Chapter 164

I know, it's a short one, but at least it's progress, right?  I'm trying.  Honest.

“So I hear ya got blue balls,” David heckled the instant Richie answered his phone.

“Fuck you, Lemma,” he tossed off with a growl.  Richie stepped into the condo’s living room, where he could escape the noise of Allegra drying her hair in the master bath.  It had been two weeks since she had issued the decree that had temporarily turned his world upside down.

“That desperate already, huh?  Sorry, buddy.  Number one, I don’t swing that way and number two, I’ve got my hands full satisfying my new wife.  She wants it allllll the time.  We’ve had sex twice already today and it’s not even noon.  She’s insatiable.  As a matter of fact, right now she’s got her mouth wrapped around – “ 

“You’re a lying sack of shit, Bryan.  And who invited your nosy ass into my business, anyway?”

His friend chuckled evilly.  “Dude, our women bonded over the flamin’ wedding planner fi-ATH-co.  They talk every day since we got back from our honeymoon.  Lexi told me how much Legs was looking forward to her honeymoon, since the two of you are under a self-imposed celibacy order until then.”  He laughed again before asking, “How did she ever get you to agree to that?”

Good question. 

He’d been dumbfounded when that little bomb went off.  Richie couldn’t recall clearly, but he may have actually stuttered when asking her why in the hell she would want such a thing.  He couldn’t recount her answer with total accuracy either.  Something about not wanting their wedding night to be just another night, maybe? 

Part of the reason he couldn’t remember was that she’d tripped his bullshit radar.  The way she refused to fully meet his eyes told him there was more to the story, yet no matter how hard he pushed, she insisted there was nothing more to it. 

Truth be told, he was a little hurt at her evasiveness, but in the end, it didn’t really matter.  He’d been with her long enough to read her body language and hear what she wasn’t saying.   Whatever her ulterior motive, it was important to her.

Which is why, while they’d spent nearly every minute together, he hadn’t been intimate with his fiancée in over two weeks.

It could be worse, he supposed.  At least they were still sleeping in the same bed, and he could cuddle her and keep track of the ever-growing Bug, occasionally copping a feel when Allegra wasn’t expecting it.  Richie was making it a point to enjoy what he could get.  The only reason they weren’t in separate beds was because Allegra wouldn’t be able to sleep without him.  So they were going to wait until the last week before the wedding to do that.

Oh joy.

For all outward appearances, he was determined to take it in stride with a smile.  Hopefully he was the only one who knew that, inside, he was throwing a tantrum and screaming ‘this sucks!’ at the top of his lungs.    

If they thought he was wrinkled now, wait until he was forced to live under a cold shower to keep from embarrassing himself.  Maybe he could start recording the Catholic Network to watch at night.  That should kill any kind of boner his vivid imagination might stir up.

Richie sighed.  What he wouldn’t give for a hellish tour schedule about now.

But it was okay.  Little Miss could have her way.  It was her wedding and he would see to that she had exactly what she wanted. 

After the wedding?  Well, then he’d have exactly what he wanted, exactly the way he wanted.  Repeatedly.  Without question or discussion.

He shifted on the couch, tugging at pants that were growing increasingly tight.

What channel is the Catholic Network anyway?

“Joker, did you have a reason for calling other than to give me crap?  Because if not, Allegra and I are about to head out and see her mom.”

“Her mom, huh?  Is this the first time since…?”

David didn’t need to finish the sentence.  It was the first time Allegra would have seen or spoken to her mother since the family free-for-all dinner the night they announced her pregnancy.  

Now that Therese was sober and had a chance to acclimate herself back at home, she was ready to see her daughter.  Richie hoped she had an armload of apologies for Allegra, because he knew that’s all it would take to make everything right.  Allegra wanted to mend this rift so badly that she would forgive the woman without a second thought.  She wanted her mother to be a part of her life again.

And he would fully support that.  He’d been on both sides of this particular fence and appreciated Allegra’s willingness to understand, forgive and forget. 

He was ready to put this crap behind them and move onto happier times.  He was ready to take his girl home, and they should have been on their way to California today.  Instead, they’d pushed their plans back when Allegra received her father’s call asking them to come visit.  Richie smiled to himself, glad that ‘home’ had been established now. 

“Yeah, it is.”

“This could be rough.  Is she nervous?”

David could be a prick when he wanted to be, but there was no doubting that he had a big-ass soft spot for Allegra.  Richie wasn’t insecure and had no question about their nature of their relationship, but their closeness sometimes sparked the teeny-tiny green-eyed monster that lived inside him.  He wondered how often David knew more about what was going on in Allegra’s head than he did.  It wouldn’t surprise him to find out David knew why Allegra had put their sex life on hiatus.

“I’d be amazed if she weren’t which is why I’d like to get off the phone and see how she’s holding up.”

“Okay, man.  Give her my love and tell her I’ll be thinking about her.”

As if.  He would deliver the latter part of the message, but not the first.  He may not be jealous or insecure, but there was something not right about giving his fiancée another man’s love.

“Later.”

“What did David want?”  Allegra had padded quietly into the room while he was talking, and was in the processing of fastening her diamond earrings.  

He never saw her wear any earrings besides those diamonds, save for the small silver hoops she bought right after she had her ears pierced.  Richie didn’t think she had any others and made a mental note to expand her earlobe wardrobe.  Maybe some sapphires.

“To be an ass.”

She snickered, tightening the elastic on her ponytail.  “A general nuisance ass, or did he have a specific agenda this time?”

Richie tipped his head back to meet her eyes levelly, puckering his mouth into a frown.  “He wanted to ask if I had blue balls.  Thanks for that.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie.”  Allegra bent to brush her lips against his, and her sweet scent tickled his nostrils.  “I didn’t do it on purpose, it just kinda came out.”

It escaped him as to how something like that could just ‘come out’ in casual conversation.  Men never announced that they weren’t getting any.  Went to great lengths to hide it, as a matter of fact.  That was because their friends would give them shit, just like Lemma had done.

“Does David know why you cut me off?  The real reason?  The one you’re still not telling me?”

Ebony brows arched and her eyes were as cool as her tone.  “I don’t know what David knows, because I didn’t say anything to him, but I didn’t tell anybody that I ‘cut you off’.  I mentioned to Lexi that we were focusing on other things right now and that I was looking forward to our honeymoon.  Period.  And I don’t know why you’re determined to believe I have some ulterior motive.”

Not a good time to get pissy, Sambora.  She’s already on edge.

He stood and reached for her hand.  “Okay.  You ready to go?”

The deliberation registered clearly on her face as she wavered back and forth between lighting into him some more and letting it go.  He held his breath waiting silently, grateful when the clouds cleared from her eyes.

“Yes, just let me grab my purse.”  One quick trip back down the hall and she had her bag in one hand, reaching for his with the other. 

He sent up a silent prayer for peace and harmony as the elevator doors slid shut.