Page 20 of Deeper

Rylan

“You left him there? Seriously?” Tatum gawks at me.

I’m momentarily distracted by her headband, which has cat ears on it. We sit at our regular coffee shop. The look of shock on her face is priceless. I called her, ready to burst, wanting to talk about Callen. Energy flows through my veins like a current.

Between the kiss Callen and I shared and our conversation after he caught me in East Rock Park yesterday, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about being with him.

“Yes, seriously. I’m a girl who likes sex; it doesn’t mean I’m an object. There are men who view sexual women as less than, as targets. I’m neither. I’m a sexually curious woman who is in charge of my experiences.”

A bird. I’m spreading my wings and flying free above the ground.

“So, what happens at the club tomorrow night?”

“Whatever he wants to happen. There is nothing that man could do to me to make me use my safe word.”

“What’s your safe word?”

“Apples.”

Blush flushes over Tatum’s cheeks, and I burst out laughing. She gives me a shy smile that causes me to want to make her blush over and over again. We’ll find her inner kinky girl, and I’ll enjoy every second of her journey. She just needs to figure out what she wants to try next.

“I’m going to make you an apple pie this summer. Connecticut has great apples, and I’m a really good baker. I won a contest at a fall festival when I was in college. You’ll love my pie.” She’s nervous and awkwardly rambling.

I can’t resist. I just can’t. I can’t let the pun go.

“Tatum, I’ve already sampled your pie, and there is no doubt it would win contests.”

Her mouth drops when she realizes what she said. I love the innocent reactions from her. I still can’t believe she’s the same girl who did all the things she admitted to in our anger management sessions. Although I wouldn’t have guessed her fantasy was to fuck a woman up against a wall with a strap-on, but she definitely did that.

“Pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and apples are members of the rose family of plants, and the science of growing them is called pomology. Most people use about two pounds of apples to make a pie, but I use three. Apples—”

“Tatum, you’re vomiting words. I’m not even going to ask why you have all that useless knowledge about fruit inside your head. Let’s move on before you have an aneurysm.”

“Right, sorry. Awkward habits die hard.”

“So, do you want to come to the club tomorrow, too?”

Tea spews from Tatum’s nose. Ouch, that had to burn. I hand her a napkin.

“You want me to join you and him? In a room? For sex?” she frantically spits the words out while she swipes the napkin over her mouth.

I can’t help but giggle. I wasn’t even trying for a reaction that time.

“No, not to join us! Tomorrow is just for me. I just meant, do you want to go back to the club, explore a little on your own?”

“Oh, right.” Embarrassment manifests on her face. “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay, well, I think you should. You’ll have fun.” I drain the last of the few precious drops of coffee from my cup.

“Rylan, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, anything.”

“When you told me about your dad…”

Tatum didn’t ask many questions when I opened up to her the last time we were at this coffee shop. I guess she’s had something on the tip of her tongue since then.

“I sensed there was more to the story, and you seem guarded, maybe even closed off, whenever you mention your mom. What happened between you and her?”

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