30. Your Decision
30
YOUR DECISION
“ I ’m glad you texted to have dinner tonight,” Hyde said, enjoying the sight of Tori in his kitchen. “I thought you were out all day at a conference.”
“I was, but it got done early. I was close to your place and figured I’d pick food up to cook and we could come back here. I didn’t pull you away from work too early, did I?”
“Nope,” he said. “I go in early, they don’t clock watch if I sneak out. No one cares or pays attention as long as our work is done.”
“I wish we could be more like that with our staff, but they are hourly and can’t really do it. They have to clock in for all their time so they have to stay at their standard hours to make budget.”
He shivered. “I don’t like thinking of those things. I manage my personal budget, but to have to do it for a business, no, thank you.”
“I have to do it for my programs. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but I can. I kind of got asked about another job today.”
“I didn’t know you were looking,” he said. “What can I help you with for dinner? I should cook since we are at my place.”
“Nothing,” she said. “I’m going to make chicken parm. Nice and messy for you.”
“Sweet,” he said. “I can handle the spaghetti when you’re ready.”
“It won’t be long,” she said. “The meat department had chicken cutlets already breaded so I just need to bake them. Then I’ll put the sauce and cheese on them in a pan in the oven.”
He was rubbing his hands together. “I love when we have dinner together. I get lots of leftovers.”
She smiled and kissed him. “You could cook like this for yourself.”
“I could, but I don’t. I enjoy doing it with you.”
“That’s sweet. And brings me back to this job. I’m not looking, but I was approached. You know Roni, right? The property manager of the other two Fierce buildings.”
“Of course,” he said. “I’m doing work on those buildings.”
“Roni’s brother, Jax, is the one who approached me. Raina told me he’s actually going into the third building at some point.”
“He is,” he said. “I’m working on that with Drake and Raina. That is what we were meeting on the other day. So you’d have a little shorter drive in if you did it.”
“It wouldn’t bother you?” she asked. “Not that I’m considering it. I was just stunned he asked.”
“First, no, it wouldn’t bother me. Why would you think that? And second, if you’re not interested, why even bring it up?”
“I’m not sure what I am. I think the bigger issue is how it all came up and got me thinking.”
“You’ll have to explain that part to me,” he said.
When the oven beeped, she put the chicken in to have it cook. As thin as it was it wouldn’t take long, so he grabbed a pot and filled it with hot water and listened to her explain everything.
“So that is how it came up,” she said.
“You do plan everything and overthink them to death. It’s nice you’re in the building, but you see Raina more than me. I don’t care where you work. That is your decision.”
“I feel the same way, but then I thought of my mother.”
He put his hand up. “Don’t even let her life get into your head. I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”
The minute he did he thought for sure they were going to fight again, but she burst out laughing.
“I’m not. I think I’ve done that stupid stuff too much lately. I’ve internally bragged I’m my own person and yet am letting outside forces make me doubt myself. I do it enough I don’t need anyone else doing it.”
“And you’re going to stop doubting yourself, right? At least with me, or are we going to have another round of that?”
She opened the oven, turned the chicken over, and then shut the door. The water bubbled so she added salt and then dumped the pasta in.
“We aren’t going to,” she said. “Raina said something to me at lunch. She said I’m cutting my teeth on you.”
He weighed the words. “Not sure I understand and am trying not to get insulted so I’ll wait for you to explain.”
“That I’ve had boyfriends and not relationships. We’ve talked about that. I prefer to say I’ve got walls up rather than self-sabotage.”
“I won’t argue with that. Go on.”
“You’re my first real serious relationship. Where I’m with a guy and think, he could be the one I’d see myself with if we can get to that point.”
His heart was racing, but it shouldn’t be.
They’d said they loved each other already even if they didn’t say it often.
“I think we can,” he said. “Do you? Just because neither of us is rushing to live together means nothing. Does it to you?”
“Nope,” she said. “It doesn’t. We’ve had a rocky start. More enemies than anything. Do I think we are going to have more rocky issues? Yep. I do. I said you bring the worst out of me, but I’m starting to think that what you’re bringing out of me is just growth. You’re pushing me out of my comfort level. That is hard for me to admit, especially in the field I’m in when I teach this to kids. But it’s also good that I can say I’m experiencing it too and sometimes it’s like diaper rash. Itchy, irritating, but easily corrected with a bit of time and nurturing care.”
He laughed, not sure he liked being compared to a sore ass, but got it.
“Being an adult isn’t easy,” he said. “But I like that. Growth. That’s what we are doing. Growing.”
“We are,” she said. “In a good way. And if I continue to look at it that way, my doubts and insecurities are less.”
“And maybe your walls are getting chipped away too?” he asked, hopeful.
“Definitely that,” she said. “Now hand me that jar of sauce and the cheese. The chicken is done. You watch the pasta. When we are done eating I’m going to cut my teeth on something else.”
He looked into her eyes. There was arousal there for sure. Her face was bright red on top of it.
“You can’t tell me that and expect me to wait until we eat dinner,” he said.
He turned the water off on the pasta, then shut the oven off leaving the chicken cooked on top. Nothing would be ruined in twenty minutes. If the pasta was too mushy, they’d make more.
“What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you to use your teeth,” he said, tossing her over his shoulder again and all but running to his room.
She was laughing harder than him.
It’s not that he wanted her to think the move was funny.
It had more to do with the urgency he was feeling to get her naked.
But when he dropped her on the bed, she moved off of it quickly and got on her knees in front of him.
He hadn’t expected that move. Nor did he think her teeth were going there when she’d brought it up.
She hadn’t done this once and he wasn’t sure if it was something she didn’t like and he wasn’t going to be some guy to push either.
He wasn’t that way.
He knew she was already insecure about her actions being bolder with him and he wanted her to just do what she felt she wanted.
So yeah, not stopping her if she wanted this.
His pants were undone and parted before he could stop her, his dick all but yanked out, and she attacked it as if that was the meal she’d wanted all night.
“Jesus, Tori. Slow down.”
Her teeth grazed the full length of him from base to tip and his eyes crossed. There was a touch of pain in there to bring him some pleasure too.
She shook her head no.
She stopped with her teeth, but then her tongue came out to lick the length of him.
When her fist wrapped around him and pumped up and down and she sucked on his tip alone, he knew he’d be done in seconds.
He tried to step back, but she followed as if glued to him, laughing and vibrating around his cock.
Good lord.
Who was this woman?
“You might get more than you bargained for if you keep it up,” he said, his teeth clenched. “Just warning you.”
“If you don’t mind a mess on your floor, I’d like to try it.”
He was almost touched by that.
If he could feel anything more than hot sexual sensations all over his body that the woman he loved was going down on him while they were both fully dressed.
What guy didn’t fantasize about this?
“Do what you want,” he grunted out.
She hadn’t waited for his answer before she went back to work.
He shut his eyes because the sight of what she was doing was only magnifying what he was feeling.
When his legs shook, he wished he wasn’t in the center of his room and could find something to brace against. That thought only mortified him.
But it was the last thought he had before she was going deep and then sucking at the same time.
He started to come and hit her in the back of the throat. She tried to prepare herself, but it obviously wasn’t enough.
She pushed back and sat on the floor coughing and then let out a few dry heaves.
He wasn’t even turned off by it, nor did it stop how wonderful his orgasm was.
Was there a mess on the floor? Yep. He didn’t care.
He adjusted his pants and moved over to sit on the floor next to her.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so,” she said. “Thought I could do it but guess I couldn’t.”
“Have you ever tried before?” he asked.
“Not like that,” she said. “It’s not something I did often. Not that I mind doing it up to a point, but I normally just stopped when the person was getting close.”
“Why didn’t you want to with me?” he asked softly.
“Because you just bring things out of me,” she said. “Growth. I won’t know until I try. Didn’t think my gag reflex was that bad, but I was wrong. Sorry if I ruined it for you there at the end.”
“Nothing we do is ever ruined,” he said, trailing his fingers down her arm. “Don’t think that.”
She laid her head on his shoulder. “You know, Hyde. You’re a pretty sweet guy at the heart of it. I wonder if this is the real you and the other was an act and now you’re just finding your way back rather than changing to something new?”
“I’ve never thought of it that way before,” he said. “I hope you’re right.”