One More Night

Nearly two and a half hours later found the two of them sweating profusely; between the heat and the fact that their competitive streaks had them working hard, Marc had long since lost his T-shirt, and Bree had exchanged her cotton T-shirt for a loose tank top. They’d also skipped drinking the pop that Marc had brought and instead chose to down water so they could keep going. Their competition hadn’t ended yet, neither wanting to lose at any of the Wii games they’d played.

“Holy shit,” Marc flopped down onto the couch after Bree had somehow managed to knock his character down in their boxing match. Bree nodded and sat down hard beside him, leaning against him even though he was covered in a thin layer of sweat that soon soaked through her tank top. Bree hadn’t expected Marc to shed his shirt, but she couldn’t say she complained; all of Marc’s well-defined muscles were on display, from his washboard abs to his pecs and biceps.

“Can you just admit defeat this time? We can rematch when it’s not so hot out,” she whined, and after a long pause and a deep sigh Marc nodded.

“Okay, you win this time,” he finally allowed, and when Bree tipped her head up to give him a cheesy grin Marc captured her lips with his own. He’d caught her off guard, but nevertheless she’d all but melted into him.

Marc pulled her close then, letting her turn slightly so her chest was pressed to his own as they maneuvered so he was laying down on the couch with her on top of him. The position allowed him to pull her down to him, getting a little gasp from her as their bodies ground together while they kissed.

Everything about Bree completely entranced Marc; and the fact that her gorgeous body was all but on display for him while they’d goofed around. Their friendly competition had quickly gained intensity, and that was enough to put a smile on his face. He’d never got so into something as simple as a video game with a girl before – with his brothers or his teammates, of course - but none of his sisters-in-law or Robyn ever got into something like that.

Now with her pressed against him and her lips on his all Marc could think about was getting rid of the remainder of their clothes and taking her to bed. He felt like a douche for thinking that way, but the fact was that he was extremely attracted to her physically as well as emotionally. Her body fit against his as if she were made for him, and it didn’t go unnoticed. He trailed his fingertips down her arms and back up again, before letting his hands wander down her back and slip beneath the fabric of her tank top.

“Marc,” her voice was soft against his lips, but so full of the same desire that he felt that she didn’t need to say another word. Almost effortlessly Marc picked her up and carried her to her bedroom, depositing her gently on the bed. He smiled down at her before kissing her lips; cupping her cheek and lifting her head so he could loosen her hair from its ponytail, allowing it to fan across her pillow.

“You’re so beautiful Bree,” he whispered against her neck, making her blush as he kissed his way down to the hem of the tank top. He soon had it off of her, and they quickly had the rest of their clothing off. The cool sheets felt heavenly against Marc’s skin, in contrast to the heat radiating off of Bree’s body. With her legs wrapped around his hips it was all he could do to keep control of himself as her hands travelled over his skin.

“Do you have…?” her question trailed off, and with a quick nod Marc was leaning over the edge of the bed looking for his shorts and consequently his wallet. After digging the small packet out he was back in her arms, losing himself in her once again.

It wasn’t until much later that either of them moved, and even then it was only because Marc needed to kick off the duvet, leaving only the sheet to cover them. Bree giggled at him, and on a whim he rolled them over and began tickling and pinching at her sides. The laughter that ensued was like music to his ears, and between that and the way her face lit up as she tried to escape him while keeping the sheet pulled up for modesty was too endearing for Marc to find words for.

“Uncle! Uncle!” she screeched, and finally Marc stopped, pretending to pout at her while Bree attempted to catch her breath.

“Don’t you think it’s a little weird to call me that considering everything? I mean, I’m only like a year older than you,” he asked, and she gasped before smacking his shoulder.

“That’s disgusting Marc!” he couldn’t keep a straight face any longer and was soon laughing at her before she joined in. She scooted closer and wrapped her arms around Marc before resting her head against his chest.

“You know I was just teasing,” he kissed her cheek before nuzzling her skin, making her laugh some more and curl into him. They sat like that for a while, enjoying themselves until Marc could hear something. The sound was muted, and they both held perfectly still so that they could find the source. It wasn’t until a moment later that Marc realized with a blush spreading across his face that it was his cell going off. He’d just been running into town to grab some stuff so they could have a late barbecue dinner out at their parents when he’d ran into Bree. Once he was in her presence everything else had faded from his mind and all he could think about was her.

Marc quickly pulled out his phone, seeing a menagerie of missed phone calls and text messages from his family members, as well as from Robyn. That nearly made him gag, wanting to be sick as once again reality ran into him like a Mack truck at what he was doing.

“Marc, Marc are you all right? Is everything okay?” concern was evident in Bree’s face as she watched his reaction intently. Suddenly he felt terrible, and on top of feeling like he was going to vomit he knew that he didn’t deserve to be there. Bree deserved someone a hell of a lot better than a scumbag liar like him.

“I, yeah, everything’s fine,” he choked out, and caught his reflection in her mirror. He looked pasty, as if someone had just given him the news that someone was gravely ill.

“Are you sure?” she asked softly, running a hand through his hair and pecking his cheek. He slowly nodded, blowing out a breath. It was nearly five o’clock, which meant if he left right now he’d be back at the farm before six.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he tried to sound reassuring before he pulled her in for a soft kiss. Bree pressed her forehead to his, both of them sitting there for a moment before she sighed.

“You have to go, don’t you?” if Marc didn’t feel like shit before, he did now.

“Yeah, I forgot I’m supposed to have dinner out at my parents house with everybody there,”

Her expression lightened up then, and she kissed his forehead.

“Jesus Marc, you look like somebody died instead of having to go to your parents place,” she giggled, kissing him once more. “You better head out, wouldn’t want your parents angry if you’re late.”

It was unbelievable how easy going she was about the whole thing. Marc had expected her to be upset with him for wanting to spend time together and then cutting it short like this, especially after having slept together again. Instead Bree was another pleasant surprise, and all but started throwing his clothes at him and ushering him through the door.

“I’m sorry I forgot—”

“Marc, it’s fine,” she insisted, cutting him off with another kiss. Marc traced his tongue along her lip, but Bree wiggled free of his arms and pulled away.

“Go now or you’re gonna be late,” she told him.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” he assured her on his way out the door, earning himself a smile from her, and Bree playfully winked and smacked his ass before closing the door behind him. He stood there for a moment, surprised at her action before the grin spread across his face and he made his way down the hallway. Bree put him in a fantastic mood; her smile, her laugh, the way she looked at him, everything.

And as he got in his truck his good mood quickly dissipated. Marc couldn’t believe that he’d done it again, that he was lying to Bree as well as his whole family. He’d had no intention of meeting up with Bree today, even though he’d been itching to call her or text her. He’d broken down yesterday and managed a short, friendly conversation, and he’d been trying to figure out how to straighten everything out. He couldn’t keep running into Bree and ending up in bed with her, not when he wasn’t coming clean about being married and was still keeping some kind of hopes alive that anything could come of the two of them. Neither could he keep lying to Robyn and his family about where he was disappearing to for hours at a time; he’d spent nearly three hours at Bree’s apartment instead of about forty five minutes in town to grab groceries, maybe screw around for a bit and get gas before heading home.

Now he’d have to find an explanation for why he’d spent so long in town. Jared would be suspicious, that Marc knew, and he racked his brain for an excuse as he stopped at the gas station.

“Hey Marc! What’s up?” Marc turned to see Tom Pyatt as he went inside to pay for his gas.

“Hey Tom! Just grabbed a few things, how’s it going?”

The two stood there chatting for an extra fifteen or twenty minutes before Marc excused himself. He needed to get his ass to his parents soon, because dinner was supposed to be at seven, and he was estimating it would take about a half an hour to calm the waters with Robyn about him being gone.

He pulled up in the driveway, seeing Jared playing with the boys out in the front yard, which meant everybody else was probably inside. As soon as he was out of the truck the boys ran over to see him and hug him, Jared following slowly behind. Once Parker and Levi were satisfied they took off back toward the swing set. “So, what happened to you?” Jared asked quietly, his eyes trained on the two kids just in case anything happened.

“Ran into Tom; he was telling me all about that new house he and Chelsea bought,” Marc told him, and Jared nodded, but crossed his arms.

“Yeah, he was telling Jordan and Eric that he’d have to have all of us over to see it,” he knew that Jared wasn’t completely accepting or understanding, but he wasn’t going to ask or say anything further. Marc wasn’t about to offer any additional information either, and eventually the tension eased off between the two of them as they watched their nephew’s antics.

“Hey Marc! About time you got your lazy ass here!” Jordan hollered from the front door, getting cuffed upside the head by his wife because the boys might have heard him. Marc walked over to Jordan and took the bags of groceries inside.

“What’s with you lately man? Just disappearing all over the place,” Jordan’s comment was meant to be teasing, but it had Marc feeling sick with guilt once again.

“It’s because he’s superman, didn’t you get the memo?” Eric teased as he walked in, and Jordan snorted.

“Bullshit,”

“That’s why we didn’t tell you, asshole,” was Eric’s quick reply, one that had Jordan shoving him around playfully while Tanya and Heather shook their heads and rolled their eyes at their husband’s childish behavior.

“Where’s Nessa?” Marc asked, realizing that he hadn’t seen Jared’s girlfriend yet. The two were pretty attached at the hip, especially after Jordan and Heather’s wedding last summer.

“She’s with Robyn,” Tanya informed him, and his stomach sunk. Tanya noticed the change in Marc’s demeanor, and gave him a small smile.

“You know how she is Marc… she takes you being gone like that personally, you know?” Marc shrugged. He really didn’t understand, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. All of the time they’d spent apart during the season last year had been hell, and a lot of times even when he was home he hardly saw Robyn. She was always running here, going there, and while it had ‘hurt his feelings’ or upset him once in a while, he knew that there were things that were going to come up and happen that were out of his control. And he knew that Robyn wasn’t going to drop everything in her life to spend every waking moment with him, he understood that. However, Robyn didn’t seem to understand that about his life either. Even though the past few days if she knew what had really gone on she would know she had every right to be pissed at him.

“Yeah,” he sighed, and went in search of the two girls. It didn’t take long for him to find them downstairs in the den chatting away overtop of an episode of Gossip Girl. As soon as she’d spotted him Vanessa gave him a solemn smile before getting up and leaving the room. Robyn refused to acknowledge his presence, which frustrated Marc before he’d even said a word.

Their ensuing argument was loud and ugly, which ended in Robyn storming upstairs, and Marc letting out a growl and hitting the wall a little harder than necessary, nearly putting a dent in the drywall. This, he realized, was why he preferred Bree’s company to Robyn’s. Bree would listen and think things through and at least try to understand, whereas Robyn saw what she wanted to see, twisting words to fit what she thought and not wanting to compromise.

Marc collapsed onto the couch downstairs, too riled up to face the rest of his family. It wasn’t until his mom came down the stairs looking for him that he joined everybody else upstairs. He was quiet through dinner though, and as soon as he felt he could, he bowed out, said his goodbyes and headed home.