The Dance (6 page)

A rush of cool air snapped at my skin as Will’s body heat disappeared. My next awareness was the sensation of him entering me from behind. His fingers dug into my hips while he pounded into me hard and fast. Throaty grunts and moans surrounded us. Every nerve ending in my body was lit on fire. My heart pounded against my chest wall. Just as I was about to climax, Will grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked.

“You’re a fucking slut, aren’t you?!” He yelled.

I didn’t respond, my head spinning with sensation and discomfort.

His hand twisted in my hair, tightening his hold. “Say you’re a fucking slut!”

I hesitated. Maybe it was some of the residual effects of the earlier disappointment but a detached feeling washed over me. It wasn’t the first time this had happened. Over the years Will and I went through phases. Most of the time I felt our hearts were connected. But there had been instances, like right now, in which I felt more like an object than his partner. I knew he liked dirty talk and I could go along with it for his sake until I felt degraded.

My head snapped back slightly as he tugged. “Say it, goddammit!”

“I’m a slut,” I whispered, tears forming in my eyes.

I clenched around Will, causing him to spasm out of control. My body wanted to climax but his words kept swirling in my head. Two more quick jerks and his sweaty body collapsed on top of me.

Placing gentle kisses between my shoulder blades, Will said, “That was incredible.”

Before I was able to form words, he withdrew, and stepped away. Suddenly I was freezing, confused, and left hanging. I stayed in position, waiting, and wondering what the hell just happened. I dropped my head, peeking underneath my arm. I was alone, naked, and unsatisfied. After a few seconds I heard the door to the bathroom shut and the shower turn on.

Neither Will nor I brought up what took place in the kitchen that night. After his shower, he went straight to sleep. And I went straight into the bathroom to spend a little quality time with the showerhead. The next morning, he acted normal, not upset or mad. We both went about our days as usual. Even though things went back to normal I couldn’t shake the thoughts or weird feeling the night had left in me.

“How about after lunch we catch a chick flick?
Man of Steel
is playing at The Terrace,” Sophie said as we walked across the parking lot on the way to yoga class.

The Terrace was a small local retro movie theater that played mostly artsy and old classic films. Occasionally, they’d throw in a new movie. And when I say new, I mean made within the last decade.

“
Man of Steel
isn’t a chick flick.”

“Maybe not but I’d sure like that Henry Cavill to flick my chick with his
man of steel
.” Sophie glanced over for my reaction. “See what I did there?” Raising her eyebrows and smiling.

Pursing my lips, I simply shook my head and rolled my eyes, trying not to encourage her.

“While I’d love nothing more than to watch you drool for two hours, I can’t. I’m meeting with my mutha-in-law at three.”

“Dum. Dum. Dum.”
Ominous music
.

“She’s not that bad.” I paused. “She can be overbearing. And controlling. And nosey. And fake. But other than that she’s an absolute delight to be around.”

It was Sophie’s turn to purse, shake, and roll. “So, what are you and Witchy Poo up to today?”

“As part of Forsyth wife training, I need to champion a cause . . .”

“Her cause.”

I adjusted the strap of my yoga mat on my shoulder. “She’s part of some ladies charity that’s having some kind of fundraiser to raise money for something at one of the hospitals.”

“Wow, you’ve really got the details of that nailed down.”

“If I knew Will’s mother genuinely cared and wasn’t doing it all for show, I’d get onboard.”

Sophie opened the door to the yoga studio and motioned for me to go ahead of her.

“So is married life still blissfully happy?” she asked, as we entered the classroom.

Getting girl time in with my best friend had become increasingly more difficult over the past year. Not only because I got married but because Sophie’s job had her traveling a lot. She had taken the position as a project manager at Google. The job required her to travel to lands far and wide several times a year. It was a rare treat that we were able to attend class together.

We walked over to our regular spot. I set my bag and mat down, shrugging my shoulders in response to her question.

Unrolling her mat, Sophie ordered. “Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Will and I are doing great as always.”

“Then what’s with the shrugging shoulders?”

I sat down on my mat, extending my legs out in front of me. I reached my arms forward, stretching my back. “It’s nothing really. We just had a little disagreement the other night.”

Sophie plopped beside me. “About what?”

A few people drifted into the room, one of them being Adele Tannenbaum. Adele was an older woman, in her sixties. Her hair was streaked in varying shades of gray, her face lined with years of living, but her body was sick. I suspected that she’d been doing yoga since its inception. She was a nice enough lady but nosey as hell. She was always trying to find out which instructors were sleeping with clients, who had face lifts and boob jobs. Most of us had carved out a usual spot in class. Not Adele. She liked to change it up, choosing a different area each class in hopes that some fresh juicy gossip would come her way. Today Adele was fishing in my pond.

“Nothing really. It was stupid,” I said, keeping my voice low.

“Bryson, you’re the most transparent person I know. I can tell by just looking at you it’s not nothing. Spill.” Sophie ordered.

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Adele was out of earshot.

Leaning closer to Sophie, I said in a low voice, “I floated the idea of taking a couple of cooking classes by Will. He wasn’t exactly a fan of the idea.”

“Of course he wasn’t. It would take two seconds away from him.” Sarcasm coated Sophie’s words.

“Will is just old-fashioned. Plus, he knows things are going to get crazy busy with the house being built and we are planning on starting a family soon.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“After he put the kibosh on the classes, he disappeared into his office. I thought he was pissed off. You know how when we were in school and had a fight, I wouldn’t hear from him for a couple of days. Then he’d come back with his sad pouty routine?”

“Yeah and no matter what you’d always forgive him.”

A light tap on my shoulder stopped the conversation.

Adele was looking down at me with a fake innocent smile on her face. “Hey girls. I don’t mean to interrupt. I’m going to get a towel. Do either of you need one?”

In unison Sophie and I looked down at our towels beside us.

“No, ma’am. We’re good,” I said, returning her syrupy sweet smile.

As Adele walked away, Sophie muttered, “She’s such a sneaky biotch. Continue.”

“So he goes into his office. A little while later he comes back into the kitchen while I’m cleaning up after dinner. He comes up behind me and starts touching me. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I’m butt naked in the kitchen.”

“Shut up!”

I popped Sophie hard on the upper arm. “Shhh . . .”

“Sorry.”

My cheeks heated. “It was kind of hot at first. Then he said some things.”

“What things?”

“He wanted me to say I was a fucking slut while he, you know, came in the backdoor.”

Sophie stared blankly at me, not saying a word.

“Then after he got his jollies, he left me and went to take a shower. Didn’t talk to me for the rest of the night.”

Sophie raised her index finger. “One second.” She shifted to the side looking over my shoulder. “Did you get that Mrs. Tannenbaum? She had anal in the kitchen.”

My head whipped around and spotted an expressionless pale-faced Adele. I could see the word skank floating in her eyes.

I looked back at Sophie, panicked. “Sophie!”

“Don’t worry. She doesn’t know what that is.”

“She knows what an anus is.”

“Good morning, everyone. Let’s start with a warm-up,” Sandy, our yoga instructor, said.

I got to my feet. Out the corner of my eye, I noticed Adele scooting a few inches away from me.

After class Sophie walked me to my car. Not missing a beat, she picked up right where the conversation had left off.

“So, you think the kitchen cockin’ was Willie’s way of showing you who’s boss?”

I opened the driver’s side door and tossed my bag and mat across to the passenger’s seat. “I don’t know.”

“Well, did you ask him?”

I shook my head. “No. Neither of us have mentioned it. He’s been acting normal since then.”

She placed her hands on my shoulders. “I think Will is a spoiled brat but I don’t think he’d use his dick as a weapon.”

“I don’t think he would either but then I keep thinking about the slut remark.”

“Maybe you heard him wrong.”

“He yelled it out twice.”

“Oh.” Her lips puckered forming a duck face.

“It’s not the first time he’s talked to me that way while we were doing things. There was just more of a bite to his tone. It took me off guard.”

“Maybe he was just trying it on for size, feeling you out, seeing if you liked it.”

“Maybe.”

“And maybe he thought you came and when he realized you didn’t, he was too embarrassed to say anything.”

I chewed on my bottom lip, mulling over her suggestions. “Maybe. He’s an incredible guy even though he can be a pain in the ass at times.”

“In more ways than one, apparently.” Sophie winked.

“That was so bad.”

“Sorry. I’m getting loopy. I need food.”

“Well, let’s get you fed, woman. I have Chicken Piccata with fresh linguine and garlic chives waiting for you back at my place.

“Oh, I think I just found your missing orgasm.”

After talking to Sophie more over lunch I realized that I was probably overreacting to the incident in the kitchen. Instead of letting my imagination conjure up all sorts of crazy stuff I needed to focus on the here and now. Will and I were happy and about to embark on an exciting time with the new house and starting our family.

“As you ladies can see the place is extraordinarily pedestrian. I propose we knock down that wall . . .” He dramatically pointed. “. . . Thereby opening up this entire space.” He swept one arm out in front of himself. “The walls will be a silky sage green with warm honey hardwood for the flooring. After me and my crew get in here to play, this will be the most deck cafeteria in all the land,” said the skinny man in the tight electric-blue suit and red hipster beard.

I’d spent the last hour listening to this hipster kiss the ass of my mother in-law as she soaked up every second of it. Turns out the Junior League, of which she was the current president, would be donating a sizable chunk of money from their annual Twilight Ball fundraiser toward the remodel of the Saint Francis hospital cafeteria. It seemed to be an odd choice when there were so many charities around that could have used the money to help people directly. Although this place was screaming for a makeover.