Catherine
“Why does that woman keep looking at me like I’m the devil?”
I sat down on the couch next to Isaac and tried to use his oversized frame as a shield. Had I been sitting next to Eli it would have worked, but Isaac wasn’t quite big enough.
“That’s Frankie,” he said with a wide smile. “The reason behind her death glare, sweetheart, is because you stole her man.”
“I what?”
“You see…” Isaac turned sideways on the couch so he could look at me better and Eli shoved against his back as he walked around the back of the couch and moved to my opposite side. “What, man? I was just gonna clue your girl in on your ex.”
My eyes widened in surprise, which only made Isaac laugh harder.
“I can already sense you never told Blake of your love for older women.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Eli said as he sat down next to me and pulled my body toward his. “I have never dated nor would I ever date our cleaning lady. She does however have this little crush on me.”
I couldn’t help the laughter that spilled from me when I imagined this woman drooling over Eli. I couldn’t say I blamed her actually; he was very easy on the eyes, but it just seemed crazy.
“You remember that time she rubbed that soothing cream on his ass?” Clayton said through laughter.
Now this caught my full attention. “Excuse me?”
“Or how about that time we caught her running her fingers through his hair when he was sleeping in the recliner?” Brent added as he held the controller in his hands and pointed it toward the television. “She was in some type of trance as she carefully and oh so slowly allowed his hair to roll through her fingers.”
Okay now this was getting a little creepy.
“What about the stash of his boxers we found in her trunk?”
I spun around to find Xavier standing behind me, lifting an apple to his mouth and taking a huge bite.
Jay chimed in looking almost excited to be sharing news of the woman who apparently stalked my boyfriend. “Oh yeah, and his practice jersey under her driver’s seat, and his cologne tucked in the center console of her car.”
“This is like a fatal attraction thing,” I said as I looked around the room at each one of them.
“They’re lying,” Eli assured me only I wasn’t yet convinced. Either these guys were really great liars or they were telling the truth.
“Don’t let your guy fool ya, though,” Xavier spoke around his apple. “He loves the attention.”
“X?” Elijah said in warning.
“What? There was a time when I remember you looking forward to the possibilities of conjugal visits from your lover—”
Eli was up off the couch and sprinting after a bolting Xavier. The entire room burst into fits of laughter when they noticed my worried expression. Only I didn’t get the chance to say anything more before I was lifted off the couch and carried up a flight of stairs.
We were almost at the top when I saw the woman I now knew as Frankie step out of the room just at the bottom of the stairs. She gave me a narrow-eyed look and just for giggles I offered her a little wave, causing her to turn her back to me and walk away.
Suddenly I was tossed to the bed and I bounced on impact before Eli was descending on me.
“That was all bullshit,” he growled as he covered my body with his.
“I don’t know, she looked pretty interested.” He started kissing along my neck. “Should I be scared of her slipping in your room one night and…” He cut me off with his mouth covering my own. Instantly everything else was forgotten when he traced my lips with his tongue.
Later, I thought, later we’d revisit this topic. For now I wanted to focus on nothing else but him and me. That was all it ever took, just one taste and I was hooked.
***
Elijah
“Do you think he’ll like it?” Blake held out the t-shirt she’d found for Toby. “He loves turtles and I found this place online that personalizes things. So, I thought why not?”
It was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shirt, all of the turtles on front with the addition of a fifth one. Little bubbles above them told of them talking of a new turtle on their team. A turtle named Toby.
On the back it said Toby the Turtle.
“He’ll love it, babe,” I assured her as I nudged her toward the front door of Morgan’s parents.
She seemed nervous but I knew she had absolutely nothing to be nervous about. The kid was gonna be thrilled.
With a knock on the door there was barely a pause before it came open and there stood Morgan’s mother inside. “Hi you two.” She offered a smile as she motioned to us to come inside. “What brings you here?”
“I got Toby something,” Blake said as she nervously twisted the handle on the bag. “I hope you don’t mind us just dropping by.”
“Of course not. Toby is in his room doing what he normally does.”
We all knew that meant he was watching his movie. Every chance he got he’d watch it.
I led Blake down the hall and when we filled the doorway, Toby thrust his hands up in the air, growing excited with our arrival. “Toby my man,” I said, moving inside to fist bump him. “We stopped by to bring you something Blake had made for you.”
The moment Blake pulled out the shirt and we showed him what it had on it his eyes grew wide with excitement. I was no longer needed to break the ice because Blake took over.
I watched in silence as she and Toby interacted. They danced all the spots in the show that called for it. Together they recited the words of certain scenes and I was mesmerized by the beauty of my girl. She wasn’t only the most gorgeous girl I’d ever seen but she was also so very beautiful on the inside too. Her compassion and ability to love so strong when she never really had a chance to experience that growing up amazed me.
Yes, she had her father but the hate from her mother was such a dark haze over her for so long.
I’d do it all over again, every single moment just to see her shine the way she was. She was my world.