Page 17 of Takedown

“Will you stop with that wife bullshit, Flynn? She doesn’t want to be married to you. You get that, right? Mellie,” Jason says, turning to me, “get a lawyer and I’ll pay for it.”

“You don’t have to worry about paying anything for my wife. I’ve got it from here. Worry about your own wife, and I guess your mommy now.”

Jason bristles at Adam’s retort. On his way out the door, he intentionally bumps into him. Any other man would have taken a step back from the impact, but Adam doesn’t budge. Once Jason is gone, he slams the door shut.

9

I’d never hit him, but it would be nice to do it just once and knock him on his ass. I close the door and walk to the kitchen. Mellie stands there, her arms wrapped around herself. I’ve imagined spreading her legs and sinking into her hundreds of times, but my imagination failed in comparison to the reality. I could have never imagined how it felt to be inside of her. Or to hold her in my arms, but I have a year to do that and to make sure she doesn’t want to ever leave.

But the way she grabs the Tupperware bowls and walks to the microwave tells me I have my work cut out for me.

“I told you I bought you dinner. We can eat that tomorrow.” She ignores me, opens the bowl, and smells whatever is inside. She immediately closes it, opens the fridge, and puts it away. She slams the fridge door shut, sits at the table, and reaches inside the plastic bag.

“I’m only eating whatever this is because I’m hungry. You didn’t even have the courtesy to ask me what I wanted. Let me know how much you spent on my meal so I can pay you back.”

I look to the ceiling and ask God for the patience to deal with my wife. I grab a chair, albeit a little too forcefully, and join her at the table.

I see the surprise on her face when she opens the Styrofoam box. The food is from a local place I know she loves. I got her favorite meal. Lamb kabobs, rice, and a side salad. She eyeballs my plate and looks into my eyes. I shove a forkful of food in my mouth, but I hold her stare.

“Thank you,” she says almost as if the words hurt. As soon as they’re out of her mouth, she stuffs her own mouth with food.

I smile, and we eat in complete silence. She eats everything and eyes my plate, which unfortunately for her, is empty.

I get up and clear the table, shoving the empty food containers down the full trash can. When I look up, Mel’s looking around my apartment. In all the time I’ve lived here, she’s only been in here once. Even though the place has high end appliances, cabinets, and granite countertops, I’m suddenly self-conscious of my furniture and décor. I mentally kick myself for not taking my mother up on her offer to help me make the place decent.

The brown couch has seen better days, and so has the scratched and dented coffee table. The only decent furniture I have outside of my bedroom is the kitchen table and chairs, and that’s only because my mother forced me to buy it.

“Your place is an eyesore,” she says. She stands up, walks down the hall, and opens all the doors. I made the second bedroom a gym, and the third is filled with boxes of things I never bothered to unpack.

There’s only one bathroom in this unit, and thankfully, I keep that pretty clean.

“Can I keep some of my clothes in the room you turned into a gym? The closet is empty. And can I use the gym to work out in?”

“You can do whatever the hell you want. Paint. Redecorate. Workout. What the fuck ever. As long as you stay.”

“I will. Your taste is horrible. Everything you own is ugly.”

“Except you,” I say. Her head snaps up and her eyes immediately darken. She takes slow steps and points a finger at my chest.

“You don’t own me.” My only response is a slow smile. She rolls her eyes and mutters something under her breath. “Whatever, Adam,” she says. “It’s been a long day, and I’m exhausted. I’m going to brush my teeth and go to bed, and I’ll deal with this place tomorrow. Thanks again for dinner.” She grabs her suitcase and takes it to my bedroom. Seconds later, she goes into the bathroom across the hall.

It’s barely nine o’clock, but knowing Mel will be alone in my bedroom has me running behind her. The room is still empty when I get there, but she walks in soon after. She looks a little defeated, but she shrugs and makes the bed before getting in. She must find the sheets acceptable because she doesn’t say anything after running her hands over them. Once she’s situated on the bed, she faces the wall, giving me her back.

I remove every stitch of clothing from my body and walk around the room to shut off the light. When I turn back around, she’s looking at my dick, which is now pointing directly at her. I climb over her, and when I slide my naked body between the cool sheets, I pull her over.

I kiss her into submission before she can offer any protest, and she kisses me right back and throws a leg around me. Soon, I have her naked, her cool skin touching mine. I took her like an animal before. I just couldn’t wait to have her. Now, I can take my time, eat her pussy, and search every part of her body while I make sweet love to her.

10

Like clockwork, my phone goes off at exactly six-fifteen. Just like it has every morning for the past few months. And that’s not because of an alarm. I don’t need an alarm, but that New York number serves as one just the same. They must know I’m not going to answer the phone or reply to their messages. Get a fucking clue. I’m not interested. In fact, I don’t answer any strange numbers anymore. That’s how she got to me the first time. It was a New York number I didn’t recognize, but for some reason, I answered that day. I’m not going to make that mistake again.

I silence the phone just as Mellie starts to stir. She ended up collapsing on top of me after making love two more times. She’s as insatiable as I am. Even now her nipples are pebbling in the open air, and I ache to reach over and touch them. So, I do. She moans, her eyes flutter open, and she stares directly into mine. I reach for her, but she swats my hand away, hops out of bed, and runs out of the room.

I groan. Of course, I worried with the harsh light of day, she’d regret what happened between us. The shower turns on, signaling she’s not coming back to bed. I haul myself from under the covers just as my phone starts to vibrate again.

Of course, it’s the other New York phone number. It’s like they take turns calling me. I hit ignore and look at the weather on my phone instead. Afterwards, I put on a pair of sweatpants and walk to the bathroom. The room is white with steam, and the sound of Mel’s offkey humming makes me smile.

My hair is sticking out on all sides, and I’m exhausted from our night together, but I wouldn’t change a single thing about last night or how she got here. The water turns off, and I hear the scraping of the shower curtain against the metal rod.

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