Page 9 of Dr. Do-Right
No beating around the bush for Dr. Dobrev. His determined chocolate eyes and quiet plea pulled at something in my chest. Unraveled it. I braced myself for the fear. I should have been terrified, considering exposing our secret to my best friend. Instead, relief bloomed in my chest. He’d be here, finally, after so many years of only having part of his time. I wanted all of his time, all of him.
He was right. It had been long enough. I was tired of keeping secrets, and exhausted from loving him so fiercely and still not knowing what his lips felt like on mine.
“Okay.”
His forehead dropped to where our hands joined. A relieved sigh ghosted over my knuckles. I felt it echo in my bones. “You’re sure? I need you to be sure.”
“Mal, I’m miserable. The thought of telling Sonia about us makes me want to puke, but…” I trailed off when his eyes met mine. Yes, the thought of hurting Sonnie made me physically ill, but the thought of keeping Malachi at a distance was killing me. Iowed it to him, to me, to explore what this could become. I owed it to Sonia to stop lying to her. “You’re right. We need to tell her.”
He heaved another sigh, light breaking across his face. “Yes. Let’s tell her.”
“Just…” My gaze flicked to her door.
He groaned, resting his cheek on our hands. “Rijaaaaa. Don’t make my year just to bring me back down again.”
“No more rules or secrets, I swear. Let’s just…hold off on anything until we tell her.”
“You’re saying I can’t fuck you tonight.” He looked at me like I’d just kicked the puppy in my arms.
“I haven’t broken my promise to her yet. I know it’s all semantics. I know, I know, I know. But not touching you is the only thing keeping me from being a truly horrible friend. At least let me hold on to that. If she doesn’t take it well…I don’t want to add insult to injury.”
He scowled. “You don’t want to have sex with me in case she makes you choose, her or me.” Well, that too. Something told me that as soon as I had his hands on me, that choice would become exponentially more difficult if Sonia forced it. “She won’t, Rija. We’re her favorite people in the world. She already calls you her sister. She’ll be happy for us.”
“I hope so.” My chest felt tight and loose at the same time, the prospect of revealing our secret simultaneously breathed and choked air in my throat.
He studied my face. “Alright,” he finally conceded. “We’ll wait. House rules. But we’re telling her tomorrow. Like, waking her ass up with coffee at six a.m. I want my hands on you by six fifteen.”
“That’s a good plan.”
“I know.”
We grinned at each other, hands still clasped over the coffee table. As much as it froze me in place, he was right. We’d keptthis up for too long. I was ready to end it, ready to stop feeling like a horrible friend and start something better. Together. With Malandwith Sonia. The three of us, no more secrets.
Mal’s eyes roamed down my cheek, neck, body. He swept back up all over again to rake his eyes over the top of my bustier. “So, house rules, huh?”
“How about one last ride? For old times’ sake.”
His smile turned downright devilish. “I was hoping you’d say that. Yours or mine?”
Sonia and I had been doing well enough in the last few years that we’d moved into a bigger, nicer place. We’d loosely labeled our third bedroom as a guest room slash pilates studio. But I didn’t want him in the cold, sparsely furnished room. Not tonight.
“Mine.”
Chapter 4
“Interesting,” Malachi murmured, closing and locking the door behind him. “Is it cleaner than usual in here? Is that even possible?”
I’d gotten a lot done while he’d been in the other room setting up Sigmund’s crate. I was practically huffing from sprinting around my room, but everything was just how I wanted it. I’d put my heels back on and perched on the edge of my sturdy oak desk. The one I’d just swept clean, dumping my computer and pen cup into my closet. I toyed with the black box he’d sent me.
“Maybe. Do you want to look from a different angle?” I nodded to the same purple chair I’d stuffed the vibrator behind earlier today. That, too, had moved. His eyes didn’t leave mine as he crossed the room. I’d settled myself directly in his path, so he had to squeeze by me to sit.
He leaned back, looking like he owned the chair, the room, the whole fucking building. The top buttons of his shirt were undone, cuffs open. His legs spread and he propped himself up on his arm, thumbing his lower lip while he studied me. So cocky. And hungry. For me.
“What’s your vision tonight, Kitten? You’ve obviously got something in mind.”
“I thought, for our grand finale, a little performance.”
“It’s always a performance, Rija. If I’d known you were planning something special, I’d have brought a roll of ones.”
