Let Me Explain

Jayce

I hailed a taxi back to Janelle’s place, my head buried in my hands the whole ride.

~I really messed up. I didn’t grasp the extent of my mistake until I spoke with Tuli.~

She was right. An apology wasn’t going to be enough.

I was a fool to think that showing her the tulip tattoo on the back of my neck would make her forget everything.

I was clueless about how to mend things this time.

When the taxi pulled up, I paid the fare and walked up to the door. I knocked and was met by Janelle, along with Juneau and Bones.

“The kids are asleep,” she whispered. “I’m surprised, considering they just saw their uncle get punched in the face.”

I looked at her, puzzled. “I deserved it, honestly.”

She sighed. “I’m just surprised. Come in, I’ll make some tea. We don’t have turkey tonight, but I ordered pizza.”

“Shit,” I said, “I’m sorry, Janie.”

“Don’t worry about it. You needed to explain to your girlfriend all the crap you’ve been pulling so she wouldn’t kick you to the curb.”

“She might have kicked me to the curb anyway,” I confessed as we walked into the kitchen.

“That bad, huh?”

“You have no idea.”

She pulled a box of tea bags from the cupboard.

“Janie, she didn’t know who I was. I took her virginity. I’m so screwed up.”

She filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove to heat. I grabbed a plate and served myself some leftover pizza.

“Yeah, that does sound pretty screwed up. So, what did she say?”

I sighed. “She doesn’t want to talk to me for a while. Even the tattoo I showed her didn’t help.”

“Yikes,” my sister said, sitting across from me at the table. “I always thought that tattoo was a bit creepy, to be honest.”

I looked down and realized I wasn’t hungry. “I think I’m just gonna go to bed,” I said, standing up.

She sighed. “Can you at least stay and have some tea with me? I’ve got problems too.”

I sat back down. Great, not only was I a terrible boyfriend, I was also a terrible brother. “Sorry,” I apologized.

“Apology accepted. You know, I had Derek served with divorce papers. Now he won’t leave me alone. He’s been texting me, saying he’s sorry, he loves me and misses me.”

“What did you say?” I asked.

“I haven’t responded. All I know is he’s refusing to sign.”

“We’ll get a divorce attorney,” I assured her. “We’ll try to make it quick and painless.”

She nodded just as the tea kettle whistled. She poured the boiling water into two cups, then added the tea bags. She handed me one and we clinked them together.

“Here’s to a crappy Thanksgiving,” she said.

***

It’s been about a week since Tuli stopped talking to me.

I feel terrible, not just emotionally, but physically too. I’ve lost weight, I have no appetite, and I can’t sleep.

I might have slept better if my dogs were home, but Janelle asked if they could stay another week to keep her company. I couldn’t bring myself to say no.

I missed Tuli too much, and I was scared that she didn’t want to be with me anymore. I needed to do something to fix things.

Then it hit me. I was going to propose to her in the most romantic way possible. I was going to show her that I could be better; that I would be better.

So I started to plan.

Friday night I stayed up late making plans. I was going to invite her over.

When she arrived, I was going to lead her to the backyard, where she would see a bunch of flower petals arranged on the ground to spell, “Will you marry me?”

I stopped by the store to pick up a bunch of flowers, then came home to continue planning. I barely slept before morning came, and I woke up to arrange the petals.

I also lit a bunch of candles and placed them on the porch. The next step was to call her. I hoped it would work.

Nervously, I pulled out my phone and found her number in my contacts. After a moment of hesitation, I pressed the call button. After three rings, she answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey baby,” I said, worried. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she sniffed. “Jayce?”

“Yeah?”

“I fucking miss you.”

My heart skipped a beat. “I miss you, too, baby. Do you want to come over?”

“Can I?”

I smiled, relieved. “Of course you can, tulip. Listen, I’m a bit tired, so I might fall asleep on the couch. But there’s a key under the mat. You can let yourself in. Don’t hesitate to wake me up. I have something to tell you when you get here.”

“Okay. I have something to tell you, too.”

~Hmm, I wonder what that could be~. “Alright.”

I ended the call. Maybe our relationship wasn’t doomed after all.

I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on the couch. But I finally felt like I could get some rest.

My eyes grew heavy before they closed and I drifted off to sleep.

I had to be dreaming. I was certain of it, because there’s no way Tuli would wake me up by taking my cock in her mouth.

I watched as it hardened, growing stiff in her mouth. “Tuli,” I moaned as she released it from her mouth and her tongue swirled around the head.

“Fuck,” I groaned, my head falling back onto the couch.

My fingers tangled in her hair, holding her gently as her head moved rhythmically, her mouth warm and tight as she took me in. The soft squeeze of her hand on my balls nearly pushed me over the edge.

I guided her head, pushing myself deeper into her mouth until I hit the back of her throat. She choked a little, but didn’t pull away.

She held my gaze as I watched myself move in and out of her mouth.

I felt the familiar tightening in my balls and knew I was close. “Tuli,” I gasped out.

She released me from her mouth for a moment, catching the bead of precum with her tongue before taking me back in, her cheeks hollowing around my shaft. I felt the faint scrape of her teeth.

“Shit, I’m gonna come!”

A shout jolted me awake. I looked around wildly until my eyes landed on her. But she wasn’t on her knees in front of me.

She was standing by the front door, her eyes wide with horror as she stared at me. Why did it still feel like someone was sucking me off?

I looked down and echoed Tuli’s words when I saw Brooklyn pulling her mouth off me.

“What the fuck?!”

She squealed when I pushed her away and stood up, quickly tucking myself back into my pants and zipping them up. I moved towards Tuli but she recoiled.

“Don’t touch me!” She sobbed, fleeing out the door.

“Tuli!” I called, chasing after her.

I caught up to her as she fumbled with her keys, trying to unlock her truck. “Tuli, stop! I can explain!”

“I don’t want to hear it!” she snapped back, tears streaming down her face.

She managed to get into her truck and drive off before I could stop her. “Shit!” I cursed, rushing back into the house to grab my keys.

“You’re better off without her,” my ex-wife said smugly.

I turned to glare at her. Her smirk quickly faded into fear as I cornered her against the wall.

“You listen to me, and you listen well,” I said coldly. “When I let you go, you better run out of my house as fast as you can. If you don’t, I’ll call the cops on you for breaking and entering, and for sexually assaulting me. If you come near me or my girlfriend again, I’ll call your husband and tell him that you sucked me off and wanted me to fuck you in the ass.”

I pushed away from her and went to grab my keys.

She scurried out the door. I waited until she was out of sight before I left the house.

I raced to my car and drove off, hoping I was on the same path as Tuli.

I wish I could say I was lucky to find her, but I wasn’t, because the back of her truck was smashed in.

“Oh, fuck, no.”

I stopped my car and ran over to hers. I peered in the window to see she was unconscious and covered in blood.

I knew I had to act fast. I tried to open the door, but it was locked. “Please be alive,” I pleaded.

I ran back to my car and searched for something to break her window. I was lucky to find a shovel in the trunk, left over from the winter.

I hurried back to her truck, reminding myself to stay calm, even though I was panicking inside.

I decided to break the passenger side window, not wanting to risk causing her more harm.

I used the metal handle of the shovel to smash through the window and unlocked the door. I climbed in and carefully unbuckled Tuli’s seatbelt. I slid my hands under her arms and pulled her onto my lap.

“Tuli?” I asked, gently stroking her hair. She moaned. Thank God.

“I’m going to get you to a hospital,” I told her. “Just try to stay awake.”

I carried her to my car and gently placed her in the passenger seat, carefully buckling her in before getting into the driver’s seat and speeding off.

It didn’t take long to reach the ER, but I wasn’t ready to breathe a sigh of relief just yet.

The next hour was a blur as I got her inside and was questioned by the nurses. They took her from me, placed her on a gurney, and rushed her away.

I looked at the nurse blocking my path and snapped, “You can’t make me wait out here! I need to be with her.”

“Sir, she is in critical condition and needs immediate attention. You need to stay here and wait.”

“But—”

“I understand,” she said sympathetically, “but she’s injured and we need to make sure she hasn’t lost too much blood. You’ll be able to go in soon.”

I sighed. “Okay.”

I sat down in the waiting room with my head in my hands, praying to God I wouldn’t lose her twice over.