Troubles and Treats (Chocolate Lovers 3)

“Drew, please, listen to reason. I’m begging you, don’t let us lose. Oh God, I can’t lose!” he wails.

“Hey, ass**le, while you’re down there…” Drew says with a laugh.

Jim clenches his fist and punches him right in the nuts and Drew goes down on his knees, holding his crotch.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Jackson and I will be your host for this evening,” Jackson says with a grin while I grab Drew’s arm and help him stand up.

“Um, Jackson, everyone already knows who you are. Remember?” I whisper to him.

“Pay no attention to the woman behind the curtain,” Claire says with a laugh as she takes a sip of the wine she's poured for herself.

“I’m not behind a curtain. Is this part of the game?” I ask in confusion.

“Anyway, I’m going to start by taking the ladies into another room and asking them a series of questions. They will write their answers on these pieces of poster board,” Jackson explains, holding up a stack of white, heavy duty cardboard and a couple of black markers. “Then I’ll do the same with the guys. Everyone will keep their answers in a stack, face down on their laps. We’ll do ladies first, so the women will be answering the questions for the first round. Each couple will get five points for each correct answer. The couple with the most points at the end of the game will be crowned The Best Couple in all the Land.”

This seems complicated and Jim is so excited he’s bouncing up and down in his chair. He wants to win this as bad as I do. I can’t even bribe Drew with anal like Liz did. That ship sailed a long time ago.

“Okay, ladies. Grab your glasses and follow me. Boys, start getting liquored up so you have a fighting chance,” Jackson says as he turns and heads into the kitchen.

“Hey, sweetie, do you want a nipple for that drink?” Liz asks Jim with a secret smile.

“You were never to speak of that again!” he complains, throwing his hands up in the air.

“What is he talking about?” Claire asks Liz as they make their way to the kitchen.

“If he pisses me off tonight, I’ll let you know,” she tells Liz, throwing Jim a warning look over his shoulder.

“Fuck, even if we win I’m not getting anal. This sucks,” Jim complains, pouring himself a healthy glass of whiskey.

I let go of Drew’s arm and start to follow when he suddenly wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me back against his chest. He leans his head over my shoulder from behind, and with his free hand, swipes my hair off of my shoulder.

“Let’s kick some ass, baby,” he whispers against the side of my neck before pressing his lips to my collarbone. He holds them there for several seconds, letting his tongue snake out to taste my skin before pulling his mouth away from me.

My whole body tingles from head to toe and a smile lights up my face as I pat the top of his hand that's resting on my stomach before he lets go and smacks my ass as I walk away.

Drew has been different this week. He pissed me off a few times making a big deal about putting the toilet seat down after he used it. I mean, give me a break! You don’t need a present and a pat on the back for doing crap like that! But he does deserve a present for everything else. Ever since he helped his dad build that bookcase, he’s been super helpful with everything. The past four nights, he’s got up each time Billy cried and gave him his bottle, telling me to go back to sleep. Last night Billy had slept through the night for the first time. Drew has even used the sex swing that is still in the corner of our room and agrees that it makes a great baby swing, especially when I show him where he could store extra bottles.

On Wednesday of this week, he had shocked me again after work. I was late getting home from running a few errands so I could relieve Drew from kid duty and he could head to work, so we barely had time to even say, “Hi” to each other as we passed in the doorway. As soon as I set my bags down inside the door, the first thing I noticed was how absolutely spotless the house was. Not one toy or dirty dish in sight and there was a basket of folded laundry on the couch. Before I could say anything, he grabbed my hand and placed a small, white box in it before kissing the tip of my nose and then racing to his car to make it to work on time.

When we first started dating, we went to the movies one night and he bought me a giant bag of Skittles. I sat there for fifteen minutes before the movie started and picked out all of the red and purples ones, putting them in a napkin in my cup holder before handing him the bag. From that point on, every once in a while for no reason at all he would give me a little white box that was filled with just purple and red Skittles. I couldn’t even tell you the last time he did that for me.

I knew exactly what would be in the box and my hands shook and my eyes filled with tears as I closed the front door and opened the lid. Sure enough, the box was filled to the brim with purple and red Skittles. Not only was he stepping up his game around the house before I even had a chance to sit down and talk to him, he was starting to do the little things that I loved the most like giving me my favorite treats.

And tonight, he had given me another favorite treat: kissing my collarbone.

I can’t wipe the smile off of my face as I enter the kitchen and find Liz and Claire seated at the table, arguing over who is going to win the game.

“Ladies, ladies! No more arguing. The winner has just entered the room,” I tell them with a smile as I sit down at the table with them.

“Well, it’s about f**king time you got your confidence back!” Liz tells me. “Bartender, pour us a round of shots!”