Page 72 of Impending Consent

Rival snorted. “He’s gonna fucking sue but I don’t care.”

I sighed. “He won’t.”

When he glared at me, I added.\, “I know things about him that could ruin him and he cares more about his reputation than suing you. I will make that very clear…”

“Nah, you ain’t saying shit to that muthafucker. If he wants to sue, let him.”

“Rival.”

The look he gave me had my thoughts scrambled and pussy thumping. I loved Bossy Rival. “Fine, I’ll let Sky communicate to him how this will play out, but that will definitely happen because the last thing you need is to be caught up in more of my bullshit. My past doesn’t need to be your present.”

“It already is, but when I married you, I married all of you, Sail.” I stared at him, completely thrown by the edge in his voice. This wasn't the patient and measured man I had been living with for the past week. My husband was showing his protective instincts that were dangerously close to possessive and I liked this side of him too.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I noticed we weren't heading home.

"I need to clear my damn head. I’m going to walk this shit off because I don’t want to take it home with us. Ponce City Market okay with you?"

I nodded, relieved that he still wanted to spend the day with me. It took us about forty minutes to get there. We parked, and even though I could still feel the tension from our ruined brunch, Rival held my hand as we walked through the building. We didn’t talk but he was there and that was enough. I followedRival through the food hall and into the retail section, where we moved from store to store, barely looking at anything.

After about an hour of this I was over the silence. So when we entered a home goods store, I tugged him to a secluded corner near some throw pillows.

"Are we going to talk about what happened or are you going to keep ignoring me all day?"

His eyes met mine and the anger was still there, but I refused to be a coward, so I stood my ground and waited.

"What the fuck do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say whatever you need to so we can move past this."

"We’re past it.”

"No we’re not.”

He raked a hand over his head. "He was deliberately trying to humiliate you and he disrespected both of us. I didn’t like that shit so I dealt with it."

“I’m going to say this and you’re not going to like it but it has to be addressed.” His eyes narrowed but I kept going. “My past is my past but I have a pretty extensive past. What happened today could happen again. What are you going to do? Fight every man that disrespects me?”

He smiled arrogantly. “My hands are nice, Sail, and I don’t have a problem using them.”

“Rival…”

“It is what it is. That shit will not fly, ever.” I opened my mouth to argue but he shut me down. “And don’t you say shit about being able to handle yourself. Just because you can doesn't mean you should."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. “I felt how that made you feel and trust when I say I feel things too.”

"Feel what, exactly?"

"Protective. Possessive. Jealous. Take your pick." He brushed his mouth over mine.

"We're not a real couple," I reminded him but the words didn’t hold any depth, which had me smiling.

"We live together. We sleep together. This morning, you were in my bed and I was in your pussy while you said my name like it was the only word you knew. We’re real, Sail."

"That's just sex."

"Was it?”

"Are you saying it’s not?"

---