Chapter Fifteen

As Emmie walked into the grocery store, a flyer on the window caught her attention. A music festival was scheduled the following weekend, advertising bands of all genres, in a town called Gracelyn thirty miles away. She had never been to a music festival. A couple of times she went to the New York Philharmonic and saw a performance in the Sydney Opera House down under, but she had a feeling this was quite different.

She shopped and bought her groceries before heading back. She had left Coleson napping on her couch, taking the opportunity to run out and stock up on things. Not that she knew how to cook any of it, but she hadn’t given up on learning. Putting everything away, she turned and noticed Coleson watching her with a dopey smile on his handsome face.

“I thought you were sleeping,” she said.

“Just watching a beautiful woman being all domesticated and shit.”

“What a smooth talker,” she said with a smile.

He held out his hand, so she headed over to him and took it. He pulled her down to the couch, and she sat next to him.

“I saw an advertisement announcing a music festival. I was wondering if you’d like to go with me.”

“I’d love to,” he replied, running his hand up her leg.

“Good, because I’ve never been to one. I’m afraid I wouldn’t know what to do.”

His hand stopped moving. “You’ve never been to a festival?”

She shook her head.

“You’ve not done a lot, have you?”

“I … my parents didn’t think too much of cultural diversity.”

One of his eyebrows shot up. “What does that mean?”

“Their world was a bubble that didn’t allow for trivial things like a music festival,” she explained dryly. “They wanted me to follow their rules. Be the good daughter and fall in line. Marry the man they chose. Be seen but not heard. Donate time to charity, but not work. Have children and raise them exactly like I was raised.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t a horrible life, but it wasn’t exactly a free one either.”

He watched her in that too-perspective way. “I have an idea. Do you have paper and a pen?”

“Uh, I think so,” she said, rising and heading back to the kitchen. “Saw this archaic pad of paper when I moved in. Almost like no one had ever heard of cell phones or Alexa.”

She opened a drawer and grabbed the paper and the pen next to it, holding them out to Coleson.

With a smile of thanks, he sat up and wrote on the top paper, “Music Festival.”

“I was thinking, we could write down suggestions of things you’d like to do.”

Emmie blinked. “I love that idea, but what if you don’t want to do the things I want to do?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

“I guess you could.” She sat down next to him. “So, what would you like to do?”

Instead of answering, he tore off a few sheets of paper and handed them to her, along with the pen. “Write down some ideas.”

She looked down at the paper, her mind blank. “I-I don’t know. What ideas can you give me?”

“You don’t have anything you’d like to see? Experience?”

Emmie racked her mind to come up with something, but it was blank. How pathetic. Put on the spot, her mind was blank. She looked hopelessly at him, so Coleson took the pen from her and wrote something down, then showed her.

“Bowling. Yes, please! I’ve never been bowling.”

“I figured.” He wrote down another idea. “Karaoke. Miniature golf. Country bar and line dancing.”

“All of that sounds amazing.”

“Good,” he said. “We’ll start with those and go from there.”

“Okay.”

He put the paper and pen down and then wrapped his arms around her. “Now come here and give your man a proper hello kiss.”

“Your man? My man? Is that who you are?”

“You better believe it. Just like you’re my woman.”

“Primitive but adorable,” she smirked.

He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and gently gripped the hair. Pulling her head back so he could ravish her lips.

“Now,” he growled, once they broke to breathe. “I’m going to fuck your little pussy and give you as many orgasms I can before you pass out.”

She had no plans to stop him.