Chapter Eight
TESS
I’m lying alone on my bed, and my mind is racing about what just happened.
Novak’s retreated to his room and hasn’t stepped out since our escapade, and for some reason, I can’t shake the building feeling of sadness inside me.
I’m being stupid, I guess. The texts we sent weren’t some kind of relationship-building, they were Novak’s way of keeping his dick hard until he got home.
Heavy wind thrashes against my bedroom window and distant deep rumbling thunder says this storm isn’t passing anytime soon. The weather outside feels just as miserable as I do.
The doorbell rings a muted, tinny hiss through the falling rain.
It’s seven-thirty and I wasn’t expecting anyone.
Novak’s probably invited friends around because of our parents being away.
This fricking guy. He could at least have told me, so I wouldn’t parade through the house in a half-torn French maid outfit.
It rings again.
“Are you going to get that?” Novak shouts. His room is one over from mine, so I can hear him as clearly as if he were standing right in front of me.
“It’s not for you?”
It rings a third time.
“Go answer the fucking door,” he snaps. Daddy’s playtime is over. I put up with this macho bullshit while we’re having sex because it’s out of this world.
However, the fear of getting a few more lashes for insubordination makes me lift my ass off the bed, tighten a gown around my waist, and drift lazily through the house, down to the door.
The doorbell rings a fourth time as I approach, and I hear Novak’s groan from down the hall.
I open the door to see Dale standing in front of me, with a box of chocolates and a bushel of roses tucked in one arm. He’s soaked from head to toe, rain streaming down his face.
“Hey, Honey-bug,” he says as if this is a totally acceptable thing to do.
“Dale? What are you doing here?” I ask, before I usher him inside.
“You told me your folks were away,” he says. “I thought I’d surprise you. Let’s just have some fun, the two of us.” He raises a quizzical brow.
“My brother’s still here.”
“Ah, Novak? He ain’t gonna be a problem.”
But he is. He’s going to be a big problem. I’ve kept Dale a secret from the family over the past few months, because I can’t see a world where Novak would let our relationship happen. He might act tough, use me for his darkest depravity, and then piss off, but he isn’t the sharing type.
“I’ve got work tomorrow,” I say.
I have to diffuse the situation and get Dale out of the house. I can come up with a bullshit story of who was at the door later. Maybe I can say it was the Jehovah’s Witnesses going door to door. It’s early enough, right?
“Besides, I’m seeing you on Wednesday for dinner with your family.”
Dale scans my nightgown and lets out a sigh. “I thought this was what you wanted.”
“What on Earth gave you that idea?” I speak in a hushed whisper.
“Isn’t it what every girl wants? Prince Charming coming round with chocolates, flowers, and a smile on his face?” He forces a smile to accompany the words. It’s weak and disappointed.
“No. Yes. Not right now.”
“Why not?” His face sinks and his head follows it. His arms droop at his sides, and a ho-hum, woe-is-me sigh pierces my eardrums.
“What’s going on here?” Novak’s voice cuts through my spiraling thoughts.
He’s standing in the hallway, dressed in fitted grey pants and a tight-fitting vest. The outline of his thick, muscular body shows through the fabric. His arms are crossed and he leans against the wall, sizing Dale up with a single glance.
Down tiger. Dale isn’t a threat.
“Dale Birchwell,” Novak says his name. I shouldn’t be surprised they know one another. In small towns like these, everyone knows everyone. I’ve been here a couple of years now and I’m still adjusting to it. “What brings you to my home?”
“Nothin’, Novak. Honest,” Dale says. His lower lip quivers like a schoolboy who’s been caught going out after curfew. “I’m here to see Tess, is all.”
“Here to see Tess?” Novak’s eyes narrow. His gaze turns to me with a look that says you’re in big trouble.
“Sure. She hasn’t told you?” Dale’s head snaps frantically between Novak and me. “We’re kinda, sorta a thing.”
“Kind of, sort of? You’re either a thing,“ the words come out like a hiss as Novak struggles to keep his cool. “Or you aren’t.”
Dale gulps audibly. “Back me up here.” His pleading eyes and puppy-dog sadness break my heart. But he came here uninvited and I’m in enough trouble as it is.
I shrug. He’s on his own on this one.
“I can see I’m stirring up a fuss,” Dale says. He walks backward towards the door, his eyes pinned on Novak. “I’ll just be heading off. Make it plain and simple.”
“No, no, I’ve rudely interrupted the two of you.” While Dale’s staring at him, Novak hasn’t broken eye contact with me. He sees no threat in Dale, but then, who would? At the first sign of confrontation, his spine has turned to jelly and he wants to run away.
He should run.
“How about I get on and leave you two.” Novak doesn’t wait for a reply. His head bobs up and down, a silent warning of what’s to come for bringing another man into his lair. Then he leaves.
“Jeez, he’s intense, huh?” Dale says once it’s only us left in the hall.
You don’t know the half of it.
“He’s just looking out for his little sister,” I say. It’s the best excuse I’ve got for Novak’s peculiar reaction to Dale being in our house. It’s believable enough not to be untrue.
Dale and I go into the living room and I take a seat where, hours ago, Novak and I started our fun.
Dale sits next to me but leaves a big enough gap between us that we’re not even close to touching.
From his awkward fidgeting and unsteady movements, I can see he wants to reach over and take me in his arms, but he hasn’t worked up the courage.
If I let him stay too long, I’ll probably be met with the classic yawn, stretch and sling an arm over the shoulder technique, like some awkward middle school first date.
“Nice place you have here,” he says.
“Huh? What?” I turn to him, so lost in my own head I didn’t hear a single thing he says.
“Said it’s a nice place,” he waves a hand across the room.
“Sure is.”
“Are you alright, Honey-bug? You seem off.”
“I just wasn’t expecting this.”
Before any hand-holding or shoulder slinging can happen, I decide to cut things short. “I really should be getting to bed. I’ve got to be up bright and early tomorrow for work,” I say.
“Ah, but the night’s just started,” he says. His expression falls, and it seems he might even be on the verge of tears, though maybe I am just reading something that isn’t there into this.
“I’m seeing you in a couple of days.”
“Yeah, but my folks will be home then. We can’t have fun when they’re around.”
“I’m sure we’ll have a great time. Don’t be silly,” I say.
He nods. “Alright. But, we’ll have to be real quiet.”
Okay. Whatever’s going on in his head is far too much for me to unpack right now.
I walk Dale to the door, but I don’t step outside with him. I’m not going to get soaked just to make him feel better.
He leans in to give me a kiss but before his lips meet mine, I turn my head and he ends up somewhere on my cheek.
“Right. I’ll see you soon,” he says before vanishing into the storm’s driving rain. It swallows him whole, and I’m left staring at its black rain-soaked curtain. It’s almost Biblical how quickly he vanishes. I’m happy that he’s gone, but not that much.
Being left behind means I have to face Novak’s wrath, alone.