Calming the Riot Read online

  I heard at least two giggles that were borderline sniggers, but I ignored them. Liar’s eyes just danced over my face, and no answer was forthcoming.

  “He must’ve heard Leventon was at the Poker Room today,” I heard Mallory murmur.

  Liar straightened from me, his entire body going taut. “Say that again, Mallory,” he demanded.

  Mallory paused. “I said, you ‘must’ve heard Leventon was at the Poker Room today.’”

  Liar swung his gaze back to me. “He talk to you?”

  I couldn’t restrain the droll look I gave him. “No. I don’t even know who this Leventon is. I met a man named Mr. Allen before I even had my first customer today. So unless this Leventon guy was one of my customers later in the day, I have not the faintest idea who he is.”

  His eyes didn’t dance over my face this time. The look he gave me was hard and intense. “You’re sure of it?”

  “At the time, Mallory said the guy was slimy. One thing taking out a restraining order on a stalker will teach you is how to spot slimy men from fifty feet.”

  I said it partly in jest and partly out of seriousness. The rigid set to Liar’s face told me he didn’t find me the least bit funny or reassuring.

  After a few more beats of silence, Liar said, “Let’s go.”

  “Go? We’re not done planning things,” I said as I resisted Liar’s tug on my hand.

  He looked at me, and I could see the annoyance on his face. “It’s a party to give them baby shit. It ain’t rocket science. This has been a shit day. I’m tired as fuck. Let’s go, Andi.”

  I was all set to retort, but Abby said, “He’s kinda right, Andrea.”

  “He isn’t right, but clearly his temper’s ready to blow, so we shouldn’t hold them up,” Frankie said into her wine glass.

  I smiled at the three women. “Bye, guys. Thanks for the ride, Frankie. You rock.”

  ***

  Liar was in my bathroom dealing with the spent condom. I draped my torso off the edge of the bed and looked underneath it. Mr. Snuffles was nowhere to be found. I twisted to my side and sat upright. Padding out to the living room, I caught sight of his calico body darting under the futon in the living room. Guess he was giving Liar and me some privacy, though I didn’t fool myself into thinking he was that benevolent. There was no doubt in my mind, Mr. Snuffles did not want to be in the vicinity while Liar and I had sex. I went back into my bedroom to find Liar lounged back with three of my four pillows behind his head.

  “Come here, babe.”

  I put a knee onto the bed and crawled there. His arms encircled me, and he kissed me lightly while copping a feel of one breast. He pulled his hand away and broke the kiss. “You always make a habit of walking around your pad naked?”

  Resting my arm on his burly chest, I stroked the smattering of russet hairs while I chuckled. “No, I don’t. I was looking for Mr. Snuffles. He wasn’t under the bed, which is his normal place when company’s here, but apparently he’s retreated to his secondary hiding place which is under the futon.”

  His tone was gentle, yet firm when he advised, “Not the best idea to waltz around here nude when you’ve got a stalker out there.”

  I was going to roll onto my back, but Liar’s arm stopped my progress, so I opted for propping my elbow onto the bed and holding my head in my hand. “I wasn’t waltzing for your information. And you do know I have a restraining order on the man. He’s not—”

  Liar shifted so he, too, was on his side. “Just, please, baby. No walkin’ around in the buff. Not around here. And believe me, it pains me to tell you not to do that shit. ’Cause you doin’ anything naked is always somethin’ I wanna watch.”

  On his last statement, he settled back into the pillows, but his hand was toying with my left boob. He was stroking it and then lifting it, so it rested neatly in his hand, filling it. I watched him watch my boob in his hand, and he was enthralled which was strange to me. Then I took him in on my pillows. My eyes slid to the side, and I saw I was left with a single pillow.

  After a surprised chuckle, I blurted, “You know, I would’ve thought after the last month of us going at each other like rabbits and spending nearly every night together, that I would’ve figured out you’re a massive pillow prince.”

  His hand at my breast stilled, but his thumb and index fingers did not. They glided gently if absently across my areola. His eyes came to mine. “I’m not any kind of prince, babe.”

  I shifted my eyes to my pillow then back to his. “There’re four pillows on this bed, and you’ve got three of them. You have a rather high affinity for pillows, making you a pillow prince in my book.”

  Liar arched an eyebrow at me. “You sleep on my chest?”

  I kept quiet and looked off to the side. He squeezed my breast playfully. “You sleep mostly on me, babe. Which means you don’t actually need that other pillow. I got the pillows, means I’m free to be your pillow.”

  My lips twisted because he was right, and I didn’t like that much. He rolled into me, which forced me to my back. Through this, his hand never left my breast. He kissed me short and quick. “Have I told you how much I fuckin’ love your fantastic tits?” he asked.

  “Not explicitly, but your actions earlier and now speak a whole lot louder than words.”

  His grin was devilish. “Damn right they do. You ever have a pearl necklace?”

  My stomach dropped, and not in the most pleasant way. I knew he wasn’t talking about actual necklaces. Unfortunately, I had never been good at steeling my expressions, even after spending so many hours in the poker room watching people maintain blank masks as facial expressions.

  His fingers lifted my chin, so I was looking at him. “Hey, we can always be honest here, okay? I see that it doesn’t sit well with you. Not gonna lie, I really want to fuck your tits. It doesn’t mean I have to finish on them. And I’m not gonna do that tonight. As my Uncle Delmas likes to say, ‘If you don’t ask, you’ll never get.’ So, I’m just puttin’ it out there. You’re not down with that action, that’s fine too.”

  I doubted that. He oozed a solidness that was uncommon in other men. There was no bullshit with him. So, I had no reason to doubt what he said, but a seed of insecurity invaded me, nevertheless.

  He shifted his hand from my breast and wrapped his arms around me and lowered his weight to me. “You’ve gone damn quiet, Andrea. Talk to me.”

  I took in a deep breath to steady myself, but it didn’t work. My voice still sounded uncertain when I spoke. “It’s okay. I mean, you’re right. I can’t say that’s something I want to do, but knowing it’s something you’d like to do, I’ll think about it.”

  He squeezed me, and his eyes softened. “That’s all I can ask, babe. Are you ready for bed?”

  “Other than putting on my PJs, you know I did my thing before we scared away Mr. Snuffles.”

  Rolling to his back, he took me with him declaring, “No pajamas tonight, babe.”

  I lifted my head to glower at him. “After all that about no waltzing around nude, now I’m gonna sleep naked?”

  He grinned. “Yeah. Because you’ll be sleepin’ naked with me.”

  Liar

  Liar’s eyes opened when he felt the bed shift ever so slightly. A gray tail could be seen rounding the doorway out of Andi’s bedroom, and it was obvious her cat came in to check on the state of things. His eyelids started to close, but a fresh wave of guilt assailed him, and his eyes stayed open. He knew he fucked up last night. Playing with her tit, knowing he wasn’t going to take it anywhere other than fondling, but figuring out she fit in his hand perfectly, he was thinking with his dick, and the question just came out. That crestfallen look on Andrea’s face nearly gutted him. Never should’ve mentioned what he wanted to do to her tits, but that reaction she had didn’t sit well with him. Not because it meant he wouldn’t get what he wanted from her, but because he had to wonder if there was more to it. The look would’ve been one thing, but the shaky uncertainty in her voice afterward sent
a curl of awareness down his spine. Something wasn’t right, and it wasn’t just the depravity of what he had suggested to her.

  This morning was one of the few mornings in which Andi wasn’t tightly curled next to him. She was a definite side sleeper, but this morning she was faced away from him. Her resting form wasn’t far from him though, so he still had to be careful and methodical getting out of her bed if he didn’t want to wake her. After doing his bathroom business, he quietly made his way to the kitchen.

  He needed to get to the bottom of Andi’s misgivings. Any other woman, he wouldn’t care that she got uncomfortable at the mention of something outside her sexual scope. With Andi, even if it’d only been a month, he cared about her. Cared about her in a way he hadn’t ever cared about another woman before, and he couldn’t abide her being uncomfortable around him.

  The problem was he didn’t have much experience with exclusive relationships, and he wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. He walked into the living room dining room combo and stopped when he spotted the look on the cat’s face. The animal was perched on the top of the armchair, looking at him like it knew what he had suggested to Andi last night. He shook his head at such a crazy thought. Thoughts of breakfast hit him, and he made a decision. He would take Andi to that coffee shop she mentioned and get a look at one of those waffle boats she mentioned last month.

  When Liar moved toward his boots and jeans, the cat leapt from the chair and bolted under the futon. He grabbed his jeans, put them on and pulled out his cell from the front pocket. It was just before eight on Sunday morning, so it was early, but hopefully not too early. He pulled up Razor’s contact info and sent a text.

  You & Neil want 2 have breakfast with me and Andrea at the Urban Bean?

  He was standing in the kitchen pulling down a glass for water when Andrea padded into the room. She was sexy and cute, which were two things Liar didn’t think could possibly happen at the same time. Sexy because she was wearing only her panties and a fire-engine red tank top, but she was cute because she was sleepy, and she couldn’t hide it if she tried.

  He put the glass on the counter and moved directly to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist trying to get a read on her facial expression. Her eyes were bleary but clearing.

  “You okay, baby?”

  A soft smile split her lips. “Yeah,” she whispered.

  Before he could run his plan by her, his phone buzzed with an incoming text. He lifted it to see, Time? Tennille is way too excited about this joint.

  Liar smiled, and Andrea asked, “Who’s that?”

  He looked back to her. “Just before you came out here, I texted Razor to see if he and Neil wanted to join us at the Urban Bean for breakfast. He texted back, and apparently Neil’s very excited. So, what time you wanna do breakfast, babe?”

  She pressed her full lips together and shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t really care. Whatever you want to do.”

  It wasn’t unusual for her to not care about specifics on plans. One of the many things Liar liked best about her was that Andi was very free and easy which meant she was all about going with the flow of things. There was an edge to her tone though that told him she probably did care. She just wasn’t going to tell him what her preference was.

  “This about last night?” he asked squeezing her hip.

  Her focus on him sharpened. “No. Last night was good. I’m just not awake yet. Whenever you want to do breakfast is cool with me. But so you know, we’re walking there.”

  He pulled her to him, so they were chest to chest. “I’ll give you that since you’re not awake yet. But two things, we are not walking there when we can ride.” She tried to cut him off, but he tightened his grip. “No arguments on that. Last night was good. Right up until I threw a wrench into it. I didn’t have a good feeling about it at the time, and I don’t feel good about it now. Was gonna wait to hash this out with you, but seriously, Andi. Did someone do something to you? The look on your face last night has me seriously concerned.”

  She sighed. “No. Nobody did anything to me. I just don’t…this will sound selfish of me, but what the hell is in it for me with that? Other women may argue, and the rest will probably not like me sharing this with you, but most women don’t enjoy giving blowjobs. I don’t especially relish the idea, but typically it benefits me because the more excited you are, the better the action later. The notion of anyone, even if it’s you, ‘fucking my tits,’ um, not only does it not sound enjoyable, but logistically it seems like it’d be uncomfortable.”

  His jaw clenched at the notion of ‘anyone’ fucking her tits. This possessive feeling was new to him, but he was relieved to know her reluctance didn’t come from some sick fuck forcing her into something she didn’t want. After a deep breath, he focused on her eyes and ran a hand over her mass of bed head hair. “Like I said last night, just think about it. It isn’t somethin’ we need to do any time soon, or ever if that’s how you feel. But, just to let you know, it’s hot. And I don’t say that because I’ve done it to someone before. I actually haven’t. —”

  “You haven’t?” she asked, and her head reared back.

  He knew the grin on his face was pure naughty. “No, but I’ve damn sure watched plenty of professionals demonstrate it on the world wide web. Believe me, you and me, the way we are together, and the way I fuckin’ love your tits, it would be really fuckin’ hot for both of us.”

  Her eyebrow arching was a blatant show of skepticism, but he was relieved to see that it didn’t extend to her eyes. He could work with that. Definitely.

  “We cool?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said, rolling up on her toes to touch her lips to his. A single touch was not enough for him, so he took it to the next level where their tongues were tangling, and their breath was mingling. Before it could get really good though, he heard a distinct, “Mee-ow.”

  Andrea broke away from him with a huge smile on her face. “He’s finally warming up to you! I thought he’d hide from you until hell froze over.”

  “Wouldn’t say he’s warming up to me, babe.”

  She bent over and scooped the cat up into her arms. When she straightened, Liar could swear the damn cat gave him a triumphant yet disinterested look. The two of them had the disinterest in common. He had nothing against cats, but it was clear from just the two interactions with this feline, he had serious attitude. Liar had no interest in dealing with anyone with an abundance of attitude, even if that one was an animal.

  “If he’s willing to come trolling around while you’re here, then he’s warmed up to you. Believe me. Janie comes by all the time, and he’s come out to put eyes on her exactly once.”

  Liar had no idea who this Janie chick happened to be, though it was clear she was a good friend of Andrea’s, but he was pretty sure there was no rhyme or reason to why this calico did what he did. Time to move them on from this. “If you say so, babe. Want to say quarter to nine for meeting them? Hopefully, this place doesn’t get a huge before church crowd and all that.”

  Absently stroking the cat, her eyes lit when he mentioned the ‘church crowd.’ “Geez. It’s Sunday, isn’t it? Yeah, we definitely need to be there before nine. It’s not so much they get a church crowd, but there’s a big church next door and one behind them, so parking can get a little tight because of it.” She paused and then gave him an insistent look. “Which is exactly why we should walk and not ride.”

  Liar shook his head at her. “Just don’t have it in you not to argue with me, do you, woman?”

  Her self-satisfied grin made her nearly as cute as she was when just waking up. “Not when it means we’re using, and also wasting gas. Now, right after I feed Mr. Snuffles, I’ll go take a quick shower.”

  He’d give her that, but she was going to find him in that shower with her. And it wouldn’t be as quick as she thought, which meant they would be forced to ride to the Urban Bean.

  ***

  “What the fuck is that?” Razor demanded when the server set t
he plate in front of Liar.

  It looked like a banana split without the banana, or the ice cream and instead of the fancy glass bowl it was a waffle shaped into a boat-slash-bowl shape. Three huge swirls of whipped cream obviously from an aerosol can sat inside the boat, and maple syrup was streaming down each swirl of cream. While it wasn’t visible, the Southern pecan filling scent wafted up to his nose and promised to be just as awesome as the waffle boat looked.

  Before Liar could answer Razor, Andrea did. “It’s a waffle boat. I tried to tell Neil before you ordered that if either of you had a sweet tooth, that was the way to go, but you apparently had your heart set on maple bacon donuts.”

  Liar had to bite back the chuckle threatening to rumble up his chest. The way Andi said, ‘maple bacon donuts,’ made it sound like such a concoction was on par with eating cardboard compared to getting the waffle boat.

  Tennille spoke up before Razor could retort. “I’m not sure Razor can eat any meal without meat being involved in some way, shape, or form. Which means a waffle boat that appears to have no protein in it whatsoever would not be an adequate breakfast for Pretty Boy.”

  “Are you ever gonna give up on callin’ me that, Tennille?”

  “Nope. Especially since you won’t stop calling me by my full name around other people.” She swung her blue-eyed gaze to Andrea and Liar. “So, you two have plans for Thanksgiving?”

  “Um,” Andrea started, and Liar felt her gaze on him.

  He shot her a sympathetic look but looked back to Neil. “I’m headed down to see my Gran. She isn’t doin’ well. Doctors think this will be her last Thanksgiving, so, that’s where I’ll be.”

  “Oh my God, Jim. I had no idea,” Tennille said.

  He did not miss Andrea stiffening at Neil using his given name, but then she relaxed just as quickly. That brief show of jealousy made Liar feel something stir inside himself. He couldn’t figure out what that stirring was, and he was trying to pinpoint it when Andrea got his attention.