The Right Kind of Love (13 page)

Dripping wet, Damien hopped out of the shower and over to our little altercation. Hell, it wasn’t little.

It was huge.

And I just didn’t mean the altercation.

I quickly diverted my eyes away from him.

Damn.

“Baby, you want to come get slippery with us?” He winked at me.

“Seriously, Damien? Give me a break.” I turned my head away.

“What’s the matter, sexy, haven’t you ever seen a man naked?” He gave me a devilish grin.

I was so flustered that I could tell my face had started to turn red.

And I didn’t mean just a light shade of red. I meant fire engine red. It was embarrassing how my body was betraying me.

“Listen. I’m just going to say this once, and then I’m going back to my room. You two need to keep your little festivities down. Some of us require sleep.”

I turned on my heels and headed for the door to take Zeus out. I’d almost gotten there when Damien decided to piss me off even more. “Don’t be shy. If you change your mind, the door is open.”

“Fat chance.” I threw over my shoulder.

That night not much sleep happened for either of us, but I had done something that I hadn’t done in a very long time. The sounds they were making had me pissed off, but so damn horny at the same time. It was like my libido was working overtime. Just thinking about seeing Damien again in all his glory had me hot and completely bothered. I was the one who needed the shower. And a cold one at that. But instead, I got out my B.O.B. Many referred to it as their vibrator, but I liked the term B.O.B. as in battery operated boyfriend.

Needless to say, B.O.B. and I had a very pleasurable night.

Damien

T
ime seemed to be flashing by in the blink of an eye since I’d taken Sydney home for my weekly family dinner. She’s been back three times since and was becoming a regular at my folk’s house. My mother had practically adopted her as another daughter, and my siblings took to her like she was one of their own. It was surprising my dad got along with her so well. And let me tell you, she just didn’t sit and listen to him. She dished it out even when her opinion didn’t match up to his.

I was sitting on my bed strumming away on my acoustic when there was a light knock at the door. “Come in.”

“Hey, I just heard you playing and wanted to listen. I hope you don’t mind.” Sydney looked at me with hope in her eyes.

Since I had heard her voice, we’ve been singing some together. We were currently working on Jackson by June Carter and Johnny Cash. She had a nice range to her voice and sang it just like June. We had already perfected I Saw Red by Sublime. She didn’t know it, but I was going to bring her on stage to sing with me.

I started strumming away, and then went into Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones. I sang and she followed suit.

We sounded good.

Damn good.

“Fuck, Sydney, your voice is incredible. Why aren’t you in a band?” I was really curious.

She bit her delicious plump lip. A lip I wanted to bite.

“Well, actually, um—”

“Spit it out, diva.” She swatted me on the arm.

“Quit calling me a diva. The name is Sydney.”

“So?”

“Well, I was in a band back home for about six months. So there. Yes, I have experience and can certainly hold my own on stage. But don’t get any ideas.” She crossed her arms and stared at me.

“Oh, I’ve got ideas. Plenty of ideas.” I stared back at her.

If she only knew what my ideas were.

“I’m going to go make some dinner. You want to join?” She got up and was at the door. It was strange that Zeus didn’t come into my room with her. He was always everywhere she went.

“Yeah, that’d be great. By the way, where is Zeus?” I looked around the hall.

“He’s curled up on my bed sleeping.”

“Oh, that damn dog has the freakin’ life getting to sleep in your bed.” I knew that would stir the lil’ firecracker up.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, Damien?” She placed her hands on her hips and popped her hip for extra measure.

“Exactly what I said, babe.” I just looked at her and gave her the best panty-melting grin I could.

“Oh, dream on!”

She rolled her eyes at me, but I could see the sheepish grin she had on her face. Meanwhile, I walked across the hall and got Zeus off the bed so he could hang out with me. I had to admit I loved the little rat. He’d really grown on me, much like his momma.

I started playing again working on one of my bands originals, and then switched back to doing Wild Horses. It was one of my favorites, especially the way we played.

A half hour later, my nostrils were pleasantly filled by something that smelled really fucking good.

Getting up off my bed, not to disturb Zeus, I went to the kitchen.

Sydney was bent over the counter cutting something up. And let me tell you, she had it going on with those damn short shorts she was wearing. I wanted to sink my teeth into that heart shaped ass.
Chill the fuck out, Damien. You sound like some sex starved maniac. This is your roommate. Not some chick to bring home and have a one night stand. She is different. Remember—special.

I cleared my throat and she slightly jumped. “So did you make plenty for me as well?”

“No.”

She went back to cutting. Well, that just fucking blows.

“Seriously, I told you I wanted to eat with you.” I stuck out my bottom lip giving her my best pout.

“Of course. I made you food. Just quit being an ass.”

“So now I’m an ass?” I went further into the kitchen and looked in the skillet. It appeared she was cooking something made with chicken.

“Yes.”

We needed a serious subject change. I didn’t want to get into the ways I was an ass. “So whatcha makin?”

“Chicken Picatta. I thought I would serve it over egg noodles” She went over to the stove and stirred the water.

“It smells fucking awesome. I can’t wait to eat it. How long until dinner?”

“Oh, it should be done in another twenty minutes or so.” I went to the fridge and reached on top to grab a bottle of red. Showing it to her, I asked, “Wine?”

“That would be great, thanks.” She gave me a warm smile.

Good. Things were back to normal.

“I was thinking. Do you want to watch a movie when were done eating?” I really hoped she wanted to. For some reason, I enjoyed spending more time with her than I did anyone else. She had really grown on me.

“Sure, but I really need to paint my nails and my toes first.” She took a drink of the wine I had just poured for her.

“No problem. You can do that girly stuff while we watch TV.” I took a sip of my wine. It was a good year for sure. Nice vintage.

“You don’t mind the smell?”

“Hell no, it’s no big deal, babe.”

I set the table while she finished making dinner and then she plated it up and we sat down to eat.

“This is the bomb, Sydney. You really can cook.” I cut off another bite of chicken and shoveled it into my mouth with a few noodles.

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it. I made extras so you can have seconds.” She brought her wine glass up to those lips and took a sip.

“Cool, you sure do spoil me.”

“Hardly, I’m normally pretty mean to you. But you’ve grown on me a little.” And my belly did this weird flip hearing her say I’d grown on her. What the fuck? Shit like that never happened to me.

“A little?”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, a lot. I think we make good roommates except on the nights you bring home your random hook-ups and keep me up all night, which has been happening a lot less lately. Why’s that?”

“I dunno. Just haven’t been in the mood.” I didn’t really want to tell her that it was because every time I tried to have sex I thought of her. It had almost been a month since she interrupted my sex fest with what’s her name. When I saw her that night, although I had finished with one of my girls, it became a little clearer to me that I was with all of these women for the wrong reasons. I glanced at her. But in reality, there was one I enjoyed more than meaningless sex. What she and I had was a real friendship and attraction like no other. And I didn’t just want to have sex with her. I wanted more which was un-fucking-believable for me.

She had me.

Hook.

Line.

And fucking sinker.

But I wouldn’t cross the line.

Couldn’t.

“Interesting.”

“So tell me how you became such a phenomenal cook?” I gave her my full attention.

“My mom and I were really close, like best friends close. From when I was little, I would climb up on a chair anytime she was fixing something. Sometimes, I would help her. As I got older, we’d cook together. She taught me everything I know. If you think my cooking is good, you should try my baking. Our pies and cakes have been known to win a few contests.”

“Well, hook a guy up already. I love pie and cake.” I finished the last bit of my chicken and then plowed through my noodles. The sauce on it was outstanding. It had a hint of lemon butter flavor to it.

“How about I make you something on Sunday? That’s my next day off.” She took the last bite of her chicken and then pushed her plate away.

“You got a deal.” I picked up my plate and headed back into the kitchen. “I’m just going to get another plate if you don’t mind.”

“I told you I made plenty.” She got up from her chair with her plate and utensils. “I’m gonna start getting the kitchen cleaned up. I made kind of a mess.”

“I’ll go sit at the breakfast bar so we can talk.” I gathered everything up and planted my ass in a stool.

“Okay, sounds good.”

“Tell me about your mom and step-dad. How did they get together?”

“Well, they were actually high school sweethearts. They drifted apart after they graduated and both meeting different people. About a year after my dad died, my mother bumped into him at a restaurant and the rest is history. Dale and I aren’t very close. I was a Daddy’s girl, but I loved my parents equally. We got along. He treated my mom well and that’s all that counts.”

“That’s great. I know I’ve told you this before, but I’m sorry you had to lose your mom.” She looked at me through her lashes and a lone tear fell from her eyes. She instantly wiped it away, and I could tell that she had a slight tremor. This had to be a very hard topic for her. I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like if I lost my parents.

“Thanks.”

“Tell me about your friends back home?” This was good. I could eat while she talked.

“Well, my best friend, who I love more than anything in this world, is Bee. We were roomies before I moved here. We’ve known each other since the third grade. She has been my bestie through thick and thin. I think you would really like her.”

“Her name is Bee as in bumble bee?” I took a sip of wine while trying to hide my laughter.

“No, her name is Abbee. We call her Bee for short. The actual spelling of her name is a bit different with two e’s on the end instead of y.” She was scrubbing away at a pan in the sink.

“So do you have any other friends?” She looked at me like I’d just spoken to her in Chinese.

“Yes, I have friends. I had several I was close to back at the salon I used to work at. Now I have my friends at the new salon. I’ve gotten really close with Shaina.”

She turned away and went back to work on her cleaning. I was almost done with my second helping of dinner, and she looked like she was nearing the end of the kitchen clean up.

I got up out of my bar stool and walked over to the sink and rinsed my plate and loaded it into the dishwasher. I grabbed the cleaner out from under the sink and went to work helping her by cleaning the stove and countertops.

Once we were done, I headed into the family room and turned on the TV while she went into her room to get her nail products.

“So what do you want to watch?”

I flipped on the TV and scrolled through the guide scanning the channels for movies. One of my all-time favorite movies was getting ready to start. “How does Dazed and Confused sound?”

“Perfect.” She put her feet on the coffee table and started going to work.

I began watching the movie as she painted. “Damn it, this angle just isn’t working out when painting my toes.”

Taking the bottle out of her hands, I inspected it. It was a slate gray and actually looked pretty badass on the nails she had polished. “Here. Kick your feet up in my lap and allow the master to paint.”

She gave me a startled look. “Um, you want to paint my nails?”

“Sure. It’s no problem. After all, I’m a tattoo artist. If I can work with ink, I can certainly paint a nail.” She hesitantly placed her feet in my lap. They were cute feet. “Damn, woman, you have some tiny ass feet.”

“What? They’re a size six, which is pretty average.” She gave me a shy smile.

“I guess.” I started painting her toes, and let me tell you, I did a much better job than she’d currently done.

“I can’t believe you are painting my toenails.”

“Believe it. I’m a man of many talents.” Zeus hopped on the couch and nestled himself into my side. Zeus knew what was up.

“Oh, I bet you are.” She rolled her eyes at me.

If only she knew. “Yeah, I get that all of the time.”

“Dream on, Damien.”

“What?” I gave her my panty-melting grin and went back to polishing.

She crossed her arms over her chest and went back to watching the movie. “Zeus, come cuddle with Mommy.”

But Zeus didn’t budge. “He loves me.”

“Traitor.”

That night, not far into the movie, after I’d finished painting her toes and her nails, she fell asleep. And I didn’t watch the movie. I watched her sleep, instead. She was simply beautiful.