Attracting Women: The Importance of Your Dating App Picture 👉 Discover the Secret
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Attracting Women: The Importance of Your Dating App Picture 👉 Discover the Secret
Fair Trade
Synopsis: Living paycheck to paycheck, Eddie really wasn’t in the best position to date. Marli moved back to the city she was raised in, starting over. When Eddie sees her by chance, he couldn’t let the opportunity slip away like so many others in his life. Drawn to his rugged, silly charm, Marli was ready to explore love again.
Still, as they got to know each other there were pieces of them they hid away, afraid that revealing the truth too soon would ruin a good thing that had only just begun.
18+ Mature Readers Only
TWO
With his phone perched on a shelf, Eddie adjusted his camel colored Carhartt beanie in the front-facing camera and hit record.
He’d been on the job for two weeks now, and it was going well for him. Even if he had to go from busting his balls to freezing his balls off in the cold storage warehouse, it was worth it. He only had to answer to one person before the big boss. The rest of the time, he was driving a forklift where he was needed. His first paycheck was nice, too. It gave him some wiggle room, shedding some stress.
Tidying her workstation, Marli glanced at a client processed under the orbiting halo when she felt her phone vibrate in the back pocket of her stretchy slacks. Stepping away to take the bleach bowls to the washroom, she clicked the text notification from Eddie.
A video of him lowering a pallet from a high shelf began to play. As he carefully eased it down, he turned to the camera and flexed.
“Forklift certified babe 🦍💪🏼” He wrote.
She blushed. She felt silly for crushing so hard, but he was so cute. They had met twice since their date. Once on his lunch break during the first week of his new job. The last link-up they had drinks during happy hour, which ended with them heavily making out in the smokers' patio before parting for the night.
Their encounters were too brief for their liking following their first date. Marli expressed that they should hang out after his first week of work, but he mentioned that he’d be busy then. She just assumed that he needed space to decompress after the long work week.
While she would have liked to see him, they texted. And he called her at night, while his daughter slept soundly in his bed the weekend he had her, just to talk about their day.
As they got to know each other, he hadn’t mentioned being a father. She didn’t have children, and he wasn’t sure how she felt about them. He was stuck on how to casually bring it up without scaring her off before things really started.
“You’re smiling extra wide. I hope that means my hair lightened well,” a client said, while Marli rinsed her hair out.
“Huh?” she said, snapping out of thought. “Oh, yeah, it looks great!”
“Uh oh.”
“No, really, once I dry—”
“I believe you, hun. So who’s the lucky guy?”
Marli’s cheeks blushed deeper. “Oh god. Is it obvious?”
“I’ve been around the block and seen a thing or two.”
Marli lightly laughed, embarrassed, as she wrapped her client's hair in a towel and escorted her back to the styling chair.
During a break, Marli posted a clip of her client showing off the dimensions of the low-lights and highlights she added to her hair to her Instagram Stories. She texted it to Eddie, too, sharing her day’s work as well. But then, she took a quick mirror selfie, holding a peace sign up at her booth to send. She figured he’d much rather see her, and based on the string of pink heart emojis he sent, she was right.
As a woman, she did her due diligence and searched him up on social media. There were none to be found. Although it was disappointing, she did find it quite attractive. An offline boyfriend was hot. He wasn’t out there posting cringey thirst traps for validation.
Still, her busy-body coworker, Reina, suggested she check for criminal records again. Unfortunately, he had one. She wasn’t even upset that he did; she was more upset that Reina was proven right.
They were misdemeanor charges from his early twenties.
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Underage possession of Alcohol
Disorderly conduct
Fighting in public
Resisting arrest
Vandalism
Failure to appear in court
Even learning that, the first thing that caught her interest was that his height was recorded as being 6 feet 4 inches. Also, the two model-worthy mugshots that were attached to his record. He was brunette in both. In one, he had longer, shaggier hair and bloodshot eyes that just intensified his green irises.
Honestly, the only thing she worried about was whether he had outstanding warrants. She checked. He had none, thankfully.
When Marli expressed that she would still see him, Reina twisted her lip. So, he had a past with a rap sheet, could be worse, she thought. Maybe the bar was in hell, but at the very least, there weren’t any charges for domestic violence. Or any other glaring red flags of the sort.
She wasn’t going to write him off for dumb shit he did in his early 20s. As long as it remained in the past, it didn’t matter to her.
…
In the lobby of his complex, Eddie made a quick stop at his mailbox after work. Nearby, a girl with a faded pink bob and septum ring tacked a flyer on the community corkboard. As he glanced over, he caught the words, “Night Market” on the page.
“Hey, is this—”
The girl startled as he stepped closer for a better look, pulling her oversized headphones down to her neck.
“My bad,” he said, raising his hands.
“What?”
“I was just asking if this is happening at the same place they do the farmers' markets.”
“Yeah,” she said, annoyed, like it was obvious.
“Would it be a good place to take a date?”
She stared at him silently. For a moment, he wondered if she was slow to process.
“I’m tryin’ to take my girl out,” he added.
“I guess?”
“Right… Cool,” he said, giving her a strange look before stepping off to his apartment.
Despite the less-than-convincing recommendation, he met Marli up at the night market at the park and told her the story.
She laughed as they walked from booth to booth. “I think that’s just the Gen Z stare.”
“What the fuck is that?”
“I don’t even know. My coworker Reina is Gen Z. She has some really hardlined opinions on things when life and circumstance have too much nuance to be.”
He nodded. “Do you want to grab a drink?” he asked, pointing at a mobile cafe built in a double-decker bus parked on the grounds.
After Eddie paid, they took their hot drinks up top and sat front and center with an uninterrupted view of the park pond. People were treading on paddle boats across the water. Twinkling string lights wrapped around the trees along the path, where others threw in pellets for the plump koi swimming about.
It was chilly out, but Eddie put an arm around her as they looked out over the park.
“This is cute,” she said, snuggling close.
As he lifted his hot chocolate to his lips, Marli took more interest in his hand tattoos. Every knuckle on his fingers was decorated. The one she was looking at had a butterfly with wings patterned to look like a skull on top of his hand.
“Are you, like, super tatted up?”
He glanced over at the hand adorned with a rose draped around her, and flexed his fingers. “Ah, I guess I’ve only been wearing long sleeves lately. But uh, yeah, mostly. Here and there,” he said, sheepishly running a finger up and down the side of his neck. Where permanently inked into his skin was: IDGAF.
While he seemed a bit regretful of that one, her eyes lit up with intrigue.
“I noticed you have a few,” he said, pointing at a bobby pin tatted on the outside of her right wrist. “What’s this one, though?”
With the same hand he held his cup, he gently pushed her hair to the side to see what he only caught glimpses of. Along her collarbone was a delicate smattering of red ink sparkles.
“I have this too,” she said, turning her head and gathering her hair away from her heavily pierced ear. Behind it was a 444 running down vertically. Turning a bit more, she showed off the pink bow behind her neck. “The rest are all small, too.”
“Where are the rest?” he smirked.
She shook her head, amused. “I have a tramp stamp.”
“The fuck you do,” he laughed.
She just shrugged as if to say believe me or not as she sipped her raspberry mocha latte.
Eventually, she showed him her Instagram page: MadebyMarli. She scrolled down for a few seconds, and the screen lit up in punky technicolor.
“See, I used to do stuff like this,” she explained.
“Oh, shit! Can I see?” he asked, motioning for her phone. “What’s your favorite color?”
“To color or like personally?”
“Both,” he smiled.
“Reds are fun to color. And pink for both. What about you?”
“Same.”
“Pink, too? No, it’s not,” she snorted.
“I swear,” he laughed. “Blue, too, like this one,” he said, pointing at a client with deep blue sea hair. “And Green. Sometimes orange, it just depends on the shade.”
“A soft orange?”
“Yeah, exactly,” he said, handing her phone back. “I liked using those colors when I used to tag shit up.”
“Do you have an Insta?” she asked, casually as she tested him.
He shook his head. “No… I’m not on—well, I have a Facebook, but I only use it for Marketplace.”
“Oh, I was going to add you to my personal if you did,” she shrugged, putting her phone away.
“What do you post on that?”
“I guess you’ll never know,” she teased.
“It takes like five seconds to make one,” he countered.
As the top of the double-decker began to crowd, they took a moment to take pictures at Marli’s suggestion. Eddie held his phone up, taking a photo of her with the pond in the background, when an older man tapped his shoulder, offering to take photos for them.
Eddie felt a bit shy about it. Still, he wrapped a possessive arm around her waist and pulled her close, to which she looked up at him with a blushy smile. It made his heart skip the way her eyes twinkled, as if proud to have him at her side. At the same time, it overwhelmed him. He couldn’t accept it after years of contemptuous expressions towards him. He feared that one day, she’d look at him differently than she did now. Raising a hand playfully to cover her eyes, as if to shield her from him, she just laughed.
Afterward, they held hands walking the path around the pond, sharing polite smiles with other couples on their dates. It felt odd to Eddie, knowing that if it weren’t for Marli at his side, he’d surely get leery sneers. In the distance, he could hear squealing brakes, and he looked down at her, amused.
“Have you fixed yours yet?”
She exhaled loudly. “No… about that, though. I actually got dropped off by Uber tonight.”
“What? I could have—”
“I know,” she sighed. “I didn’t want to make it a thing, but the other day they were being really sketch—”
“I fucking bet. I can fix them—”
“No, no. I’ve been putting money aside for it.”
“It’s really not a problem.”
“That’s sweet, Eddie, but really it’s okay.”
He wanted to keep insisting. He was useful with this kind of thing; he liked to be useful. Still, people denied him that. It was his fault. Excuses after excuses, he didn’t give anyone a reason as to why they should count on him. Marli was only being polite. She didn’t know that part of him.
“It’s getting cold,” she said, hugging his arm. “What time is it?”
Taking his phone from his jacket pocket, the screen lit up with a graphic of marijuana leaves now. “It’s almost nine. You ready to go home?”
“Yeah.”
He frowned at her answer.
“Need a ride?”
“Please,” she grinned, standing on her tiptoes for a kiss.
He wasn’t prepared for a passenger. He was already embarrassed that his ride was basically a creeper van. She didn’t seem to care about that, though. Still, he made her wait while he “cleaned up” inside. Really, he needed to hide the photo he kept of his daughter on the dashboard. He kissed it before putting it away in the glove compartment.
In a quiet neighborhood, he pulled up to the mid-century modern house she directed him to. Birchhurst was just 25 minutes outside the city center. He assumed she also lived in an apartment like most 20-year-olds living in an unattainable housing market. She had a nice home in an upper-middle-class neighborhood. Though it was noticeably smaller than the rest of the houses on the block, which were two stories.
The woman jogging by with her dog late at night, was a testament to the safety people felt there, even with the rough city just a stone's throw away. Eddie helped Marli out of the van, and as he walked her to her door, the Altima sat in the driveway where it should stay, honestly.
He kissed her goodnight on her doorstep, but just before he could step away, she pulled on his jacket.
“Do you want to come in?”
He bit back a smile as his heart thrummed with excitement. “Yeah?”
“Okay, but I have to warn you… It’s kinda cluttered and—it’s my grandma’s place.”
His forehead wrinkled. “You live with her?”
Without a real answer, he kicked off his silver sneakers, hung his jacket beside hers in the small foyer, and followed her into the living room.
There, he saw old tasseled leopard print lamps, framed cross-stitch projects, and crochet doilies. On shelves, the mantel, and really anywhere you could place them, were Precious Moments figurines.
At the center of it all was a new, modern baby pink sectional that didn’t fit quite in.
“I’m working on this part of the house now,” Marli began to explain. “I just got this couch, like, two months ago. The other was covered in plastic,” she rolled her eyes. “And, don’t worry, my grandma isn’t here. That would be… fucking weird. But she left the house to me.”
“Left the house—oh!”
“She passed.”
“Yeah… uh, sorry-sorry. What was her name?”
“It was Yvette,” she said, looking away uncomfortably. “Uhm, go ahead and take a seat. Do you want anything to drink?”
“Sure, yeah. Anything you got,” he nodded.
Coming back, she took a seat next to him and passed him a wine tumbler. “It’s Franzia and Sprite."
Ice clinked against the glass as he took a sip. He wasn’t one to drink wine, but doctored up, it wasn’t bad at all. “So… is this why you moved back?”
“For the house? Yeah. Well, I used to live here. My grandma raised me.”
Eddie nodded.
“It was in probate forever. My dad was being a jerk because she had trusted it to me. But, I reminded him that—well, he’s kinda not shit,” she said honestly. “Not my fault, his own mother thought so, too.”
Eddie awkwardly laughed.
“I’ve been planning to have a garage sale,” she pointed toward the dining room, where there were cardboard boxes on top of the table. “But the weather’s been so shitty… I might have to wait until spring.”
“You could probably sell some of that stuff on Marketplace.”
“I don’t have Facebook,” she smirked.
“Mhmm,” he hummed into his drink before sitting down on the glass coffee table.
“Maybe you could help me?”
He licked his lips and caught Marli’s gaze, darting towards them. “Maybe…”
“Maybe…” she echoed softly.
In the blink of an eye, they began heavily making out on the couch. In private, to their surprise, they both realized that they had been holding back a bit.
Marli slid a hand down his strong chest. Which immediately slipped under his gray sweater to feel the defined abs she knew must be there. A little knowing smile tugged at his lips, and he pulled her onto his lap, spreading his legs wide for her to sit between them.
He dipped his head down, kissing her neck and the top of her chest while his hand slipped down into her black leggings. He looked up at her, green eyes asking permission, and she granted it by hungrily pressing her lips to his once again.
Passing a patch of hair, his two middle fingers dipped between her slit, making her hips jolt when he brushed past her clit. As he went lower, circling her entrance, he groaned pathetically into her mouth. She was so wet, from so little. It was all him, that’s all. A fierce surge of arousal rushed through him at the fact.
He coated his fingers in her wetness before reconvening at her clit again. Softly and slowly, he rubbed circles just to gauge her. The smirk on his face told her that he took pleasure in playfully antagonizing her. Impatiently, she pressed her hand against his, pleading for more pressure. He stopped teasing then, quickly moving his hand back and forth.
“Like that?” he asked, voice thick.
If her moans weren’t obvious enough, the way her body responded to him would tell him yes. Her hips rolled as the sensation built. Reaching to feel his dick straining against his pants, she let out a little surprised gasp.
“Baby girl, you got me so fucking hard,” he breathed, his hand unceasing. “You look so fucking pretty like this.”
Marli tossed her head back as pleasure overtook her. His words pushed her past the edge. Hips sputtering, before stilling completely, as a moan broke free.
“God, Eddie, fuck me!”
“You want me to fuck you?” he asked, through harsh kisses.
“Yes. Fuck yes,” she whined, breathlessly.
“Where’s your room?”
He rose. His raging bulge pressed firmly against her core as she wrapped her legs around him. She moaned against his neck as he started toward her bedroom furthest down the hall.
Gently settling her on the bed, his fingers curled around the band of her leggings and pulled them off along with her lace panties. He licked his lips, eyes darkening at the sight of her glistening pussy.
He quickly pulled his sweater off, and Marli's eyes widened, marveling at his definition. His strong, lean physique, covered in tattoos, that she could admire for hours. Tracing each inked line with her tongue. It was like he was plucked from a wild fantasy she had as a moody teen girl. That girl would be very happy that this was happening to her now.
After plucking a condom from his wallet, he dropped his pants and crawled onto the bed. Marli lifted her top off, and his brows raised, seeing a silver barbell piercing through her left nipple. He hadn’t expected that.
They hungrily kissed as he settled between her legs, tongues gliding against each other. He backed away, biting down on the black foil packaging, ripping it open. She took the condom, wanting to assist in rolling it down.
She caught the impressive tenting of his boxers, but when he fully exposed the heft hiding inside them, she gulped. Veins stretched down his ample length; if that wasn’t impressive, the girth alone was overly generous. He was clearly God's favorite.
“Holy fuck!” she muttered, staring back at him wide-eyed.
He had a bit of a goofy, proud smile on his face until it dropped to concern. She looked… scared? Impressed? Disappointed…?
Marli clammed up. If he weren’t between them, she would have pulled her knees closed. Instead, they pushed comfortably against his sides.
“Uhm… could we just do other stuff tonight?” she asked.
“Uh…”
“Sorry.”
“No. No, that’s cool. Yeah…”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’m here as long as you want me,” he assured with a kiss.
She smiled, relieved. Glad he didn’t take offense or try to coerce her as some guys would have. Though bummed, he seemed understanding.
When he suddenly got out of her bed, she got nervous. Was he leaving?
He wrapped a hand around her ankle, pulling her to the edge of the bed, making her laugh. Wherever he was going, he was taking her.
“Come,” he said, taking her hand and helping her to her feet.
With his hands on her hips, he turned and sat on the edge of the bed. Gazing at her under his brow, his eyes flicked down to his left thigh.
“Right here,” he said, patting it.
It was a bit out of her scope, but obediently, she lifted a leg to straddle it until he stopped her.
“Wait, baby. Turn around for a second—I want to see your tramp stamp,” he chuckled.
Marli laughed and confidently turned around to show it off. Loose, delicate cursive was scrawled on her lower back. It was more tasteful than what he expected to find.
“You didn’t believe me, did you?” she said, looking at him over her shoulder.
“Adore me,” he read out loud, and then dipped down to press a tender kiss on her backside. “I can do that. You’re so fucking gorgeous, Marlena, you make it easy. So fucking easy,” he confessed, breath fanning warm across her lower back, it made her shiver. “And I want you to ride my fucking thigh now.”
His hands gripped her hips tightly, turning her so that she could press her heat against him. Finally, he thought, feeling her slickness as she moved her hips back and forth, helping her glide into a faster pace. He enjoyed watching her, using him for her own pleasure. He would change places with her doorknob just to watch her get off.
Like a fish drawn to something shiny, he sucked her pierced nipple into his mouth.
“Oh, god…” she breathed through parted lips.
“Don’t stop,” he demanded, as his hand finally wrapped around his dick, pumping up and down in the same rhythm as her moving hips.
Her teeth sank into her bottom lip, watching him touch himself. Though he’d love to be inside her, just seeing the desire in her eyes made him tingle as if he were.
“Touch it,” he said, taking her by the wrist and guiding her. “I know you want to.”
He exhaled loudly through his nose, twitching as she took hold of him.
“Fuck,” she whined, astonished. Her fingertips hardly touched as she stroked him.
He leaned back on his hands, relinquishing control. His eyes fluttered closed as she rolled a palm over the sensitive head of his dick. “Yeah,” he smiled. “You know exactly what you’re doing, baby girl.”
After a few more sensational strokes, he sat up, cupping a hand under her chin. Without prompting, she spat in his hand with no hesitation, making him chuckle. She was a dirty girl.
He took over, stroking himself with her saliva. “I want you to come,” he urged, letting her put focus back into herself.
She pressed herself harder against his thigh and picked up her speed. Soon she was holding her breath, thighs shaking as she came undone. His core tightened, hand doing short, fast strokes at the head of his dick, and he followed her with a grunt. Aimed at her pussy, ropes of his cum landed on her and mingled with the trail of wetness she left on his thigh.
She reached down, swiping some onto her finger, and brought it to her lips, tasting him.
…
While washing up in the ensuite bathroom, he scanned all the hair products and skin care neatly organized on the sink counter. There was enough for five heads and five faces. Expensive. A bit high maintenance, too, if he was honest.
Stepping back into the bedroom, he finally took it in, where he sat on the bed. It didn’t look like a granny had once lived here. The walls were painted in a soft dusty pink, opposed to the yellowing floral wallpaper that still hung in the living room. It was tidy with modern furniture and hardwood floors with a white shag rug at the foot of the plush bed. It was a girly space, but adult. Bachelorette.
Marli, wearing a short black kimono, lit a few candles sitting on her dresser and turned on the sunset lamp sitting on her nightstand. Eddie lifted his gaze to the ceiling, taking in the soft orange glow that bathed everything.
“TikTok shop got me,” she explained, with an embarrassed giggle. “Do you want a hit?” she asked, holding out a wax pen.
“Penjamin,” he nodded, taking it from her as she crawled next to him.
“It’s a she, and she goes by Pennifer.”
“Apologies, ma’am,” he said, before taking a hit.
He felt Marli scan his body and began giving her the tattoo tour she had been itching for.
“Some are better than others, obviously,” he explained after showing his WASTED tattoo.
“When’s GTA 6 coming out?”
“Who the fuck knows?” he shrugged, annoyed about it. “But I had a homie with a tattoo gun, and I just let him blast me with shit he wanted to try out. That’s why I have these,” he said, pointing at a gathering of funky smiley faces. “I like the bunnies, though,” he chuckled.
“Me too. They’re cute. What about this?” She asked, eying his back as her hand drifted across it. “Anger is a gift? Do you really think so?”
He lifted his arm and turned for her to get a better look. “At the time I got it, yeah… It was the only emotion I’ve ever felt in full,” he answered honestly. It was the first big piece he had ever gotten at 19. “It’s-it’s just a reminder,” he shrugged. “Anger isn’t my first choice anymore.” He was thankful that it was something he’d grown out of. Something that his daughter made him realize wasn’t true for him anymore.
Marli kissed his shoulder tenderly, and then she suddenly ran her fingers through his hair. “You know if you tone this out—”
“You hate it,” he laughed.
“I don’t hate it.”
“It’s the second time you’ve called it out.”
“Because I see its potential.”
“Mhmm,” he said, unconvinced. “It’s growing out now. I think I’m just going to dye it back. The fuckers at work have been calling me 8 Mile.”
Marli cracked up, but not at him, with him. She lay down on her back, and he propped up on an elbow, looking down at her. He could see her piercing underneath the thin satin of her kimono and brushed his thumb against it.
“Why one?” he asked.
“The other one didn’t heal right, so I took it out.”
He nodded.
She tiredly rubbed an eye. “I’m sorry about earlier… I wanted to—”
“Are you—uh, have you—”
“Eddie, please, the only virgin in this room is my hair.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t have cared either way…”
“It’s just been a while,” she admitted with a shrug. “And… well, babe, it’s fucking huge. You know that, right?”
“I always knew there was something wrong with me,” he said, pulling the tie of her kimono loose.
She snorted, amused, as he walked his fingers down her sternum. They swiped left, brushing past her pierced nipple and right to her ribs, where a pair of cherries were tattooed. His fingers continued. Walking down her ticklish tummy, until they stopped right at the small triangle of hair waxed into shape. Her heart hammered in her chest.
“Can I see?” he asked, looking at her with curious eyes.
She licked her lips and nodded. He heard a soft sigh as he pushed a single finger inside her. She was so warm that he finally felt himself become annoyed that he didn’t get to really feel it as he wished to.
When he added another finger, he realized her concern. It was snug. He began to move his fingers inside her, and as she panted, it seemed comfortable for her. His thumb brushed against her clit, and she began to writhe as he worked her.
“You get so fucking wet,” he said, roughly. “So tight.”
He could feel her walls constricting his fingers. Still, he tested a third. She winced, letting out a pained moan.
“That’s okay,” he said, retreating and leaving his two fingers. “I’ll get you ready for me. You want that?”
She nodded, unable to form words at just the thought of being stretched by him. As she swelled tighter around his fingers, he worried it might be impossible. Though he met resistance, he didn’t let up, and soon she soaked his fingers.
“You’re gonna fucking kill me,” he breathed in awe.
When she returned the favor, taking him into her mouth right after, he felt more at peace with his inevitable death.
…
Eddie woke before her. It had been a long time since he actually slept in a girl's bed after a hook-up. If he weren’t getting nudged out the door, he’d take off shortly after anyway, or make an excuse for the girl to leave his place. It was dickish, he knew that, but he wasn’t in a position to commit to more. Hell, he really wasn’t now either, but he really liked Marli. That much he knew for sure.
He couldn’t remember having felt like this since he met Amy. He just hoped this wouldn’t end the same way. And for that not to happen, he had to be better.
Marli stirred next to him and moved away, overheating. Half asleep, she heard him enter the bathroom before drifting back to dreamland.
It was an hour later that she finally woke up. The house sounded eerily quiet. She turned and was surprised to find herself alone. The bathroom light was still on, its glow bleeding through the partially open door.
“Eddie?” she called out.
No response.
“Eddie?” she tried again, this time getting out of bed to check.
The bathroom was vacant.
“Eddie!” she shouted, with no results.
She went to her nightstand, picked up her phone, and called him. It went straight to voicemail. Her heart sank. Fast feet took her to her bedroom window, and she quickly tore the blinds open. Looking across the yard, his van was gone.
“What the fuck?!” she said, angrily.
She ran her hands through her hair, disappointed with herself. She should have known. She should have trusted her gut. He was a fuckboy. When he didn’t get what he wanted, he left. She was glad she didn’t give him pussy after all, still, her jaw hurt in vain.
After a quick rinse in the shower, she entered her kitchen to make a cup of coffee in her Keurig, only to discover that he had helped himself to some before bailing. She rolled her eyes, clipping her hair into a messy bun.
“Asshole,” she muttered, tossing the used K-cup into the trash.
As her coffee brewed, she thought she heard some metal clanking outside, but just carried on without another thought about it. Still pissed, she picked up her phone to text Eddie a scathing message.
You fucking worm
She backspaced, huffing.
So you’re really just going to leave me.
She backspaced again, scratching her head, trying to gather angry, scattered thoughts.
Leaving me like that was wack as fuck. I really was really starting to like you, Eddie.
A knock at her front door interrupted her. She stood stunned for a moment. Then another knock snapped her out of it.
“Hello?” a voice said on the other side of the door.
When she answered, there he was at her doorstep, with a rosy nose from the chilly morning breeze. He looked showered, wearing a black Thrasher hoodie under a heavy coat.
“Where the fuck did you go?”
“Sorry, I needed to pick up some tools. I didn’t want to wake you.” How upset she sounded, he regretted not doing so.
“I called you.”
“My phone's dead. I didn’t realize until I already locked myself out of your house.”
She shook her head and exhaled loudly.
“I wasn’t ditching you, I swear. I just needed to grab a jack—”
“A jack? For what?!”
“Your car,” he pointed behind him.
Looking past him, she saw that he had the front left tire lifted off the ground already.
“I have what I need to fix your brakes.”
“Eddie, you didn’t have to—”
“I’m already doing it,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in for a kiss. She was resistant for a moment, still annoyed, but couldn’t help but melt into him. “And I want to. Put on something warm, babe, and hang with me while I fix them.”
She bundled up in a sweater set and brought out a camping chair and a Bluetooth speaker from the garage. As she chose the music, Eddie pulled out the first brake pad he was replacing. It was worse than what he saw at the shop. It was flat, to the metal now. He wouldn’t doubt it was sparking flames every time she braked.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” he shook his head, showing her.
She slightly cringed, embarrassed. “I’m just a girl,” she offered.
“Ah, that excuse doesn’t work on this,” he chuckled. “Were you coasting on these?”
“Yeah, I had to pump the brakes like a half a mile down the road before a stop.”
He shook his head again like a disappointed father.
When he wrapped up the first tire, she followed him to the other side of the car. He loosened the bolts, unclipped the horrific brake pad, and with each step, grease and grime spread further down his fingers.
“Who’s playing?” he asked when she switched to something completely different than Megan the Stallion.
“Pinkpatheress.”
“Oh, yeah,” he sniffed, playing nonchalant.
She narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t know that,” she smirked.
“Pain?” he said, proving her wrong. “I’ve heard it, I didn’t know who sang it. That’s the only one I know, though, so don’t quiz me.”
She just giggled at him. “How do you get your hands so clean when you’re not working?”
“How?”
“Your hands are never dirty. Most mechanics carry dirt under their nails; you don't."
He paused, twisting his wrists, and looking at his dirty working hands. “Yeah, I don’t like the feeling. I take salt and dish soap and just scrub the hell out of them.”
Her jaw dropped. “Salt? Doesn’t it burn?”
“I mean,” he shrugged, indifferent. “Sometimes if I have a cut or something—”
“Eddie, they make sugar scrub that does the exact same thing.”
“So you’re telling me to just use sugar instead?”
“It’ll sting less.”
“Got it, babe,” he nodded, amused.
Once he fastened the last bolt on her tire, he righted himself. She followed suit, standing up and asking how much she owed him.
“Nothing,” he said adamantly.
“No, seriously.”
“Seriously.”
She frowned, but before she could continue, he spoke first.
“Look, we’ll do it like this—since you feel like you have to repay me. You’ve let me fix your brakes, so I’ll let you fix my hair.”
Her eyes lit up in excitement, hearing that.
“Fair trade?” he asked.
She pursed her lips, considering, and then nodded. “Yeah,” she grinned. “Fair trade.”
Fair Trade
“Same deal as always, Ryan – twelve strokes for a look, though I’ll make it twenty-four with the tawse if you’d prefer…
"Twice that for your mouth - you know, sort of ‘a long licking for a long licking’…
“And I assume you’ll want to see both of them?”
For whatever reason, she seemed to find the whole thing amusing.
She knew I wouldn't say no, I said yes as often as I could stand to, or maybe a little more often than that. It was hard to be in the same room, even, when my buttocks were too thrashed to say yes.
Her whippings were pretty serious (and always came first) but afterward she was very generous indulging me for as long as I wanted, comforting me with those magnificent breasts.
you want my dick in yer mouth you can handle my words in yer ears and on yer eyes.
Fair Trade
Synopsis: Living paycheck to paycheck, Eddie really wasn’t in the best position to date. Marli moved back to the city she was raised in, starting over. When Eddie sees her by chance, he couldn’t let the opportunity slip away like so many others in his life. Drawn to his rugged, silly charm, Marli was ready to explore love again.
Still, as they got to know each other there were pieces of them they hid away, afraid that revealing the truth too soon would ruin a good thing that had only just begun.
18+ Mature Readers Only
ONE
Drills and air compressors sounded off. The automotive shop was ridiculously busy, but Eddie didn’t mind; it made the day go by faster. After pulling a compact SUV into the pickup lot, he walked back into the garage. He wasn’t in a rush, despite the mounting tickets. He was tired, and all he could think about was smoking a bowl on his lunch break.
In all honesty, he hated working at the mechanic shop. He hated his boss, Karl, who didn’t think much of him at all. He didn’t even try to hide the fact, either. Eddie wondered why he had hired him to begin with, but an extra pair of hands was just an extra pair of hands at the shitty chop shop. He put up with it because, well, he really needed the money.
His only friend at the shop, TJ, whom he could commiserate with, had quit a few months ago. He moved on to a much better-paying job doing third shift at a cold storage warehouse. Eddie couldn’t do nights, but TJ informed him of a possible first shift that would soon be available and promised to put in a good word for him.
He had been waiting for weeks now without a callback. It took everything in him not to quit and coast. But he had done that way too many times now. Hopping from one job to another. It would just prove everyone’s point about him. Damn it, they were a little right, though.
“Hey, Eds,” an old coke bottle lens colleague called out to him as he was preparing to do an oil change.
“Yeah?” he sniffed, wiping his nose on the cuff of his thick work glove.
“Look at these,” he said, waving him over.
He looked at the nearly bald brake pads on a black Nissan Altima. It wasn’t a new model, but it was only a few years old, still in decent condition.
“Shit!” Eddie hissed.
“These bitches are about to give out.”
“What the hell they doin’? Driving with e-brake engaged?”
“I don’t know. It’s a woman’s car; they know how to fuck anything up.”
“Heh,” he pulled his ear awkwardly and stepped away then.
Finally, on a break, Eddie was in the main lobby, standing in front of a vending machine. Grabbing snacks before he smoked himself out. There weren’t many options, and all that was left didn’t seem very appealing. He settled on a bag of plain potato chips and trail mix for the generic M&Ms inside.
As the trail mix dropped, it got stuck on the side of the drop chute.
“The fuck,” he muttered, smacking the side of the machine.
Behind him, the desk clerk was speaking to a customer, listing the diagnostics of their car.
“Uhh…” He heard a long, exasperated female sigh. “That’s okay. I just need the oil change today.”
“You sure? We can rotate the tires, but the guy who worked on your car stressed that your brake pads need to be replaced.”
“Yeah, probably,” the woman said dismissively. “But just the oil change today, thanks.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure. I’ll even come back here to get it done, but I don’t have time for that today.”
Eddie peeked around the corner, overhearing the conversation. The woman he saw taking her key fob back was not what he expected at all. He really didn’t know what to expect, honestly, but the brunette with a nice blowout and full cherry-tinted lips caught him by surprise. The shop wasn’t patronized by an attractive clientele—ever. For a moment, he noticed he had stopped breathing as he took her in.
He shook his head to himself, as she would even give him the time of day. She was nicely dressed, in a black low-cut top and stretchy pleated slacks. She probably worked at a bank, he guessed.
With a fleeting glance toward him, he nearly shied away, and she left. Even with her car off the lot, he could hear the brakes squeak even down the road.
…
“Have you heard anything, man?” Eddie asked into the phone pressed against his ear as he walked up to the school yard.
“No, but your resume is on top of the list, dude,” TJ said on the other end. “I’m tight with one of the office girls—she’s kinda cute, actually.”
He rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine.”
“Karl still busting your balls?”
“He doesn’t bust my balls,” he grumbled.
“What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, man. I have my kid tonight, but she’s going to her mom's early.”
“Ah, okay. Well, the cute girl from the office invited me out. You should come.”
“Hm. I’ll see. I’ll hit you up.”
“Alright, dog,” he said, hanging up.
When his daughter, Sarah, ran out of school, he was there behind the pack of parents waiting on her. Her smile widened when she spotted him. Taller than the moms and bleached blonde.
“Daddy!”
“Hey, lovebug,” he said, hugging her and taking her backpack to carry.
When she climbed into the passenger side of his van, he buckled her in and shut the door for her.
“Are you ready for your trip?” he asked once they were on the road.
“Yeah. I asked mommy if you could come.”
“You did?” he asked, surprised. “What’d she say?”
“She just said that you couldn’t.”
“Mhm. Yeah, lovebug, I’m sorry. But-but you two will have fun.”
His relationship with his daughter's mother, Amy, was rocky to say the least. The love between them had long gone, so he couldn’t even imagine being confined in a car for the 2-hour trip with her. He doubted Amy would like that either.
If it weren’t for Sarah, they probably would have cut all ties. Before separating, they had tried to work it out, but admittedly, Eddie just didn’t try hard enough for Amy. Sarah was three and a half then. That killed him, but he just wasn’t in a place in his life to be who she needed him to be.
Sarah was eight now, and though far from perfect, he was doing his best. Still, Amy always found something to be upset about. His best wasn’t good enough for her because he bordered on the line of general adult expectations. There’s no praise for doing what you’re supposed to do.
While he and Sarah were eating cereal at the breakfast bar the following morning, there was a knock at his apartment door to his surprise.
“Is that your mom?” He said, with a full mouth as he checked the time on his phone.
They weren't running late in the slightest. When he answered the door, Amy let herself in. He noticed then that she had only come to scope his place out. It was an annoying habit of hers, especially now. He didn’t live in the most amazing place, but he had upgraded past the worst shoeboxes he’d used to rent. It was a little out of his budget, but he worked to live somewhere safer for his daughter to visit.
He lived in a remodeled studio in a ten-unit brick complex on the first floor. Though secondhand, he had a comfy bed, and he made sure to have a pull-out couch. When his daughter spent the night, he slept on it while she took over his bed.
“Taking off early?” he asked, after Amy told Sarah to brush her teeth and get dressed.
“I wanna beat the traffic…” An awkward silence hung between them. “Uh, you have any plans this weekend?”
“Me? Nah.”
“Right. I wanted to tell you—if Sarah hadn’t spilled the beans already, that Roscoe is coming with us.”
Amy had been with Roscoe for nearly a year now. They were acquaintances in high school and reconnected. He was a track jock then, and now he works as a high school cross-country coach. He had a son of his own, and from what his daughter said, he was an annoying little shit.
“What?” He raised a brow.
“Well, you know, we’re at that point now…”
“So you’re going to your hometown to bring him to meet your parents, then?”
“Well, yes, Eddie, that’s part of the trip.”
He scoffed. “Well, good luck to him.”
“You wouldn’t let Sarah around him if you didn’t think he wasn’t a good guy. Most importantly, he's responsible. Reliable.”
“Right, right,” he pressed his lips together, taking the jab.
It didn’t feel good hearing that. Their relationship was far from salvageable. Both of them have dated people here and there, but learning that she was bringing her boyfriend to meet the parents, it was serious. He was regretting that he had sacrificed his weekend with Sarah for their trip now.
“Just letting you know.”
“Okay,” he said dismissively, rubbing his jaw with his knuckles.
“I really like him, Eddie. Actually… more than that. Sarah’s being slow to warm up to him, but I think she will, too. It’ll work out in the long run.”
“The long—what do you mean by that? You know she’s my kid, too, Ames.”
“I don’t mean it like that—”
Sarah had walked out of the bathroom then, interrupting them. What they didn’t know was that she could hear them despite talking in hushed tones. Suddenly, she didn’t want to leave at all. She clung to her father’s leg and whined while her mother tried to coax her off. Though it broke his heart, Eddie encouraged her to go and reminded her of all the fun she’d have at her grandparents', and she reluctantly listened.
…
Eddie was being truthful about not having plans that same weekend. He smoked a fat bowl that evening, and was scrolling pornhub on his phone until he found something to his liking. With a hand inside his Adidas track pants, he hit play and watched a girl shine her naked tits with baby oil when his friend TJ called, interrupting him.
He was out at the bar, wondering if Eddie was still coming. Feeling bad about his attempt to blow him off, he checked his wallet. He was good for a few.
Lately, he hasn’t gone out as much as he used to. Not because he had lost interest, but because his income was tight. With rent, the electric bill, and miscellaneous necessities, he also had child support payments. Amy got him for five hundred dollars every month through the court. If it didn’t make him feel like a jackass, he would have contested it to reduce the amount, but he was also too prideful.
While sipping on a beer at the dive bar, TJ got a text from the office girl he’d been talking to, who he expected to meet at the bar. Instead, her text led them to a house party. Eddie didn’t mind the location change since there was a huge ice chest with drinks he didn’t have to pay for.
After pushing around seltzers, he fished out a Modelo. He popped the tab and leaned against the railing on the back deck. While chatting with a few dudes who TJ knew from work, one of them lit a joint, which eased him enough to pull out his. Both crossed paths in the rotation.
A lone joint now rested in between his fingers after the group had sufficiently indulged. He had been pushed out of the work banter between TJ and his coworkers. Instead of hanging on the edge of the conversation, he scoped the rest of the partygoers from the deck. The deck wrapped around to the other side of the house, and just before it turned the corner, he did a double-take. It was her.
It was the woman with the bad brakes he saw a few weeks before. She was dressed much more casually, in a chartreuse halter top, a black skirt, and knee-high boots. She was speaking to a girlfriend with chunky maroon streaks in her dark hair, until she passed a coat off and left her behind.
It was a chilly night, and she put on the fur collar leather jacket. Eddie frowned, disappointed; it hid the curves he was tracing with his eyes. Turning around, holding onto her seltzer, she looked out across the yard full of people mingling. Down below, a group of guys tossed beer boxes into the fire pit to get it going. Her night was winding down, and she was just waiting for her friend to use the bathroom so that they could leave.
Eddie looked toward TJ, talking his ass off and paying no mind, and he slowly backed away. A white claw was to her lips, which she quickly dropped when he approached her.
“Oh, sorry, are you trying to get through?” she asked, pressing her belly into the rail to make room.
“Uh, nah. Nah, you want a hit?” he asked, holding the nearly finished joint toward her.
She glanced over her shoulder and then looked up at him with a small smile, taking it. He watched as her dark cherry nails pinched it against glossy, full lips. The ember flared bright as she took a deep hit.
“Thanks,” she said, strained. Holding the smoke in her lungs before blowing out.
Eddie bit back an impressed smirk. “Yeah, yeah. Um, we’ve met. Have you changed your brake pads?”
She tilted her head. “My brake pads? Wait… where do I know you from?”
“You got an oil change about a month ago.”
“Yeah? You work at the autoshop?”
“Eh, well, yeah. Not for much longer—hopefully,” he muttered. “But-but I’m Eddie.”
“Marli.” She smiled. “Well, that’s what everyone here calls me but—”
“What do you go by?”
“Mm, it doesn’t really matter,” she bashfully laughed.
“Sure it does. Is it embarrassing or something?” He chuckled.
“Nooo,” she snorted. “It’s Marlena. But no one pronounces it how I like, so Marli is fine,” she shrugged.
“Marlena,” he said, in his best attempt at a Spanish pronunciation.
“Close.”
“Aw. I didn’t think that was so bad.” He said, leaning casually on the railing beside her.
She glanced over her shoulder again, wondering where her friend, Reina, had gone, only to see that she had been caught up talking to a guy of her own, too. She had only come out to loosen up after a long week. She didn’t intend to talk to a tall guy with a brassy bleach job and hand tats tonight.
The more they spoke, though, the cover didn’t match the material inside. He was intelligent in the topics he presented, and he never interrupted her when she had something to add. In fact, he even seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say.
When he first approached, she pegged him for a fuckboy. The more they talked that judgement faded away. Even the lazy drawl of his words, which she assumed was his way of sounding cool, was endearing. Now she caught herself giggling and focusing on how sweet he seemed. How handsome he looked, too, with high cheeks, pouty pink lips, dimples, and searching green eyes.
“Marli!”
She turned to see her friend waving her over. It seemed like whatever happened with her guy was a bust.
“I think I have to go...”
Eddie blew raspberries, disappointed. “Could I get your number at least, Marlena?”
She blushed. He said it with perfect pronunciation the second time.
“Hmm…” she considered.
“C’mon, that wasn’t bad, was it?”
“It wasn’t,” she said, looking at his lips.
His heart kicked against his chest. To his surprise, he actually felt butterflies. “Could I kiss you?” he boldly asked.
“You’re funny.”
“I am?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I can be fucking hilarious if you want.”
Marli bit her lip, but she couldn’t help tossing her head back and laughing.
“Ah, see.”
She kissed her teeth playfully. “You can have my number. And then you can take me on a proper date.”
“For real?”
“Marli!” her friend whined.
“Give me your phone before I change my mind,” she said, holding her hand out.
He quickly snatched his phone out from the back pocket of the black cargo pants he wore. A photo of his daughter lit up on the lock screen, but he quickly swiped up and clicked his contacts and passed it to her.
After adding herself to his contacts, she air-kissed the screen and passed it back to him with a departing wink.
…
Eddie debated on how soon was too soon to hit her up. He also wondered what would make a good date. He hadn’t been on a date in a long time. And back then, it was going to pizzerias, going to the skate park, or seeing a movie. That seemed too juvenile now. He was 29, and he felt like he should know some intimate date spots in his back pocket, but he didn’t.
The next night in bed, with no real date plans, he texted her anyway.
–Hey, this is Edward.
After a moment, she responded.
–Hey, Edward.
–Eddie. You know from the party.
–Yes… I know Eddie. What’s up?
He covered his eyes, ashamed of his own awkwardness. He’s never felt so lame.
Text bubbles appeared.
–So where are we going?
His eyes widened. “Shit,” he muttered.
–What’s your favorite restaurant? he typed quickly.
He silently prayed it wasn’t something out of his budget.
–Do you know Trattoria Delicio?
–On 59th? Yeah, that’s cool. Let’s go!
It wasn’t a terribly expensive Italian restaurant. It was a step above Olive Garden and a half step below the Cheesecake Factory. It was a place you’d want to put your best shirt on for. They set the date for the following weekend.
The days leading up to it, they texted quite often. Asking about each other's day and finding things in common. Sharing what they’ve been watching on TV lately. Discovering that they listened to a lot of the same music. Eddie had a more underground taste. Most of the links he sent her were from Soundcloud, and some weren’t all too good, she had to admit.
They didn’t get super personal, though. Just the basics, like their ages. Marli had just turned 26 in August. Since Marli knew what he did for work, he learned that she was a hair stylist. The details of each, they waited until they were face-to-face.
“Are you really meeting him up?” Reina asked.
Marli gathered her things from work space and tossed her tote over her shoulder. “Yeah.”
“Have you looked up his criminal record?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Seriously! You don’t think a guy who looks like that doesn’t have a past?”
“It’s a date. One date. I’m not marrying the guy.”
She shook her head. “Share your location with me at least.”
“Oh, my god, Reina. Chill?” she groaned.
“You don’t know him, Marli.”
“That’s the whole reason for the date. To get to know him. Can I just have this? I haven’t gone on a date in forever! I know you mean well, I do. If it doesn’t work out, then so what?”
She pressed her lips together, obviously she still didn’t approve. Marli shared her location to placate her then.
Eddie checked himself out in the bathroom mirror before leaving. He wore a grey flannel, dark work pants, and hi-top Vans. He ran some pomade through his hair and exhaled loudly as he felt nerves creeping up. He had never remembered caring this much. Any girl he had been with always seemed more into him than he was, so he hardly put in the effort he was making now.
It was five minutes past 7 o’clock when he arrived. He was late, and dread actually washed over him. He could be chronically late, and to his detriment, he could be overly blasé about it. So the dread he felt was rare. To his relief, though, it was Marli who showed up late. Five minutes after he arrived.
“I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t be, don’t be,” he said, giving her a half-hug.
He smelled so good when he gave her a half-hug. Fresh and heady. He gave her a dimpled smile when she complimented it.
She looked stunning. Her hair was in a perfect blowout, and her dark lashes were softly curled. In the evening light, he could see the amber and honey tones in her light brown eyes. When they were seated at a booth, he enjoyed how her boobs in her Bardot top rested nicely on the table top, too.
“Have you been here before?” She asked, picking up a menu.
“Ah, no, actually,” he said truthfully. “My coworker told me it’s good, though.”
She softly smiled. “Talkin’ about me with your coworkers?”
“I had to tell someone. You’re a stranger.”
She scoffed. “Really now?”
“Like you hadn’t,” he boldly called her out.
“Hmm. Maybe. What are you having?”
He finally took a look at his menu, realizing he’d just been staring at her before then. There were dinner specials advertised of an entree with a choice of soup or house salad for a fair price.
“Uhm,” he rubbed his lips together as he made a decision. “This lasagna looks good.”
“Where do you see that?”
He flipped his menu toward her.
“Oh! Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll get the chicken alfredo, though. Are you getting the soup or salad?”
He lightly chuckled.
“What?”
“I’m not having fucking soup on our first date.”
She giggled. “Smart. That’s a huge red fucking flag.”
Once the waiter took their order, he placed a basket of sourdough rolls and garlic basil butter between them.
“I remember you saying you’re between jobs or something?” she asked, buttering a piece.
“Thanks,” he quickly said when the waiter swung back around with their salad. “Um, technically, I am not anymore. I’ve finally got a callback from that new warehouse on Council—better pay. I start this Monday.”
“Oh, congrats! I hope it goes well.”
“Thanks.”
When Eddie picked up his fork, she couldn’t help but stare at his large, tattooed hand. She also noticed how clean his nail beds were. The callouses on his palm made it clear he worked with them, but somehow they still looked soft. “Can I ask something?”
“Sure, yeah,” he said, wiping his mouth after a bite.
“Who bleached your hair?”
“Uh…” he bashfully laughed. “Me.”
She smirked, spearing lettuce.
“Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Mhm. Your hair is so pretty. I should have known you were uh, uh—”
“A hair stylist?” she added, mid-chew.
“Yeah, I knew that, sorry,” he said, nervously running a sweaty palm over his pants underneath the table.
“No, it’s cool. My salon is a few blocks away from here—”
“Your salon?”
“Well, not my salon, no. Maybe one day, though.”
Eddie smiled. “How long have you been a stylist?”
“I started cosmetology school during high school. I worked at a salon in Forester straight out. Eventually, I specialized in fashion colors there. But um, I moved back here over a year and a half ago now. The salon I work at now is more… upscale, you could say.”
“Do you like it?”
She shrugged with an indifferent smile. “Eh, better pay.”
“Right, yeah.”
“Have you been a mechanic for a while?”
“Almost hitting a year.” In fact, it was the longest he had held a job.
“So you’re into cars then?”
“Into them?” he smirked. “I mean like them, yeah. Only as a hobby, but uhm… work is work.”
“Yeah, totally,” she nodded. “It can be like that sometimes. Even for me.”
“I’ve kinda had odd jobs,” he admitted. “I once had a job as a cook at a nursing home, until I got a job at Waffle House—“
Her brows shot up excitedly. “Have you ever had fights on your shift?”
“Nah, I missed out,” he laughed. “I only got to see the aftermath coming to my 6am shifts. But I’ve had to help kick out some drunk stranglers, every now and then.”
“No World Star shit for you then. So what else?”
“Uhm, one summer kicked my ass when I did roofing. I did landscaping with my cousin for a bit before, too. Sometimes I’ll log into Uber Eats and do deliveries for some extra cash. But, uh, yeah. Just to name a few,” he shrugged.
“So you’re good with your hands? I like that.”
She was being completely earnest, but he felt his cheeks warm hearing her say something borderline suggestive.
Their food arrived shortly after that, and they happily dug in. Marli even asked if he’d like a bite off her plate, and he offered his in return.
“Get a piece of chicken, too,” she encouraged him.
He felt himself beginning to relax. She was disarming in a way he wasn’t used to. She didn’t seem stuck up or too uppity like he initially assumed. He felt bad for thinking that, but she looked well put together and well groomed. He was used to being looked down on by people like that. Constantly being underestimated could really make you believe it was true.
Being on this first date with Marli, for once, he didn’t feel judged. Well, she sort of judged his hair; he caught that. But he was dealing with a professional, he’ll let it slide.
“You from here?” He asked, as he helped put her leftovers in a styrofoam togo box for her.
“Yeah. You?”
He nodded. “Born and raised.”
“Technically, I moved here when I was eight. I was born in Florida. My parents met on spring break in Daytona, but they’re both from here.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, you remember watching MTV Spring Break in the 90s?”
“They were on it?”
“No, but they were somewhere in that crowd.”
“No shit? They sound fun,” he said, swiping his card in the table kiosk. Thankfully, he had a little money left from what he had budgeted for the date. She wasn’t a cheap date by any means, but he noticed she was very considerate in the way she ordered.
“Eh, they were at least,” she muttered, grabbing her clutch.
Eddie glanced at her as he scribbled his signature in the card kiosk, trying to read her expression after the remark, but it fell neutral.
As they walked out of the restaurant, he held her to-go box as they walked slowly toward the parking lot down the block.
“You parked this way, right?” Eddie asked.
“Yeah.”
“Cool.”
Suddenly, he took her hand in his, leading the way. Just as she suspected, his tattooed hands were soft for a jack of all trades. She also noticed how her hand practically disappeared in his, too. Just being in his big presence, she felt an overwhelming sense of safety.
“Thanks for dinner,” she said as they neared her car. “I had fun.”
Eddie smiled. “Me too. To be straight up with you, it’s been a long time since I’ve been out like this.”
“Is that what you tell all the girls?” she playfully asked, but she secretly wondered.
“If there were any—they wish.”
They stopped at the driver's side of her car, and he slightly cringed, remembering the state of her brakes. It was a hazard on the road. A death trap, even. He placed her togo box on the roof of her car and looked down at her.
“So… Can I see you again—”
“Yeah,” she blurted, and then bashfully laughed.
His chest warmed, especially when she stared at the tip of his tongue brushing across his bottom lips. He didn’t ask this time. Instead, he cradled her head and heard the soft hitch of her breath as he leaned in for a kiss. Lips pillowy soft as they moved against each other. It wasn’t a timid schoolyard kiss, but one full of palpable tension finally breaking away as they gave into what they both had been thinking of.
“Oh my god,” Marli whispered when he pulled away.
She hadn’t felt something so real, maybe ever in her life. She pulled on him for more, unabashedly making out with him now in the dark parking lot. Just before she could get fully lost in it, she pulled away, reeling herself back in.
Eddie shyly rubbed his lips together, feeling them glide against each other from a mix of saliva and lip gloss. He hoped she would ask him to go home with her. His dick was practically pleading.
“I’ll text you when I get home…”
He swallowed. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, okay.”
“Thank you, again.”
“Mhm. Maybe we can link sooner rather than later?”
“Set it up.”
“I will,” he smiled.
Before she ducked into the driver's seat, he stole a kiss from her and shut her door.
“Oh my, fuck,” she said, under her breath, when she felt her panties dampen as she sat down.
The chemistry between them was certainly there from the start; she was just taken aback that it was so explosive. She could almost cry. Until now, she hadn’t realized she had been so deprived. He felt like a cool drink of water in the desert.
Eddie waved at her as she backed out of her parking space, and his brows shot up at the awful screech of her brakes. “God damn, girl,” he shook his head, taking a hit of his vape, as she drove away.
He caught himself touching his lips. His feelings were everywhere. He felt happy? For a long time, he had just been going through the motions. Tonight, it felt like seeing land in the distance after years of treading water and trying not to drown.
Tsuki made me bleed for the first time just now and it's because I was wiping her poopy butt
imitation isn't flattery, it's just annoyin' me
frankie: can you tell me about guy's red lantern arc
me: *sends long as fuck essays regarding the arc AND how it ties around guy's character*