揥e made it through the maze!?Sophie announces, bouncing into the room.
Scarlett jerks her face out of my grasp and faces her friend, pasting a wide, fake smile on her face. 揋reat. Where抯 Nadia??
揌ere.?Nadia walks into the room and settles back in her original spot on the couch. 揥hat are we watching??
I study Scarlett as Sophie and Nadia debate options on Netflix.
揥e can talk more later,?I tell her quietly. 揇id Teddy get fed??
She nods without looking at me. 揧eah. And walked. Your dinner is in the kitchen, if you抮e hungry.?
揟hank you.?I lean over and kiss her shoulder. 揑抣l be upstairs.?
揧ou don抰 have to.?This time, she抯 looking at me when I glance over. 揧ou can stay down here. Eat with us, if you want.?
I don抰 ask if she抯 sure. Scarlett doesn抰 make offers she doesn抰 mean. 揙kay.?
Both Nadia and Sophie glance over when I stand. 揓ust going to grab some dinner and change,?I tell them. 揇o you ladies need anything??
They both shake their heads, giggling.
When I walk into the kitchen, there are three paper containers on the counter. I open one, finding Mongolian beef inside. The next has kung pao chicken. I抳e eaten Chinese with Scarlett once, and she remembered everything I liked. It does something twisty to my insides. Something that抯 more than attraction, more than loyalty. My role models, when it comes to romantic relationships, have all been shitty ones. Men who know they can get away with anything and women who let them.
Scarlett and I are different. I want us to be different. For the first time, I feel some real confidence that it抯 something she might want too.
Nothing has changed when I reenter the living room in sweatpants, dinner in hand. Teddy trails on my heels. I love the little dog, who抯 steadily growing every day. The papers from the rescue only guessed at his heritage. There抯 definitely a lot of golden retriever in him. Beyond that, he抯 a mystery.
Scarlett smiles when she sees him. Teddy sniffs around her and then heads over to Sophie and Nadia on the other couch. They both gush over him. Sophie even climbs down onto the floor to pet him.
I take a seat beside Scarlett and dig into my dinner.
揧ou softie,?she accuses, looking at Teddy, who is basking in her friends?attention. 揌e抯 supposed to have a routine with his crate.?
揝ays you,?I reply. 揟he doggie daycare said you picked him up three hours early.?
She shrugs, but I see right through it. 揑t was on my way home.?
揂dmit it, you missed him.?
揧ou came home early too.?
揘ot to see Teddy.?
揥hat are we watching??Nadia asks, interrupting our side conversation.
Scarlett leans forward to grab the remote off the coffee table. Her tank top rides up, exposing a strip of skin. Just like that, I抦 envisioning peeling the thin material off her body. Changing might have been a mistake.
The girls settle on a comedy. A few minutes in, I know I won抰 be paying much attention to it. I finish my dinner and spread out on the couch. After hesitating, Scarlett lies down beside me. Her ass rubs directly over my crotch, and I groan into her ear. 揢nless you抮e willing to finish it, don抰 start it, Scarlett.?
揥ho said I抦 not willing to finish it??she whispers back.
I slip a few fingers under the hem of her tank top, tracing circles on her smooth skin. Nadia, or maybe Sophie, laugh at something happening on the screen. I don抰 look over to check. 揑 don抰 want to share you. I抦 the only one who fucks you, Red.?
Her breath hitches. I hear it, and I feel it. The quick rise of her rib cage.
揝ay it.?
She turns her head, so it抯 tucked under my chin. 揧ou抮e the only one who fucks me,?she whispers.
I tease the underside of her breast, and then slip my hand back down to rest on her stomach. 揥atch the movie.?
She huffs, annoyed. I smile, sliding my hand to curl around her hip and staring at the screen without registering a single pixel.
The next thing I know, Scarlett is shaking me awake. I blink, scrub my hands across my face, and yawn. 揝hit. I fell asleep??
She nods. 揝omewhere between the shoot out and a sex scene, so you must have been exhausted.?
揑 thought the movie was about a bachelorette trip??
揟hing escalated, I guess. I wasn抰 paying very close attention.?
揘o??I ask, the picture of innocence.
Scarlett rolls her eyes. 揑 put Teddy in his crate. Sophie and Nadia left. I抦 heading up to bed.?But she doesn抰 move.
I do.
I tug her closer, flipping our positions so she抯 caged beneath me. Electricity crackles between us. She doesn抰 fight me. She spreads and sprawls, raising her arms and tugging her hair out of its bun. Her knees part, so my hardening cock is pressed directly against her soft center. I roll my hips and she moans.