Dottie 13.
“Quit staring at my ass and rub it.” With a sigh, I drop my head back to my crossed arms and bury my face in the couch. This isn’t happening.
“Why am I rubbing your ass and not lover boy?” Rose questions even as she rubs the cool ointment into my backside. What a mensch, my sister. Sophia gawks at me half naked on the couch, while Blanche sits back in one of my recliners, her eyebrow raised. I hate that look. It’s a calculated stare, it means she’s thinking, and I’m vulnerable and exposed, easy prey.
I huff in frustration, “I don’t know! He brought me home, kissed me like I was the oxygen he needed to breathe, then bid me goodnight and left.”
“After you rode him like a rodeo star behind an abandoned building at night in North Carolina where mosquitos outnumber people a billion to one.” Blanche does not react to my glare.
“Ahhh.” That feels good. The ointment Rose applies acts almost immediately to dissipate the incessant itching on my rear end I’ve had since we drove home. Perhaps outdoor sex is not the best idea, but damn if I am going to regret it. It was hawt as fuck, but also, tender and sweet and so damn wonderful. Ezra Kraus is an amazing man and the more I learn about him, the more I understand with perfect clarity that there is such a thing as fate.
Without the need to scratch my bum, my brain clears slightly. “I asked him to stay. God knows I wanted a repeat with 1,000 thread count sheets and a fluffy mattress. But he shook his head with a smirk and told me to call my sisters. Like he knew somehow that I needed you.” Rose and Sophia grin obnoxiously. “Then he kissed me stupid, told me he’d pick me up Monday morning for breakfast, but he’d call me tomorrow, and waited until I locked my front door to leave.”
“Awww!” Sophia squeals like a little girl, clapping her hands.
Aww is right. It was a moment worthy of a rom-com and I about melted against the door as I heard his bike start up and fade into the distance. Then I started rubbing my ass on the door to scratch it and texted my sisters to get their asses over here and bring something for bug bites. It helps that Sophia lives next door to me and the other two live across the street. Two of our four little bungalows came up for sale several years ago and Blanche somehow convinced the other two to sell. To this day, I don’t know how she did it, and for the sake of plausible deniability I never asked. Having my sisters, my best friends, so close is good for the soul.
“Baby?” My head snaps up at the sound of Ezra’s voice. Blanche stands at the end of the couch with my phone in her hand. She taps the screen. “Oh. Uh…Blanche, right?”
“Why did you fuck my sister and then leave her with some vague promise to call her?”
“That is NOT what happened, Blanche Deveraux Goldman!” I screech, jerking my body to get up off the couch, but Rose and Sophia dive on top of me to hold me in place. The traitorous wenches!
“Blanche, it warms my heart to know that my girl has such fierce sisters to protect her, but don’t ever question me like that again. Your sister is a badass woman who can handle me on her own, she doesn’t need you fighting her battles for her.”
“Ok.” Blanche concedes. “Then why wait until Monday morning to see her? And who takes a girl out for breakfast on a Monday morning?”
Before he can answer, I growl. Blanche meets my eyes with an evil grin. “Turn the phone around!” She does and the breath catches in my lungs. “Ez? Why are you in the hospital? Are you ok? What happened?” Like a mama bear fighting for her cubs, I buck my sisters off and rise from the couch to grab the phone. Blanche’s jaw drops, giving me the distraction I need to take my phone back.
“Dot, why aren’t you wearing any pants?”
“I asked my question first!” I stomp my foot even though he can’t see it.
“Technically, you aren’t wearing pants either.” My shoulders drop slightly at the familiar sound of Ruthie’s voice.
“Ruth! Why is he at the hospital?”
Ezra’s rears back, staring at Ruth off-screen, “You know each other?”
I hear Ruth chuckle, “We go way back.”
“Someone tell me why my motherfucking boyfriend is in the motherfucking hospital!”
“Chill out, Samuel L. Jackson.” Rose places her hand on my shoulder as Sophia taps my thigh. I look down to see my sweet sister on her knees with my pajama bottoms in her hand. Quickly, I slide one foot and then the other into them and let her pull them up my body as I wait for Ezra’s explanation.
“I’m your boyfriend?” He raises a hand in surrender when I growl. “I’ll show you how much I enjoy being your boyfriend later.” My cheeks heat at the dark promises in his eyes. “Blanche? Where’s Blanche?” My sister sticks her tongue out at me, then sits on the couch I just vacated, drawing me next to her. Sophia lays across the top behind us and Rose crowds my other side so we’re all visible on the screen.
Ezra nods to Blanche, then meets my eyes. “I wanted nothing more than to accept your invitation to stay the night, Dot. When we rode up to your house, I saw you check your sister’s houses, and I noticed their curtains move. I knew you needed them after our intense evening. Honestly, I would have happily let you spend time with them while I was still there, but…”
He pauses, discomfort flitting across his features. My body tightens in response, alert, ready to go to him and soothe whatever is wrong. Whatever was more urgent than being with me.
“He got bit several times by something and had an allergic reaction to the venom. His taint is looking pretty gnarly.” Zeppo, who looks so much like Ezra, fills the screen with a giant toothy smile.
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have driven you to the hospital?” I’m trying not to be hurt, but I can’t help it.
“Don’t be upset, baby, I didn’t want to worry you.”
Blanche snorts, “You’re a fucking idiot!”
Before I can say anything, like agreeing with my wise sister, Ezra pushes Zeppo back, “Why weren’t you wearing any pants?”
“I don’t want to worry you.” I fire back, sucking my lips into my mouth in shame. That was petty. Ezra laughs and while I can see he’s startlingly pale, he’s got a little color in his cheeks. I relax a little at the sight and sound of his mirth. “My ass got tore up by mosquitos and Rose drew the short straw to apply ointment.”
“Damn.” He shakes his head forlornly, “Wish I would have stayed, I should be the one rubbing your ass. It’s a very fine ass.”
“Which hospital?” I ask, pushing up from the couch to get dressed. My sisters resemble octopi as they grab at me and pull me back down.
“They gave me something and it’s already getting better. I should be discharged sometime in the morning. I promise I’ll call you when I get home.”
“I want to be with you.”
“I’ve got him, Dot. Don’t worry. And Zeppo took plenty of pics to share with the family.” Ruthie giggles. Ez growls and lunges for his brother but grimaces and ends up slumping back into the hospital bed.
“ Taint nothing to fret about.” Zeppo says from offscreen. I slap my hand over my mouth to stop the laugh trying to escape.
“You know,” Sophia begins, “most people engage in coitus in the safety of a bed. Let this be a lesson to the two of you.”
Ezra shrugs, “Your sister was too fucking hot for me to wait.” He lifts his chin at me, “Tell her to be less sexy.” My heart stutters and my pussy throbs. He thinks I’m sexy. Something grabs his attention, “Sorry, baby, I gotta go, doctor’s coming back. I’ll call you when I get home.”
“Ok.” My voice is thick with emotion. I’m all over the place and it’s all his fault. The screen blanks and my sisters and I sit in silence for a few seconds. I can’t believe that man. I appreciate him trying to curb my worry, but he’s gonna learn that if we’re doing this thing, we’re gonna do it all the way. We don’t keep anything from each other, and we don’t hide away to protect the other.
“We’re waiting.” I look at Blanche, unsure what she’s talking about.
“For what?”
“Your apology.”
“What the fuck?”
Blanche places my phone on the coffee table and turns on the couch to face me. “We told you he was the one and you doubted us.”
“You motherfucker—” Rose holds me back as Blanche stands up. “You’re the reason I sent him away in the first place! You told me about his connections—”
Blanche waves me off and I bare my teeth at her. “I informed, you jumped to conclusions.”
“Blanche…stop being Blanchey. She’s going to tear you apart.” Rose tries to diffuse the situation, but it only enrages Blanche.
“I’M NOT A FUCKING ADJECTIVE!” Her mottled face is too much. I drop back on the couch, leaning on my sisters, none of us able to control our laughter. Blanche screeches, grabs a throw pillow and proceeds to beat us until we beg for mercy.
Ezra was right, I needed my sisters.