I pull out my pack of nicotine gum and shove one in my mouth. I'm tempted to eat the whole sleeve of them now that we've finished dinner. Mom already served the peach cobbler, which I skipped. I'm not much of a sweets person.
Unless, of course, it's Molly's pussy.
“Am I? Next time, I'll charge ya just to listen to me speak then,” she retorts. “All this time, and I coulda been getting rich just from yelling at you.”
I chuckle, glancing at Molly and finding her biting back a smile. One of these days, I'll teach her how to set them free.
“Have some more to drink,” Mom encourages, pouring more red wine into Molly's glass. “With as stiff as you are, I fear my son will be marrying a wooden puppet. He'll be picking splinters out of his—”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” I groan. “Quit talking.”
“I'll make sure to buy him a magnifying glass then,” Molly says, one corner of her lips curled upward.
“For the splinters or his penis?”
“Ma.”
A laugh bursts from Molly's throat, and instantly, I forgive my mother for being so crass. I'm used to her making jokes at my expense, but I'm confident Molly has never met anyone like my mother, and her personality definitely isn't a one-size-fits-all. There's been a few girlfriends in the past that she's scared off, which instantly told me they weren't worth it anyway.
“I'm not gonna scare ya off, am I?” Mom asks her, as if reading my mind.
She shakes her head. “I don't scare that easily. Not anymore, at least.”
“See? She's tough,” Mom tells me, then focuses on Molly, a sly grin on her face. She's going to say something terrible, except I don't have time to stop her. “How viable is your uterus? Eggs haven't shriveled yet, right? I've been waiting for grandkids.”
“I'm sorry about her,” I apologize, leading Molly into my childhood room. “Believe it or not, she doesn't ask about every woman’s uterus that I've brought around.”
She gives me a guarded look. “How many women have you brought around?”
My expression is serious as I say, “Two. And they were hopeless attempts at trying to make myself feel what I felt with you.”
She turns away, choosing not to answer.
“My mom really likes you,” I tell her, refusing to let her run away, even if it’s in her own mind.
“She hardly knows me,” Molly argues softly, running her fingers over a high school soccer trophy.
“She knows all that she needs to,” I say, shrugging a shoulder.
She raises a brow. “What have you told her?”
I grin. “Only the important parts. That you’re incredibly strong, funny, and the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. I think she can see that already.”
“What if she's wrong? We're not even dating.”
My muscles tighten, and my teeth clench. I'm overcome with the urge to show her just how wrong she is. She’s mine, as explicitly as the heart in my chest.
I’m advancing on her before she can slide her fingers across another trophy. Her breath halts as I crowd into her, my chest molding against her back. She shivers as I lean in closely, feathering my lips across the shell of her ear.
Those little tremors are not nearly enough.
I want her to fucking convulse like she’s being possessed, and it’ll be my cock inside her while she does.
“You think I need an anniversary date to put my baby inside you?”
I don’t recognize my own voice anymore, but I do find that little gasp familiar.
“You wouldn’t,” she breathes. “We hardly know each other.”
“No,” I agree. “Not yet, at least.” I place a kiss below her ear. “But I would. I absolutely—” Kiss. “—fucking—” Kiss. “—would.”
She whips around, those fiery eyes pinned to mine as she snaps, “I wouldn’t let you. What if I find you to be absolutely insufferable? You could leave food crusted on your dishes instead of rinsing them off. Or have dirty clothes all over the floor and soggy towels on the bed.” She pauses and glances nervously to the side. “You could find my nightmares intolerable.”
“You don’t think I have them?” I question, enjoying the feeling of her heart beating against my chest. “I’ve suffered in life, too, baby. Just in different ways.”
“You have nightmares?” she questions curiously.
In response, I grab her hand and pull her after me.
“Where…？