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“Yet.”
I see him flinch a touch. I think we might both try to ruin things before someone else does.
He points at me and says, “You said that, not me.” I gasp as my voice and breath elude me. “Humor and deflecting can go a long way in saving the soul of a kid. Don’t knock them—like recognizes like—you do it too. I see you, too, beautiful Sabrina. You tell me your ugly and I’ll tell you mine.” His smile turns a little sad, but he waggles his eyebrows at me, and I melt a little more.
It comes out very unexpectedly. Perhaps because they’re the secrets told in the Valentine’s vacuum of a one-night stand. “No one has ever seen me. Not my parents or my sisters. I had to barrel through, be tougher, be funnier and faster to be heard or noticed. Or shrink down so they could shine. It worked, but then I couldn’t pull it back. I couldn’t be as soft and vulnerable as men in my past wanted, or as bold to be a partner. I couldn’t lay down my sword. Or be as agreeable as they’d like. The snark got me in trouble in school, with men, and at work. I’ve lost jobs because of it too.”
I smile as he says, “Idiots. Thank god they didn’t see you, so I could.”
He kisses me, taking my mouth as if it was always waiting for him. Maybe I have been waiting for him. Our tongues skip and dance, and just as things start to get heated again, I pull away. I always pull away when things get too much. I’m shocked I was able to orgasm so many times with him. Usually I can’t and fake it. Usually I can’t let go unless it’s by myself. I’m afraid it’s too much.
He sighs. “Funny brings you friends. Sarcasm bonds you to people fast. I was always the new kid, so I never got too close to people because they were interchangeable. I’d be gone soon enough, so I left them laughing. If I wanted to, I could attend seven different high school reunions. My father wasn’t a good man but an ok con man. I feel as if I need to pay his karmic debt. I give back whenever I can. Tonight’s leftovers were a small thing I try to always do.”
He’s good. He’s good in bed. He’s good with me, and his heart is plain good.
“And your mother?”
“Surviving and avoiding. She has a life in Minnesota that appears stable and secure. I only wish she’d been strong enough to give that to me and my brothers. She took it for herself and in the process taught all three of us to look out for ourselves any way we could.”
“She left your grifter dad?”
He flicks my nose. I smile, then curl my arm around him. I kiss his hand.
“She left all of us. She’s made amends since and is some kind of zombie cheerleader in our lives now. But we can’t forget those five years. She left us with him and his traveling con man carnival that showed us most of America and taught us the art of disappearing into the night. He dealt in fake phone cards, credit cards, and banking schemes. Just before we skipped town, he’d pull his harried-office-man patented scam on one of those check cashing places. Sometimes he’d hit two or three of them in an hour. He’d pocket the money and we’d be gone before the checks bounced. To his credit, he didn’t leave us and always made sure we were fed and enrolled in school in the next town. I’m a little shocked I didn’t end up with rickets from eating hot dogs for almost a year straight. I probably still glow in the dark from the nitrates.”
“Is he still a criminal?”
“No. He’s gone. But ironically, I’m the only one to end up in the slammer.”
He jokes, and I don’t want this moment to get deflected as well.
I climb on top of him, and his hands go to my ass. He caresses lightly, and I lean down and lick his lips. Then he grabs two handfuls, and I really want him.
I say, “Kiss me. Be with me. Not one of them deserves to be in this room with us tonight. None of our family. Just us. Kiss me, Ricky. Shit. I mean Patrick.” He laughs and lifts his head to meet mine. Those slightly swollen and luscious lips feel so good as I press my body to his. My nipples brush against the hard planes of his chest and instantly peak. I feel him grow, too, as he squeezes my ass and adjusts himself underneath me. He scoots me just a touch forward, and I grind into him.
He groans. “Fuck, Melanie, that’s so good.” I laugh on his lips, and we both burst into silly giggles. I shake my head and move a little bit.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome. I don’t know why I did. Oh, wait, it was to get you to grind down on my cock again.” His grip on my ass is commanding and robust, as he directs me right back to where he wants me. I surrender. The last shreds of my confusion over this nutty evening fall away as I reach behind him for another condom. I rock on his hard cock for a moment, then sit up. I scoot down his legs and suck on the crown, and he moans louder. I flat tongue him from the shaft up and down again, then take him deep into my mouth, hollowing out my cheeks. His hips move, and I breathe through my nose as I take him down. He thrusts into my mouth, and I look up at him. He’s lost in ecstasy, then opens his eyes and sees me.
“So, fucking ridiculously otherworldly beautiful.”
I pop him out of my mouth. “Me or your cock?”
He laughs. “Very funny. Put my dick back in your mouth, woman.” I nod, and without warning, I deep throat him again while squeezing his balls. There’s a guttural noise, similar to the sound he made before he came before.
“Nope. I had a very filling dinner of Snickers and salt and vinegar chips, and I couldn’t possibly swallow another thing.”
He flips me over and pins me to the bed in one motion. Then he runs his hands up my arms, placing them over my head. He plucks the condom from my hand.
“I guess I have to cancel the room service spread.” He settles between my legs, staring at me as his fingers open me up. He circles my clit with his finger followed by his tongue. I moan, then he’s gone. He’s kneeling but still holding me open, exposing my sensitive bud to the air.
He says, “But what are we going to do instead? All I really had planned was snacking. I love a good club sandwich. Hmm. Let me think.” He strokes himself, then taps his hard dick on my amped-up clit as if he’s tapping his finger on his chin, trying to come up with an idea. He looks off to the side as if he’s contemplating something and keeps tapping. It’s driving me wild.
He says, “It’s a real head-scratcher. What can we do to fill the rest of our time together?” Tap. Tap. Tap. “Board games are out. I don’t play chess, and I’ve seen everything on Netflix already, so I guess, we’re just going to have to dirty fuck each other until dawn. Unless you can think of something.” He looks at me but keeps tapping his dick on to my clit.
I’m on fire now. My clit anticipates each tap and gets more sensitive with each pass. I arch into him, searching for more contact, but he won’t touch me except for the tap tap tap of his insanely hard cock.
