Page 15 of Duped

Chapter Seven

Tarek:I’m not coming home again tonight.

Salem:LOL! Why do you keep telling me? At this point, I’ll just assume you’re not coming home and be pleasantly surprised to see you whenever you do.

Tarek:Fair. Love you.

Salem:I love you too. The boys say they miss you.

Tarek:I miss them too.

Portland:I’m in the car. Meetings ran late today. I’ll be home as soon as I can.

Tarek:It’s fine. I ran home and grabbed some more clothes, so I’m just getting back. I can’t wait to see you, though.

Portland:Same. It was a long day.What else did you do?

Tarek:I worked on my book. It’s gotten almost long enough to publish. I’m going to be brave and follow your advice to do the indie thing.

Portland:Good. You can do anything you set your mind to. I’m proud of you.

Tarek:I’m not sure how these cooking lessons are going. You get to be my guinea pig.

Portland:I’m sure it’ll be great. If not, you’ve only been at it a month. I believe in you.

Tarek:Thanks. I don’t. LOL! I just want to make you happy.

Portland:By cooking? Baby, I can hire a chef and you can relax all day. That’s what I want anyhow.

Tarek:Hmm. We’ll see if you say the same once you’re eating my delicious food.

Tarek:That chef you hired won’t let me in the kitchen.

Portland:Angel, you almost burned down the house.

Tarek: *pouting*

Portland:Don’t worry. If you’re bored, I’ll be home soon. I have something I want to talk to you about. Also, I paid for that kitchen. Go in if you want.

Tarek:Holy anxiety. Don’t you know you’re not supposed to tell people you have something to talk to them about later with no context?

Portland:I promise it’s nothing bad. Did you get to see Salem today?

Tarek:Unfortunately, no. He wasn’t there when I went home to grab more stuff.

Portland:Do you have anything left over there?

Tarek:A little. I can take some stuff home, if you’d rather I didn’t keep so much here.

Tarek chewed the side of his thumbnail, waiting for Portland to get home. While Portland claimed what they needed to talk about wasn’t bad, he also hadn’t responded to Tarek asking if he should take his things home. He kind of wanted to pack his stuff just to be safe. The last thing Tarek wanted was to be forced to gather his belongings while Portland watched. He had known four months together wasn’t enough for them to be living together yet. Technically, he didn’t live here. Tarek just spent every night and needed his things. It was easier to keep them here. His shoulders fell. He shouldn’t have brought so much. It would take him forever to gather everything and likely more than one trip to get it all home.

Warm lips touched the back of his neck.

Tarek’s eyes closed as he savored Portland’s touch.

“Why are you sitting in the kitchen chewing your nails?”

He released a slow breath as chill bumps formed on his skin. Tarek loved having his neck kissed. “You didn’t answer my last text.” His voice came out sounding breathless. Tarek never got enough of Portland’s touch.

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