Page 82 of Impending Consent

It was Friday night, and for the first time in weeks, I was back in my own apartment. Skylar begged for a girls' night but I was game so she didn’t have to push much. Jenna was watching Skylynn, giving Sky a rare evening of freedom and she wasted no time organizing things with Indi and me.

"But for real though, how's it going? We need all the dirt." Indi followed my motion, bringing her legs up and tucking them beneath her on my sofa. "You’re married to and living with a man you barely know. A fine ass man, might I add, but still a stranger."

"It's not what I expected."

"Meaning?" Skylar demanded.

"Meaning it's actually kind of nice?" They both looked at me like I grew a second head. “Don't look at me like that."

"Nice how?" Indi grinned.

"He's just present in all the ways that matter." I struggled to articulate what had been developing between us. "He pays attention. Remembers things I mention once and acts on them later. Makes space for me in his life without expecting me to change who I am."

“So he’s a real husband. Imagine that.” Indi laughed, shaking her head.

"And the sex? Because that's half the reason this whole situation exists."

"Sky!" Indi laughed, though she looked just as curious.

“What? I want to know if she married that man to get the dick and the dick didn’t live up to the hype.”

“It lived up to the hype,” I cut in and both of them grinned big as hell.

“Okay then, continue to live up to the hype or that would be pretty messed up.” Sky shrugged.

"The sex is exceptional. You can relax. Definitely worth the name change." I lifted my glass and my pussy thumped in agreement considering the way Rival had fucked me right before I left the house because he was going to miss me.

"Damn, sis!" Skylar touched her glass against mine. "Got good dick and a good man."

"It's not just that it's good, though. It's different. More connected."

"That's what happens when you actually care about the person you're sleeping with," Indi said pointedly. "Sex hits different."

"I wouldn't know. This is new territory for me."

"And how are you handling that?" Indi asked. "You've always been more comfortable keeping people on the outside."

I sighed, sinking deeper into the sofa. "At first, terribly, in true Sailor fashion.”

“Imagine that,” Sky teased and I shot her a bird.

“I wasn’t that bad.”

“Then what’s true Sailor fashion?” Indi arched her brow.

“I kept waiting for the claustrophobia to set in. That feeling like I needed to run but it never really came…”

Sky slowly raised her brow and I groaned. “Okay, maybe it came, but when it did the moment passed quickly."

"Progress." Skylar nodded approvingly.

"Maybe. Or maybe I just know there's an expiration date, which makes it easier to relax into things because they’re temporary."

That was what I kept telling myself even if I knew the truth. I liked being married to Rival. I like the way I felt with him and around him which was the problem because if he decided this no longer worked, I would be devastated. So keeping my distance was the easiest way to protect myself.

"Girl, please." Skylar rolled her eyes. "You really think you're walking away when the year is up? The way you talk about him?"

"I don't know what I'm doing.” The wine loosened my resolve. "That's the honest truth. I just know that right now, it's working, and I'm trying not to overthink it."

---