Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
WHEN IN DOUBT, LET YOUR HORSE DO THE THINKING
Shelby
Turns out our high school drama teacher was dead wrong—and maybe a bitch.
She told me I was better suited for the costume crew than the stage, implying I couldn’t act my way out of a paper bag.
But I proved her wrong just now when I tore myself out of Dallas’s arms and pretended he hadn’t just rocked my entire world.
My knees are literally shaking as I carry my plate to the supper table and proceed to chatter incessantly about Skye’s new sheep while Dallas grunts and shoves spaghetti in his face.
By the time we’re done eating, I’ve hit my acting limit, so I shoo him away, insisting that since he cooked, it’s only fair I clean.
But honestly, I just need him out of my space. He grunts some more and disappears to his workshop, allowing me to have my nervous breakdown in private. I’m so discombobulated, I don’t even check out his ass as he leaves.
“What was that?” I implore Nelly, who sits patiently at my feet waiting for me to drop some spaghetti on the floor. He only tilts his head and lets out a small whine as I transfer the dishes to the sink.
“I mean, there’s nobody here but us. What was he thinking? What was I thinking?” I absolutely encouraged Dallas and participated with vigor. A lot of fucking vigor. So much vigor, I need to go change my underwear.
When Nelly still doesn’t answer, I do it for him.
“I’ll tell you what it was. Your daddy is just a sexual being, and that’s all there is to it.
It means nothing to him. It’s a reflex. And since we’ve been forced together so much recently, it was bound to happen, right?
To Dallas, a kiss is the same as a handshake. It changes nothing.”
Sensing this might take a while, Nelly sinks to the floor and rests his chin on his paws.
“He’s just not thinking. I’m not built like him, though.
A kiss means something to me.” I switch on the tap and start attacking the first plate like it stole my husband.
“I’ve never been the type to just indiscriminately sleep with any guy who comes along.
” I fling my hand out, throwing bubbles into the air and not caring.
The second plate gets the same treatment as the first, followed by the bread plate and spaghetti pot as I mumble to myself. When I’m done, I smack the tap off and turn to Nelly with both wet hands propped on my hips.
“But why not? My fortieth birthday is the day after tomorrow! I’m not a teenager or some innocent twenty-something!” Nelly lifts only his eyes, giving me a pathetic puppy look, so I plop my butt on the floor, crossing my legs so I can deliver some good pets and scratches.
Naturally, my voice changes, since talking to an animal at such close range demands a tone reserved specifically for babies and pets.
Anyone who doesn’t use that tone is highly suspect, in my opinion.
“I am a grown-ass woman with grown-ass needs, Nelly. I can decide for myself if it means something or not. Sometimes it’s healthy to let it be what it is and not fight it, right? ”
Nelly sighs and presses his head into my hand. “Yeah, you’re right. I can let a kiss—or even sex—be just for fun.” I boop his nose. “Not that I’ll let it go that far with your daddy, so don’t worry.”
My phone vibrates on the counter, so I hop to my feet to grab it. Josie Mae’s name lights up the screen.
“Hey, what’s up?” I ask.
“You free for a beer?
“Uh oh. Not even a hello. Must be bad.” When her only response is a mirthless laugh, I ask, “Knockin’ Boots in thirty?” That’ll give me enough time for a quick shower. Besides, it’s in the best interests of my sanity to avoid Dallas for the rest of the night.
“Meet you there. And prepare to get a ride home. We’re drinkin’ tonight.”
“So, he’s at Jeremy’s?” I ask Jo forty minutes later. The crowd is sparse tonight, and the music from the overhead speakers is set on low.
When I got here, she was already halfway through her first vodka cranberry and ready to unload. Turns out she and her oldest kid, Tad, got into it and he ran off to daddy. I love the kid, but he’s got a lot of growing up to do.
“Yup. And Sophie is already making plans to take over his room and redecorate. She says she needs it for her clothes and makeup.”
This makes me laugh. Sophie is such a quintessential girls’ girl, just like her mom.
But I know Jo needs my support, so I don’t hesitate to chime in.
“I think it’s perfectly reasonable to ask your twenty-two-year-old kid to pay rent if he wants to still live at home and eat your food.
” I sip my beer and nod at my friend in solidarity.
“Thank you!” She throws both hands out, narrowly missing her now-empty glass on the tabletop.
“When I was twenty-two, I had a job, a four-year-old, and another on the way while I was finishing my degree online. Tad has a YouTube channel and an addiction to cheese puffs, and not a whole lot else. It’s time. ”
“Agreed. If Jeremy wants to let him live at his place for free, though, I’m afraid you really can’t do much about it.”
“Jeremy is essentially a forty-year-old child himself, so I’m sure they’ll bond over being butt hurt by the big bad witch.”
“I prefer to think of you as the good witch,” Norinne says as she approaches and sets two fresh drinks on the table. I take a good swig from my current bottle. I need to catch up.
“Black really isn’t my color.” Josie Mae scrunches her nose at Norinne. “And neither is green, come to think of it.”
“I’m sorry, Jo,” I say once Norinne leaves. “Tad’ll be back, but I know you’re going to miss him, even if he drives you crazy sometimes.”
“I know. What can I say? I love the snot out of that kid.” She takes a pull on her straw and shrugs. “I really only want to do what’s best for him.”
“And that’s what makes you a great parent.”
Jo straightens in her chair and starts playing with her straw. “Speaking of great parents, how is Dallas?” I should have known this was coming.
I don’t respond at first, preferring to suck down a little more liquid courage. “Is it ever weird for you to see Dallas around town?” I finally ask.
“How so?”
“I mean, surely there’s been a time or two when you’ve spotted him and thought for a second he was Houston, right?” They are identical twins, after all. Although it’s easy for those who know them to tell them apart.
“I guess.” She shrugs and lifts her glass for another sip.
“And that’s not weird?”
“Shelby.” She eyes me squarely. “Houston and I dated in high school. That was a different lifetime.”
“I know. I’m being stupid.” I shake my head. “Maybe I’m feeling nostalgic.”
“You know what I think?” The question is obviously rhetorical, so I drink my beer and don’t have to wait long to find out. “I think kissing Dallas has knocked something loose in your head.”
“Ha! Maybe.”
Her glass is now curled up in her hand like she’s cuddling it to herself. “Ooh, do tell.”
“I don’t know. He’s such a flirt.”
“That’s nothing new.”
“But it is with me. Well, sort of.” I pause, listening to Thomas Rhett crooning from the sound system. “He’s always been flirty with anyone who has two X chromosomes, me included. But he’s been more…intense since we got engaged.”
“Fake engaged,” Josie Mae corrects me.
“Yes, of course.”
“Just checking.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I wave her off. “But now he’s being all touchy-feely, even when nobody is around.”
She tilts her head, her sheet of midnight hair cascading down her arm while she chases her wayward straw with her tongue. “Interesting.”
“No, it’s really not. This is Dallas. He has the sexual restraint of a fourteen-year-old boy. His dick has a mind of its own.”
“And what about you? Does Little Shelby have a mind of her own?” Jo giggles. She’s always been a lightweight.
“Did you just call my vagina Little Shelby?” Her only response is a cackle, and because I’m now feeling a little tipsy too, I spit out the truth.
“I don’t know what Little Shelby thinks.
She’s never really slept around, you know?
But at this point, Big Shelby is wondering why sleeping with a dirtbag like Shane is perfectly acceptable but sleeping with someone who’s a decent human being isn’t.
It’s just sex. I don’t know. The last thing I want to do is ruin our friendship. ”
Her response baffles me. “Dallas and Hallie are great friends.”
“What?”
“No.” She lays her palm on the wooden table between us. “I just mean Dallas and Hallie used to sleep together, but it doesn’t affect their friendship now. They’re just pals. Well, and parents, of course.”
Huh. “That’s true. I guess I never thought about it. But you’re right. There’s never any awkwardness between them. Not even with Bowen, and he’s well aware his wife slept with Dallas.”
“It’s called being adults.” Jo nods sagely. “Maybe they can sit Tad down and show him how to be an adult.”
“That may be the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”
“Eh, I was just spitballing.” She shrugs again and goes in for another sip of cranberry vodka but then pauses.
“Spitballing…that’s such a weird term, isn’t it?
I mean, it’s actually really disgusting when you think about it.
” Her lip curls. “Chewing up paper and blowing it through a straw. Getting your saliva everywhere. What is that? And what does it have to do with brainstorming?” She gasps.
“Brainstorming! Another weird word! Is there a hurricane in your brain? What is this madness?!”
And I don’t know if it’s the beer or the actual topic, but now she has me going. “And what about the word disgruntled. I mean, really? Have you ever been gruntled?”
Josie Mae raises an index finger in all seriousness. “I have not.”
“You ladies want another round?” Norinne asks.
My response is immediate. “Oh, absolutely.”
“Oh, Daaaaally,” I sing-song quietly as I toe off my sandals, not really calling for him but also kind of? Norinne’s husband, Tank, just dropped me off after delivering Josie Mae to her house. Sophie is spending the night at a friend’s, so Jo will sleep it off before she has to mom again.
The house is quiet, but Dallas left the hall light on for me. He’s such a nice guy. And a great roommate.
“Feelings schmeelings,” I murmur to myself as I tiptoe from the entryway to the hall. “It’s time to bang.”
The bedroom door opens with a gentle creak, the light from the hall illuminating a bare-chested Dallas sprawled on his back on the bed.
Is my mouth watering? I run the back of my hand over it to check.
Nope. Just in my head. I look over at Nelly, who’s eyeing me like I’ve disturbed his slumber.
I put my finger to my lips and shush him.
Dallas doesn’t stir as I step closer and watch his chest rise and fall in a slow rhythm. I wonder if the light smattering of hair would tickle against my bare skin. I really should find out. If only for science.
When I close the space to stand over him, I let my eyes trace the strong line of his stubbled jaw and the hollows under his cheekbones until I reach the lines radiating from his eyes.
Laugh lines look damn good on the man. Even the stray strands of silver that have started to color his golden-tipped locks look sexy as hell on him.
I can’t help the sigh that escapes my lungs.
Unfortunately, it’s loud enough to cause Dallas’s golden eyes to blink open—right before he rockets up to a seated position, hands fisting the sheets in a death grip.
“What are you doing?!” he practically screeches. Nelly huffs from his bed on the floor.
My eyes have flown wide. “Nothing!”
“Are you…” His mouth closes and then opens again as his chest heaves. “Watching me sleep?”
“No! I just got home!”
His hair is a ruffled mess, and it’s sexy as sin. “So, you’re…checking to make sure I’m alive?”
“No!” I insist again.
“Then what are you doing?”
Well, since he asked, I suppose I should just lay it on him. “Getting ready to jump you.”
He sputters and coughs, so I do the only thing I can and awkwardly pat him on the back until it stops.
“Am I still asleep?” he inexplicably asks once he’s recovered his voice.
“I don’t think so.” I did have a few beers, but I’m pretty confident in my answer. “Do you…not want me to?” I haven’t really thought far enough ahead to plan what I’ll do if he’s not up for it. Haha. Up for it. Maybe Archie is right, and I am a ten-year-old.
Dallas watches me for a few beats before asking, “How many beers did you have?”
“How many beers did you have?” I can go tit for tat. Haha. Tit. Speaking of tits, I’m wearing too many clothes, so I reach for my hem and whip my shirt over my head.
“Shelby.” His voice has a growl to it that makes my lower belly quiver.
“Dallas,” I imitate his growl and thrust my chest out. “Yes or no? It’s a simple question.”
His eyes drop to my boobs straining against my black bra. “Shelby,” he repeats, this time sounding almost pleading.
“You didn’t answer the question.” I lean over, knowing exactly what it does to my boobs. “Yes. Or. No?”
He lets out a strangled, “Yes,” and before he can say anything else, I pounce on him. He catches me with an oof and continues with, “but…”
I cut him off and straddle his lap. “No buts. Just sex. That’s all it is.” I amend my statement, “And no butt sex.”
“Shelby.” Again, it’s like a plea.
I grind down on him, his erection rubbing against my clit through my jeans. It feels glorious. “Do you want me to stop?”
I swear his eyes roll back in his head as he tilts his face up to me. “Fuck no.”
Then he proceeds to grab my ass with one hand and pull me down for a drugging kiss with the other.
The kiss is wild, wet, and frantic. I spear my tongue past his lips and teeth, needing to taste every bit of him, to consume him.
But he pushes back with his own until he’s taken control, and I let him. I revel in it. In him.
He flexes his hips up, making me moan into his mouth as a tightness overwhelms my core. “Little Shelby needs this so badly, you have no idea.”
His mouth drops to lay wet, open kisses along my neck. “Are you talking in the third person?” he asks against my skin before nipping at it.
My head falls back, and I grind into his cock again. “No. You know how it irritates me when people do that,” I groan. “Josie Mae named my vagina.”
He pauses, causing me to shove his upper body down to the bed again and give him the stink eye.
He laughs and reaches for the front clasp of my bra.
“We can talk about it later.” When my breasts fall free of the garment, he uses his ridiculous abs to lunge forward again and bury his face between them. “Much later,” comes his muffled voice.