Page 66 of Sinners’ Appetite

One month later.

“Uh—I ordered a cherry vodka lemonade…” the woman standing on the other side of the bar complains as she takes a sip of the drink I just served to her.

“Shit! I’m so sorry, let me re-make that for you!” I reply, shaking my head.

As soon as I turn around to dump it out and start all over again, Jeff comes walking up to me with a smirk on his face. “That’s the third drink you’ve fucked up on tonight. Are you okay?”

“Honestly, my mind is elsewhere,” I half-laugh.

“Go take a break, I got this,” he says, grabbing a clean glass from under the bar.

I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and head into the back, digging my phone out of my pocket to text Malachi.

I’m a fucking mess tonight. I just mixed three drinks wrong.

Is something wrong?

I think I’m a little distracted. I can’t focus on anything.

What’s on your mind, baby girl?

Everything. I hate being back in the city. I miss the lake and I miss Dean.

Me too, baby.

We should have just stayed…

We can talk about things when you get home later.

Okay. I love you.

Try to relax, baby. I love you too.

I tuck my phone back into my bag, take a deep breath and head back out to the bar, trying so hard not to think about how incredible the summer was with Dean.

I’d give anything to just quit this damn job and go back there.

Surely, I could find work in the next town over and Malachi could continue to run his photography business.

I think being out on Dean’s property showed me just how much I dislike city living.

It’s busy, loud and uncomfortable a majority of the time and I’ve had enough of it.

Just as I start to pour someones drink, Jeff comes up beside me and taps me on the shoulder. “You can take off for the night, if you want. It’s not busy, I can handle it. Lance is around here somewhere too.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, not wanting to leave them high and dry in case it gets busier than it is right now. I know first-hand how stressful it can be when business picks up and we’re short staffed.

“I’m sure,” he replies.

With that, I head into the back again and grab my bag, sifting through it for my keys as I head toward the back door.

“You’re not walking out here by yourself!” I hear Lance call out to me before I even touch the door handle.

I roll my eyes. “My car is parked right by the steps, I’ll be fine!”

“Nope, not happening. I have strict orders from Malachi not to let you leave this club alone.”

“Really? He said that?”

“Sure did. As I recall, he said he’d kick my ass if anything happened to you again.”

“Isn’t he sweet?” I chuckle, allowing Lance to open the door ahead of me.

I hop into my car and start the engine, smiling and shaking my head as I back out of the parking space with Lance still standing on the steps, waiting for me to drive away.

When I make it home, I see Malachi waiting on the steps for me. It’s crazy, after all this time, seeing him still gives me butterflies.

As soon as I step out of the car, Malachi stands and starts to walk up to me. “Lance called and said you left work early?”

“Jeff let me go home.” I smile, reaching my arms out to wrap them around him.

“Should I run you a bath? Maybe light some candles?”

“That would be amazing. Maybe I can finally finish reading my book.”

We both head inside and Malachi takes off toward the bathroom. After I grab a small snack from the kitchen, I slip off my clothes and toss them into the laundry room, then head off to the bathroom.

I walk in just as Malachi is turning the water off. “I grabbed your kindle for you, baby,” he says. I look over at the bathtub and my heart warms in an instant.

Candles are lit, my kindle is placed in the middle of the bath tray and he has a small container of gummy bears waiting for me.

“Lay back and relax for a while. I’ll be waiting in the bedroom.”

“Thank you, baby. You’re the best.”

As he walks out, I slowly lower myself into the water, appreciating how perfect the temperature is. I’m tempted to close my eyes, but if I do, I know I’ll end up falling asleep.

At least a half hour goes by before the water starts to turn cold.

I finish reading the last few pages of my e-book and drain the tub, wrapping myself in a towel before heading to the bedroom.

When I walk in, I giggle at the fact that Malachi is sound asleep under the blankets with the TV remote in his hand.

I shut the light off and hop into bed beside him, wrapping my arm around him with my head held against his chest, drifting off to sleep quickly with the sound of his heartbeat against my ear.

As soon as my eyes open, I’m met with the delicious smell of pancakes wafting past my nose. Malachi must be cooking breakfast for us.

I slide out of bed and toss a loose t-shirt on along with a pair of shorts and head toward the kitchen, my stomach growling along the way. When I enter the kitchen, Malachi turns to shoot me a warm smile and grabs a full plate, handing it to me. “Eat up, baby girl. I have plans for us today.”

“An adventure?”

“Better than that,” he smirks, grabbing his own plate and walking over to where I just sat down at the table.

“So—you’re not going to tell me what you have planned for us?”

“Not yet. You’ll like it though. Trust me.”

I let out a sigh. “I have to work tonight.”

“No, you don’t. Not anymore,” he says as he shoves a forkful of pancakes into his mouth. I’m honestly impressed by how much he can fit into his mouth.

“They’ll be short staffed, it’s Friday night.”

“Jeff said they would be perfectly fine without you.”

“I don’t know how that’s possible but, okay?”

Malachi finishes his plate first and takes off into the bedroom, coming back out several minutes later with a suitcase rolling behind him.

“Why the suitcase? Where are we going?” I curiously ask, tilting my head to the side in confusion.

“You’ll see.”

I shove the last two bites into my mouth and rinse the plate in the sink then head to the bedroom to grab my bag and my phone. I have no clue where he’s taking me, but the suitcase gives me hope that it’ll be somewhere away from the city.

Either way, I can’t fucking wait.

Clearly, I was still tired, because I rarely ever fall asleep in the car. When I finally open my eyes and look around, the scenery looks familiar, but I can’t quite place where we are. That is until we pass a sign that tells us how far the closest city is.

Then it hits me.

We’re about a half hour away from Dean’s property.

“Are we—?” I begin to say, unable to find the words due to my overwhelming excitement.

“Yes, baby girl. We are.” Malachi smiles, looking over at me.

“Oh my god! Does he know that we’re coming?!” I can’t help but squeal as the butterflies in my stomach become practically unbearable.

“Nope. He called while you were in the bathtub last night. Things have been a little rocky for him since we left, so I figured I’d do us all a solid and drive out for a visit.”

I let out another loud squeal which makes Malachi laugh. “You really miss him, don’t you?”

“Of course I do!” I exclaim, keeping my eyes peeled for the turn leading us to his driveway.

Before long, we finally approach the side road and start driving down toward the property. As soon as we get to the driveway, Malachi reaches over and squeezes my thigh. “Hopefully he doesn’t have company over,” he smirks.

“Has he been—seeing someone?” I ask while heavy jealousy starts to kick in.

“Fuck no. I was just kidding. The look on your face was priceless…” he chuckles.

“Don’t fuck with me. I was preparing myself to murder someone. You’re rude,” I scoff.

When we make it into Dean’s driveway, I see him standing in the middle of the shop, bent over a car with a rag draped over his shoulder. As soon as he hears us pull up, he turns and drops the tool he had in his hands.

Not wasting a single second more, Malachi parks the car and I hop out, leaving the door wide open as I take off running toward the shop. The second I get to him, I shove him against the car and wrap my arms around his waist.

“Fuck, I missed you, princess.” He lets out a heavy breath as I squeeze tighter.

“Surprise!” Malachi chants behind us.

“Did you have this planned?” Dean asks once I finally let go and allow the two of them to hug.

Malachi presses his lips to Dean’s, locking in a passionate kiss for a few seconds before pulling back with a wide grin on his face. “No. After I talked to you, I realized how lost the two of us feel without having you around.”

“How long are you staying?” Dean asks.

“Well—that all depends…”

“On?”

A mischievous smile forms on his face as he looks from me to Dean. “How long do you want to put up with us?”

“I’d have you two moving in with me right now if I had my way,” Dean chuckles.

“You sure about that?” I ask.

“Fuck yeah.”

“Then I guess it’s settled…we just won’t go back,” Malachi says, leaning back against the car beside Dean.

“You’re joking, right?” I ask, my eyes widening at just the thought of being able to live on this piece of paradise with the two of them by my side.

“Not even a little…”

“But…our jobs—”

“Fuck our jobs. I can run my business from anywhere and you can find work somewhere, I’m sure.”

“You might have to get a bigger bed, Dean,” I tease.

“That’s a small inconvenience,” he chuckles, reaching his arm around Malachi’s shoulders. “Bed shopping with you two might be fun…”

“Should we get that out of the way today?” Malachi suggests.

“I only have two hundred dollars until next week when I sell this car,” Dean sighs.

“I’ll buy the bed as long as I get to break it in with you two when we get home with it…” Malachi replies with a playful grin forming on his face.

“Fuck yeah—that sounds like a win-win for all of us,” Dean laughs.

I look under the hood where Dean has been working, spotting a wrench sitting off to the side and an idea comes to mind.

“I have my own request to make…” I say, reaching for the wrench and holding it up in my hand.

Malachi rolls his eyes playfully in my direction while Dean’s eyes widen.

“I’ll let you two decide which bed we get if—you show me how to use this.”

The two of them push themselves off the car and walk up to me as I back up toward the shelves behind me.

“I don’t know—do you think Nikki should know how to use one of those.”

“Hmm…”

THE END