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Tris found that she liked working with Eric. She'd been there for six days and he'd opened up completely to her both with his business and his personal life. He'd shown her pictures of his parents, the few he had scattered around his house. He talked more about his relationship with both, and as he did Tris knew that even at thirty years old, Eric was still dealing with their neglect.
"Will you give me a tattoo?" She'd asked him one night as they were closing the shop together.
"Of course, I will." He answered, "Would it be ridiculous if I asked you to give me one too? Something that matches, that we can look at and think of the other?"
"I'd like that."
They decided it wouldn't be anything elaborate, not for their first matching tattoos. Instead, they went simple, with the date they met, in small Roman numerals on the inside of their left wrists. It wasn't the wedding bands they'd thought of getting if this relationship worked, but it was symbolizing the day that both of their lives changed, and that was powerful for both.
When they'd gotten back home, they unwound with dinner and a couple of beers before taking a shower.
"Uriah texted me. Hana is being released. She's going to stay with their sister Denise for the foreseeable future, but it's all great news." Eric said as they finished brushing their teeth.
"That's wonderful news. I know you must be relieved." She replies and he nods.
"Hana is like a mother to me, and I've absolutely been worried. This is great news, and I know Zeke and Uriah are happy."
"They'll be home soon?" She asked and he nodded.
"Day after tomorrow."
When they were about to get into bed, Eric had stopped her and pulled the tshirt of his that she was wearing over her head, leaving her in just her panties in front of him.
"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He husked as he pressed kisses to her skin, trailing his lips and tongue across her breasts and sucking each nipple into his mouth.
"You keep telling me that." She replies.
"Because it's true, and one day you'll believe me."
He kissed down to her navel, swirling his tongue in it before hooking his fingers into her panties and sliding them down her legs. Suddenly, he stood up, picking her up and kissing her passionately before lowering her to his bed, where he continued to press his lips all over her body. He pulled away and just looked at her, spreading her legs and trailing his eyes over every inch of her exposed skin. His lips ghosted over her hip bone before moving across her abdomen, where he rested his chin and looked up at her.
"Do you want to have a baby?"
She sat up on her elbows and looked down at him, "Now?" She asks with an edge of surprise to her voice.
"One day. Maybe once we're both living in the same city. Soon, I hope." He said before pressing kisses across her stomach.
"I hope so too." She agrees.
"Would you want to have a baby with me?" He asks again.
"Yes." She replies and she feels him smile against her.
"Good." He said as he ran his fingertips up and down the inside of her thigh, "How many?"
"At least two. Growing up with a sibling was amazing. It was like having a built-in best friend." She admitted, her heart fluttering at the memories of her and her brother Caleb.
"I want a house full." He admitted, "I want them to always have each other no matter what happens to us or where life takes us."
She meets his grey eyes with her hazel ones, "I'd like that."
He kisses his way up her body and then hovers with his lips inches from hers, "These things that I want, they're always with you," he whispers, "When I think about my future now, you're always in it. Am I crazy?"
"If that makes you crazy, I'm crazy too." She replies softly before his lips touch hers.
She pushes his boxers down and he helps her take them completely off, and she pulls him closer to her. He makes his way down her body and settles between her legs, spreading them apart so he can see her glistening for him.
She can feel his tongue on her, and she moans when his thick fingers slide inside of her.
"Eric...feels so good..."
When her hips begin moving, he holds her legs down, and he continues to lavish her with his tongue. When she comes, he can feel her shaking against him, and he finally moves away when it's apparent she's too sensitive.
Her hand is wrapped around his erection when their lips meet again, and she can taste herself on him. She pushes him onto his back and as she moves to straddle him, he pulls her core to his face and buries his tongue in her again.
"Eric..." She whines out, "I want to taste you too."
He lets her go, and when she tries to move down, he speaks.
"Stay here."
She knows exactly what he wants.
She turns and lays across his body, taking his cock into her mouth as his tongue swipes up her slit again. She's never felt comfortable enough for this, but with Eric she's free.
His moans vibrate off of her, and when his thighs start to tense, he moves her away.
"I want to be inside of you. Please baby." He says breathlessly and she moves further down his body, taking him inside of her and moving her hips against his.
"You feel so good." Tris moans as his fingers dig into her hips, "I'm going to come."
He can't hold back, and he spills inside of her as she's quivering around him, and she moves her spent body and drapes it over his. This is his favorite, her weight over him while his fingers trace up and down her spine. The feel of her hair tickling his nose, and her soft sighs as they come down from their high.
They fall asleep like that.
"You're new." A woman says as she eyes Tris from the waiting area.
"I'm a visiting artist, did you have an appointment or were you interested in setting something up?" Tris asks as she approaches.
"I'm looking for Eric." She replies and Tris nods.
"He's just parking the car, he'll be in soon." Tris replies and the woman furrows her brow.
"You're a visiting artist and he's got you in here alone?" The woman presses.
"She's not alone, I'm opening with her, is there something you need Violet?" Cara asks as she moves next to Tris.
"Yes. I'm here for Eric, and apparently he's still parking the car, so I'll continue waiting." She replies and she turns away from them and drops into one of the chairs.
"Who is she?" Tris asks and Cara purses her lips and looks uncomfortable, "Is she someone that Eric knows? Like outside of here?"
"He'll have to answer that." Cara replies and Tris frowns before looking out at the woman in the waiting area.
She's probably a year or two older than Tris, short blonde hair and thin with a willowy figure like Tori's. She scrolls through something on her phone as Tris watches her. Eric walks in and the woman immediately stands and goes to him, and they have a hushed conversation before he walks outside with her.
"Cara, should I be worried?" Tris asks and Cara moves next to her, leaning against the counter.
"Eric is one-hundred percent committed to you." Cara replies, but she can tell Tris is still uncomfortable, "Violet is someone he dated during high school. Whenever she's in town, she drops in."
"Like to hook up?" Tris asks and Cara shrugs.
"That's something you'd have to ask him." Cara replies again, but from the look on her face Tris knows that she guessed right.
Tris watches the door, and when Eric walks back through it alone he doesn't make eye contact with her before he goes to his office. She walks down the hall to his office and knocks on the door, hearing him call out a gruff "It's open."
"Are you okay?" Tris asks as she walks inside, shutting the door behind herself.
"I'm fine." He says, keeping his eyes on his computer.
"Eric, will you tell me who she is?"
"She's no one." He replies.
"Eric, please." She says softly and he continues to type away at his computer, "Is she an ex?"
"She doesn't matter."
"She obviously does because she's gotten you this upset. Can you look at me?" Tris asks and he cuts his eyes to her, "Just tell me who she is, let's get that part over with."
"She's someone I went to high school with."
"Is there a reason she stopped by?" Tris presses.
"Why are you asking me so many questions?" He asks.
"Because you seem to be heavily impacted by her stopping by."
"She's an ex from high school. We would hook up when she came back to Detroit, it ended months before I met you yet she acted like a possessive girlfriend today when I told her I was married and not interested in anything more with her. I don't need it from you too." He replies.
"Are you insinuating that I'm acting like a possessive girlfriend?" Tris asks and Eric sighs loudly.
"Why can't I just have five minutes alone?"
Tris is taken aback by his attitude and she stands up and leaves the office. She heads to her station and wordlessly begins cleaning and sanitizing her work area with tears burning at her eyes.
"He's not good with feelings, Tris." Cara says quietly as she enters the area, "Violet has been in love with him for years, and I can't imagine the conversation today went well."
"Why'd he continue to sleep with her if he knew there were feelings involved?" Tris asks.
"She never told him. I would assume her hearing about his marriage may have caused those feelings to finally come out, and he's not sure how to react-"
"Because he feels the same?" Tris asks, finally turning towards Cara.
"Because he likely hurt her unintentionally, and he's not good with confrontation at all." Cara replies, "I've known Eric for years, Fernando and I grew up with him and he's always been the same. Eric looks tough, and physically he is, but when it comes to matters of the heart he's lacking."
"Good to know." Tris sighs.
"For what it's worth, you're good for him. You give him the space he needs to work through things without flipping out on him. His other serious relationships have been hard on him because of the pressure he puts on himself to be perfect, and when the wrong woman saw how hard Eric was on himself they used it to their advantage to manipulate his feelings."
"I appreciate you talking to me about him. I know how hesitant you were, so it means a lot to me that you're willing to share." Tris replies sincerely.
"He's a great guy once he gets out of his own way, and like I said I think you are really good for him. Trust me, if I thought you were anything like the others before you, you'd have been on your own." Cara grins at her while rubbing her belly.
"Do you know what you're having?" She asks, changing the subject and the other woman shakes her head.
"Fernando and I wanted to wait. There's something organic about the unknown, no pressure to get pink or blue shit from everyone."
"I never thought of it that way." Tris replies, "I suppose waiting would be kind of fun."
"Eric will never go for that. He's entirely too impatient, he'll want to know at conception." Cara smirks.
Tris finally smiles and Cara grins back at her.
"Tris, can we talk?" Eric says quietly as he approaches and Tris nods, mouthing a silent thank you to Cara before turning away.
She follows him to his office where she takes a seat as he closes the door. He sits in the chair beside her and turns so he can face her, "I'm sorry about that."
"You needed your space." Tris replies and he nods, "Are you able to talk to me about her?"
"She's an ex from high school. I've known her a long time."
"Is she more?" Tris asks and he shakes his head.
"Apparently she wanted it to be more, and when I told her today that I was married and reminded her that even if we weren't, I had ended that part of our arrangement, she didn't take any of it well." He replies.
"She has feelings for you?"
"Yes." He admits, "I don't. I never have, and when she was in town and we were both single we'd hook up sometimes. It meant more to her than me, and today she's here thinking we'd hang out after I'm off work and I told her about you."
"Eric, if you want to remain friends with an ex, that's not an issue for me. It would be rather hypocritical of me to have an issue with her when I work with mine." Tris says and he shakes his head.
"Like you've said before, you can't be friends with someone you have feelings for. While I may not have those feelings, she does, and she'll need time I guess. I'm sorry that I was messy this morning." He replies.
"You just needed time to resolve it. It's not messy, the arrangement you had with her was part of your life before."
"But not now. I don't want you to go back to Chicago carrying any doubt when it comes to how committed I am to you and our relationship." He replies.
"I'm not carrying any doubt. We committed to each other when we left Vegas," Tris replies and Eric takes her hand in his and traces his fingers over her rings, "and it means something to me."
"Me too. I'm sorry."
"I accept. You handled the situation and we gave each other space to work through our feelings about it. I'm okay."
"Are we okay?" He asks and she smiles and nods at him.
"We are okay. We always will be as long as we communicate."
He presses his lips to hers, thankful once again for having someone who just seemed to get him.