Page 40 of Rousing Renee

“Did you think I made it in life by following the rules? Pssh!” She weakly waved me off, and we both laughed at her joke.

“How are you feeling?”

“Used, Sir. Beautifully used.”

“Mhm. Fucking perfect. When you’re all the way back with me, I need to check you. I found a bit of blood on the condom.”

“Bleh. Well, at least she gave me today to enjoy you.” Her smile didn’t waver.

“Yeah. It’s nothing heavy. I bet we could go another round before she starts flowing,” I offered.

“Not afraid of swimming in the Red Sea?”

“Water is water, no matter the name or the color of it.”

“Mmm… good to know. Because on day three, I’m usually trying to hump everything in sight.”

“Noted. I’ll get more condoms.”

“A man after my own heart,” she feigned.

“I am. The rest of you, too.”

“Ezra… you said slow.”

“Yeah, I know.” I sighed. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like I know where this is going. I feel it in my gut.” I rolled over, lying beside her. She curled against my side, and I held her in place.

Renee nodded but didn’t say anything. I knew it seemed intense, and I didn’t know what to do about that. I was blown away by this, too.

“Do you think it’s over between you and Tammy?” Renee asked.

“I know it’s over.”

“Then why did she show up here?”

“Because she still thinks that she can win me over.”

“Can she?”

“No.”

“What if she’s pregnant?” she asks.

I could feel her eyes assessing my response.

“Then we’ll figure out how to co-parent. Though she doesn’t want children, so talking her out of custody should be easy.”

“Not everything works out the way we think it will. She was persistent, and that makes me assume she’s not finished with you. I know Tammy and she’ll do whatever she needs to in order to get what she wants. She’s dedicated to her causes that way.”

“What she wants has nothing to do with what I want. She can keep her sick ideas in her head. My decision was made long before you were a factor. She chose today to come because she must’ve seen the email that Kelly sent out, letting people know about the course being here this year. Nobody else knows where I am and Kelly hates her and would never give out that information.”

“Okay. I don’t know what else to say other than, I don’t like it.”

“Trust me, I hated every part of her being here. I can forgive a lot of things, but not lies. She had so many years to tell me the truth. She chose violence.”

“How is that violent?”

“To be completely honest, I was very much in love with her. I was mostly happy. The missing element was the factor of children. However, learning that she pretended to be everything I needed in order to keep me is crazy. I can’t sit here and ever say that I knew her because there’s so much of it is a huge lie. I could never go back to a situation like that.”

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