Chapter 37
What were they doing? It was the question Mel asked themself, even when they invited Rhys over. They had so much going on. Sonia had been really quiet all day, even for her, and wouldn’t talk about whatever she was dealing with.
Denny smarted off to their mom as soon as Mel had taken them home, and their mother turned that onto Mel. As if they could control their siblings. Or should have to.
Then there was that presentation. They should spend some time tonight fine-tuning what they were going to say. That would end up making them overthink every line of the presentation. They’d walk in there in the morning more of a nervous wreck about it than they already were.
It would definitely be better to distract themself with Rhys. As long as he seemed to be up for it. He was coming over here, so that had to mean something right?
They were overthinking this as well. Nothing had to happen. Maybe they would just talk. He had played baseball for the last few hours. He was probably tired. Mel would be after being active for all that time.
A car pulled up in front of the house. “You’re here already?”
“Whoever said catchers are slow just never gave them the right incentive.”
Mel laughed then ended the call and tossed their phone onto the coffee table. When they opened the door, Rhys stood there, his phone still up to his ear. “You hung up on me.” His lip stuck out in a dramatic pout.
Mel grabbed the front of his shirt, yanking him toward them. “Get in here, you dork.”
He dropped his hand and Mel took the phone, setting it on the table. They led him farther into the house. They’d picked up the rest of the mess and thrown it into the hall closet.
“You’ve got a nice cozy place here.”
They stopped and looked back at him. “That’s not the word I would have used to describe it. It’s small, but I’m the only one living here, so it didn’t make sense to rent something bigger.”
He turned them around with a hand on their shoulder. “I wasn’t suggesting anything. Not like a backhanded compliment. I mean it, Mel. It’s… it feels like a home.”
“Well,” they said, “it is. It’s my home. What else should it feel like?”
He stared at them for a long moment, something in those green eyes. Something that looked like pain, but Mel didn’t even understand why they would think that. They were being fantastical to think they could read into that. He shook his head, and his grin was back.
“So, are you giving me a tour or are we just going to stand here?”
“Shut up,” they said and leaned in to kiss him.
They usually found themself having to bend down to kiss a partner, but with Rhys that wasn’t a problem.
They could step right into him and press their lips to his.
His hands went to their hips as he tilted his head, his tongue sliding out over their bottom lip.
After a moment, he pulled back, and they were sure it was desire darkening his eyes. They took his hand once again and this time led him over to the couch.
“This must be the short tour,” he said. “Nice couch, though.”
Mel slung one leg over his thighs. Rhys let out a low groan. “Yes,” Mel said. “I can tell you appreciate it.”
“That’s definitely not for the couch.”
Mel laughed but Rhys’s mouth captured the sound.
Mel ran their hands up his chest and over his shoulders as his mouth slid over theirs.
Mel cupped the back of his head and took control of the kiss.
Rhys groaned again, and Mel could feel his dick flex against their thigh.
Which was a good indication he liked that.
“Want to touch you,” he said. “How can I make you feel good?”
“I’m feeling pretty good now.” Mel rocked against him. They were pretty sure his eyes rolled back in his head.
Mel chased the feeling that brought, deepening the kiss, their hands dropping to his stomach and pulling up his shirt. He didn’t have ridged abdominals, but they could feel the muscles under a layer of padding around his stomach.
Rhys moaned into their mouth as their fingers trailed up his sides and down toward his stomach. They shifted to accommodate the slight widening of his legs and could feel the stretch in their hips. They dropped one hand to stroke over his thigh.
They could not wait to have those monsters wrapped around them.
His fingers slipped beneath their shirt, brushing against the bottom of their binder. He pulled back, but before Mel could tell him yes, they were fine with him taking that off, their phone blared from the coffee table.
“Shit,” they muttered.
“Do you have to get that?” He pressed one hand against their back.
“It’s Denny. If they’re actually calling, something’s wrong. Just hold on a minute.”
They scrambled off his lap and grabbed their phone. “Hey, Den,” they answered. “What’s going on? Shouldn’t you—”
“She’s going to do it.”
“What?”
“Mom said she’s sending both me and Sonia to that camp. She doesn’t care we’ll both be miserable there. She’s tired of dealing with us.”
From the way Denny said it, Mel didn’t doubt those were the exact words their mother used. “I’ll talk to her,” Mel said, even though they didn’t know if there was any point to it.
“What good is that going to do? She hasn’t listened to you yet about any of it. I don’t want to go to that stupid camp. I don’t want the rest of my summer to be ruined. And Sonia… she’s in her room crying right now. I hate it when she cries, Mel, and I don’t know how to make this better.”
Mel pinched the bridge of their nose. It shouldn’t be up to Denny to fix this. Their parents should actually care and not just want to get the twins out of their hair. Rhys pressed the tips of his fingers to their shoulder.
‘I’m going to head out,’ he mouthed when they glanced back at him. Or at least that’s what Mel interpreted as he offered them a soft smile and headed for the door.
Damn it. They should have known they couldn’t even have this. Instead of dwelling on that, they turned their attention back to their sibling. “I’ll talk to Mom,” they said again.
“She’ll still send us there. Because she knows what’s best for us. Thanks for nothing, Mel.”
Mel groaned as their sibling ended the call. What did Denny expect them to do? Their mother rarely listened to Mel anyway. They tried to call her, but it went to voicemail. Their mother didn’t answer her phone after nine, but she always expected Mel to be available.
They’d take care of it tomorrow. Add it to the list of everything else they needed to worry about.
They’d much rather still be kissing Rhys.