nylon shorts sit low on his hips, exposing a trail of brown hair that disappears under his shorts.
Without hesitation, Ricky tugs the shorts down.
My eyes grow wide at the glorious sight of him fully nude. I sweep my gaze from his muscular legs up to his semi-erect penis and higher still, settling on his sparkling chocolate orbs.
“I hope you like what you see.”
“It’s okay.” By the way my nipples have hardened and the twisting in my core, I know that what I see is much, much better than okay.
He turns, giving me a great view of his tight ass and locks the bathroom door before walking toward me. I hurry and rinse the shampoo from my hair. When I open my eyes, Ricky is inside the shower, close enough to touch.
“I guess we fit,” I say.
“Maybe we should work to conserve space?” Reaching out, he splays his fingers over my hips and pulls me closer.
I tip my chin upward, keeping my gaze locked with his. “Riverbend hasn’t imploded with news of our dating. Devan and Justin may, if they hear us in here.”
Ricky runs the pad of his thumb over my lower lip. “Last night, you were sleeping with your lips slightly parted.”
“Don’t you dare say I was snoring.”
His cheeks rise. “I was going to say, it took all my self-restraint not to kiss you.”
Leaning into his chest, I hum. “You can kiss me now.”
And kiss me, he does.
I feel a cosmic connection as our lips touch and the spray rains warm water over our bodies. Sparks ignite throughout my heated bloodstream as our tongues join the dance. I lift my hands to his broad shoulders, the shampoo residue on my fingers making a slick interface as I slide my touch over his muscles.
Ricky, too, utilizes the Braille method as his hands wander over my flesh. Inch by inch, we study each other, feeling our way over each curve and investigating each crevice. My breathing hitches as he slides two long fingers inside me.
Aware of our surroundings, I bite down on his shoulder, stifling a cry as he curls his fingers, moving in and out of me. As if he’s found the switch to ignite my entire body, I tense, his ministrations setting off detonations far from the epicenter. Pressing up on my toes, I try to ease the pressure, while at the same time wanting it to keep building.
He lowers his lips to my breasts, tugging on each nipple with his teeth in a painful and pleasureful way. His erection probes my stomach, making its needs known. With the constant spray of the shower and the fireworks exploding within me, I’m on sensory overload as I swallow my sounds of ecstasy.
After catching my breath, I fall to my knees, careful of the slippery surface, finding myself level with his hardened cock.
“Fuck, Marilyn,” he growls.
“Your turn to try to stay quiet.”
“Shit,” he mutters as I stick out my tongue and lap the crown.
My thumb and fingers don’t touch as I grasp his girth, feeling the soft surface covering the rock-hard rod.
Ricky widens his stance while reaching for the tile wall.
Opening my mouth as wide as I can, I take only the tip, closing my lips and swirling my tongue over the mushroom crown. Backing down, I slide back up, each time taking more and more, until he’s teasing the back of my throat. I hold the root, giving him pleasure with both my hands and my mouth. It’s as I roll his balls between my fingers that Ricky curses, his legs grow rigid, and his cock tightens. Stream after stream of warm come covers my tongue as I quickly swallow.
The small shower echoes with a “pop” as I pull my lips away. Still on my knees, I look up, taking in the statue of the man before me. Mythological gods pale in comparison to the male specimen under my spell.
Ricky swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he offers me his hand. “That was…perfect.”
My knees twinge from the hard tub and my jaw throbs from being open, but as I look into his gaze, every ache is worth it. I’d do it again and again to see that level of admiration. With his hand behind my neck, he takes my mouth, bruising my lips as he claims what I’ve wanted him to claim for as long as I can remember.
By the time we wash each other, I’m unsure of how long we’ve been in the shower. Devan is right; the water stayed warm.
With a towel wrapped around my breasts and another wrapped around Ricky’s waist, we stand side by side at the vanity. I’m combing out my long hair as he’s trimming his facial hair.
His gaze meets mine in the mirror. “We should have driven together.”
“Now,” I say with a chuckle. “I hadn’t planned on telling anyone.”
“Because you don’t trust me.”
He doesn’t say it as a question.
“I’ve decided to live in the here and now. Whether we have a week together or a lifetime, it’s more than I ever dared to hope for.”
Ricky turns and cups my cheek. “I’m not making promises I won’t keep, but I know I want more than a week.”
“Living in the here and now.”
We both jump at the knock on the door and break out in laughter.
“Yes?” I call.
“Just making sure you’re both alive.”
I open the door at the sound of Devan’s voice and peer at her through an open crack. “Alive and well.”