Edge of Love (26 page)

“
So does Sean,” Cortland
said.

“
Well, I guess you’re
screwed, man.”

Cortland laughed. “Thanks.”

Ryan stepped toward Janice. “So, it’s
the middle of the afternoon now.” He looked at his watch then back
at her.

She smiled and her cheeks started to
blush. “We have company.”

“
So?” Ryan said. “This is
my place. They can deal with it. Scarlet is the one infringing on
our privacy and Cortland—well, he doesn’t care.”

Janice smiled. “Ryan.”

He leaned over and picked her up from
the couch. “We’ll be back.”

“
Put me down,” Janice said
with a giggle.

“
I will,” he said. “In a
second.”

They disappeared down the hallway, and
I heard their bedroom door close. I started laughing. “They are
ridiculous sometimes.”

Cortland smiled. “Yeah.”

“
According to Janice, Ryan
needs it three times a day like a schedule.”

Cortland laughed. “I wish I got it
three times a day. Monnique and I only do it twice.”

“
Is it on a
schedule?”

“
No,” he said. “But we do
it every morning and every night. When we both have the day off we
mix it up. What about you and Sean?”

I shrugged. “We’re all over the place.
But we do have sex every night. Well—we did.”

“
You miss it?”

“
You have no
idea.”

“
It’s nice having sex on a
regular basis. When I was with Elizabeth, I was lucky to get it a
few times a week.”

I smiled. “I’m glad you’re happy with
Monnique.”

“
I am too.”

“
Do you like living with
her?”

“
I love it.”

“
When are you going to
ask?”

“
I don’t know. I want to
ask her now but I don’t know if she’s ready for it.”

“
If she’s living with you,
I’m sure she is.”

“
I’m trying to figure out
when Ryan is going to propose. I don’t want us all to be engaged at
the same time. Girls are weird about that.”

“
I guess,” I said. “Why
don’t you just ask Ryan when he’s going pop the
question?”

“
I haven’t had the
opportunity. He’s always with Janice. I could call him, but I don’t
want to ask over the phone.”

“
Yeah. Well, I’ll ask
him.”

“
I would just let it go.
He might feel rushed if we start asking him. Has Janice said
anything to you?”

“
No,” I said. “She hasn’t
mentioned it.”

“
So, you don’t even know
if she wants to get married?”

“
I’m sure she does,
Cortland. She wouldn’t be living with him if she didn’t feel that
way. And I know she’s in love with him.”

“
She must if she let’s him
get it three times a day like clockwork.”

I laughed. “Yeah. But he’s good in
bed.”

“
She told you
that?”

“
She says he makes her
come almost every time.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I know you guys
are close, but isn’t it weird to talk about that with
Janice?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t bother
me.”

“
You guys are
weird.”

“
I won’t argue with
that.”

“
So, do you want to watch
a movie?”

“
Sure,” I said as I
grabbed the remote. I flipped through the channels until I found
something on the television.

“
What are you doing way
over there?” he asked from his spot on the other couch.

I sat next to him and leaned my head
back. We didn’t touch each other but I liked being close with
him.

He grabbed my engagement ring. “It’s
nice, huh?”

I smiled. “I love it.”

“
I picked out the
band.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah. Janice picked the
cut of the diamonds.”

“
That’s so
sweet.”

“
We argued for a long time
before we agreed on the perfect ring.”

I felt the tears bubble under my eyes.
“I miss him so much.”

Cortland sighed. “I didn’t mean to
upset you, Scarlet.” He pulled me close to his body and stroked my
hair. “It will be back to normal before you know it.”

“
I hope so.”

“
It will.”

I closed my eyes and fell asleep. My
dreams were about Sean. We were sitting at Central Park eating ice
cream. I held a baby in my arms while Sean watched me hold our son.
I felt the sun on my skin, and I smelled the flowers in my
hair.

When I felt my body being carried, my
dream was broken. I desperately wanted to return to paradise but
now I was awake. Cortland laid me on the bed.

“
I’m sorry that I woke
you,” he said.

“
It’s okay. I’m sorry I
decided to sleep on you.”

He laughed. “I have to go. I’ll talk
to you later.”

“
Okay.”

He walked away and closed the door
behind him. I rolled over on my side and hugged a pillow to my
chest. Waking up from that beautiful dream made me depressed. I
missed Sean and wanted him back in my life. I wanted to sleep
beside him every night. I would do anything to be back to the way
we were.

My phone rang on the nightstand, and
when I looked at it, I felt my heart accelerate. It was
Sean.

“
Hello?”

“
Hey.”

“
I miss you,” I blurted. I
was too emotional right now to keep the feelings back.

“
I miss you,
too.”

We sat on the phone in silence for a
while. I didn’t mind not speaking. It was nice just to hear him
breathe.

“
Is this another booty
call?” I asked.

He laughed. “No.”

“
Then what’s on your
mind?”

“
Can we meet at Mega-Shake
tomorrow?”

I felt my heart fall. He wanted to
meet at a public place to discuss something. That didn’t bode well.
Why didn’t he invite me to his apartment? “Is everything
okay?”

“
Yes. Can you be
there?”

“
Yeah. What
time?”

“
Noon?”

“
Okay,” I
whispered.

He said nothing for a long time. “You
doing okay?”

“
No.”

“
I’m not okay
either.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “I
love you.”

“
I love you
too.”

“
Come over.”

He sighed. “I can’t.”

“
Please.”

“
No.”

“
I’m asking as a sexual
request.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Last time
we fucked you cried.”

“
I was just scared you
were going to leave me for that woman.”

“
Well, I’m
not.”

“
I know,” I said. “And I
know you’re still going to marry me so it doesn’t bother me. And I
want to have sex, Sean.”

He didn’t believe me. “You already
sound sad, Scar.”

“
That’s because I’m not
with you.”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Come over.”

He didn’t say anything.

“
Please,” I said. “Do I
have to beg you?”

He laughed. “Definitely
not.”

“
So, you’ll
come?”

“
I’m on my
way.”

I hung up the phone then brushed my
hair and applied my makeup. I wore a red thong and matching bra. I
received a text message minutes later from Sean. He was already
here. When I opened the front door, he slipped inside then locked
the door behind me. We walked to my bedroom silently then shut the
door behind us.

“
What do we have here?” he
whispered. He stared at my robe then untied it. His eyes widened at
the sight. “Beautiful.” He pushed me back on the bed then pulled
down my underwear. He started to finger me and I stared to shake.
It always felt amazing when he did this. When I felt like I was
about to explode, he removed his fingers then stripped off his own
clothes. He came to the edge of the bed, and while standing,
grabbed my hips and raised them off the bed. “You are the most
beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, Scar.”

My heart clenched at his words. I knew
he meant them. I always thought he only thought of Penelope in that
way. It made my eyes water.

Sean caught the touched expression on
my face. “Babe,” he whispered.

“
What?” I said with a
shaky voice. I tried not to cry.

He picked me up and placed me further
on the bed then he lied next to me. He wrapped me in his arms and
held me tightly. I tried to act like I was okay, but I wasn’t. I
missed him so much. I hated myself because now he was going to
leave me. I didn’t want him to go. I wish I had just kept my
emotions under control.

Sean ran his fingers through my hair
then kissed my cheeks. “It’s okay.”

I pressed my face against his and
closed my eyes.

He watched me for a long time. “Go to
sleep, babe.”

“
I can’t.”

“
Why?”

“
You won’t be here when I
wake up.”

His eyes softened at my words. “I’ll
be here.”

My heart caught in my throat. “You
will?”

“
Yes.”

I felt my body relax at his words. We
hadn’t slept together in so long. I missed it. “Are you
sure?”

“
You need me right now,
Scar. I’m not going to walk away from you.”

“
Make love to
me.”

He sighed. “I can’t do
that.”

I was disappointed, but I tried not to
show it. I was just glad he was here with me. “We can still have
sex.”

He smiled. “It’s okay, Scar. I can
wait.”

“
I don’t mind.”

“
I do.”

“
Now that I know you are
staying here, I feel better.”

He rubbed his nose against mine.
“Scarlet, I’m fine just sleeping with you. You don’t need to do
anything for me.”

“
But I want to have
sex.”

He sighed. “No.”

I climbed on top of him and straddled
his hips. His cock started to grow as I leaned over him and kissed
his neck. I knew he could see the reflection of my ass in the
closet mirror, and I knew the sight of my pussy would get him as
hard as a rock. I reached down and began to stroke him
aggressively. Within a moment, Sean was panting for me. His hips
thrust up slightly, rocking his dick into my hand. Then I inserted
his dick within me and slid him inside easily. Sean took a deep
breath and moaned as he stretched me. My pussy had molded to him
perfectly, but it was still a tight fit. I grabbed his hands and
placed them over his head. Then I began to ride him gently. Sean
stared at my breasts as they moved up and down, and he started to
thrust his hips upwards. His breathing was deep and shallow and I
knew he had an orgasm building inside him.

“
Scarlet, I’m not going to
last much longer.”

“
Good,” I said. “I want to
make you come.”

“
I want to make you come
first.”

I slowed down for a moment and allowed
Sean to gather his bearings. Then, I increased the pace and
squeezed his hands as I felt my orgasm build.

“
Ride me cowgirl,” Sean
whispered.

“
Sean. I’m
coming.”

He started to breathe heavily. “I’m
almost there.”

“
Sean,” I whispered.
“Sean.” I felt the explosion inside my body. His body started to
convulse as he came deep within me. A loud moan escaped his
lips.

“
Babe.”

I leaned over him and kissed his chest
before I pulled him out of me. I lied beside him and wrapped my
arms around him. My grip was so tight that you would need a crowbar
to remove me. Sean understood my fear.

“
Babe, I’ll be here in the
morning.”

I moved closer to him and rested my
head on his chest. “Thank you.”

He kissed me on the forehead. “I love
you.”

“
I love you,
too.”

25

Sean

When I woke up the next morning,
Scarlet was already awake. She was lying on my chest with her hair
lingering on my skin. She smelled like vanilla.

When I moved to get up, she held me
tighter. “Please don’t go.”

I kissed her forehead. “I’ll see you
soon.”

“
If we are both going to
Mega-Shake can’t we just go together? Or can’t we just stay here
and talk?”

“
I have an appointment
this morning.” I stood from the bed and started to dress myself. I
hated leaving her, but I knew I had to. I had to do this before our
meeting today.