“What was that for?” Her voice broke me from my concentration.
“I needed you.” I said dropping a kiss over her nipple. She wiggled under me, and I felt my cock slide out of her causing a sharp intake of breath to escape from my lips. I laid my chin on the top of her head and took a few deep breaths letting my body come down from its high. I turned over, taking her with me. She cuddled against me, and we lay there wrapped in each other’s arms.
***
I was stuck somewhere between sleep and consciousness when her voice broke the silence.
“I have to go to Portland for a few days, sweetheart, but I'll be back Friday to help you prepare for the fourth of July cookout.”
“You just got back.” I said without opening my eyes.
“I know, and I'm sorry. Transferring all this paperwork is taking forever, and I've had to hire an IT guy to make sure it's all in there correctly.”
“I just miss you.” I hugged her to me and frowned.
“Once this is all done, it will be fewer days. I've gotten behind on my grant work and I'm getting emails wanting to know where it is and I keep putting them off saying it will all be done by next weekend. I just have so much on my plate at the moment, but I promise I will make it up to you.” She kissed me quickly and then stood, reaching her hand out to me. I grabbed her undies and shorts and handed them to her as I stood. She pulled them over her hips and then looked up at me.
“It's gonna be okay, I promise.” I extended my arms, and she walked into them, wrapping hers around me and pulling me as close as she could. With everything that had happened in the last hour, and the way she looked at me, I was doubting Chris’ story and that's exactly what I had wanted and needed.
She waved at me as I stood leaning against the post between our front doors. I lifted my hand and waved back. I watched until her truck disappeared down the road and then moved into my house. Ryan was long gone, and everything had been unloaded except the coolers.
I made busy work of that and then took a shower. I grabbed a few beers and went out to the workshop to finish a few projects that wouldn't take very long.
***
“I don't know why you don't just see her. She’s been gone two days. She’d love it. Besides, the competitions are over. You won. It's not like we need to keep working out if you aren't going to hit the circuit next season,” Ryan said.
“I don't want to crowd her.” I looked over the beer bottle.
“Seriously? Women want to be wanted. She wants to be pursued. Get to pursuing.” He laughed. I thought about hopping in the truck in the morning and driving up. We could do lunch and dinner, and I could stay the night.
“Okay.” I smiled, tossing another piece of wood in the fire barrel. “You talked me into it.”
“About time I talked you into something,” Ryan mumbled.
***
I thought about us a lot on the way to Portland the next morning. The drive was just over an hour because of the rain, which gave me time for some soul searching. Was I being stupid about this whole situation? She had been even more open with me about when Chris was around and had tried to limit their encounters to only business-related meals. I was just looking too far into this, letting him put doubt in my mind. I needed to let it go.
I followed the GPS to the street her building was located on. I drove past where she worked and turned to try and find a parking place close to her office. It was almost noon, and I wanted to surprise her and take her to lunch. I was just opening my truck to make a run for the front door through the rain when it opened.
An umbrella popped through the door, and then Chris appeared with Emerson. His arm was wrapped around her waist as they walked out into the rain. My blood boiled at the sight of them. I watched in astonishment as they took a few steps then stopped, just after they did, he lifted her chin with his finger and looked her in the eyes then said something to her. I reached for the door to push it open, ready to confront them, but thought better of it and clicked my seatbelt back in place. I continued to watch as they walked to the coffee shop, laughing as they walked. I threw the truck in drive and drove straight back home.
***
I skidded into the driveway, Ryan hot on my heels. I had driven through town like a police car was chasing me.
“What the fuck, dude?” Ryan jumped from the truck, following me into the shop.
“She was with fucking Chris.”
“Wait, what?” Ryan looked dumbfounded. “What do you mean with, she works with him, right?”
“Wrapped up under an umbrella laughing and being all intimate and shit.” I huffed out a breath and pulled a bottle of whiskey from the shelf. It was a bottle Ryan had given me for Christmas this past year, and it was for when I finally won it all and retired. Ryan watched me as I pull the red wax from the bottle and tipped it into the glasses that had been sitting beside it.
“Let's have some fun. No lady talk,” I insisted.
Ryan tipped his glass to me, and I agreed.