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Published:
2022-08-03
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2022-08-08
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Sunday Morning

Chapter 3: Like branches in a storm

Summary:

Beth is pretty sure Rio is avoiding her and she is not having it.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Beth didn’t notice him leave, but things started to pick up and she figures he snuck out while she was running back and forth between the bar and her tables.

Her first shift ended around one and she’d walked across the street to grab a sandwich at the deli. She sits at a small table outside and looks up at the three little windows above the bar, one in her bedroom and two in the living room, and feels a swell of excitement at having her own place again.

Archie had shown her around this morning and given her the key. It was tiny but cozy, and once she’d hung up her clothes and set out a few pictures of Annie and Ruby, it started to feel like home.

It already had some furniture – a bed frame and an old couch she was pretty sure just needed a deep clean before it’d be usable. Grabbing a notebook and pen from her purse, she starts to make a list of essentials: mattress, sheets, rug, coffee table. Then she flips the page and starts writing down numbers.

Beth sighs and rests her chin in her hand. Even with Archie cutting her a deal on rent, it was still more than she budgeted. She had enough saved to cover the things on her list and maybe three months rent. After that, she’d be living paycheck to paycheck, making enough to manage rent and food but not much else.

She’d been hoping to go back to school, maybe take the last two classes to finish her associate degree this summer and then finally settle on a major before the fall. But she has a pretty good feeling the cost of tuition hadn’t gone down in the few years since she left.

She packs up her things and heads to the library, intending to look up class schedules and enrollment forms and student loan applications, when she passes a hardware store. She makes it a few steps past the door when the sale sign registers: 45% off paint.

And she can’t help it. Her new apartment was cute but it was all white – walls, cabinets, countertops. It so desperately needed a pop of color and Archie said she was more than welcome to repaint, assuming it was white again when she moved out. Beth walks out with two gallons of paint and a bag of supplies and turns back the way she came, leaving library research for another day.

She got ready for the Saturday night shift in a nervous rush, excited to see Rio but also dreading the unknown.

Their relationship had always been so easy. She was unsure where things stood now that they’d essentially admitted their physical attraction to each other. And it was startling to realize just how much she wanted him once she allowed herself to imagine it. Found herself overthinking whether she should play it cool or just go for it and ask him out next time they talk.

But it turns out her nerves had been unnecessary because Rio never showed for his shift. At first, she felt relief but then thoughts of why started to plague her. Was he avoiding her?

She clocks out at midnight, exhausted after another busy night of basically managing the place while Archie did who knows what, holed up in his office all evening. But she has a burst of energy remembering she doesn’t have to pay for a ride home – just needs to walk up the stairs behind the office. Feels herself start to relax at just the thought of pouring a glass of wine and calling Annie to fill her in on the details of the new apartment.

She’s walking past the office when she hears Archie call her name, so she peeks her head in.

His office seems messier than usual, boxes piled against the back wall, paperwork spread across the desk.

Archie hardly glances up from the ledger in front of him, just nods to the boxes behind her and then pushes his glasses farther up his nose as he lowers his head again.

Beth turns around and is about to ask what the boxes are when she spots a bottle of bourbon on top of one of them. An expensive bottle with a fancy looking label. She runs her fingers over the calligraphy and can almost see the little smile on Rio’s face as she’d pulled it from the gift bag, and then notices the albums stacked behind it.

She’s flipping through them, one of Annie’s favorites and another she remembers listening to repeatedly with her mother on cassette tape in their station wagon, when her eye catches the edge of a gray pillowcase leaning up against the wall.

“Rio?” she asks over her shoulder.

“Hmph, yeah.”

“He say why he didn’t make his shift tonight?”

Archie shrugs, “Said he needed a few weeks off for personal reasons.”

Beth turns around quickly, unsure she heard him correctly. “Weeks?”

He just nods and goes back to moving paperwork around on his desk.

Beth grabs her things and treks up the stairs. Lays them out on the kitchen counter and stares at them, weighing what to do next.

She considers texting him. But he hadn’t reached out tonight, she assumes for a reason. She thinks about pouring a drink but realizes she’s too restless to stay here. Has the sudden urge to go for a walk. And she knows what she’s doing, where she’s going, as she looks through her closet for a change of clothes but doesn’t let herself dwell on it, knows how easily she could talk herself out of it.

She settles on a dress. It’s casual, the top a fuzzy, black sweater that gives way to a deep green, silk skirt.

Beth fluffs her hair and reapplies some peach lipstick. She stares at herself in the mirror, trying to psych herself up. Then she forces down her self-doubt, straightens her shoulders and lifts her chin.

If he didn’t want to finish what they’d started earlier, that was fine. But he could at least tell her to her face, and she was going to look good while he did it.

She replays their conversation from this morning while she walks. He said he was interested and remembering the look in his eyes makes her feel warm. She knows he meant it.

So why go get her things and then just leave them in Archie’s office? And then skipping his shift, postponing them for weeks – it felt an awful lot like he was avoiding her.

She pushes the call button on the keypad and feels her palms start to sweat as she waits for him. The light on the display turns green.

“Rio? You there?”

“What’re you doin’ here, Elizabeth?” He doesn’t sound thrilled and her irritation sparks at his tone.

“Wanted to talk to you.”

It takes him a moment to respond. “Gimme a minute.”

And she expects him to buzz her up but two minutes later he’s opening the door to the building himself. Rio doesn’t move to let her in though, just leans his shoulder against the door, so she takes him in from the sidewalk.

He’s got his hands tucked into his usual black hoodie and, even though the hood’s pulled up, she spots his black eye instantly.

“What the hell happened – did Dean do that?” She reaches like she might touch him even though he’s a couple feet away. Realizes what she’s doing and pulls her hand back to wrap around her neck.

Rio scoffs and looks genuinely insulted.

“No way that dude would get a hit in.”

Beth expects him to elaborate but he doesn’t. He just looks down the street, avoiding her eyes.

“Look," he starts as he lifts one hand to rub across his jaw, "I’m gonna be takin’ a step back at the bar. Got some shit I gotta settle with my suppliers. Might not be around for awhile.”

And he says it like it’s no big deal. Like nothing had changed the last twenty-four hours. Which fuels her irritation but also plants a seed of doubt.

“So what, we’ll just finish our conversation from earlier in a few weeks?”

“Pretty much.” Rio levels her with a disinterested stare but he oversells it. It’s just too far from how he normally looks at her.

She crosses her arms across her chest, narrows her eyes as she counters, “Why don’t you just invite me up? Get it over with now.”

“Don’t think that’s a good idea, sweetheart.” And his casual drawl sets her on fire, burning any lingering doubt to the ground. She takes a step closer, lets herself really look at him - he looks tired, on edge. Keeps opening and closing the hand not buried in his hoodie into a fist, like it’s sore and he’s trying to stretch it out.

Beth is pretty sure he’s bluffing, feels confidence begin to bloom in her chest. Figures she doesn’t have much to lose at this point.

“You seem stressed.” Beth lowers her voice, makes it obvious what she means when she says, “I could help you feel better.”

And his lips turn up in a smile but he doesn’t look happy.

“Oh, I know you could,” he says on a laugh. Rio looks down, squeezes the back of his neck and drags his hand over the top of his head, hood falling down to his back. “’S just not a good time. We both got a lot goin’ on, a lot changing.”

And Beth knows a rejection when she hears one but he just keeps going.

“Maybe we should give it some time, see how things shake out.”

The excuse echoes for a moment, or seems to anyway. Beth can feel the flush in her cheeks spreading down to her chest as she turns her head to watch a car slow to a stop at the end of the street and turn the corner.

She turns back to him, forces a little smile and tries to think of the quickest way out of this conversation.

“I get it,” she says, overly upbeat. “I guess I’ll see you around then.” And she turns to leave. Feels a little relief just seeing the open sidewalk in front of her, a direct path that leads far, far away from his doorstep.

“Elizabeth,” he sighs. She turns back before she can really think it through, and he seems frustrated. He looks down the street, the direction she was headed. Then he turns his gaze back to her, and she can see his tongue sliding along his teeth while he thinks it over. “You been drinkin’?”

“No?”

And that seems to settle some internal debate but she isn’t sure why.

“A’ight, come here,” he says, tilting his head towards the elevator. She follows behind him but he keeps walking past the doors, turning the corner of the little hallway that leads to the emergency exit behind the building. 

He stops halfway down the hall and turns to face her.

“Look, I’m gettin’ outa the drug business. Setting up a few other ventures.”

He looks like he expects her to understand what any of that means.

“Business changing like this – could be dangerous for awhile. Don’t want you involved.”

And at least that makes sense. She knows the people he works for aren’t anyone she wants to be involved with.

She whispers, “Okay,” and he seems to relax a bit at that, some of the tension leaving his shoulders.

Beth reaches out to touch him and he flinches like he wasn’t expecting it. He eyes her hand warily as she rests her fingertips on his chest. Then he takes a deep breath and small step towards her, the palm of her hand pressing firmly against his chest now.

“So I won’t see you for awhile then?” Her eyes move from her hand to his throat, watches him swallow and shake his head.

Rio’s fingers glide through the fabric of her skirt, not really touching her, but the motion of the silk swaying across her thighs has her eyes drifting closed. She feels him start to bunch up the fabric, slowly pulling it up past her knees. When she opens her eyes, he has one eyebrow raised in a question.

She moves her hand from his chest to grip the strings of his hoodie. Tugs on them as she takes a step back to lean against the wall, pulling him with her.

Her eyes are locked on his lips, watching as his tongue darts out to pull the bottom one between his teeth. When she glances up, his lashes are almost touching his cheeks, his gaze tracking the hem of her dress as he pulls it up past her thighs. He holds it there, squeezes her hip and she lets out a little whimper as his other hand glides across her thigh, between her legs.

His fingers ghost over the edge of her underwear. He seems content barely touching her, but she can feel her desperation start to swell. She releases her grip on his hoodie and slides her hands down his stomach, finally breaking contact to hook a thumb under each side of her thong to push it down to the middle of her thighs.

Beth expects him to be watching but when she glances back up to gauge his reaction, his dark eyes are on hers. He looks a mix between surprised and reluctant to look down, and she can’t help but feel a bit thrilled at having caused that reaction.

Then his gaze falls to take her in, dress hiked up around her hips and underwear tangled around her knees.

“Fuck,” he whispers between deep breaths.

She wraps both hands around his neck and pulls him down to whisper in his ear, “Touch me.”

Rio slides his hand to her cunt and groans when he feels how wet she is. Brings his fingers to her clit and lightly rubs in little circles. Beth feels the heat spread through her, building as he continues the pattern on her clit, slowly increasing the pressure as her breath quickens.

When the wall doesn’t feel like enough support, she pulls him closer, wrapping one arm around his back, the other hand gripping his neck as his head drops to her shoulder. She can feel his lips there, his mouth open. Thinks she feels his tongue against her skin as he pushes one, then two fingers inside her.

Beth can’t suppress the moan that escapes her lips at the feeling of his fingers sliding in and out of her.

“You gotta be quiet,” he rasps.

She bites her lip, breaths heavy, lips so close to his ear.

And she wants to draw it out but her orgasm crashes over her too quickly, the pleasure rushing like waves through her, nails digging into his neck and back.

Beth makes no move to release him as her breathing returns to normal and he moves his hand back to her hip. Just lets her fingertips wander in little patterns on his neck, closes her eyes and tries to memorize the moment, the heat of his hands on her hips and exactly how his skin smells this close.

She opens her eyes as he pulls back to look at her, and Rio must like whatever he sees because he smiles. That little one he does when he’s happy, that makes the corner of his eyes wrinkle.

Beth sways her hips, moving her stomach against his erection and he groans. Lets his forehead fall against hers.

“Nah, not sure I’d be able to stop.”

“And that’d be a bad thing?”

Rio huffs a laugh but shakes his head, his nose grazing hers. “Forreal, I gotta handle this shit with work. Once things settle down, we can talk. You can decide if you’re still interested.”

Beth nods as he pulls back, letting her dress fall back to her knees. She bends down to readjust her underwear, then straightens the belt on her dress as they head back to the front.

He holds it open for her, but she pauses as she steps in front of him.

“Maybe I can help? With work I mean. Whatever the new thing is?”

He looks at her hard, sucks his lips between his teeth. Starts nodding, the motion slow little bounces while he thinks it over.

“Yeah, maybe.” He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll be in touch, yeah?”

Notes:

My first attempt at writing smut... I'm torn between wanting to hide under the covers and yell it from the rooftops. I feel like hitting the 'post' button is a good median? Any feedback is very much appreciated, especially considering I have a few more chapters of it planned lol <3