"Are you sure you can't go?" Riley asked, her fingers hooked into the front belt loops of her husband's blue jeans. "Just picture it. Me on the dance floor, shaking my ass all alone while sex-starved men circle like animals. I'll be all alone. Helpless. Vulnerable. Out there twerking my booty, unaware of the approaching predators."
"Oh please, David Attenborough," Carter laughed. He pressed the palm of his hand against her cheek and she gently nuzzled back against him before he traced a finger up and over her ear. "You'll have Zoey and Brooklyn there with you and I trust you more than I'd trust Mr. Rogers. Even with you out there, dazzling the crowd."
Riley smiled up at her husband, thrilled by his compliment. Her loose curly braid brushed her bare back as she pulled her husband close. Despite her long legs, she had to go to her tiptoes to kiss her husband. She allowed him a quick kiss in return before laughing and spinning away, her braid twirling out. Stopping mid-spin, she pushed against him with her back bent, grinding against his crotch.
"Mmm," she teased, turning her narrow jaw to the side to smile at him. Raising and lowering her hips, she could feel him growing hard against her ass. His rough, large hands grabbed at her sides and she lowered her head in pleasure as his fingers dug into her skin. "But look at what you'll be missing."
Suddenly, he reared back to slap her ass playfully. She yelped but turned back to him to kiss him quickly, her breath hot on his cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Any more of that and I'll stay home with you instead," she whispered in his ear. His hands roamed her back before reaching down to grab her toned ass. She sighed, pressing harder against him as she felt his cock against her stomach.
With another quick kiss, he gently pushed her away.
"I gotta get ready, babe," he told her, leaning down to kiss her again.
"I know," she told him. "It's just that we'd had the night planned out and I was looking forward to dancing with you. It won't be the same with just the girls. Brooklyn will be a mess since she just broke up with Greg and Zoey's still in that gross 'I love you so much, snookie-wookums' phase with her boyfriend. I'll have to guard Brooklyn all night so she doesn't go home with the first douchebag to call her pretty. And not drinking since you won't be there to carry me home."
"You've got this," he told her as he walked from the living room to their bedroom. She followed behind, already dreading the evening. "And I'll make it up to you tomorrow night. I already told Justin that he owes me."
She sat on the edge of their bed, palms flat on their comforter while swinging her feet slowly back and forth. The soft carpet brushed her toes while she watched her husband change from his casual "home clothes" to his work clothes. He managed the warehouse at a local packing company but the night shift supervisor had called out when his wife suddenly went into labor three weeks early.
After almost ten years of marriage, she still loved him deeply and she smiled at his strong back when he pulled his t-shirt off. She knew she should start getting ready but without her husband joining her, she had extra time. She didn't need to put on as much makeup as she'd planned if he wasn't there to admire her. No need to dazzle anyone else or give anyone an extra excuse to hit on her. She would've canceled and stayed home if she hadn't already promised to meet her friends there.
She watched him, both of them comfortable in their shared silence as he finished getting ready.
"Kiss me goodbye?" he asked.
"Always," she told him with a smile, taking his hand while he led her to the front door. She waited patiently as he shoved his feet into his work boots and then lay her fingers in his hands when he turned to her. She started to rise to kiss him but he bent down first. Their lips met and she melted against him as his mouth opened to her. His short stubble scratched her face but she loved the feel of it against her smooth, dark skin.
"Bye, babe," he told her with a fond look. He brushed her cheek with his thumb and she kissed his fingers. "Be safe."
"Always," she told him again while he unlocked the door. "
You
be safe out there. I'll see you when you're home."
The door closed and she sighed before locking the deadbolt.
"Now," she asked herself quietly, scanning the room with her eyes narrowed. "Where did I put my phone?"
She could almost hear her husband's exasperated sigh as she dug around cushions and on the various counters around their home. He always put everything in the same place and it drove him wild that she couldn't do the same thing. Yet he somehow seemed to know exactly where she'd left her purse or keys or phone. She knew he took malicious pleasure in watching her search before finally telling her where she'd left them.
This time she found her phone in the bathroom. She woke it and texted Brooklyn to ask if she still wanted to go out dancing, hoping the girl would want to cancel.
Yes. And I'm already pre-gaming,
came the reply.
Riley shook her head with a grimace. Just as she lay her phone down, it beeped again and she woke it.
That asshole posted an update on Facebook and some bitch liked the post,
the new text read.
"Oh god," Riley said, holding her phone against her stomach. The phone vibrated against her once, twice and then a third time but she lay it on her dresser without looking. It beeped and vibrated a fourth time but she knew her friend would just be venting.
Ignoring the sporadic beeping of her phone, Riley told her smart speaker to play her dancing playlist. She sang along to the music as she twirled in her room until she went to her closet to pull out her clothes. She nodded and sang and stepped lightly as she picked out a thin black dress that ended just above her knees. Laying the dress down on the bed, she dug through her dresser to find matching panties and bra.
When her phone buzzed again, she sighed and glanced at her messages to see a block of text from Brooklyn ranting about how her ex boyfriend had probably cheated on her. Their breakup was recent and she'd calm eventually but the pain was too raw for her and she always kept her emotions on the surface.
Putting her phone away, she stripped, turning to the side in front of her vanity mirror with her hand pressed against her belly. She had a tiny paunch and a little extra fat on her hips that she pretended didn't bother her but it did and she'd recently decided to take some spin and Zumba classes at the local gym. Still, she smiled at herself as she turned, lifting her breasts and checking her hair before grabbing her underclothes.
Riley's phone beeped several more times as she dressed but she ignored it as she made her way to the bathroom. The right side (and most of the middle and left, she admitted) of the bathroom sink was full of the various products she used. She grabbed her articulating mirror and sat before it. Carter grumbled occasionally at how her things gave little room for him but her doe eyes, long, slowly blinking lashes and innocent face usually made him forgive her.
Plus,
she told herself as she touched up her face expertly.
All he has is a toothbrush and a razor. He doesn't even need all that space.
Once she was satisfied with the bit of makeup she added, she stood and looked over herself a final time.
"Carter's loss," she told her reflection. "But I'll look even better for him tomorrow night."
