He laughed. “If I didn’t cook, we’d starve. You can’t live on take-out alone.”
“I’ve given it a good try,” I said as I took a bite of bacon. Still, I couldn’t deny how much better home-cooked food was.
As we ate, every now and then, I’d catch Ryder looking at me like he was waiting for something. I remembered his statement about not wanting to hear if I regretted what we’d done at that moment. Was he waiting for me to say it now?
While I couldn’t regret it, I was sure it was a good idea. Ryder and I were about as opposite as two people could get. I was controlling, serious, and focused, whereas he was laid back, going with the flow, with no plans for his future. As good as we were together in bed, I couldn’t see us working out in the long run.
Then again, there didn’t need to be a long run. We could have a short run, couldn’t we? It wasn’t generally in my nature to have a fling, but during this month-long fake marriage, my life was in an alternate universe already. Why not include a little no-strings-attached affair with my fake husband?
“You were right about one thing,” I said, wiping my mouth with my paper towel napkin.
“What’s that?”
“Your version of this fake marriage is more fun.”
He smiled. “When it comes to fun, I know what I’m talking about. I’m an expert.”
“So I’ve noticed.”
“Stick with me, Katrina, and I’ll show you a good time.”
My nipples hardened at the promise in his voice.
“In fact.” He stood, and reached out a hand to me. “I feel another good time coming on now.”
I hesitated because I knew it was unsafe to give in to my physical desires. It could lead me astray. What if I started to like Ryder? What if I wanted fake to become real?
But I was in this bet for the next few weeks, and if I was going to take a vacation from my sane ordered life, why not include some sexual gratification?
I took his hand. “What do you have in mind?”
“This time, my bed. It’s bigger.”
I let him lead me to his room and do whatever he wanted to me. As he touched and kissed me, as he joined his body with mine, I let myself enjoy it with one caveat; don’t fall for Ryder.
11
Ryder
Whatever happened with Trina and me last night would go down in history as the greatest night of sex ever. Her skin was silkier than I’d imagined. Her pussy was sweeter and tighter than I’d ever experienced. And Trina, for all her bluster and confidence, had a vulnerability about her in bed that made my heart ache. I’d seen a part of her I’d never seen before. I wondered how many people had really ever seen it. Other men? I pushed that thought away. The idea of another man touching her made me want to rip their heads off.
What was most strange about last night was that I was pretty sure she felt the same about our encounter. The minute I’d come the first time, and I’d collapsed on her, I was sure she was going to push me off and tell me I was a horndog or how it was a mistake. Not ready to hear it while my dick was still pulsing with joy inside her, I asked her to hold off on saying it.
But she didn’t say it. Not then. Not after she gave me the ride of my life. Not at dinner, and not after one of the other several times I fucked her through the night.
I wanted to think my plan was working, and at the same time, I knew I needed to tread lightly. A leopard didn’t change its spots and Trina wouldn’t allow herself to be a slave to her physical desires. I needed to be ready for her to change course back to a platonic relationship at any time. Hopefully, she’d at least put it off during our fake marriage. It would give me time to convince her to continue our highly arousing and sexually satisfying romps beyond the bet.
Not that I only wanted sex from her. My attraction to her didn’t always make sense considering she always treated me with a certain disdain, but last night, that snark was gone. She was still smart-mouthed and opinionated, but it wasn’t directed at me. We laughed and teased in a friendlier manner. I felt like I’d not only been able to see her body, but also to catch a glimpse of the woman she was when she wasn’t working so hard to keep her walls up.
The next morning, I thought I’d really scored when she woke me with a blow job to end all blow jobs. The sight of my cum dripping from her mouth wasn’t something I’d ever forget. If this thing between us didn’t work out, that would be the go-to image in my brain when I jacked off.
I sent Trina off to work and then dealt with a few band things before I went to my job at the Salvation Station for my shift. I’d started working there after high school
as a waiter to make money while I tried to get my band going. Once I hit twenty-one, I moved into bartending, which I loved. It was true that bartenders were like shrinks. Actually, I think people told bartenders more than they told their shrinks. If I was the sort of man to extort people, I’d be rich from all the secrets and woes people told me.
Last year, the owner promoted me to manager, effectively confirming that my career was in the restaurant business and not in music. But I was okay with that. Mr. Coffey, who owned the restaurant, was happy with my work and even started discussing my becoming a partner in the place, and perhaps my buying it when he got ready to retire. He was in his late sixties and his kids had all left town, so I was the only one he felt he could leave it to. See, despite what Trina thought, I didn’t need my entire life planned out to have it go well.
I was working the lunch and dinner crowd. Lunch was busy with blue and white collar lunch folks, many of whom liked a beer or a mixed drink during lunch. As the crowd thinned, a well-dressed, attractive woman took a seat at the bar. She looked to be around my age, and had thick dark hair and smart-looking green eyes. Before Trina, I might have hit on her. But now, as pretty as she was, my mind and body were completely owned by Trina.