The Beauty of Us (Fusion #4)

“Why am I talking to you about this?”

“Because I’m cool,” he replies. “And happily married.”

“And sometimes a dipshit,” I add, making him laugh.

“You’re the one having second thoughts about getting naked with a hot blonde. Who’s the dipshit?”

“We’re both dipshits,” I reply, and see my phone light up with a text.

Riley: I’m just going to get rid of the whole three-day nonsense now. I had a good time tonight. I have plans tomorrow night, but let me cook for you Saturday night?



“Where did you go?” Scott asks.

“She texted,” I mutter, and reply.

Sounds great. Wait. Do you know how to cook?



“I can let you go,” Scott says. “Maybe she wants you to go back to her place now.”

“Don’t be an asshole.”

Yes, I can cook. I’ll even prove it to you.



I smirk.

I don’t know, can I trust you?



“Dude, go talk to your girl. You’re ignoring me. I don’t want to listen to dead air.”

“I’m done.”

Trust me. I won’t kill you.



I set the phone aside and direct my attention back to Scott and killing the bad guys in our game.

“When are you going to see her again?”

“I’ll see her at work tomorrow.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“She’s making me dinner the day after tomorrow.”

“You guys eat a lot.”

I frown. “What else are we supposed to do? I took her to the museum today. What do you and your wife do together?”

“I guess we eat a lot.”

“Exactly.”

“We also have sex.”

I grimace. “I don’t need the details of that.”

“I’m just saying.”

“Let’s talk about something else.”

“Okay, I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, but when I got home from work today, your ex was here chatting it up with Wendy.”

“Okay.” I frown. “What was my ex doing with your wife?”

“They stopped talking when I walked in, but it seemed harmless. I mean, we already knew that they stayed friendly.”

“Did she ask about me at all?”

“No. When was the last time you heard from her?”

“More than a year ago. We don’t have much drama between us. Unless she was there to get information about me, I’m not going to worry about it.”

“Good call. What else is going on?” he asks, and I begin telling him about the new Star Wars movie trailer I saw today. We spend several hours playing and talking, until we both decide we’re tired and sign off for the night.

Riley never texted again, but I didn’t expect her to.

I’ve never regretted not staying with a woman after a date the way I do tonight. But it was the right thing to do.

I just can’t guarantee that I’ll be so gentlemanly next time. In fact, I know I won’t be. The attraction is mutual, and we’re consenting adults.

I just hope it doesn’t hit the fan at work.





Chapter Five





Riley


“Landon is all for the tattoo,” Cami informs us Friday night. We’re all gathered at Addie’s house, dressed in loungewear, drinking our poison of choice.

Mine is lemon drops.

“Where do you want to put it again?” Kat asks, and sips her red wine.

“On my side, over my ribs,” Cami replies, and smiles. “It’s gonna hurt like a motherfucker, but it’ll be sexy when it’s done.”

“My foot hurt like hell,” I inform them all. “But also worth it.”

“What does Trevor think of your ink and piercings?” Addie asks, and sips her lemon drop. “Holy shit, this is good. The only thing I hated about being pregnant was not being able to drink once in a while.”

“Aren’t you breastfeeding?” Mia asks.

“Yeah, but I pumped before you guys got here, so she has plenty to eat, and I’ll pump when we’re done to get this out of my system. I have it all figured out.”

“Atta girl,” Mia says, and offers her a fist to bump. “Back to you, Ri. What does Trevor think of your rebellious body art?”

I grin and sip my drink. “He hasn’t seen it yet.”

“What the—?” Addie’s eyes are round in surprise. “You guys haven’t gotten naked yet? He looks at you like he wants to eat you with a spoon.”

A little shiver makes its way through me in agreement. He totally looks at me like he wants to eat me with a spoon. I want him to. I really, really want him to.

“It’s complicated,” I reply.

“Have you kissed?”

A mental image of Trevor pressing me against my front door, kissing me like he depended on it, pops into my head and the shiver isn’t so little this time.

“Oh yeah.”

“So what’s the problem?” Cami asks.

I gulp down the rest of my drink and lean over to the coffee table to pour more. I am going to need the liquid courage to get through this conversation.

And I need to have this conversation.

“He took me out on a date last night,” I inform them, and lick the sugar off the rim of my glass. “I’m seriously addicted to sugar. This is a problem.”

“Hey, get back to the date,” Cami says.

“It was nice. He said he needed to take me out so he could show me how a gentleman should behave on a date.”

“Good,” Cami says with a nod. “Because you’ve met some douche canoes since you and what’s-his-name broke up.”

“Where did he take you?” Kat asks, clearly avoiding the whole let’s-talk-about-your-shitty-past-with-men thing.

“To the art museum, and then dinner.” I smile, remembering the modern art exhibit. I hated the art in there, but being with Trevor made it so fun. “And then he took me home and kissed me on the porch and said good night.”

“Wow,” Addie says, and takes a long sip of her drink. “Men still do that shit?”

“This man does,” I reply. “I like it. I like the tradition of it, you know? One of the things that I’ve hated about dating is that everyone is in such a hurry to fuck. And don’t get me wrong, I love a good fucking as much as the next girl.”

“And that’s my cue that I came in at the wrong time,” Jake, Addie’s husband, says, and turns around to flee the room, making us all laugh.

“I guess I’ve been so disappointed by the lack of respect in the men I’ve dated.”

“Trust me, I get it,” Addie says with a nod. “I think we’ve all been there.”

“Absolutely,” Mia adds. “When are you going to see him again?”

“I offered to cook for him tomorrow night.” I shrug and stare at my toes. I need a pedicure. I can’t have sex with Trevor until I’ve had these talons taken care of.

“Great, you can bone him on the second date,” Kat says with a Cheshire cat smile.

“He’s not permanent,” I remind them.

“So?” Cami and Kat say in unison.

“So, I don’t think a fling is really my thing. I mean, I don’t have anything against it morally, I just don’t think I’m wired that way.”

“You’re an old-fashioned kind of girl,” Cami says with a romantic sigh and goofy smile on her face. “That’s sweet.”

“For all we know, Trevor doesn’t want a fling either,” Addie says, tapping her finger on her lips.

“You have pretty lips,” I tell her, making her grin.

“The liquor kicked in,” she replies. “But thanks.”

It really has kicked in. My lips are a little tingly and I feel really . . . good.