Mister Distraction (Distraction #2) (24 page)

“Great,” I said with a sigh, but then smiled because the idea of being in love with Katarina somehow made sense. “What else do you have?” My paranoia was somewhat relieved. Yesterday, I was so sure of myself, but today I felt like the one taking orders, the sub. If love is what I felt, then she had more control in this than I did, which was frightening.

“I hate to say this, Brother, but you love her.” Her voice was squeaky, and her eyes began fluttering.

“Why do you say you hate to say it, when clearly, saying it brings you so much pleasure?”

She bumped my arm with her shoulder, and her smile brightened.

“What should I do? If I do, you know, L-word her?” I found her high school attitude about love entertaining. She was twirling her hair and grinning like a fool, head tilted to the side, and she was peeking at me out of the corner of her almond shaped eyes.

“Well, it sounds like you want my expert advice.” I glanced at the door and observed Jasmine opening it, now wearing braids. Jessica paused and swept her up.

“Who did your pretty hair, sweetheart?” Jessica’s voice started to fade as I entered the house, padding quietly toward the front rooms.

I heard Katarina’s voice, but couldn’t see her. My legs moved towards the front door, and I watched her kneeling to talk with my
nephew. She had her keys and phone in her hands. She was on her way out. I stopped, feeling like I hit a brick wall, and just stared. You know the whole saying, ‘If you love something, set it free’? I think this was that kind of moment. Jack was happy with whatever she was saying, but all I could think about was how she would be with our kids. I squeezed my eyes shut trying to clear that thought. Jack took off running, and Katarina stood up and glanced right at me. The broken look in her eyes when she saw me was when I knew, I knew the saying was bullshit.
How could I let her go? Why would I set her free?

I crossed my arms over my chest, holding my dominant pose, the pose that silently instructed her to bow before me. “Are you going somewhere?” It didn’t work. She planted her hand on her hip and stuck her chin up defiantly.

“Oh, I guess I should have said ‘thank you’ before I left.” She spat her words out. She was angry with me.
What the heck? Was she regretting everything we did? Did I hurt her?
“I thought I could sneak out so you could spend some time with your kids.” My eyes followed her flailing hands towards the door where my sister stood with my niece and nephew, all watching the show between us. I still didn’t understand why she would leave.
Did she not like the thought of me having children with someone else?

“You think they are my kids?” Her beautiful head nodded. “You thought she was mine and you braided her hair?” I struggled with the need to stalk over to her and hold her tiny body to mine. She explained that the little girl looked just like me, and Jack liked to play with his truck, insinuating that his truck was equivalent to my penis, which I found both cute and funny. Then she ousted herself for wanting to leave without being noticed, and I felt physically ill.

“Is that what you’re doing? Are you ashamed of what we did?” My world was crumbling again. I believed I could read women extremely well, and I wholeheartedly thought she was into me. How could I have been so far off? How could I have felt what I felt for her, while she felt nothing?

“No, I thought
you
were. You said ‘thank you’ and left. You just left. I thought you had conquered me and I was dismissed.” I grew up with two sisters and a mom, but I had never witnessed firsthand actually
being being
the asshole. The asshole, according to my sisters, was clueless, a complete jackass who took them for granted, and said selfish things for no other reason than they were male and caught up in their own needs. Of course, women were pissed at me on a daily basis, but I was truly a dick to those girls. It didn’t matter if they hated me. I shook my head, clearing all thoughts except for why she was hurt and how I could fix it.

I said ‘thank you’, and that’s what broke her spirit. I treaded slowly towards her, not wanting to scare her, but when I was within her scent-range, I pulled her into me to get a better smell. Her scent was calming, but had my heart pounding rapidly. I kissed the top of her head.
Why didn’t she know how I felt about her?
I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry for that.” I inhaled her again and kissed her head. “You thought these were my kids, and you were nice to them?” I knew she didn’t want children, but she was a natural around them.

“Yes,” she whispered into my chest. “I think you’d make beautiful babies. Of course, I would love them.” It was in that moment that my heart was officially hers for the taking. I held her tight, wanting to actually be under her skin, just like she was under mine. “Thank you for this beauty,” I whispered to any spiritual being that was listening. I took one more breath before stepping back to introduce my sister.

“These are my sister’s kids; the little girl is Jasmine, and the truck player is Jack. This is my sister Jessica.” Jessica threw me a wink and a half-smile before placing her hand in front of Katarina. I observed the two women. Katarina blushed slightly, and a shy smile played on her face. Jessica’s face held a goofy grin, like she was anxious to share my love secret. Jack reached up, snatching Katarina’s hand and pulling her down to the floor again.

I tugged on Jessie’s hair, and she smiled and winked at me. I held my index finger to my lips, trying to signal her to be quiet, but she just shrugged. It irritated me when girls shrugged. Why do they do it? They might as well punch me in the stomach. It made me mad just the same.

Katarina stood up and exchanged words with Jessie. I stepped out of the room when my cell phone started to ring. I watched them whispering to each other, and I hoped my sister wouldn’t say something that would have Katarina sprinting for the door.

“Hey, Jason. Basketball. One hour. Be there, or be square.”

“What? Who talks like that? Listen, you rat bastard, I can’t make it today.”

“Whoever it is, you pledged your loyalty to me first, and I really need a game. There is shit going on at work, and I need something to take my mind off it. So blow off what’s-her-face and meet me in an hour.”

“Sorry, Dave, I can’t. Maybe Monday after work.”

“All right, I’ll beg. Please, I am on my hands and knees.”

“I’ve got to go. I’ll call you later.” I hung up and quietly made my way back to the entry. I overheard Katarina telling Jessie that we just started talking two days ago.
What the fuck?
It was approximately 95 days ago, and longer if you counted her not knowing I was stalking her years ago. Also, a blowjob, three orgasms, and what was the best, slowest, most adoring sex of my life, and that’s not to mention all of the kissing. We were not walking backwards.
How could we? I left my trace in her twice
.

“You downplay what is between us a lot. I have seen you for three months. Some mornings, you were the only reason I got out of bed. I told both my sisters about you a long time ago.” The look of wonderment in her eyes made me grin.

“Oh, so you want me to stay?”
Holy shit
,
did I want her to stay?
I laughed because I knew she was joking; she had to be. She wanted encouragement, and I would gladly give it to her.

“Please, it would make me very happy if you stayed.” I wanted to drop to my knee right then and show her what a frickin’ pussy she made me, and ask her to torture me forever. I wanted to ask her to be mine, and wear a ring and my last name to prove to the world that she would always be mine. I settled for resting my forehead against hers, and then, because I was truly sorry for any pain I caused her, I apologized again for just saying ‘thank you’. I brushed my cheek against hers, and couldn’t resist leaving a piece of me on her soft cheek, so I kissed her with moist lips and she didn’t wipe it away.
That was a good sign, right?

“Who was on the phone?” She was diverting the attention. I was embarrassing her.
Damn, that was hot
.

“It was Dave. He wants to get a basketball game going today.”

“You should go play basketball with you friend. I’ll take Bo for a walk and then start dinner, depending on how long you’re gone.” I was momentarily stunned.
Was she trying to get rid of me?

“Are you sure? Would you stay?” I hated leaving, but Dave needed me.

“I won’t leave. I’ll hang out with Bo, and maybe take a nap.” Her eyes darted to my sister, and I wanted Katarina to know how different she was to me than any other girl, so I leaned over and gently placed my mouth on hers, giving her a very sensual kiss—one of my best.

“All right, I am going to leave, if you’re okay with that?” I stared at her, secretly wanting her to plead for me to stay, wanting her to rip off her clothes and seduce me to stay with her. She didn’t.

Chapter Fifteen

I walked into the gym, headed straight for the courts. Dave was already there and he was alone. I guess no teams were playing today, just a friendly one-on-one. He greeted me with his lame fist pump.

“Hey, man.” He knew I hated the goofy fist pump, but he did it to break my focus. It wasn’t going to work; nothing would keep me from kicking his ass on the court. I removed my sweatshirt, tossed it to the side, and he chucked the ball at me, another attempt to distract me. I caught it, but it was a cheap shot, and he’d pay for that.

“Hey, easy now.” I gave him my best ‘what the fuck was that?’ face before I started dribbling. He didn’t move and just stood there smirking. When I sunk the first of many baskets, I turned around to look at him, but he was busy laughing: really laughing, head down, slapping his leg laughing.

“What the hell?” His attitude started to piss me off. He slowly rose, still holding his stomach.

“You got laid.” Well, it wasn’t
that
funny. “Tell me, how was it?”

“I am not talking about my sex life with you…one hit wonder.”

“Dude, you have a bite mark on your shoulder, and claw marks down your back. You have to give me some deets.”

Dave loved to hip-talk. He threw his arms around like a real-life, genuine rapper. It was awkward to see a white guy with bright red hair throwing his lengthy arms around.

I threw the basketball, hitting him directly in the forehead, and caught it when it bounced back.

He immediately started rubbing his forehead. “What the heck was that for?”

“Don’t talk like that. You sound like a pansy, and I really want to kick your ass.”

“Geeeez that hurt.” I laughed at the dramatic way he spoke. “So… you’re not going to tell me anything?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

“Listen, don’t get all butt-hurt, I just want to know about your new hottie.” I arched my brow when he said ‘butt-hurt’; it also made me smile. “How about you describe her like a car. Was she hard to ride? Was she a smooth ride, but you lost her a little on the turns? When the top was down, were the headlights way too small? Did she run out of gas right before you reached your destination?” He was waving his arms again, and I felt my eye twitch at my pretend-ghetto friend.

“Real nice, Dave. My last girlfriend died in a car. Why did you have to go and bring that up?” I was playing the asshole card, I know, but I wasn’t going to talk about my sex with Katarina, and I knew he wouldn’t give up. He narrowed his eyes at me, appearing to be pissed. “Can we just play ball?” I tossed him the ball and he nodded.

"
Ah shit
. I am sorry man.”

I nodded back, saying, “Yes, you are, and I am going to
show you
what a sorry ass you are.” With that said, we played ball. I placed my hand over her bite mark. I liked it there. I considered not even wearing my sweatshirt home. I thought about just walking around and showing off my perfect mark.

When we finished, we walked out to our cars together. He was strutting, proud of his victory.

“You’re going out tonight with us, right? We’re meeting at the sports bar to watch the fights.”

“I’m not sure. Katarina is very quiet, and I know she doesn’t like to be around people.”

“Bring her. She’ll love Sofia; everyone loves Sofia. Besides, you have avoided going out with me for way too long. Come and leave, that’s all I am asking.”