Page 81 of Marriage and the Midlife Crisis

I gave him a grateful smile. “That sounds wonderful.”

I took a few steps toward the living room, only to turn as I heard him curse under his breath.

I glance over my shoulder to find him staring out the window over the kitchen sink.

“What’s the matter?”

“The few snowflakes we got earlier have turned into a mini blizzard. There must be at least four inches of snow out there, and it’s still coming down like crazy. You aren’t going anywhere tonight, sweets.”

Chapter 28

Ryan

We ended up snowed in for three days before the city’s snowplows made it to our neighborhood late Saturday night.

The unexpected snowstorm took the city and the local meteorologists by surprise, as the heavy snowfall was projected to remain in the far northern part of the state. The road crews had to scramble to try to keep up, but it was a losing battle since we ended up with almost nine inches of snow, along with a little bit of ice just to make things more interesting.

Dave and Neela each sent out messages to their employees that both offices would be closed until Monday, as were many other businesses in the city. Mel and I were both able to work from home a bit, but we were limited with what we could accomplish without our work laptops and files.

Luckily, we had enough food and supplies that I didn’t have to test out my new truck’s four-wheel drive, since I was pretty sure it couldn’t make it through the snow drifts at the end of our street.

The big issue for Melanie was that she didn’t have her toiletries, other than the shampoo and conditioner that she’d left behind in her haste to pack. She found a few half-empty travel- sized things in a bag in one of her vanity drawers, so she at least had deodorant, some body lotion, and a toothbrush – she refused to even consider sharing mine. She did use my hairbrush, but without her straightener and blow dryer with all the attachments, she ended up just leaving her hair in its natural, wavy state. I happened to love it that way, and I always had, so it was a bonus for me.

The bigger issue for Melanie? When she’d come to the house to talk that first time and had left with another bag full of clothing, she’d taken her entire drawer full of bras and panties, leaving only her sexy lingerie behind.

She hadn’t admitted that until day Thursday morning, when she’d carried the basket full of my dirty clothes into the laundry room. I’d hurried in to stop her, telling her that I would wash it, but she insisted that she wanted to do it. When I had glanced down at the basket, I saw a pair of red panties on top. She’d flushed to the roots of her hair and confessed that she didn’t have any underthings here anymore, so she needed to wash them and didn’t want to just rinse them in the sink.

“So…you aren’t wearing anything under those clothes?”

I’d shifted my stance, trying to subtly make room in my jeans for my cock, which was reacting to that news in a major way. I’d been half-hard since we’d cuddled on the couch watching TV the night before, but it was beyond that now.

Mel had tugged her sweater down to the tops of her thighs and glared at me before telling me she was wearing her bra.

“I can wear it for more than one day without washing it.”

“But you don’t have anything on under the leggings?”

My cock was pushing against my zipper by that point. I’d been having trouble keeping my eyes off her already, because those leggings molded to every inch of her. Knowing that she was bare under them was almost too much to handle.

She’d propped her hands on her hips and started tapping the toes of one foot on the floor, a sure sign that she was about to give me an earful.

I had held up my hands in the universal gesture of surrender. “You can’t blame me for asking, sweets. It would be impossible for me not to wonder.” I’d grinned at her, and she’d rolled her eyes before elbowing me out of the way so she could start loading the washer.

Knowing I’d pushed my luck as far as I could, I’d made my escape before I did more than just aggravate her.

I’d offered her our bedroom Wednesday night, but she’d insisted on sleeping in the guest room. I was just happy she was under the same roof, so I hadn’t argued about it, especially since I was still feeling the effects of having her curled up next to me on the couch, with her head resting on my shoulder as we watched TV.

She’d called to check on our sons first thing Thursday morning, but the campus was far enough south that they only got about three inches of snow.

“They aren’t even delaying classes, Mom. We’re fine,” Garrett had assured her. She had them on speakerphone, so I’d been able to hear both sides of the conversation.

“We’re not fine, because they aren’t even delaying classes, Mom,” Tanner had corrected, sounding like a grumpy, pouting little boy. “There’s still snow all over the sidewalks and I can’t find my left boot. I’ll have to hop across campus to get to class,” he practically whined.

“Or you could just clean your side of our dorm room so you can find your left boot,” Garrett had pointed out, and I could almost hear him rolling his eyes.

Melanie had just snorted and assured Tanner that he would, indeed, be fine. I’d said a quick hello to the boys and took the opportunity to tell them that I’d like to help with their project. Neither one said anything for a moment, and I’d braced myself for them to turn me down. Melanie had reached out to rub my arm, as if knowing I needed the emotional support, and I couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped when Tanner said, “That would be great, Dad.”

Garrett had added, “Thanks, Dad. We would love to have your help.”