Page 63 of Divine Sense
* beautiful
40
MAGNOLIA
Iwas standing in front of the full length mirror, smoothing out the sundress I had picked out for the night when he came up from behind me and looped his arms around my waist. The weight of his tall frame and muscular arms wrapped around me made my heart settle its pace. I shrugged my shoulders, trying to release the tension I felt growing in the back of my neck. Almost as if he sensed it, Kolbi rested a hand on one of my shoulders and brought his thumb to the spot where my neck met my shoulders, rubbing it with just enough pressure to hurt in the best way possible.
“You need to relax, flower. I can feel your stress,” he commented, digging into the spot a little bit harder, causing me to wince a little in the mirror.
“I know, I just want your friends to like me and my parents are on me about this big campaign fundraiser that’s in six weeks and just…” I pushed out a deep breath. “It’s kind of killing me keeping us a secret.” I turned and looked up into his deep brown eyes, searching for some kind of miracle that would make it anyeasier to tell my parents I had fallen in love with a man that they had openly shared wasn’t ‘our kind of people.’
“Why do you care so much about what they think? Your parents, I mean, because I already know my friends love you.” We’d hung out as a group a few times over the last few weeks but tonight was the first time I’d be joining their weekly game night. He’d explained to me how Bailey would be coming over, too, and that she and I could hangout while he and his friends played. I liked Bailey a lot and was looking forward to getting to hangout with her.
“It’s not so much that I care about what they think—okay that’s a lie I do care what they think—but more so that I’m worried about their reaction if they find out about us from someone else. What if Daniel tells them? Or his mother and then she tells my mother? I mean, I’m surprised he hasn’t said anything to anyone since we ran into him at the bar last month. It would have totally been a Daniel thing to do to run home and tell his mommy about what he saw when he was out pretending to be a big boy.” I rolled my eyes as I thought about it and loved the sound of his laugh coming from behind me. I was genuinely shocked I hadn’t gotten an angry phone call from my mother about what happened between Daniel and I at the bar. But once the month turned over to June, I figured he’d just let it go and tried not to worry about it too much.
“Do you want to tell them? We can do it together if you want.” He took my hand and looked at me with so much adoration that my heart squeezed in my chest. I knew he understood how much of a risk that would be, telling my parents about us, and the fact that he would willingly walk into that fire with me told me just how much he loved me.
“Let me think about it, okay? Maybe we start small and tell Ms. Ruthie or something,” I offered, knowing good and wellthat talking to Ms. Ruthie was like talking to a mouse when you needed to go and talk to the lion.
“Whatever you want, angel, I’ll do it.” He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek, wrapping his arms around my waist once more. I lifted my arms to rest on his shoulders and nudged his face with my nose to gain access to his lips. He leaned into the kiss, forcing his tongue into my mouth. His hands traveled quickly under the hem of my dress and I moaned softly when he squeezed my ass. Not pulling away, he took a few steps towards the wall, bringing me with him as he did, and pressed me against it. Locked between him and the wall, I pressed my palms against it and pushed myself into him. His other hand had slid down the unbuttoned front of my dress and started to play with one of my breasts. The thin lace of the bralette I was wearing was no defense against his hungry touch. Through the sounds of suddenly hot and excited exchange, I heard the beeping of the keypad going off and then the front door opening.
“I hope you have your clothes on because I’m coming in!” I heard his friend Malcolm shout from downstairs. We both jumped apart like caught teenagers under a stairwell and made eyes at one another. He grinned at me through hooded eyes and leaned into my ear.
“We’ll pick this up later,” he murmured, swiping a hand over my chest overtop of my dress, causing me to suck in a breath. I nodded in response and took his hand after I finished buttoning the front of my dress to follow him downstairs, checking myself in the mirror to make sure it wasn’t completely obvious that he had just gotten to second base. We walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to find Malcolm setting some takeout containers on the counter.
“There was an event at the bar so I brought the leftovers home with me. Figured we could all eat if we’re still hungry.” He looked up at us after setting the food out and raised a brow,giving us both a once over. At the same time, the sounds of more people arriving could be heard from down the hall. “Did I interrupt something? Or did you recently start wearing lip gloss?” He directed the question at Kolbi and my eyes shot to his face, noticing the smear of lip gloss that was on full display under his bottom lip. I felt my cheeks go hot and I reached up to wipe it away.
“Malcolm, stop being an ass and leave them alone. You aren’t allowed to take your pent up frustrations out on them. You can always help yourself along if you’re really that desperate.” Bailey aimed her words at him like a well trained sniper ready to take out its target. Hank and Conrad who were following behind her down the hallway both broke out into a fit of laughter.
“Hank, are you not going to do anything about the way she talks to me?” Malcolm looked at our friend and then to Bailey. She was standing with her hand on her hip, chastising Malcolm with her eyes but softened when Hank came up and looped a tattooed arm around her waist.
“Nope, because she’s the only one of us man enough to say what we’re all thinking.” He kissed her on the cheek and then walked towards the counter where Malcolm was to inspect the food.
“You get a girlfriend and then all sense of loyalty is just thrown out the window,” Malcolm grumbled.
“Hi, beauty,” Bailey said to me with a welcoming smile. She took a few steps towards me, her short blonde hair bouncing with each step, and pulled me into a hug. I looped my arms under hers and caught a whiff of vanilla on her.
“Hi,” I started, pulling away from her and looking at the whole group. “Thank you everyone for letting me come tonight. I’ve heard for weeks now about this game night. I feel like I’m finally a part of some secret club.”
“Oh, you are. And I am happy tofinallyhave another girl in it.” Bailey’s voice boarded on a squeal and I couldn’t help but feel excited. “The boys sit at the table and play Dungeons and Dragons, and you and I can hangout in the living room. I usually read but we can watch a movie or talk or whatever.”
“Wait.” I squinted my eyes and turned my head towards Kolbi, who was walking across the kitchen with a beer in hand. “Dungeon and Dragons?That’s the game you play every week?” I’d heard of it before but never met anyone who actually played it. The image I had in my head of the people who did were, well, not Kolbi and his friends.
His lips pulled into a small smile, as if he knew what I was thinking. “Yes, is that a problem?” He and his friends were all starting to fill the seats that were around the round marble dining table. Conrad was unrolling some kind of map and Malcolm was placing a few dice in the center of it.
“I just…I wasn’t expecting this to be the game you played. That’s all.” I looked at them all pensively. Bailey spoke again from beside me.
“Yeah, they might be hot but they’re all actually a bunch of nerds.” She sucked on her bottom lip and nodded matter of factly at the group of guys who were all watching the two of us.
Hank cocked his head to one side and gaped at his fiancée. “You did not just call my friendshot, did you mi diablita?*?” he challenged from his seat.
Bailey, who had walked around to stand behind his chair, leaned over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She rested her chin there with a smirk on her face. “I did, my love, but you’re the hottest of them all,” she giggled, tucking her lips into his neck and kissing him in front of everyone. Under his breath you could hear Hank growl ‘Damn straight I am.’
I moved towards Kolbi, the open signs of affection from the pair making me long for the same thing. He held my hand andlooked at me from his seat, rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand.
“Need anything?” I asked between the two of us.
“Just one thing,” he said before gently tugging my hand and kissing me right in front of his friends. Having been so secretive about our relationship over the last few months, the open display of love for one another felt strange for a moment. Then, it just felt like us. Like it was always meant to be like this between us. I pulled away and smiled at him before standing up.
