Page 86 of Surrender
“I know. I’m out of town this weekend, but Elias and I sent you something with Christa, so be sure to get it from her.”
“I will. How’s the shop doing?” Dallis questioned.
“I have more appointments than I know what to do with most of the time.”
“Well, I might be your way soon to get a tattoo of my own.”
“You let me know when.”
The two men spoke until Dallis pulled onto Colbie’s street, and he told Marco he had to go but that he would talk to him later. The other man congratulated him once again, and the two hung up.
He pulled in behind her car, grabbed the smoothie, and made his way to the front door. He used what he’d dubbed his key to let himself in. Since giving it to him several weeks ago, Colbie hadn’t asked for it back.
She wasn’t in the living room or kitchen when he entered. Dallis locked the front door, placing his keys on the table beside it before going down the hall to her bedroom. He found her there, stepping out of the dress she’d worn to graduation as it fell to the floor.
Dallis leaned against the doorframe and watched as she bent over to pick it up before placing it in the hamper. When she turned to go to her dresser, she saw him standing there, and Dallis looked her over. His eyes traveled over her blue lace-covered breast before dipping down past her exposed stomach to the lace boy shorts she wore.
“I can see what you’re thinking,” Colbie stated.
“Can you now?” Dallis questioned, pushing off the door frame and making his way toward her.
“I can, and you’ll have to behave until later.”
Dallis leaned down and kissed her, his free hand resting on her waist. “I suppose I can wait a few hours.”
He held out the smoothie and straw toward her, and Colbie thanked him, taking it from him. She placed it on the dresser before pulling out a pair of dark-washed shorts, a purple shirt knotted on the side, and a pair of socks.
As she got dressed, Dallis placed the straw in the smoothie for her, took the wrapper, and threw it in the bathroom trash. When he came back out, Colbie was standing up from the bed. She grabbed her smoothie, and Dallis followed her out of the bedroom.
They entered the living room, sitting on the couch, and Colbie placed her legs over his lap as he picked up the remote and turned on the television. Dallis didn’t care what they watched. It would only serve to kill time.
He’d thought he’d be arriving at Colbie’s house a bit later, having every intention of seeing Max after graduation. But, to his dismay, when Max’s name was called, he hadn’t been there to receive his diploma. Dallis was a bit surprised Max was able to come up with the grades needed during his extended weeks to graduate, but he was happy about it because he had intentions of beating his ass for touching his girlfriend.
However, since he hadn’t shown up, Dallis hadn’t been able to make good on the promise he’d made to himself. He wasn’t too worried about it; he knew that at some point, he would see Max out and about, and Max wouldn’t like it when he did.
Dallis never thought of himself as one to hold a grudge. That was until he started dating Colbie. Now he found himself having two because Will was not safe either. If he ever dared to show up at Colbie’s house again or if he just caught him around town.
“I told Mrs. Coe I would ask you out now that you weren’t my teacher.”
Colbie turned her attention from the television to look at him. “What did she say?”
“That what we did now was none of their business and that she suspected I had a crush.”
Colbie nodded as she took a drink of her smoothie, and Dallis was glad she wasn’t upset. He’d only decided to tell Mrs. Coe the night before because he in no way wanted Colbie’s job to be at risk, and to his way of thinking, if he’d informed them he was going to ask her out, it would look less suspicious, not that he cared what they thought as long as her job was safe.
“Speaking of dating, I’ve decided to invite my family down for the second weekend of June. I’m going to host a cookout, and I’d like to invite your parents to come, just in case we need some support,” Colbie informed him.
“I’m sure they’ll be happy to come, baby. I don’t think things will get out of hand, and if they do, then we can disburse the gathering and end it,” Dallis responded because the last thing he would allow was for Colbie to be upset or made to feel bad about their relationship.
Dallis placed the remote down, settling on some crime show he knew Colbie liked before leaning back into the couch cushion and lazily rubbing her feet. He didn’t mind killing a couple of hours this way before they needed to leave for the gathering.
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Colbie pressed her lips together to keep from laughing at the scene in front of her. If she’d thought Dylan, Dallis’ dad was bad; she was coming to see that he wasn’t near as bad as Dallis’ uncle Blayze. For the past ten minutes, she’d watched Yani remove his hands from her thigh several times before she’d turned and threatened him.
“I’m going to remember this tonight,” Blayze told her before smirking and rising from his chair, throwing a wink at Colbie and making his way over to where Arsyn, who she’d been introduced to, and Dylan, who were on what Colbie was sure was their fourth plates.
“I swear that man is a hand full,” Yani stated, shaking her head before taking a sip from her lemonade.
