Better than I’d hoped

Eleven.

Eleven minutes.

That’s how long it took him to prove that his boredom, and video games, were more important than his girl.

“Babe, do you mind if I get on with Jimmy?” He said as he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, his arm around her as he rubbed her shoulder and hummed as he kissed her. As if to say ‘my girl.’ He glanced at me as he did it, and his nervous eyes looked like he was showing off. Bragging that he got to kiss her, yet choosing to hide behind that side of her. Ooh, her fucking cheek. How bold of you, Beckett. He looked proud of himself, as if he’d established his position as king of the castle. Her man.

I pursed my lips and casually looked around the room at the awkward moment they shared, trying not to show any emotion whatsoever. Even on the cheek, if that’s what he called a kiss, I felt bad for her. I couldn’t imagine how fucking terrible he would be in bed, briefly picturing their wedding night. I’m thinking 10 pumps or so and he’d fill her up and roll over, leaving her to yearn for something he’d never be able to give.

Poor girl.

Good thing she had me.

I pretended I was sufficiently put in my place, inside smiling as I remembered all the shit I’d done with her already. I was a bit jealous though. I wanted to kiss her too. I wanted to do a lot of things with her. To her. Like fucking her in her own bed. In the kitchen. In the living room. In the bathroom. In the basement. What other rooms are there? Yes, even in those.

“I-” she started to protest. I saw it in her eyes when I looked back over at her, in the way she sat up straight, and tense. But he wouldn’t hear it.

“Oh, come on,” he whined. “I haven’t got to play all day.” You and me both, asshole.

Her eyes darted over to me for a fraction of a second, and she opened her mouth to say something. But he interrupted her again, not giving her a chance to beg him to stay in the kitchen, and stop me from doing whatever it was I was planning on doing. I smirked as I looked back down, already aware that he wouldn’t notice the nervous, pleading body language of the woman he supposedly loves.

“You’ve got your thing,” he said as he gestured to her laptop and my iPad, and I knew he meant her teaching career. His tone was one of subtle deprecation, and her face dropped somewhat. Her eyebrows wrinkled as if he’d hurt her. I got the sense this was a brief glimpse into an older argument. Maybe he didn’t approve of her career choice. Maybe he didn’t approve of her having a career at all.

The Christian dudes I knew only wanted a housewife, there to spit out kids and raise them as they became the sole breadwinners, leaving their wives **** but to live a life of child-rearing, husband-obeying submission, completely reliant on their men. No dreams of their own, right? No happiness in anything other than their families.

In the brief time I had known Miss Laura, I knew that was no life for her. Like some dog living its life in a cage. And that’s no way to live.

She needs…more.

She needs me.

“And this is mine,” he continued, putting himself before her. Her slumped-shouldered reaction told me this wasn’t the first time he’d chosen something as trivial as video games over her. Good for me, I guess. He looked at me for some kind of validation or something, like as a dude I would understand. Playing him right into my hands I nodded, smirking. You tell her, buddy. You’re the man! Put that woman in her place. What a fucking idiot. His priorities were beyond comprehension. This hot piece of ass living in the same house as him, and this fucking man-child wants to play video games with his little friends. He seemed to feed off my fake encouragement, happy that i was not staring him down for a change, or squeezing the life out of his hand.

“I’ll be in the living room, babe,” he said, a finality to it that kept her quiet. Babe. What a fucking prick. Her face was flushed bright pink. I could tell she was fucking furious. He’d embarrassed her right in front of me. Not only one of her students, but the man who would one hundred percent take advantage of the situation.

“Yeah, I’ll be on in a second,” he said excitedly into his phone as he walked his scrawny ass out of the kitchen, as if he’d just proven to her and I what a big man he was, apparently already on the line with Jimmy, his equally douchey friend. I’m just guessing. Maybe Jimmy was a solid dude. Yep. And maybe I was a nice guy.

“Nah, she’s tutoring some kid,” he said, his tone a little dismissive. i shook my head lightly as he dug himself a deeper hole. I looked over at her. Yep. She heard it too. Her cheeks were bright pink with embarrassment. Her eyes were closed as she no doubt considered this one of God’s tests of patience. One of those…mysterious ways he’s always working in. Fucking hilarious. Always the good girl, Miss Laura. Or she was just trying to hold it together. Or she was realizing he’d just left her alone in here with me. Either was, I saw her jaw clench briefly, and I knew she was furious with him. She probably pray on it tonight, though, of that I had no doubt.

But that would be later.

After I’d left.

After I’d given her something else to pray forgiveness for.