My phone vibrates on the armrest next to me.
“Answer it,” she says as she takes the few sheets of paper from my hands.
I glance at the screen, letting Arlo read the file for herself.
Gigi: Mello, you ever going to fess up about what really happened with my sisters yesterday?
Me: I don’t know what you mean.
Pike: Wrong move, brother.
Gigi: They didn’t sleep over at your place for no reason. I’m not stupid. My parents may believe their bullshit, but I don’t.
Me: They were fine. They were responsible.
Gigi: Meaning they were white-girl wasted?
Me: No. They were not.
Gigi: One of them was.
Me: I’ll talk to you about it next time I see you.
Gigi: I expect answers, but they’re not talking.
Me: Some things are better left unsaid, Gigi.
Gigi: Not in my world.
Pike: That shit’s the truth.
Mammoth: <dying>
Gigi: Shut it.
Jett: Pike doesn’t want to get laid for a long, long time.
Nick: Cold, brother. Ice fucking cold.
Gigi: I’m done with y’all.
Tamara: Sit on his face and suffocate him to death.
Pike: Is that supposed to be punishment?
Arlo takes my phone, placing the papers on the couch next to her, and scrolls through the messages after I start laughing. “I love your family,” she says with a sigh.
“Why? They’re messed up. Can’t you see that?”
“That’s what makes them so great. You have a group chat. Do you know how amazingly lucky you are to have that?”
“Do you know how hard it is to get any sleep with them chattering all hours of the day and night?”
“I’d give up some sleep to have a tribe.”
I bend my head, placing my face in her neck. “My tribe is your tribe now, sugar.”
“I’ll know I’ve made it once I’m in the chat.”
“I’ll add you now.”
“No,” she says immediately. “I don’t want a pity add.”
“What the hell is a pity add?” I ask her, confused.
“I want to be added because people want me there, not because my big mouth said something.”
“They want you.”
“No, they don’t.”
“The girls will want you. They’re outnumbered right now.”
“Does everyone keep gender score in your family?”
“Basically,” I murmur against her skin. “And I’m the only one not married in this chat. They took pity on me and allowed me in the chat because Rocco’s my twin or else I wouldn’t even be in it. It sucks when there’s no one to have my back.”
She turns and sits up, facing me. “Your brother always has your back.”
“Not when Rebel’s involved and thinks differently from me. Wife trumps brother.”
Arlo laughs. “I’ll never make you choose.”
“You will, and I’ll happily take your side over his.”
She blinks, her laughter dying. “Why?”
“Because he isn’t the one who will be sleeping next to me, sugar.”
She smiles and my heart flutters, the same feeling Arlo’s given me since I laid eyes on her. “You’re silly. There’re no sides if we’re all family.”
I pull her forward, bringing her lips close to mine. “You have so much to learn, Arlo. So much to learn. But don’t worry, babe. I’ll teach you all the things.”
“What kinds of things?” she asks playfully, batting her beautiful dark eyelashes.
“Anything you want, including all the dirty things.” I waggle my eyebrows, pulling her in closer, going for a kiss.
“Will you show me how to do that thing with your mouth?”
“What thing would that be?” I raise an eyebrow, liking where she’s going with this.
“The one where you put your lips on me and make my toes curl.” She smirks, staring into my eyes with nothing but mischief.
“Does my girl want her world rocked?”
“Your girl wants an orgasm,” she answers honestly.
I move forward, pushing her back into the couch and covering her with my body. “Whatever my girl wants, she gets,” I tell her before I take her mouth with mine.
Her fingers slide up my biceps and glide under the sleeves of my T-shirt, anchoring herself to me. She kisses me back, moaning into my mouth as I press my dick against her middle, knowing how much she loves to have her pussy touched.
I ache for her, wanting nothing more than to plunge my dick deep inside her. But I also know it won’t happen until she is emotionally ready, and I am okay with that too.
Our tongues move together until I pull my head back, pushing myself down her body and taking her pants with me, leaving her bottom bare.
I don’t go in for the kill right away. I kiss her stomach, sweeping my lips across her abdomen, worshiping every inch of her body I can until she’s squirming underneath me.
Using my hands, I push her legs apart, opening her to me. Her knees fall to the sides, and she lifts her bottom off the cushion, wanting more than I’ve given.
Even with her open, I don’t go straight for her clit. I kiss around her legs, nipping at the skin that makes her moan until she chases my mouth, looking for more.
“Mello,” she breathes, reaching down and sliding her fingers into my hair. “Stop teasing me.”
I bury my face in her pussy, sucking and licking every inch of her, teasing her clit and making her ass rise and fall with each stroke.
It doesn’t take long before her muscles seize, and her breathing grows harsher as the orgasm starts to build. Her thighs clamp shut against my face, suffocating me in her pussy, and if I die now, I’ll die a happy man. I don’t stop. I don’t let up. I suck harder, taking her clit into my mouth and flicking it with my tongue until she’s screaming my name, twisting her body through the pleasure.
I pull myself up, curling her into my side as she lies there, spent. She sags into me, still breathing heavy.
“Do you want to talk about…”
“No. I just want to lie here in your arms.”
“Whatever you want, babe. Whatever you want.”
A few minutes later, Arlo’s body stills and her breathing deepens. I pick up my phone and continue the conversation with my family.
Me: What do you think about adding Arlo to the conversation?
Lily: Yes!
Gigi: Fuck yeah.
Tamara: Abso-fucking-lutely
Jo: Do it.
Rebel: Balance of power is shifting.
Pike: It’s always been shifted.
Mammoth: Pussy always rules.
Tamara: Smart man.
Rocco: The man finally has his head out of his ass. When’s the date?
Me: The date?
Rocco: For the wedding, dumbass.
Me: There’s no wedding.
Rocco: There better be. Do not let that one get away.
Me: It’s been weeks, brother. Weeks.
Pike: Time is irrelevant when it comes to love.
Me: Weeks.
Mammoth: You want any other women?
Me: No.
Jett: Put a ring on it.
Me: But what if it’s too early?
Gigi: Half of marriages end in divorce no matter how soon you get married. Stop being a pussy and just do it, cousin.