Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“Ooooh, anniversary sex,” Jared coos at me.
“Shut up.” I smack him on the shoulder while stifling my grin.
“Sex in the car, sex in the bathroom, sex in the–”
“God, how old are you?” I try to leave the classroom quickly so no one else in our Certified Medication Aide class hears what Jared is saying.
A mixture of giddiness and discomfort grips me.
It’s Arthur and my anniversary, and he’s been hinting that we’re going to have a great night, and butterflies have been fluttering in my gut all day.
Jared races to the front doors. “Your looooove bug is here,” he sing-songs.
“Stop.” My face is hot.
He throws a blinding grin back at me. “Give Teach that velvet asshole.”
“Shhhhhh.” I’m fairly certain my face is bright red at this point.
So yeah, maybe I’m dating our old instructor.
It’s not like Arthur is my current teacher for this class right now.
Arthur is a registered nurse and has come to teach a few classes.
He’s tall, hot, and quite a bit older than me.
Our relationship is complicated from the outside, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t meant to be together.
I hurry out to the black Corvette and slip inside.
“Hey, hottie.” Arthur grins at me, grabbing my hand and kissing it. “Happy anniversary.” The corners of his eyes crinkle up, his skin a beautiful tan, moving back into his salt-and-pepper brown hair.
“Happy anniversary.” I smile back, and it feels like the weight of the day slips off my shoulders.
Arthur peels out of the lot and gets on the ramp for the highway. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Nothing anymore; I’m already feeling better in the familiar environment. “Jared just being Jared.”
Arthur presses the pedal to the floor, the car jumping to obey, sending us racing down the highway. I’m plastered to my seat with the force of it.
“Never liked that fucker,” Arthur says, and his fingers are tight on the wheel.
“He’s just a clown,” I say as the cars beside us fly by. Those butterflies are back, but this time my stomach flips over as I feel the temperature in the car dip. Arthur is pissed.
“What the—“ Arthur makes a maneuver that throws me against the door. Bracing myself, I cuss myself out. I shouldn’t have mentioned Jared.
Arthur hates Jared ever since I told him Jared made a pass at me before Arthur and I met.
That was my bad. It meant nothing; I should have kept my mouth shut.
Arthur has trauma with cheating; I was dumb to say anything.
“Does no one here know how to drive?”
I risk a glance over at Arthur. He gives me a tight look.
“Jared’s just a friend,” I say softly. “I’m into you.”
Arthur’s frowning face melts into something softer, and he lets go of the wheel with one hand, reaching over to grip my thigh. “Thanks, lovebug. What do we always say?”
“Till death do us part.” I place my hand over his.
We have this running joke that we’re meant to be together, and the only thing that can separate us is death.
It’s cute, and the saying makes my stomach calm.
Arthur is home. He loves me enough to fight for me.
I’ve always wanted to be loved like this.
We make it to the bar in record time. While I’d rather cook Arthur a meal at home–I really enjoy cooking–Arthur says he misses the atmosphere of the bar. And it is a nice place.
It’s busy when we get there, but that doesn’t prevent Arthur’s charismatic personality from making friends immediately and getting us a spot at the bar.
He chats it up with two guys who are already there while I stand slightly behind him, not wanting to squeeze myself between him and the guy on the next stool.
It’s loud and crowded and already hot, and fuck, I can’t wait for a celebratory drink.
“Here, babe.” Arthur throws me a wink, sliding a drink back for me. My favorite drink–a screwball. I smile.
He knows me so well.
“I always say, always try something at least twice, right, babe?” Arthur is trying to rope me into the conversation. I nod and laugh while draining my drink. I feel awkward. I’m not social like Arthur; he does it so effortlessly. I just need to get more bubbly like him.
It takes me three drinks before I feel comfortable enough to fully slide into the conversation Arthur has started, but I have to lean all the way across the bar to talk past Arthur to get to the other guys.
At that point I don’t care, though. The world is feeling bright and happy again.
This is our anniversary. We’re gonna go home and have hot, sizzling sex.
Maybe, just maybe, Arthur will let me be the one to mess around with him.
He’s hinted at how he wants to be topped, and I’ve always wanted to try.
My dick swells with the thought of slipping into his nice ass—
I’m distracted from my thoughts when I notice Arthur’s hand grab a guy’s shoulder and squeeze. He lets go quickly, but his hand drops down to the guy’s hip, where he feathers his fingers out to brush his waist.
I stare, something bubbly and hot rising up in my chest. What?
Then, Arthur’s hand is back on the bar.
Did I just see something? Was it just an innocent touch?
I flag the bartender for another drink, then suck that one down too, but it does nothing for the yucky feeling in my chest.
I’m being stupid. I ask Arthur to trust me, and then this? I can’t even trust him with a drunk, playful touch?
Arthur laughs particularly loudly at something the guy says, then leans in to whisper something in his ear, and then my skin gets so hot it’s like I’ve jumped in a vat of boiling water.
I jump out of my seat, making a beeline for the bathroom.
I move through the people, the music pounding into my head.
As soon as I step into the bathroom, it’s immediately cooler and quieter. I suck in a breath.
I’m being crazy. This is me being crazy, right?
Fuck! I rip my hands into my hair. I never used to be like this, but this relationship is making me think I might be the red flag.
Then the bathroom door bangs open. I jump and see Arthur striding in. He spots me immediately.
“Did you hear me? I called after you.” He’s headed for me with an intensity in his gaze that, for a second, reminds me of Dad. I feel sick and turn to face the sink.
“Sorry, just needed a breath.”
“Did you drink too much?”
Suddenly, Arthur’s presence is right there, pressing into the pocket of air I’ve created, and it feels like I can’t breathe.
I take a step back toward the stalls, and Arthur follows. “What’s wrong?”
My heart rate ramps up. All I can see is his hand on the other guy’s waist, and why is he so goddamn close?
“I’m fine.” The only empty space is either in the stall or toward the door. Maybe the bar wasn’t so bad. Arthur was giving me more space then than he is now. I take a step toward the door, only to have Arthur block me.
“Maddox.” His voice has a bite of command, and I look up. His eyes are narrowed, and I quickly glance away. “Are you avoiding me?”
“No!”
Yes, but I’m being stupid, and fuck, the drinks are clouding my mind. I just need a moment to think.
“Then why won’t you look at me?”
I glance up at Arthur again, and his gaze is narrowed, making me want to shift away from him. “I just don’t feel good.” The excuse slips out.
“What?” He looks down at me. “You were fine earlier.”
“I had too much to drink.” I try to convince myself that this is the problem, because why else would I be acting this way?
“Seriously?” Arthur takes a step back. “I drove us here, man. I’ll have to leave too.”
Immediately, my anger rises. That’s all he cares about? Staying to chat with his new buddies for longer?
“Fine, I’ll call an Uber.” I stalk past him, but Arthur reaches out a hand and grabs me by the shoulder, ripping me back.
“Hey.”
I stumble to keep my footing. Damn, I must be more drunk than I thought.
“I’ll go, Jesus.” Arthur is fishing in his pocket. “No reason to throw a fit about it.”
The drive home is tense, and my cheeks burn with embarrassment. This is all my fucking fault. All I want to do is crawl into bed and close my eyes and forget this shit.
So that’s exactly what I do.
Only, I can’t stay asleep ‘cause Arthur never comes to bed, and we were supposed to have hot anniversary sex. Finally, after hours of tossing and turning, I open my phone. I just need to get off so I can go to sleep. I scroll through video after video, but my usual amateur, passionate love videos aren’t doing it for me.
So I scroll to the one that makes me peek over the edge of my phone to see if Arthur is coming in.
Sounding.
I don’t see or hear any motion outside, although I can faintly hear the TV. He must have passed out on the couch.
I click on a video, and immediately, my dick hardens at the sight of a hard dick, throbbing in the hand of the person with the sounding rod. The small opening at the tip of the person’s dick is swollen, ready to be taken.
I glance over my phone again. I wonder if Arthur would let me do that to him?
Let me do something that is forbidden? Something that would suspend time between us as he watched me do something that both felt good and hurt, something that would keep his full attention on me while my full attention was on him.
Wait, no, I’m mad at him.
Even better. Having him let me hurt him, just a little? My dick throbs.
I jack myself off, pissed and horny, and come into my hand. I get up to wash it off, thinking maybe he’ll hear me move and come to bed.
He doesn’t. Eventually, I fall into a restless sleep.