She glanced up at Tal, then stared at him. He was still standing at the foot of the bed, and he had his arms crossed over his chest. He was only wearing his boxer briefs, and he had braced his feet wide apart. He looked very dominating and intimidating, especially when combined with the intense look he had in his eyes. He looked concerned, and ready to jump in and save her at a moments notice.
“Because,” Mischa whispered, not taking her eyes off him. “After Tal found me, I couldn't let him go. I didn't want to be lost anymore.”
“Well, then hold on tight to that man, cause it's gonna be a bumpy ride.”
They said their goodbyes after that, with her dad even shouting a goodbye to Tal. She chuckled and dropped her phone back onto the table.
“Your dad is a good man,” Tal commented. She nodded.
“The best. And he likes you, which is kind of a shock,” she laughed.
“Not to me – I'm fucking amazing,” he replied. She snorted.
“Hardly. But really, I think he likes you. If I'd thought about it at all, I guess I would've figured that he'd like you. He's kind of a guy's guy, you know? He's always building something or working on a car or … spitting loogies, I don't know. He didn't not like Mike, but they never hung out or anything. Mike's more into runs, and trips to the lake, and concerts,” she tried to explain.
“Your dad will love me, I can hock a mean loogie,” Tal assured her as he moved to lay down next to her.
“Do you think you'll ever meet my dad?” Misch asked in a small voice.
Despite their connection, their chemistry, she and Tal hadn't really known each other that long, and they were involved in an illicit affair as opposed to a proper relationship, so she hadn't really thought about it. But if he and her dad didn't get along, a relationship was almost pointless.
“I hope I do. I hope you can introduce us someday. Maybe someday when everyone doesn't hate us,” he chuckled, stretching his arm across her shoulders and pulling her to lay down next to him.
“The way today went, I don't think that day will ever come,” she told him.
“It just feels that way now. It won't feel that way forever.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because it can't. Things don't work that way. Your friends and family love you. They're hurt right now. They'll come around,” he assured her. She took a deep breath and turned towards him.
“It always sounds so easy when you talk about it. Living it is so much worse,” she whispered.
“It only seemed that way cause you were alone for the hard part. I'll be with you, from now on,” he told her.
“Really?”
“I promise.”
He leaned in and kissed her, and it was the first real intimate gesture they'd shared since Mike had shown up. She'd been feeling so guilty, and it must have been obvious, because Tal hadn't even tried to really touch her or kiss her. Just held her a lot.
The guilt was still there, the thoughts of Mike hurting and being alone were still there. But she couldn't deny it, Tal had always had a hypnotic effect on her. A drugging effect. She sighed against his lips and gave into him.
“I missed this,” she whispered as his lips moved down her throat.
“You'll never have to again,” he whispered back, his lips lingering along her clavicle.
“It's not right, that we're here together. It isn't fair,” she went on.
“Life isn't fair. Just be happy it's working out in our favor right now.”
“God, that sounds horrible.”
“We're horrible people, remember? Just embrace it.”
“Not funny.”
His hands pressed her body down into the mattress, ran up and down the length of her torso. His fingers brushed away her guilt, and soon enough she was kissing him back in earnest. Straining towards him, holding onto him, fiending for him.
“I've been dying to do this since yesterday,” he groaned, pulling her bra away.
“We shouldn't be doing this at all,” she replied, working his underwear down his legs.
“We should always be doing this.”
“Having sex?”
“Just being together.”
Hard to argue with something that felt so right, even if it was wrong, and she let him remove her panties. They were gone with the flick of a wrist and then he was between her legs, parting them around his waist.
His tongue was hot and his touch scorching, she bit her lips between her teeth and went with it. When he pinned her hands to the mattress by her head, she abandoned herself to him. Let his hips ride her and guide her. His fingers moved through her own, linked them together. Squeezed so tight it hurt.
Kinda like love.
They came one right after the other, hips locked together in battle. Tal had his forehead pressed to hers, and even though her eyes were closed, she knew his eyes were open. Knew he was staring at her face. Knew he was looking into her soul.
“Say it now,” he panted above her.
“What?” she was still coming down off the orgasm.
“He's not between us anymore. You can say it now.”
“Excuse me?”
But she knew what he was talking about, knew what was going on. She kept her eyes closed, tried to keep the tears inside.
“Say it, one time. For the first time in your life, say it, and really mean it,” he whispered. She took a deep breath.