Chapter 25
twenty-five
I drive us in my car because all he has is a motorcycle. And pick the music, which makes him squirm in his seat. But I notice his toe tapping on the chorus.
“Not sure if it’s the right time to bring up, but I heard that your close friend, Ellis, was the murdered girl on Thriller Thursday. I’m sorry to hear it.”
Any tightness I had left over from this morning evaporates. “Thank you.”
His hand slips across the console and lands on my thigh. “Do you want to tell me about her?”
I clear my throat. “She’s— She was a great friend. We were opposites. She was outgoing and vivacious, and liked to go out.” I give a half-laugh. “Really, she was the only reason I did. Otherwise, I think I’d always stay in my room.”
When I glance over, the streetlights flash across Apollo’s face, lighting up his soft grin. “I get that.”
“You, too?”
Fingers squeezing me gently, he shrugs. “Yeah. If I weren’t the president of Delta, then I’d stay inside, too.”
“So why become president?”
He blinks like this is something no one asked him before. “To be useful. To help my house and be something. Somebody.”
The moment fills with solid silence. I think back to when I considered that Apollo wasn’t focused enough. What if I pegged him wrong?
I find us a parking spot and zip up my coat. As soon as we enter the store, I grab a cart and shove it at him with a stern warning.
“Look, we have an hour until closing. I like to shop as if it’s a mission. Nothing more. Nothing less. In my head, I’ve already created a master list of the items we need to focus on. Bedding being the top priority, followed by a shower curtain. Got that?”
Apollo’s smile is almost infectious. It’s as if he didn’t hear a word I said, and that swoony feeling returns. His eyes drift to my lips as he cocks his head to the side. “Mm-hmm.”
“What are you thinking?” I ask him, narrowing my eyes. I’m not sure I want to hear it. My nipples peak as his gaze drifts even lower, then back to my mouth.
“If we could find a bathroom so I could slot my dick between your beautiful lips.”
I shiver and take a deep breath. “Mission…” I whisper as he leans in close.
“Those two lips are my favorite thing about you, tulip.”
So that’s where he got the nickname…
Hand planted on his firm chest, I attempt to shove him back and hide my amusement. “Not now. Focus. Get the goal done, and then we play.”
“Got it, missus.”
When I turn, he smacks my ass hard, then takes off. One foot on the cart’s axle. Riding down through the store with a boyish laugh. I sprint to keep up.
In the bedding aisle, I hold up two blankets.
“Green.” I give it a shake.
“My team’s colors are navy. It has to be navy.”
“Navy and green, then. And which team? You mean, your intramural soccer team?”
Apollo’s jaw clenches as he scans the rest of the items on the shelf. “My team. My team.”
“The professional football team? The one you watch on TV? The Stallions?”
“Yes.”
“Not a team you’re on. Just a fan of. I see.
” I almost giggle at his frustration. Arms crossed as if gearing up for a fight about it.
I set the green comforter down and toss the navy one in the cart along with a set of sheets and pillows.
“White okay to go with it? It’s our team’s secondary color after all. ”
Apollo bounces on his toes and joins me at the end of the aisle, murmuring, “Our team.”
I shrug. “I guess I have to be a fan, too. I did participate in the family ritual. Atlas even gave me socks.”
“You’ve been officially inducted.”
I hold back another giggle at his passion for his team. “I don’t mind. Your family is nice. And the game was fun.”
His eyes sparkle with something like pride.
“And you’re close with them. With your brothers?”
He nods, shoving a wayward lock of hair off his forehead. “Yeah. Really close. Too close, I’d say. Everyone’s in everybody else’s business. And the group chat can get heated with competition.”
“Must be fun. I had two annoying brothers. Can’t imagine three older ones.”
“It sucks being the youngest. You take all the abuse. And I had no one to take it out on. Dad would have killed any of us if I made Athena cry.”
“Same with me and Bo. Once, he stole my Barbie to cut off her hair. I got so mad that I punctured his football. All he had to do was run to Mom and cry. I was punished. He got soothed.”
He rolls his eyes. “Yep. That’s how it goes.”
As we shop, I realize Apollo has a taste. He likes what he likes. Patterns. Bold and intricate. I never give much thought to things in my environment. Sneakily, I let him decide most of it. Unless I have an opinion.
He definitely likes shiny things. Probably what others would call kitschy or outlandish in some cases. But I just let him roll with it. Except for the shower curtain. I insisted on a white one. I don’t want a headache staring at the patterns while trying to relax.
“How about this one?” He reaches for a box and tosses it into the cart with a small smile.
“What? That’s a stethoscope.” I laugh, holding it up. It’s bright pink with glitter and has a daisy on the end. Probably a pediatric one.
In the medical supplies aisle, he tosses in a blood pressure cuff. And a package of bandages. Some medicines. “Yeah. You’ll need it someday soon, right?”
I remove the stethoscope but leave the other stuff. “Someday, yeah.”
“So why medicine?”
I shrug. “My mom’s a doctor. I wanted to help people.
There’s no big story there. But I was the one to patch up my friends when I was younger.
Ryan and Aiden Cardell often broke their bones doing something stupid.
Logan Dawson, the Beta secretary? He and I would pretend we were fixing them up—fake stitches.
Blood transfusions. They’d both make us swear not to tell their dad.
But Logan always did. I was sneakier than that. ”
Apollo’s gaze is enraptured with me. The intensity of it, like he’s picturing what I’m telling him, makes me feel shy. But his smile warms me up. “You’ll make a great doctor.”
I tap the cart to encourage him to keep moving. “You think so?”
“Absolutely. I mean, you mended my broken bone last night.”
I groan, deep and long, as he laughs like it was the funniest thing anyone’s ever said.
“I think we got a nice haul,” I say as we reach the check-out lane. When the clerk finishes and announces the total, I have the sudden realization that Apollo and I don’t share money. We never discussed it. The weight of our divide becomes apparent once again.
Apollo flounders for a moment with his pockets, a deep crimson rising up his tan cheeks.
“Oh! I remembered our wallet. Just a second.” I pull mine from my purse as Apollo stiffens beside me. “Got it!” I say casually as I swipe my card.
Even though he takes everything and loads it into my car, he remains silent the entire trip home. Home. I suppose it is now…
His lumbering body almost fills the entire cabin of the small space, but his sulking attitude is like a third passenger between us.
“I can pay you back,” he says, his low voice filled with shame.
“What?”
“I can pay—”
“I mean, I heard you, but… Uh…” I tap my ring finger on the steering wheel as I turn into the parking lot. “We’re married.”
“What do you mean?”
I take a deep breath and shut off the engine. Turning to him, I grab one of his hands in both of mine. “I mean, it’s our money now. So you’re not paying me back. It’s our shared money.”
Besides, it’s coming from my parents anyway, but I figure it’s probably best not to bring that up at this very moment.
“I can ask the president for an account just for this.”
“I don’t want anything from those people,” I snap.
He nods once. “Understood.” With a shift in his mood, he gives me a shy smile. “Let’s go play house, wife.”
I giggle. “Still feels bizarre.”
While I wash the bedding, Apollo sets to work on the bathroom stuff. But he must have gotten it done quickly because by the time I go into the living room, he’s made it homey with the lamps on low, pillows fluffed, and blankets spread out. Football is on the big screen.
In the dining room alcove, a desk lamp shines brightly.
“So, I don’t know if this is what you…” He waves his hand that way, and I follow him. “Figured you could study in silence here instead of the library.”
Sure enough, he’s got my books piled up on the large table. The plush chair has thick padding on it now, along with a knitted throw over the back. There’s a wooden bookcase in the corner with a mug heater sitting on top. He even dragged a plump ottoman beneath the table.
“You did this for me?” I ask, fingertips brushing over the smooth surfaces.
“Yeah. If it works—”
When I turn to him and see the desperation in his eyes, the way he’s waiting for my approval, something in me finally loosens its grip. I toss my arms around his neck and whisper, “It’s perfect.”
Before he can kill me with that stunning smile, my mouth is on his. Bliss takes over my body as his tongue grazes my lower lip, gently prodding them apart. He slides it inside, and before I know it, his broad hands are caressing my ass, lifting me off the ground.
I grip his neck tighter, legs wrapping around his waist.
He sets me down on the sofa before breaking our kiss. But then he pecks the end of my nose, his eyes heavy with lust.
“We can keep going. Keep…”
He’s asking me again. As forceful as he was in the library, practically demanding access to my body, now? He’s relaxed. And sweet. Giving me a choice just like that first night at The Underpass.
“Let me get ready for bed… Then we’ll watch some football.”
And we try. We do. I want to know more about him and his love of the sport. Want to have a normal night as a couple. One who just got married and moved into their own apartment.
But all I can do is watch him. His biceps flexing every time he yells at the refs. Neck muscles straining. His dark brown eyes sneak a peek to the side beneath his long lashes, finding my exposed thigh. My pajamas feel too tiny. And too much all at once.
Everywhere his gaze touches sends a tingly spark across my skin.
So I can’t help but get on him.
Even though we just did it a few hours ago…I want it again.
No. I want him again. To be inside me. But differently.
This time, I’m on his lap, facing him. Our lips close. Breaths even closer. Easing myself down onto his length. Slowly, so I don’t hurt myself. The size takes a full minute to get used to.
“Do that thing again,” I pant out as I take my first careful bounce up and down. His thickness hits me just right. I could orgasm just from the way he stretches me. And how his pubic bone rubs my clit perfectly on every downstroke.
“What thing?” he asks, grunting. His fingers grip the globes of my ass. Kneading them and spreading me wider.
“The thing with, uh…”
He flashes me a look. “Scout? You got my dick buried all the way inside you. Don’t be shy, tulip. Tell me what you need from me.”
I reach for his hand and press it against my neck. “Choke me. And squeeze hard.”
His chest rises rapidly. “Shit. Fuck yeah. Okay…”
One of his palms slaps my ass as the other does exactly as I instructed.
My thoughts blur to nothing—every analysis of our positions, my nerves, what I have to do tomorrow and next week…
It all fades away until I’m just a body.
Getting used by my husband’s huge cock. And I don’t have to focus on anything but pleasure.
Suddenly, he grips my hips. Then he swivels me around while still buried deep inside, so my back is planted on his firm chest. Just as fast, his hand is back on my neck. Holding firm. Squeezing harder.
I get dizzy. Spots fill my vision. But he keeps up the pace as our skin slaps together every time his hips shift up into me.
“Breathe, tulip. Take a breath for me.”
I gasp for air just as I come hard, seeing stars and screaming out in ecstasy as I do.
I don’t even notice when he fills me. Our bodies slump against one another. Pulsing. Caressing. It’s soothing.
I like the way he feels inside me.
By the time we’re in bed next to each other, I’m ready to fall into a deep sleep. But the thought that as soon as I shut my eyes, our first full day as husband and wife will be over makes me want to keep them open.
In the still darkness, one calm, deep voice rings out.
“Goodnight, my wife. Thanks for marrying me.”
I grin and pass out.
In the morning, my toes search the bed for the big figure next to me… They’re cold and need Apollo’s radiating heat. But the sheets are frigid and deserted.
I sit up and glance around the room. There’s no sign of him.
When I pick up my phone, I have one text.
Apollo
Morning my beautiful tulip. Dare I admit I watched you sleep before I left the apartment? Doing work for Delta today. There’s a party later. Come by the house?
Ugh… A Delta party. So not my scene. Well, parties aren’t really my thing.
I was hoping we could do more TV watching. Popcorn eating. Perhaps a board game.
I don’t answer him. Not yet. He’ll just get disappointed.
Instead, I invite Mom and Dad over to show off my new place.
“So fancy!” Mom says as she shoves a few plants at me. The pots feel like prizes in my possession. Plants. That’s exactly what we needed.
“Love your study nook! This is perfect for you!” She nods at the dining area, and I smile.
“Apollo actually set that up for me.”
Dad’s eyes check me over with a hint of surprise behind them. He gives a solid nod.
Mom smiles warmly. “What a thoughtful husband. Your dad once burned my textbooks.”
Dad coughs. “That was an accident, Sins.”
She tilts her head and smirks at him like she plans to keep this over his head for years while his face grows red.
Dad checks out the cabinets by swinging them several times, then the oven and microwave. He disappears to the back. “Where’s the electric panel? I don’t like how they did the plumbing under the bathroom sink, but whatever. They have maintenance here?”
Mom rolls her eyes. “You ended up with a rocket scientist for a father, I’m sorry. Your houses will never be safe from his prying.”
Dad leaves a full toolbox for us, then shows me where the circuit breakers are and what to do with them if there’s an emergency.
By the time they leave, saying they don’t want to intrude without Apollo here, I’m ready for a study round and a snack.
Digging through the pantry, then the cabinets, I get giddy going through all the food Apollo bought. Chips. Crackers. Cookies… But the bulk of it looks like it needs a stove and actual skill.
I open the freezer to check the rest—
And stop.
Air locks in my chest.
My throat pulls tight.
I blink once. Again. Like I can erase it if I try hard enough.
A single pink lollipop sits on the middle shelf.