I watch until he backs out into the hall, closing the door behind him. The I sigh, my head lolling back, and massage the bridge of my nose.
I can’t tell him right now. Ashley needs to be dealt with—I told her last time I wouldn’t cover her ass again—but right now all I can do is go home to my wife and endure what may be the last couples night she’s gonna get.
Two willowy arms reach for me, locking around my neck and drawing me close. I look into my wife’s beautiful face, her big blue eyes so full of fondness at the sight of me. I know a lot of men, some of them married, but I don’t know any who are lucky enough to come home to t
heir wife of five years and still have her look at them like this. Like because I came home, there is happiness in her life. Because I am hers, she always has a reason to smile.
Interrupting my happiness is the idea of Griff having to see this tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. Normally he rolls his eyes at us. Calls us newlyweds. We still act like it, I guess. I just thought this was what a happy marriage looked like, but he and Ashley have never had this.
Ashley and Moira are mirror opposites. Where Moira is sweet, Ashley has a bitchiness I’ve never found appealing. Griff didn’t see it at first. It didn’t come out until she got comfortable with him. The high of a new relationship makes her soft and excites her, but once she settles into it, she gets bored. She starts looking around at everyone else, wondering why she doesn’t have what they have.
The day I met Moira, everything changed for me and Griff. Me, I don’t believe in any kind of love at first sight, but I can’t deny connection at first sight. When I met Moira she was a waitress at a little coffee house, serving up specialty drinks, bringing out plates full of scones and shit. Frankly, there’s no reason we should’ve met. I wasn’t in the habit of wasting my time in places like that, or my hard-earned money on pricey frozen coffees. I just had to piss, and the establishment she worked at had the “customers only” rule for their bathroom. I bought a muffin, and as I dug some cash out of my wallet, I caught sight of a petite woman with shoulder-length hair, so dark it was nearly black. She knocked an iced coffee off the counter and looked horrified as it fell to the floor and splashed all over the fitted black pants clinging to her shapely legs. Flushing, she bent to pick it up, darting a look up at me.
Something lodged in my gut. I’d been with pretty girls all my adult life, but it wasn’t just her looks. I wasn’t even sure what it was. She quickly stood and shoved the stuff off to the side, shooting me an apologetic smile. “Sorry about your wait; just give me two seconds.” She turned around and washed up at the sink, then came back to fill my muffin order. As she handed it to me, she flashed me a sweet smile. It was the first time I’d ever looked into someone’s eyes and seen pure kindness.
I knew she had a well of it, and to be honest, I am not a particularly kind man. Over the years, I’ve stepped on people and taken advantage, walked right over men and right out on women to build something for myself.
Well, myself and Griff. We’d been a team since we were kids, and that’ll never change. There’s no blood between us, but he’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother.
I went back to that little coffee shop four times after that. Moira was only there three of those times, but at the end of that last transaction, as she slid my coffee across the counter and smiled at me, I told her, “I want to take you out.”
Her blue eyes widened with surprise, her kind smile slipping. “Out?”
I nodded once, like I couldn’t afford to waste them. “I’m gonna take you out,” I stated. “What time do you get off tonight?”
She flushed with pleasure and looked down at the counter, nibbling on her bottom lip. It could have agitated her the way I told her we were going out instead of asking, the way I didn’t bother asking if I had any competition, if there might be some poor sap waiting at home for her. I didn’t care if there was. I wanted what I wanted, and if there was anything in my way, it needed to move. I didn’t even ask if she was free tonight, just claimed her time as my own. Plenty of women might take issue with that, but not Moira. She mulled it over for a few seconds, then looked back up at me and finally answered, “I get off at seven.”
Right then I had the slightest hunch she might be made for me. “Then I’ll see you at seven,” I told her, taking my coffee, winking, and walking out.
By the time our first date ended, she had me. She was still dressed from work when I picked her up since I didn’t give her time to change, but she didn’t complain. I took her somewhere simple—I don’t like to take women on fancy first dates; I like to see how they respond when I just take them to a deli or something, only buy them a sandwich that costs a few dollars. Call me paranoid, but there are plenty of money-grabbers out there and I like to filter ‘em out.
Moira didn’t care that I took her to a $12 dinner for the first date I demanded she go on with me. It was my company she enjoyed, my personality she was drawn to, and that was exactly what I wanted.
Moira went on plenty of expensive dates after that. When I asked her to marry me, I spared no expense on the ring. I’m no cheapskate; I just don’t like materialistic user assholes like Ashley Halliwell.
Once Moira and I got together, though, she sort of took over my life. I loved having her around and never wanted to be without her. Griff and I used to hang out every night before Moira, but once I had her, that left Griff alone a lot. Moira didn’t want him to feel excluded, so she’d ask me to invite him over from time to time—she’d make us both dinner, we’d all watch a movie or play a board game. We’d drink together sometimes, and Moira would tell us dirty stories that made Griff get all bashful, since he didn’t think he should be listening to dirty stories my girlfriend made up.
Then he met Ashley, and all of a sudden he was in love. Part of me honestly thinks he was just jealous of what Moira and I had, feeling left out, in need of attention. Ashley filled the void I left in Griff’s life when Moira crept into my heart and took it over.
Now his heart’s going to be broken. Now I have this shit to deal with.
Moira’s forehead creases, her blue eyes clouding over with concern as she looks up at me. “What’s wrong, honey?”
I shake my head. I do want to tell her, but not when we’re about to go out with them. Moira’s a shitty liar. She’s too open, can’t keep a secret to save her life.
I kiss her forehead, tugging her closer and hugging her. “We’ll talk about it later.”
She still looks concerned, but I turn away and head to the closet for a dinner jacket. Moira follows me in, coming up behind me, her hands sliding up my muscular chest. “Tell your wife what’s wrong?”
I smile faintly. “Your tricks won’t work on me, little minx.”
“My tricks always work on you,” she states, letting one of her hands slide down until she’s rubbing my cock.
I catch her wrist in a firm grasp to stop her. “I told you, we’ll talk about it later.”
“But I want to lighten your load now,” she tells me.
“Then why don’t you get on your knees—I’ll give you a load.”