Chapter 11 (4/23/16)

Short post #2 for the week!  Enjoy :)

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I was out of the house by 10 the next morning, ready for the 3 and a half hour drive down to my parents’ house.  I was ready for the drive, and to be out of Kevin’s house, but I was not ready to see my family.  Needless to say, I didn’t speed on my way.  Sorry to the people behind me!

My mom didn’t waste any time.  I made it about 2 steps inside when she said, “Well, you look exhausted.”

I bit my tongue to keep from saying, “That’s because I was getting off repeatedly until the wee hours of the morning,” and instead just said, “It was a long drive, Mom.”

She gave me a look that clearly meant she didn’t believe me.  I sighed and dragged my stuff to my old room.  When I opened the door, I saw that it had been repainted, had new furniture, and had all new linens.  “Mom!” I called down the hall.  “What happened to my room?”

I heard her footsteps, then she appeared in the doorway.  “Well it’s not really your room anymore, is it?” she asked.  Then she looked slightly horrified.  “Jenna, you’re not going to end up moving back in here, are you?”

“No, Mom!” I exclaimed, exasperated.  “Why the hell would I do that?  Especially now, after you said it like that?”

“Well, I don’t know,” she said.  “I moved back in with my parents after my first divorce.”

I stared at her blankly, making the good choice to not say any of the things that popped into my head after that.  Instead I just said, “Well, you could have warned me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time!” she replied cheerfully, turning and heading back down the hallway.  I rolled my eyes at her back and got settled.  I took longer than I needed to, just because I wasn’t ready to face my mom again yet. 

Once I emerged, though, she was fine.  She was her normal self, asking about work and my friends and not bringing up my divorce.  When my dad got home from work, he hugged me and didn’t say a word about my divorce.  I liked it better that way. 

The next day, we completed our usual Christmas Eve traditions: Christmas Eve lasagna, a movie, and driving around looking at Christmas lights.  I was disappointed with the lights this year.  It seemed like every year the displays were getting less and less exciting.  After we made our way home, we played several games of Yahtzee and drank wine until bedtime.  Not a super exciting Christmas Eve, but it’s what we do every year, and it was nice to have something be normal.

In the morning, my dad and I made breakfast together.  While we were cooking, he said, “You know, Jenna, if you need anything…”

“I know, Dad,” I assured him.  “I don’t need anything right now.  I just need to find a new place to live.”

“Do you need money?  Do you need help with a down payment?”  I bit my lip and shook my head.  Help with a down payment could get me into a nicer house faster, but I really, really wanted to do this on my own.  I felt like I had something to prove.

“No, but thank you,” I said firmly. 

My dad regarded me carefully, taking his eyes off the omelet he’d just flipped.  “Okay, well if you change your mind, you know where to find us.”

“Yeah,” I said, cracking a smile.  “I know where you live!”  My dad laughed too, and we went back to focusing on breakfast. 

After breakfast, we opened gifts.  My parents were more generous than usual, probably out of pity or something.  I made out pretty well, and I wasn’t mad about it.  Then my mom told me my choices were clean or get out of her way.  As tempted as I was to just get out of her way, I helped her clean while my dad got the turkey in the oven for dinner.

“Who’s coming?” I asked, as I ran a dust rag over the windowsill. 

“Just your grandparents and Uncle Jim,” my mom said.  “Your cousin is staying in North Carolina for Christmas this year.”  My cousin Allie moved to North Carolina 4 years ago and seemed to come back for Christmas about every other year.  Then she frowned at me.  “Don’t forget the baseboards, Jenna Marie,” she scolded. 

“I won’t forget the baseboards, Mother,” I replied, rolling my eyes when my back was turned.  Did she think I made it through 18 years of living with her only to forget how she liked the house cleaned? 

“I know you’re rolling your eyes,” she commented blithely. 

I laughed.  “Me?  I’d never.” 

Now it was my mom’s turn to laugh. “Shut up and dust the damn baseboards, Jenna,” she responded, still laughing.  Just to be a pain, I finished the rest of the dusting first while my mom rolled her eyes. 

By the time it was time for me to shower and get ready, I was anxious.  I was not looking forward to seeing my extended family and fielding questions about my divorce.  They were nosy, so I was sure it would be the main attraction of Christmas dinner conversation.  In my head, I rehearsed answers that were vague, brief, and at least somewhat polite. 

I felt fairly relaxed and prepared by dinnertime.  But I was not prepared for the first question my grandmother asked.  “Where’s Kevin?”  Of all the questions I’d imagined, this was not one of them.

“Um, what do you mean?” I asked. 

“Your husband, sweetheart.  Is he here?” she repeated, looking at me like I was crazy. 

It took me several seconds to process this, but then I looked at my mom, whose face was red.  “You didn’t tell them?” I hissed. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered back, looking pained.  I glared at her in disbelief.  “I didn’t know what to say to them and then I honestly just forgot.”

“You didn’t know what to say?” I parroted.  I was pissed.   But, the logical part of my brain woke up and alerted me to the fact that 3 of my extended family members were standing in front of us, looking very confused, so I reeled in my anger.  I looked back at my grandma and said, “He’s not here.  We’re divorced.  I’m sorry we didn’t tell you.  I don’t want to talk about it.”  Then I turned on my heel and hightailed it into the kitchen.

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Chapter 10 (4/19/16)

A short post for today.  I hope to put up another short post later this week.  Enjoy!

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Kevin’s overnight shifts were usually from 7pm to 7am, and he was usually gone by 6:30, so I made dinner plans with Jamie for 7:30 on Tuesday.  When I didn’t hear Kevin moving around by 6, though, I got a little nervous.  I heard his alarm go off at 6:30 and realized I had assumed incorrectly and he was working 8pm to 8am tonight.  I hoped briefly that Jamie would be late, but then realized that I shouldn't care if they ran into each other.

And run into each other they did.  Jamie, damn him, was 10 minutes early, pulling up in front of the house at the exact moment Kevin was walking down the stairs.  “Who’s that?” he questioned me, peering out the front window while I wrestled my feet into the boots I wanted to wear. 

“Jamie,” I muttered, grabbing for my coat and trying to slip out the door before the doorbell rang.  But Murphy’s Law intervened and my coat got stuck on the hanger.  I yanked and the hanger flipped up and off the bar with enough velocity to send it ricocheting into a framed print hanging on the hallway wall.  The print wobbled but didn’t fall as the hanger bounced off and smacked me right in the face. 

Kevin tried to bite back his smirk as he said, “I’ll get the door for you.”  I started to protest but he’d already pulled it open.  Jamie blinked in surprise but quickly pasted a smile on his face.

“Hi, Kevin,” he said neutrally. 

“Hi,” Kevin replied, staring him down.  Meanwhile I was trying to collect myself, smoothing my hair and yanking my coat on. 

“Sorry, I’m ready,” I said quickly, shoving past Kevin and ushering Jamie out the door—not that he’d even had a chance to come in it. 

Jamie peered at my cheek in light from the streetlamp and said, “Jenna, what happened to your face?”

“Never mind, I’m fine,” I replied sharply. 

Jamie didn’t say anything.  He pulled the passenger side door of his car open for me and I muttered a brief “thanks” as I got in.  He shut the door carefully after me and got in.  He didn’t say a word as we drove somewhere.  I didn’t even know where we were going, but I grinned when we pulled up to my favorite pizza place.  “I’m in the mood for pizza, that okay with you?” Jamie asked. 

“It’s perfect,” I replied.  I made eye contact and grinned sheepishly.  “I’m sorry,” I apologized.  “I wasn’t expecting Kevin to be home, and then you were early, and I was trying to get out the door, but my coat got stuck on the hanger and then I pulled too hard and the hanger flew off the rod and hit a print in the hall and bounced back and hit me in the face, so I was a little flustered.”

Jamie looked at me for a minute, processing what I just said, then burst into laughter.  “You are such a disaster, Jenna,” he said, shaking his head.  “Some things don’t change.” 

I touched my cheek.  “Is it that bad?” I asked.  It had stung when it connected but didn’t really hurt now, so I was surprised it was even noticeable. 

Jamie turned on the interior light and inspected my cheek.  “No, it’s fading already.  It was just a bright pink spot—you know how easily your skin gets irritated.”  I narrowed my eyes.  I did know how easily my fair skin got irritated.  If I scratched an itch it looked like a tiger clawed my arm.  But why did he know that?  “Oh, don’t look at me like that.  I only know because when we used to hook up my stubble would turn your inner thighs pink.  It was hot.”  

I felt my face heat up and then I started laughing.  “I had no idea,” I said, once I’d collected myself.  “Well.  Should we go eat?”

Over dinner, I told Jamie about the two houses I’d looked at after work today.  “I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to find something decent in my budget,” I complained.  “They all need something significant fixed or updated, or they’re in sketchy neighborhoods.  I just got a really big raise but I’m trying to be pretty conservative with my mortgage so I can save some money.”

“And you’re not even considering renting because you’re determined to show the world how goddamned independent you are, right?” he asked, his eyes twinkling. 

I glared at him.  “Renting is a waste of time and money,” I informed him.  “If I’m going to pay for something anyway, I want it to be mine someday.”

“Fair enough,” he said.  “You just might be able to find something better if you rent for awhile while you look and save.”

“I know, it’s my backup plan,” I admitted.  “If I don’t find a place by the end of January, I’m going to go ahead and rent for awhile.”

“Good plan,” he agreed. 

I changed the subject and we talked about our families’ Christmas plans for a while.  It was nice hanging out with Jamie.  It wasn’t awkward or weird.  We didn’t have to make idle chit chat to fill occasional silences.  I missed him being around.

After dinner, we headed back to my house and got right to business.  It was even better than Saturday, and I quickly lost track of the number of orgasms I had.  I was half asleep curled up against Jamie when he stroked my hair and softly said, “Don’t be mad J, but I’m going to head out.  I’d like to avoid an awkward morning encounter with Kevin.”

I rolled off him and stretched lazily.  “I don’t blame you one bit,” I replied.  Once he stood, I rolled onto my side and watched him get dressed.  “When do you head back to Seattle?” I asked. 

“The day after Christmas, unfortunately,” he said.  “So I won’t get to see you again before I head back.  But I wasn’t kidding when I said you should come out and visit.  Seriously, just let me know when.”

“I’d love to,” I agreed.  “Let me get moved out of this place first and then we’ll figure something out, okay?”

“Sounds good to me,” he replied.  I started to get up to walk him out but he sat down on the edge of the bed.  “Stay in bed,” he said.  “I can see myself out.  It was really good to see you, Jenna.  Take care of yourself and get out of this hellhole, okay?  You deserve better than living with your dickbag of an ex-husband in the basement of his house.”

“I will,” I promised.  I hugged him and he kissed the top of my head and stood.  “Wait, Jamie?  Tell me what Kevin has been telling people about why we got divorced.”

I pulled the sheet up over myself as I watched Jamie consider this.  Then he frowned.  “I’ll tell you if you really want to know, but I don’t know if it would be helpful for you right now.”

“That bad, huh?” I asked, making a face.  I wasn’t surprised.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he said thoughtfully.  “But do you really want one more thing to be pissed about when you still have to look at him on a regular basis?”

“No,” I agreed quickly.  “I don’t.” 

He shrugged.  “If you change your mind, let me know, but I think that’s the right choice for now.”

I frowned and he grinned at me.  “Hey, don’t waste your energy being upset now,” he said.  “Tomorrow you’re going home to deal with your family!  You’ll need all your bad attitude saved up for that.”

I laughed.  “That’s very true,” I responded.  “It’s going to be a shitshow.” 

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Chapter 9 (4/16/16)

Hey all!  Thanks so much for your patience, support, and encouragement.  I'm counting down the days until I'm done with school and can give you a consistent posting schedule.  Just know I won't ever forget about you!  In the meantime, here is a nice long post for your weekend reading pleasure!

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My inopportune run in with my former in-laws was enough to finally motivate to make some real moves to get out of this house.  I spent Sunday looking at listings online and emailing them to Mike.  I bumped my budget up a little, expanded the areas of town I was willing to live in, and realized that getting all of the things on my list of preferred features was not realistic. 

I also started combing Google and Craigslist for rental backups.  I couldn’t stay here any longer than necessary anymore.  I located a couple apartment or townhome complexes that were in my price range and looked reasonably nice and bookmarked their sites so I had them on hand if I didn’t find anything.  Then, taking a deep breath, I wrote “January 23^rd” on a post-in and stuck it to my laptop.

January 23^rd was the date I’d chosen for Chelsea’s suggestion of setting a date by which if I wasn’t in the process of actually buying a house, I’d look for a rental or other short term option instead.  It was a significant date, because it was the day I’d met Kevin.

“Jenna!” Erica hissed in my ear. 

“What?” I asked loudly.  Erica immediately shushed me and I rolled my eyes.  It’s not like our campus cafeteria was a quiet library where everyone could hear you.

“There is a really hot guy that keeps looking over here.  I think he’s looking at you,” she replied in her hushed tone.  “He’s over to your left, but don’t—“

She stopped and sighed audibly as I ignored her telling me not to look and turned my head to the left.  “I can’t take you anywhere,” she grumbled.  I didn’t even hear her, because I had immediately made eye contact with the most attractive man I had ever seen on this campus.  I smiled lazily at him, glanced away, and immediately looked back.  He was still watching me.  I let my lazy smile turn to a smirk, held his gaze for about 3 seconds, and then turned back to Erica.

“How do you do that?” she asked me. 

“Do what?” I asked, confused. 

“Eye fuck someone like that and get away with it?”  I was about to respond when her eyes widened.  “He’s coming over here,” she hissed.

My heart rate immediately picked up.  I was a phenomenal flirt from across the room, but my actual flirting skills left quite a bit to be desired.  I took a deep breath, determined not to screw this up by being awkward.  I didn’t even look up until I saw him right at our table.  Then I let my eyes slowly wander his way.

“Hi,” he said, his voice deep and smooth.  “My friends and I are having a party tonight.  You should come.”  He didn’t even introduce himself.  I blinked in surprise, unsure how to respond.  Unfazed, he continued.  “Give me your number.  I’ll text you the address.”

Without even thinking, I automatically rattled off my cell phone number.  Erica had yet to say a word.  In fact, she was embarrassingly staring at him in wonder.  I kicked her under the table and she jumped and glared at me.

A second later, my phone vibrated.  I looked down at it and saw I had a new text.  I grabbed it and saw an address and the words, “By the way, my name is Kevin.  See you tonight.  Things usually get pretty wild by 10.”

I looked up to say something, anything, to him, but he was gone.  “What the hell was that?” Erica breathed.

            “I don’t know,” I replied.  “But you’re coming to this party with me.  Kelly too.”

            “Jen, he’s probably slept with at least half of the girls that go here and has had every STD known to man,” Kelly said practically.  After lunch, we’d headed directly to her dorm room, which was one floor directly below ours.  “You don’t get that smooth and confident without a lot of practice.

            “Stop ruining my life,” I complained.  “The hottest man in the world wants me to go to his party.  I’m going, and you’re coming with me.”

            “Oh, I’ll go,” she replied.  “Someone has to keep you two from falling head over heels for this popped collar frat boy.”

            “He didn’t look like a frat boy,” Erica chimed in.

            “Yeah, have you even seen the guys in frats here?” I asked, wrinkling my nose.  “This guy was actually hot, Kel.” 

            “We’ll see about that,” she said, shrugging.

            By the time we got to the address Kevin had texted me, it was 10:30 and the house looked dark and silent.  “What the fuck?” Kelly asked.  “He’s not a frat boy, he’s a serial killer.  He’s waiting inside with a knife and a vat of acid and we’re all going to be dismembered and dissolved by tomorrow.”

            “I think it takes longer than a few hours to dissolve a body,” Erica said.  “Probably like—“

            “Don’t!” Kelly and I exclaimed at the same time.  Erica looked at us, startled.  “Just…don’t,” I followed up.  Thinking about body parts dissolving in acid was not going to do anything good in my brain.

            I did have to admit I was nervous.  I mean, I had been nervous before.  But coming to see a dark, quiet house?  Even more nervous.  I checked the text again and squinted at the numbers on the house.  They matched.  Just as I was about to chicken out, two squealing girls pranced into the front yard from around the back of the house.  A guy, clearly irritated by their noise, strolled behind them, scrolling through his phone.  He looked up as they approached us and rolled his eyes.  “You trying to attract cops?” he snapped.  “Go around the back and stop standing there like neon lights pointing to the underage drinking.”  As he walked past he muttered, “Fucking freshmen.” 

            Kelly looked like she was about to retort, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the back of the house.  Erica trailed behind us.  As soon as we got around to the backyard, we heard the faint thump of muffled music coming from inside.  The door opened, momentarily making the music louder, and I saw Kevin standing on the porch.  “My buddy texted me that there were three lost girls standing out front,” he said, and I could see his smirk even in the dark.  “Sorry, I should have told you to come around the back.  Come on.”  He motioned with his head back towards the door, so we walked up the porch steps.  “Hi,” he grinned at each of us in turn.  “I’m Kevin.”  His gaze landed on me and I struggled to remember my name for a second.

            “Jenna,” I said finally.  “Hi.”  Next to me, Kelly snorted, clearly aware of why it took me several seconds to answer.  I would have glared at her if Kevin’s eyes weren’t still trained intently on me. 

            Erica and Kelly introduced themselves, and then Kevin took us inside.  He immediately grabbed us a few bottles of beer from the fridge in the dark, empty kitchen.  “There’s a keg downstairs,” he informed us, “But feel free to drink the good stuff that’s up here.  I like to treat my guests right.”  He winked as he said that, and I almost died.  I could practically hear Kelly rolling her eyes, but I didn’t care.  He took the tops off each beer bottle as he handed them to us.  “We can go downstairs if you want,” he said, raising an eyebrow, “Otherwise I was hanging out in a quieter room with a couple of my friends if you want to join us.”

            I immediately replied, “We’d love to join you,” while Kelly said, “We’ll head downstairs,” at the same time.  I glared at her and she sighed and said, “I guess we’ll join you for a little while.”

            We followed him to a bedroom that had 4 other people inside.  Kelly quickly changed her tune as one of Kevin’s friends started chatting with her.  We spent the entire time in this room.  Kevin was a senior, majoring in biology.  He wanted to go to med school, but was going to take a year to get his resume in top shape before applying.  He was smart, funny, and seemed genuinely interested in me.  He was also kind to Erica and Kelly, which was something that seemed kind of rare in a lot of the guys any of us had hung out with so far. 

            When we were ready to go, he and the guy that had been chatting up Kelly insisted on walking us back to the dorms.  The house was just 3 blocks from campus, but it was really late, so it probably wasn’t a bad idea.  When we got to our dorm, Kevin pulled me aside.  I didn’t even notice the cold when he smiled at me.  “I’d like to take you out to dinner,” he said.  I was a little thrown off by it being a statement instead of a question, but I had to admit I liked his confidence. 

            “I think I can allow that,” I replied with a smirk. 

He laughed.  “Good.  I’ll text you tomorrow and we’ll figure something out.  Thanks for coming tonight, I’m glad I invited you.”

“I had fun,” I responded, feeling a flutter in my stomach.  “I’m glad you invited us.”

“I invited you,” he said.  In the moment, it didn’t feel like an odd statement, it just made the fluttering feeling spread beyond my stomach.  I wondered briefly what it was about me that this incredibly attractive guy found so appealing, but was quickly distracted by him leaning forward and planting a soft, lingering kiss on my cheek.  “Goodnight, Jenna.”

And then he was gone.  Erica and Kelly were standing just outside the door to the dorm, watching me expectantly.  I turned, slightly dazed, and followed them in.

Kevin came home Monday evening to find me packing up some of my rarely used kitchen items.  He leaned against the counter and watched me for several seconds before saying, “You found a new place?”

“Not yet,” I replied.  My answer sounded short, and I decided to try to be a little nicer to make my time in this house less awful.  “I’m looking pretty seriously though, and I want to be ready to move when I find something.  You know how I am about packing and stuff.” 

“Yeah,” he said.  “I do.”  He paused and then said, “Could you remind me when you leave for your parents’ house?”

“Wednesday morning,” I said.  “Whenever I get up and moving.  I plan to be gone by noon for sure though.”  I didn’t make eye contact.  I’m sure he was asking because he wanted to have a girl over.  At least he was waiting until I was gone this time?  Maybe.

“Okay,” he replied.  “I’m working an overnight tonight and tomorrow, just so you know.”

“I’ll try to be as quiet as I can while I’m getting ready to leave on Wednesday, then,” I said, agreeing to his unasked request.

“Thanks,” he said.  “I appreciate that.”  He stood for a second longer, then said, “You can take all the kitchen stuff if you want.  I don’t like the pattern on the dishes. I can just buy better stuff after you move.”  Then he turned and walked out.

I closed my eyes briefly, wondering why I’d even bothered to try to be nice.  I tucked my partially packed boxes into a nearly empty hallway closet and walked downstairs.  I sat on my bed with my phone in my hand and composed a text.  “Hey, you free to hang out tomorrow night before I head down to my parents’ house?” 

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Update

Hi guys!

There will be a post this week, I promise.  It just won't be until later in the week.

For the last few weeks of school (there's a light at the end of the tunnel!) I will guarantee you one post per week but I can't guarantee you a day.  It's just a lot easier that way.  I know it's a pain to check back, but you can follow me on Bloglovin', follow by email, or follow with your Google/Blogger account to make it less of a pain.  Once I'm done with school I solemnly swear I will give you a solid, consistent schedule.

Thanks for your patience so far!  You guys are the best.

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Chapter 8 (4/3/16)

            I stormed up the stairs, flung open the door at the top, and found myself face to face with my former in-laws.  “What are you doing here?” I asked, irritated.

            

           “Kevin asked us to grab the mail and check on the house,” my ex-father-in-law said, looking really confused.

            “He did?” I challenged him.  “That’s strange, since I live here and am perfectly capable of grabbing the mail and keeping an eye on the house.  The house that I live in.”

            “Hi, Jenna,” my ex-mother-in-law chirped, as though this wasn’t a strange situation.

            “Also,” I continued, ignoring her, “It’s after 10 on a Saturday night.  Kind of a strange time to check the mail.” My ex-father-in-law held my gaze and shrugged without providing an explanation.  “Well, you grabbed the mail,” I said, forcing a smile.  “You checked on the house.  Is there anything else I can do for you tonight?”

            “Jenna?” Jamie’s voice coming from the stairs almost made me panic.  Damn it, Jamie.  Stay downstairs!  “Is everything okay?”

            I gritted my teeth and turned to give him a “stay!” look, but it was too late.  He appeared next to me at the top of the stairs, wearing nothing but his jeans.  Damn it.  “Everything’s fine,” I said with false brightness.  “They were just leaving.”  I turned back around and realized that my former mother-in-law was no longer in the kitchen. 

I looked around and found her standing next to the couch, looking down at something.  I flushed bright red when I realized she was looking down at my pile of clothes.  She started when she realized what she was seeing and quickly turned towards the door.  “Ron, I think we should go,” she said.  “The house is clearly just fine.” 

I stood there, glaring at them.  “Okay,” my ex-father-in-law said reluctantly, glancing at Jamie, who was leaning against the wall watching the scene unfold with amusement.  I didn’t move, and neither did Ron.

“Well, Jenna, it was nice to see you,” my ex-mother-in-law said, starting to walk towards the door.  I didn’t answer, and finally Ron started towards the doors after her. 

Once they were gone, I locked the door behind them and turned to Jamie, fuming.  I immediately furrowed my brow deeper, because he was laughing.  “What?” I snapped.

“Relax, Jen,” he soothed me.  “That shit was funny.  Not for you right now, but I promise that it will be funny to you someday.”

“Did they not see the strange car in the driveway?” I raged, not quieted by his words.  “Or the men’s shoes next to the door?  What the hell are they doing here so late anyway?  What did they expect to find?  And oh my god, my ex-mother-in-law saw my underwear!”  I took another look at my clothes on the floor and saw my black thong, the last thing that Jamie had removed from my body, in plain view on top of pile.

Jamie lost it then, laughing until tears were streaming down his face.  “I’m sorry,” he gasped in response to my glare.  “It’s so funny when it’s not you.”

“You are such a dick,” I grumbled.  I bent down and picked up my pile of clothes off the floor, then stalked past him downstairs.  I just needed a second to get myself together.  I chucked my clothes in the general direction of my laundry basket, but didn’t make it.  I was picking everything up off the floor when Jamie came in. 

“Hey,” he said softly.  As I straightened, he wrapped his arms tightly around me from behind and nuzzled against my neck.  I sighed and relaxed back against him.  “I’m sorry I laughed,” he apologized. 

“I’m not mad at you,” I replied.  “I was just mad in general and I needed a second.  I’m sorry I snapped at you.”

“They have some nerve,” he said.  He shifted and moved his hands up to my shoulders, pressing his thumbs into my tight, angry muscles.  “You always get so tense when you’re pissed off.” 

I let him massage my shoulders and neck for several minutes, letting my anger fade away.  We may have been interrupted, but I was not going to let my ex-in-laws keep me from having sex tonight.  When he replaced one hand with his lips and began kissing and nipping at my neck and shoulder on one side while still massaging the other, I thought I was going to melt into a puddle on the carpet.

I turned around and looped my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer and kissing him.  I quickly found myself without clothes again, and I fumbled with the button on his jeans.  He pushed my hands away and backed me up to the bed.  “I’m just going to make sure there’s nothing else distracting you before we get back to where we were,” he informed me, gently pushing me down onto the bed.  I didn’t care to protest as he knelt in front of me and lowered his head between my legs once more.

I didn’t think about my former in-laws any more that night.  It had been 10 years since the last time Jamie and I slept together, and he was good then.  10 more years of experience had only improved his skills.  I didn’t hear any complaints about my skills either, which was a relief.  Eventually we untangled ourselves and fell asleep, each carefully tucked in on our own side of the bed.  Neither of us were cuddly sleepers.

I slept like a rock, which was a rare occurrence lately.  I only woke up when Jamie accidentally shut the door a little too hard coming back into the room from the bathroom around 8am.  I squinted sleepily at him, stifling a yawn.  “Morning,” he said with a grin.  His hair was tousled and his eyes looked sleepy still.  He was so hot, even in the morning.

“Morning,” I replied.  “Did you sleep well?”

“I did,” he said, climbing back into bed and sliding over next to me.  He rolled me onto my side and cuddled up to me, pressing his chest against my back and wrapping his arm around me.  “Really well.”

“Good,” I murmured.  I was comfortable and still tired, but I was suddenly very aware of the fact that this was the first man that had been in my bed (besides my ex-husband) in a very, very long time.  “This is weird,” I blurted out, before I could stop myself.

Jamie chuckled.  “Is it the cuddling that did it in?”

“Well, yeah, that’s pretty weird too.  But I just meant in general.  Um…you’re the first person I’ve had sex with since my divorce.  And also I haven’t seen you in a really long time.”

“It is kind of weird,” he agreed.  “I don’t have any complaints though.”

“Oh, neither do I,” I responded hurriedly.  “Not at all.  Just suddenly feeling a little ‘light of day’ weirdness and I’m too impulsive to stop myself from drawing attention to it.” 

Jamie laughed and shook his head.  “You really haven’t changed, have you?”

“Probably not much,” I agreed. 

It didn’t take long for our cuddling to turn into lazy, spooning sex.  When we were finished, we both fell back to sleep for a little while.  I woke up again when Jamie rolled onto his back and stretched.  “I need to get up or I might stay here all day,” he said.

“I wouldn’t stop you,” I replied, smirking at him.  Especially if he keeps making me come like that…

“I know,” he said with a laugh.  “That’s why I have to get up.  I’ve got some family obligations today.  Can I take you out for breakfast before I go, though?”

“Breakfast?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.  “What’s this?  Did you morph into a gentleman since I last saw you?”

“Nah, it’s sympathy breakfast,” he teased.  “I feel bad that you still live with your prick of an ex-husband, so I’ll buy you some French toast, because French toast makes everything less shitty.”

I smacked him in the arm and he laughed, then stood up and dodged the pillow I chucked at him.  He grabbed his jeans and pulled them on, ducking just in time for the second pillow to miss.  Then he grabbed his shirt and ran out of the room, still laughing.

“I’ll even let you get bacon!” he called from the safety of the hallway. 

I just shook my head and rolled out of bed to get dressed.  Bacon gets me every time.

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