Chapter 28
Ryan
We ended up snowed in for three days before the city’s snowplows made it to our neighborhood late Saturday night.
The unexpected snowstorm took the city and the local meteorologists by surprise, as the heavy snowfall was projected to remain in the far northern part of the state.
The road crews had to scramble to try to keep up, but it was a losing battle since we ended up with almost nine inches of snow, along with a little bit of ice just to make things more interesting.
Dave and Neela each sent out messages to their employees that both offices would be closed until Monday, as were many other businesses in the city. Mel and I were both able to work from home a bit, but we were limited with what we could accomplish without our work laptops and files.
Luckily, we had enough food and supplies that I didn’t have to test out my new truck’s four-wheel drive, since I was pretty sure it couldn’t make it through the snow drifts at the end of our street.
The big issue for Melanie was that she didn’t have her toiletries, other than the shampoo and conditioner that she’d left behind in her haste to pack.
She found a few half-empty travel- sized things in a bag in one of her vanity drawers, so she at least had deodorant, some body lotion, and a toothbrush – she refused to even consider sharing mine.
She did use my hairbrush, but without her straightener and blow dryer with all the attachments, she ended up just leaving her hair in its natural, wavy state.
I happened to love it that way, and I always had, so it was a bonus for me.
The bigger issue for Melanie? When she’d come to the house to talk that first time and had left with another bag full of clothing, she’d taken her entire drawer full of bras and panties, leaving only her sexy lingerie behind.
She hadn’t admitted that until day Thursday morning, when she’d carried the basket full of my dirty clothes into the laundry room.
I’d hurried in to stop her, telling her that I would wash it, but she insisted that she wanted to do it.
When I had glanced down at the basket, I saw a pair of red panties on top.
She’d flushed to the roots of her hair and confessed that she didn’t have any underthings here anymore, so she needed to wash them and didn’t want to just rinse them in the sink.
“So…you aren’t wearing anything under those clothes?”
I’d shifted my stance, trying to subtly make room in my jeans for my cock, which was reacting to that news in a major way. I’d been half-hard since we’d cuddled on the couch watching TV the night before, but it was beyond that now.
Mel had tugged her sweater down to the tops of her thighs and glared at me before telling me she was wearing her bra.
“I can wear it for more than one day without washing it.”
“But you don’t have anything on under the leggings?”
My cock was pushing against my zipper by that point. I’d been having trouble keeping my eyes off her already, because those leggings molded to every inch of her. Knowing that she was bare under them was almost too much to handle.
She’d propped her hands on her hips and started tapping the toes of one foot on the floor, a sure sign that she was about to give me an earful.
I had held up my hands in the universal gesture of surrender. “You can’t blame me for asking, sweets. It would be impossible for me not to wonder.” I’d grinned at her, and she’d rolled her eyes before elbowing me out of the way so she could start loading the washer.
Knowing I’d pushed my luck as far as I could, I’d made my escape before I did more than just aggravate her.
I’d offered her our bedroom Wednesday night, but she’d insisted on sleeping in the guest room.
I was just happy she was under the same roof, so I hadn’t argued about it, especially since I was still feeling the effects of having her curled up next to me on the couch, with her head resting on my shoulder as we watched TV.
She’d called to check on our sons first thing Thursday morning, but the campus was far enough south that they only got about three inches of snow.
“They aren’t even delaying classes, Mom. We’re fine,” Garrett had assured her. She had them on speakerphone, so I’d been able to hear both sides of the conversation.
“We’re not fine, because they aren’t even delaying classes, Mom,” Tanner had corrected, sounding like a grumpy, pouting little boy. “There’s still snow all over the sidewalks and I can’t find my left boot. I’ll have to hop across campus to get to class,” he practically whined.
“Or you could just clean your side of our dorm room so you can find your left boot,” Garrett had pointed out, and I could almost hear him rolling his eyes.
Melanie had just snorted and assured Tanner that he would, indeed, be fine.
I’d said a quick hello to the boys and took the opportunity to tell them that I’d like to help with their project.
Neither one said anything for a moment, and I’d braced myself for them to turn me down.
Melanie had reached out to rub my arm, as if knowing I needed the emotional support, and I couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped when Tanner said, “That would be great, Dad.”
Garrett had added, “Thanks, Dad. We would love to have your help.”
There had been another moment that day that had me preparing for the worst, when Melanie had walked into our bedroom as I was putting my clean laundry away.
“I’m getting ready to start dinner. Do you want eggrolls with…”
Her voice had trailed off, and I had paused in the act of hanging up one of my shirts in the closet. When I’d glanced over my shoulder at her, I found her staring at the bed, and I hadn’t been able to decipher the expression on her face.
Confusion.
Pain.
A flash of anger, maybe?
I’d placed the hanger on the closet rod, then turned to face her. Tendrils of dread had wound their way through me as I realized what had happened.
She was staring at the new comforter I’d bought, after Kim had mentioned triggers in one of our sessions.
“Mel?”
It had taken a second for her to force her gaze away from the bed to look at me, and I’d walked over to her so I could reach for her hand.
“You got a new comforter?”
“Yes.” I’d had to clear my throat before I could continue. “Kim mentioned that you may be triggered by things that reminded you of my betrayal. I didn’t want you to ever look at our bed and remember that fucking thong laying there, so I thought maybe a new comforter might help.”
She hadn’t said anything, and I’d rushed to assure her that I hadn’t thrown the old one out. “I had it cleaned, and it’s in a bag in the garage, just in case I was wrong and you wanted to keep it.”
“What happened to the thong?” Her voice had been subdued, and there was no mistaking the pain the question caused her.
“I burned it in the firepit the night you left.” She’d looked at me in shock then, and I’d sheepishly admitted that I’d had a little too much Maker’s Mark that night.
“The bourbon came in handy when I couldn’t get the fire going though.
All it took was a couple of splashes, and that thing turned to nothing but ash in seconds. ”
She bit her lip, and her shoulders shook, and for a few horrified seconds, I’d thought she was holding back a sob. Then a laugh bubbled out of her, followed by another, and then another, and she sat flopped down on the end of the bed as if her legs couldn’t hold her upright any longer.
I’d gingerly taken a seat beside her, and as her laughter died down, I saw the remnants of the anguish still hiding underneath.
She’d sighed and hesitated for a moment before leaning her head on my shoulder.
“Thank you. I love the new bedding, and I appreciate you thinking of it.”
I’d kissed the top of her head and whispered, “I love you.”
We’d stayed there for several minutes before she got up and said she was going to go down to start dinner. She’d turned in the doorway as she remembered what she’d originally come in for.
“We have some of those frozen eggrolls. Do you want some with your fried rice?”
And just like that, the crisis was over, at least for that night.
Later, when we were ready to go to sleep, I’d walked her to the door of the guest bedroom, joking that a gentleman always see his date to the door.
I had asked if I could hug her goodnight, and she’d smiled and nodded almost shyly.
I’d held on to her as long as I could before she gently pulled away to look up at me.
There was a slight flush on her cheeks, and I’d raised my hand to cup the side of her neck, rubbing my thumb along her jaw.
My gaze fell to her lips, and it took everything in me not to steal a kiss.
Her tongue flicked out to moisten her lower lip, and my hand cupped her neck a little tighter in response.
She’d gasped then, just a quick little inhale, but it was enough to let me know that she wasn’t unaffected by our closeness.
I’d been trying to force myself to release her when she placed both hands on my shoulders to balance herself as she raised up on her tiptoes to kiss me. It was a light brush of her lips on mine at first, and I froze until she groaned softly and deepened the kiss.
I’d reached for her hips and pulled her close, barely stopping myself from grinding my body against hers as I took over the kiss.
Our tongues tangled and released, our mouths devouring each other.
She’d run her hands over my shoulders and up the back of my neck before threading her fingers through my hair.
When she gave a gentle tug on the longer strands on top, my cock jerked in response, now fully hard and pressing painfully against my zipper.
That was precisely the reason I wore my hair styled the way I did. It was shorter on the sides, but I kept the top a little longer because Melanie liked to have something to grab on to.
It was then that I broke whatever spell had been woven around us.
“God, I’ve missed you.”