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Sixteen

Quinn

“W hat?” I laughed, pulling the greasy chili cheese dogs out of the to-go bag and setting them on the counter. “This is what I wanted for dinner.”

“You never cease to surprise me,” Roman laughed, his arm brushing against mine as he set the paper plates down.

“I try to eat healthy with Rosie, but every now and then, I just crave these chili dogs. That’s how my butt got so big when I was pregnant with her.

I think they actually put my picture on the wall at one point as their top customer because I went there so frequently and spent so much money on chili dogs.

Justin never complained, not once. Not even when my ass grew two sizes,” I snorted.

“It never went away either,” I commented, looking over my shoulder at my plump behind.

I watched Roman’s eyes as they followed mine, landing on my ass before he sucked in a breath and looked away.

As much as I wanted to deny that things didn’t feel different without Rosie here, I couldn’t. It was like there was all of this sexual tension between us, crackling like electricity whenever we got close enough to each other for our bodies to touch.

“So, how many do you want?” Roman asked, studying the pile in front of us.

“I’ll start with two and some fries.”

“Start with? You’re not playing, are you?”

“Nope,” I replied, letting the p pop.

He smiled and shook his head as he piled two chili cheese dogs and some fries on a plate and handed it to me. We went to the living room and sat down on the couch, leaving the middle cushion empty between us.

We didn’t bother with small talk as we ate. The food was too delicious to waste time with anything but eating it.

Roman took his first bite and closed his eyes as he chewed, a small moan escaping his lips. I tried to look away, but there was something so sexy about the way he looked that I couldn’t help but imagine him eating something else.

I held the chili dog in front of my mouth, taking bites without paying attention while I continued to watch the show.

His eyes were now open, but he still hadn’t noticed me staring at him as he took another bite.

I pushed the hotdog into my mouth, not realizing how far back I had shoved it until it hit the back of my throat, and I started choking.

I immediately pulled it out and started coughing as he dropped his to his plate and reached over to grab my bottle of water.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he handed it to me.

I nodded and took a drink, trying desperately to stop the coughing. It was so embarrassing, and how was I supposed to explain what happened? I got so turned on watching you eat your chili dog that I tried to deep throat mine.

“I’m okay,” I managed to get out before taking another drink. “I was just a little distracted.”

He arched a brow and leaned back against the couch, a faint smirk appearing on his face as if he knew exactly what I had been distracted by.

“Wieners do that sometimes,” he replied nonchalantly as he stuck his tongue in his cheek.

My cheeks felt like they were on fire as the heat rushed over them.

“I wouldn’t know,” I said shyly, looking away as I chugged the rest of my water.

A look flashed across his face, but I ignored it as I got up and collected my plate.

“Are you done?” I asked, nodding to his.

“Yeah, I’ll take it though.”

“I don’t mind.” I pushed my hand toward him for him to put his plate on mine. Instead, he grabbed my plate from me and stood up, invading my space, and taking up all of the clean air around me.

“I do. Sit down and relax. I’ll clean up.”

I knew better than to fight him on cleaning up my trash and sat down.

“Do you want another bottle of water? I also have milk, and I think I might have a few beers.”

“Water is good, thank you.”

He shuffled around in the kitchen as he threw away our plates, then joined me on the couch again.

“Here you go,” he said as he handed me the cold bottle of water.

“Thank you.”

I debated rubbing it across my body to try to take some of the heat away, then realized that it would be even more sexual than my near-death by wiener a few minutes ago.

“Do you want to watch a movie?” Roman offered, clearing the awkward silence between us.

“Sure.” I smiled and felt some of the tension start to dissipate when he smiled back at me.

He scrolled through the channels, trying to find something, but neither of us was that motivated to pick something. Finally, he gave up and left it on Die Hard .

I tried to focus on the movie, but my mind was constantly distracted, wondering how Rosie was doing and whether she was having fun.

When I wasn’t obsessing over her, I was thinking about my apartment and the seat belt that was left on my bed.

Someone was trying to send me a message—that much was clear.

I just wish I knew who it was and what they wanted.

I was so lost in thought that I hadn’t heard Roman speak. My legs were extended in front of me, taking up the space on the cushion that was supposed to be separating us. Instead, my toes were pressed firmly against his thick thigh, and his hand rested on my ankle.

“I’m sorry, what?” I asked, feeling bad for missing what he said.

“I asked if you wanted another bottle of water,” he said softly.

I looked down at the one in my hand, now empty after slowly chugging it without paying attention.

“I’m good, thank you. Soon I’ll be swimming around here with all of the water I’ve drunk.”

“I have plenty,” he laughed.

I felt my lips curl up into a grin.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked as he gently squeezed my foot.

“Everything,” I laughed, though it wasn’t a lie.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really,” I shook my head. “For once, I just want a break where I don’t have to think about anything or worry about anyone but myself. I know that’s selfish, but I can’t remember when the last time was that I was able to just be me. Not a wife. Not a mother. Not an agent. Just me.”

I leaned back further into the couch and sighed heavily.

“It’s not selfish,” he replied quietly, pulling my foot up onto his lap as he massaged it. “It’s okay to take time for yourself, and it’s also okay to let someone else take care of you.”

I eyed him suspiciously, waiting for there to be some sort of but added to it.

Moms don’t get breaks; that’s the job you signed up for.

Wives need to learn how to balance work and family life; it’s up to them to make those ends meet without anyone noticing their struggle.

Women don’t ask for help; we make do with what we have.

I shook my head to clear the thoughts that I had allowed my brain to ingrain into my memory over the years. Justin was a good man, but even he had flaws—and those flaws were with how he viewed women and their role in the marriage.

“I honestly wouldn’t have any idea what that’s like. I moved out the day after I turned eighteen, and I’ve been on my own since then.”

“It’s never too late to start.”

He kept working my tired, sore feet, rotating between them as his strong hands massaged every inch. Now that Rosie was getting older, I had started taking her for mommy and daughter dates to get pedicures, but even those massages were nothing compared to what Roman was doing.

“How are you still single?” I blurted out, watching him carefully.

He smiled but didn’t look up. His fingers pressed against the pad of my foot, putting enough pressure to release some of the tension that had built up.

“I haven’t met the right woman.”

“Are you looking?”

“I’d like to think that I would know when I found her,” he shrugged, gently dropping my foot, and finally looking up at me. “But as we both know, life doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes the things we want are the things that we can’t have.”

My heart fluttered at his words, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was talking about us. I could see something hidden in his eyes when he said it—an almost sadness.

“What do you want?” I asked bravely.

He swallowed hard, looking around the room before turning back to me.

“You.”