Chapter 25
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Abyss
Walking into the shop with Shelly in front of me has me grinning from ear to ear.
Hands down, these past few days have been some of the best of my life.
It’s not even about finally claiming her as mine, although that ranks up there.
It has more to do with the fact that it was so easy between us.
Knowing that we’re finally where I knew we would be has me wanting to take on the world, no holds barred.
“I’ll get the computer up and running,” Shelly says as she hits the button to turn on the coffee pot.
“Then I’ll be right back, gotta get my woman her go-go drink,” I reply. Her radiant smile directed at me has me grinning back at her.
“Don’t forget the apple fritter,” she teases as she heads down the hallway toward the front reception area.
“Like I’d forget that,” I holler before I go through the back door.
By the time I make it back with our drinks and pastries, she’s on the phone with someone. I set her drink and apple fritter next to her, getting a soft smile, then I head into my room to prep it for my first client of the day.
“Well, I have one on the books for today myself,” she says, walking in a few minutes later, her drink in hand. “And it’s a new client, not one of my old ones who is making the trip!”
“I told you that would start happening,” I reply.
“I know, I know, but it’s awesome when things start to really come together.”
I grab her empty hand and pull her onto my lap before kissing her soundly. “Sounds like you’re all loved up or something,” I tease.
She shrugs then says, “There’s always room for more of that, just saying.”
“Come on, I had a text from Mongrel that the latest order came in, and he just set the boxes inside the inventory room. We can get it all put up before either one of us has to start laying ink,” I reply.
“Are other couples like us, do you think?” she asks later that day.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I know that some people can spend all their time together and don’t have a problem with it at all, while others seem to need the break of work. I like being with you, though. Is that weird?”
“It’s what works for us, so I don’t think it’s weird.
I know there’ll be times that I’ll be away on club business, but when I’m not, there’s nobody else I’d rather be with, even if you do have questionable taste in movies.
” She looks at me in shock until I burst out laughing.
“Just kidding, sweetheart. I know you’re not a fan of horror movies, so I’ll hold off on watching them until I’m away with the brothers. ”
“I promise I’ll never share with anyone that you enjoy watching rom-coms,” she says, her face serious and her hand up in what I suspect is the Vulcan sign, not the Girl Scouts pledge.
“Appreciate that, babe, really do,” I retort as I pick her up and spin her around.
When Rod Stewart’s song, “You’re in My Heart” comes on, I start dancing with her, softly singing the lyrics in her ear as she melts against me.
It may be an oldie but it’s definitely a good one and it epitomizes how I feel about her.
“You just made another dream come true,” she tells me as the song finishes and I dip her low.
After kissing her, I ask, “How so?”
“Uncle Mack and Marcella used to dance around the kitchen, sometimes to slow songs, other times to fast ones. I always wanted that because even though I was too young to know what intimacy was, I knew it was something important. Now that I’m old enough to understand that it’s more than sex, I hoped I would have it for myself someday. ”
“Sweetheart, I’ll always gladly show you my moves,” I say, kissing her again. “Now, let’s get this place cleaned up so we can head out.”
And… now I need to figure out where we can live together.
I feel relatively confident that Mack would be okay with me staying there since the house is built the way it is, but eventually, we’re going to want a family.
Plus, with our physical relationship being so new, that might get uncomfortable for him as well as Shelly.
I know he’s aware she’s an adult now, but at the end of the day, we need our own place.
“Oh my God, my eyes, my eyes!” Mack exclaims as we walk into the kitchen the next morning.
Shelly is wearing my T-shirt again, sans panties, and I have on a pair of cut-off sweats. I watch her face turn red as I burst out laughing. “Didn’t know y’all would be back so soon,” I finally choke out.
“Well, it was going well until Gopher ended up getting a hook stuck in his cheek,” Mack confesses. “The good news is that we brought back a ton of grouper and flounder, so Rio said we were having a fish fry on Saturday.”
“The fish will still be okay to eat?” Shelly asks.
“Yeah, sweetheart, we cleaned and gutted them, then put them on ice,” Mack replies. “Turned them over to Constance, Millie, and Maria who said they’d take care of seasoning them.”
“And Uncle Mack, just saying, but you and Marcella used to run around the same way,” Shelly states.
“But… but… you’re not—” he starts to say.
“I’m not what?” Shelly questions, interrupting him. “An adult? Over the age of consent? Please, tell me what it is that I’m not.”
I bite back my chuckle because she’s standing there with her hands on her hips, one foot is tapping the floor and she’s glaring at her uncle. This is another reason why we’re going to need our own place and space, because I almost came down without anything on.
“Never mind,” he mutters. Then, he pins me with a look and queries, “What does this mean for the two of you?”
“She’s now my ol’ lady, and she’s eventually gonna be my wife and the mother of our kids,” I reply.
“Well, there’s plenty of room here until you start adding kids to the mix,” Mack replies, “so there’s no sense in y’all finding someplace else just yet. Worst case scenario, I’ll go hang at the clubhouse if y’all want some privacy.”
“My room is almost a mini apartment already, Uncle Mack, but maybe we’ll worry about whether to find somewhere else to live later, okay? We can always add onto the house, that was one of the reasons you said you picked it.”
“True, I did say that, but Abyss may want y’all to have your own space, Shell,” Mack replies.
“Honestly, whatever is easiest for everyone is fine with me. But just saying, if I live here too, I’ll be kicking in to the household budget,” I emphatically insist.
“What budget? The house is paid for free and clear, all we have left are the utilities and groceries,” Mack retorts.
“Then we have a deal,” I tell him. “And when we decide to add on, I’ll be covering that.”
“And… we’ll discuss that when it happens,” Mack advises, smirking at me.
“Men!” Shelly exclaims as she moves to the refrigerator. “All I wanted was a cold drink. That’s all, not some long-winded diatribe about household budgets and shit.”
“Somebody needs her caffeine,” Mack teases, earning him a glare. “And with that, I’m off to bed. Your brothers aren’t much for sleep, which is probably why Gopher got hurt.”
“We work hard so we can play harder,” I retort. “We’re going back to bed, too.”
“Lalalalala, I can’t hear you,” Mack says as he plugs his ears and leaves the kitchen.
“God, he’s such a child sometimes,” Shelly mutters, making me chuckle.
“Come on, sweetheart, grab your drink and let’s hit the sack.”
“But not to sleep, right?”
“Fuck no.”
“Good to know,” she says as she grabs my hand to head back upstairs. “Because there was a position I was curious about trying.”
And with that, my dick hardens. Time to get busy with my woman once again.