This Time Around(20)
“A little jealous, are we?” he teases, running his hands through his hair.
“I could come, you know.”
“And ruin Taiyas’s girls’ night?”
I exhale loudly. “Never mind, I have a million things to do tonight anyway,” I lie. I have nothing to do. At all. I already cleaned the apartment this morning, so I can’t even do that. I suppose I could watch some TV, or something. Animal Planet might have a documentary on. For once, that doesn’t even sound appealing.
“Like what? Sit at home, watching Animal Planet and wishing you were out with Taiya instead?” he says with a smirk.
Sometimes it sucks that my brother knows me so well. Reid looks at me, and I don’t know what he sees, but his expression softens.
“It’s just a night out. I won’t let her out of my sight,” he says. He’s thinking I’m worried about her with other men. And while the thought kills me, it has been a year and she obviously would have been with someone else in that time. The thing that I’m so out of sorts about is that she will be there with my favourite people. Reid and Summer. Shouldn’t I be there too? My brother, my best friend and my wife are going out and I’m stuck at home. I feel like I’m a kid being put in the naughty corner.
“I know,” I say, forcing a smile. Reid shakes his head at me, leaving the room. The doorbell rings a few seconds later, and I instantly stand.
“I’ll get it, Ryan. Don’t you move,” Summer says as she enters the room, walking like a professional in her high heels. I hear the door open, and the sound of Taiya’s voice. A few seconds wait, and then the object of my obsession steps into the living room. Caramel curls frame her face, bouncing with each step. She’s wearing makeup on her face, but not too much, thank fuck. A short black dress that shows off her thighs, and sparkly silver high heels. Images flash in my head about the things I want to do to her wearing nothing but those heels. Her emerald eyes widen when they see me, and then narrow.
“Ryan,” she says curtly, nodding her head.
“Hey Tay,” I say, taking in the beauty that is my wife. She gives me a weird look, one I can’t decipher. I used to be able to tell exactly what she was thinking. I wish I could just walk up to her and touch her. Hold her. Kiss those perfect lips. Isis steps in behind her, giving me a smirk and a small wave.
“Hey Isis.”
“Have a seat, girls. I’ll just be a sec,” Summer says, walking back into the bathroom.
“Do you girls want a drink?” I ask politely.
“Yes, please,” Taiya says, sitting down on the couch. “Whatever you have is fine.” Before I can go into the kitchen to get them something, Reid walks in holding a bottle of vodka, ice and orange juice.
“Hey Reid,” Taiya greets. “This is my friend Isis. Isis this is Reid.” Isis says hello, and I can see her plainly checking my brother out. Yeah, good luck with that one. Summer returns with a tiny little bag in her hand, takes a seat and starts talking with Taiya and Isis. I can tell she’s a little nervous. She’s not exactly a people’s person. I grin when she finishes her drink in a few gulps. Isis, on the other hand, chats away animatedly, like she’s known Summer her whole life. Taiya is a little more reserved, but still friendly. I see her looking over at me out of the corner of her eye. I don’t remove my gaze from her. When she walks into the kitchen to put her glass away, I take my chance.
“You look beautiful,” I tell her, leaning against the kitchen table. I can smell her from here, so fucking sweet.
“Thanks,” she says, not looking at me.
“You mad about the other day?” I ask, frowning. Didn’t she understand why I didn’t finish what we started?
“Yeah, I just love getting left naked and willing,” she mutters, finally turning around to look at me.
“Hey, I got you off,” I say, wincing when I realise how asshole-ish that sounds.
Her eyes narrow to slits, which seems to be her most common look when she’s around me. “You know what, you made the right decision. No good is going to come from us fucking each other.”
Ouch. “I didn’t want you to regret it after, Tay. It would kill me,” I say softly, letting my guard down for a minute. For her to see how much it actually killed me to walk away. “We need to talk before anything like that happens.”
“So what, you have rules now? Going down on me is okay then?” she says, putting her hands on her hips. Her lips are a plump pink, and I can’t keep my eyes off of them.
“Are you complaining about me going down on you?” I ask, rubbing my jaw with my fingers. Will I ever figure women out? I’m assuming the answer to that is a resounding no.