“That’s what all this hubbub is about? She’s not dying or something? And, dude, not cool leaving your cap on the counter for someone else to pick up.”
Dryerson let out a chuckle, deep and throaty. “Yeah. You can yell at Ensley later. Where’s bug?”
Letting out a long breath, I responded, “She’s in bed, and you can go ahead and leave. I’m sure you have better things to do than hang out while she sleeps.”
His grin was wicked as he brushed past me. “I can’t think of anything. So, what do you want to watch?” he asked, plopping down in the middle of the couch.
Yeah, this wasn’t happening. “Seriously, I can handle Remy all by myself. And why are you even here?”
“I’m here because Micah texted me and told me to get over here. I didn’t ask questions and just came.”
“And Ensley called me about coming over.” Either my sister and her mister got their wires crossed, or they were trying to get Dryerson and me alone together.
Lord save me from well-intentioned baby sisters. I didn’t need this. It was stressful enough being around this man, let alone being alone with him.
“Now we’re here.” Dryerson flipped the channel on the TV.
“I’ve got this. You can go,” I told him again. Exhaustion was nipping at my heels, and with Remy sleeping, the bed in the spare room was calling my name. “I’m just going to go to bed.”
His brows raised. “Or we could do that.”
A blush crept across my cheeks. “Not that.”
“Come here and sit down. You look like you’re dead on your feet.”
I was. Horribly. Hence why I wanted to go to bed. Not stand here and play whatever the heck this was with Dryerson.
“I am. That’s why I need sleep.” Even as I said the words my feet were taking me closer to him. Now in reaching distance, Dryerson pulled me down to the couch and maneuvered us in a way that he was at my feet, my legs resting on his thighs.
“Wanna watch Trolls?” he asked as he picked up my left foot and began to massage it.
I started to jump up, yelling, “No Trolls!”
He chuckled and stopped my movements. “I’m just kidding. Lay down.”
Slowly, I did as he asked and settled into the couch. His hands began to kneed and roll. He took great care with the instep, and I felt myself groaning a lot. Magic. That was what this was. His hands were full-on magic.
Closing my eyes, I paid no attention to what was on the television and just felt. Felt his strength. Felt his warmth. Felt him. And it was magnificent.
He switched to the other foot, and I enjoyed the bliss. That was until he started talking. I should’ve known this would be an ambush. Darn it.
“Now that I have you alone…”
I groaned, opening my left eye to squint at him. “Really? You’re going to ruin this beautiful moment with talking?”
He chuckled. “We talk the more I rub.”
That was a Devil in disguise, but I didn’t care. My feet were terribly sore, and he had magic hands. “Fine. What do ya have for me?”
“Don’t sound so excited,” he responded, laughing.
“I have a feeling it’ll be something I don’t care to talk about.”
“But…” He started. “If I’m rubbing your feet, you might care just a bit for me to keep going, right?”
“You’re blackmailing me with a foot rub?”
Dryerson’s smile was beautiful. “Yep. You up for it?”
No. I wasn’t up for it, but I could see how long I could hold out before the ‘talking’ took a turn I didn’t want to go on. I could always get up and go into the bedroom. It had a lock on the door.
“Sure. But start with the soft balls.”
His brows lifted again. “You know baseball.”
It was my turn to smile. “No. Just heard that a soft ball means a light question. Not pressing.”
“I’ll agree to that.” And he did. “First question. I know you’re the oldest, but how many brothers and sisters do you have?”
I groaned. “You’re gonna make me do math right now? That’s just not fair.”
“Yep. How many?”
Each time I counted them in my head, I got a different number. How terrible of a sister was I? “Thirty-three or so.”
“Shit. You have so many you don’t really know? That’s nuts.”
I shrugged, looking down at him, his whole focus on me. “I don’t know how many have been born since I left. It was how we were raised. The girls will go off and marry their cousins or whatever, then create more babies to add to the pile. And God knows how many more siblings have been born since we left.”
“A breeding farm?” he asked, sounding horrified, and I chuckled. I’d never thought of it that way, but it was true.
“Something like that. At least it felt like it. It seemed like one of the moms was always popping out another kid. And being the oldest, it was my responsibility to take care of said baby.”
“Come again?” he asked.
I blew out a deep breath, feeling relaxed from his ministrations. It made my tongue a bit loose. “Yeah. Being the oldest in that world sucks. Everything gets dumped on you, and you have to figure out how to handle it all on your own. It was like when I was born all the skills I’d ever need were instilled in me like a robot. Or so my parents thought.”
“So, they’d have kids and you’d babysit them?” he asked and I smiled at him. He had no idea.
“No. Not babysitting. I was a mom at age eight.”
“You have a kid?” he asked quickly.
“No, Dryerson. At eight my mother thought it was time for me to take over more responsibility. I was already watching or ‘babysitting’ my two younger siblings, but Mom wanted me to start caring for the newborn day and night.”
“That’s fucked up.” He didn’t seem disgusted, but he did mean it.
“For some like my mother, they love that way of life. They never want to change. They never want to see the world out there. Their sole purpose is to have babies and serve the men. And that’s fine, do what you want, but it wasn’t me. I wanted to feel free. It didn’t happen until Ensley had the balls to leave, but it is what it is, and I’m happy I’m here.” Even if at times I wanted to scream at myself for enjoying his touch.
“I wasn’t raised like that, so I really don’t understand it. Your father has wives, correct?”
“Yeah, he has seven. At least he did when we left. He rotates who he sleeps with every night.” Dryerson actually looked like he wanted to know. Therefore I kept talking. “I knew the schedule for the most part, but sometimes they’d switch it up and mess up the rotation.”
“Hey, I’m all for threesomes, even foursomes, but a rotation. That’s too much trouble.”
My heart squeezed in my chest. The thought of him with not one, but two women made me want to puke. Personally, I’d never do any of that, but I had a strong feeling that Dryerson had, and I knew in that instant I didn’t want to know. So, I blocked it out and kept talking.
“It was confusing sometimes. One of the moms would be really happy, then another not so much. They say they’re sister wives, and they are, but there’s a lot of bickering and jealousy behind closed doors. They try to hide it, but living so close to one another made that hard.”