Free Life Begins by Taki James Page B

brother.”
                  “You are making it more difficult for me to explain this to the group. They already think that I should stay far away from me and now I’m starting to agree.”
                  His weight joined her in the bed. She couldn’t help but turn to her side to look at him. His left hand settled on her hip. She guessed that it was supposed to be a soothing motion, but she knew him to be almost incapable of soothing anyone’s emotions. “Why are we still in group? We don’t need it.”
                  “They are still my friends and I’m not yet married. I want to be able to go to group until you put the ring on my finger.”
                  “You will have me pay for wedding?”
                  She traced the veins along his tattooed forearm. “I don’t know that I want another actual wedding. When I married Gary, his parents paid for this extensive ceremony. I think that this time, I just want to relax and enjoy it. Maybe it can be just us and the kids, with maybe Marisol as our witness?”
                  “Or, we can just have the kids and ignore everyone else.”
                  She tried seeing if pouting would give her the advantage. She got nothing out of him other than his usual look, which caused her to sigh. “Fine. We’ll talk about it. Put our terms on the table.”
                  He suddenly pushed at her. “Take those jeans off. It is time for bed.” She rolled completely off the bed to do just that.
     
    ~*~
                  She had no kids for the weekend and Josie couldn’t be happier. In a magnanimous decision, her mother decided to take all four of the kids, presuming that she and Žarko were dating and desperate to be alone. Mostly because of him introducing himself as her future husband.
                  That had been embarrassing, considering her mother had never been enthused by interracial dating, but as always, Žarko’s girls managed to win the day, because the Lord knew that Žarko had very little charm to him. For the girls alone, Ms. Maven Jones decided that she wanted to keep everyone for the weekend, just so she could get to know them better.
                  Josie thought it more because her mother expected her to behave like a wild animal and start humping Žarko just because. It made Josie a little frustrated by her mother’s continued need to disrespect the fact that Josie chose to live a life that included celibacy until she got remarried. It was why she planned to use the opportunity away from her kids to hide out in her apartment, away from sexy Žarko and that damn sneer.
                  For once, she felt as if God were on her side because Žarko suddenly had to go to work. She used that much needed quality time in her own apartment to just relax and watch some American television. She had gotten so used to sleeping in the bed that laying on the couch wasn’t nearly as comfortable, but she benefitted because she could lounge in what she wanted to, a plain white tank and her comfortable pair of blue panties.
                  Žarko hadn’t mentioned anything about dinner, or when he planned to return home, but she didn’t think that it was a bad idea to have something ready. She did have to feed herself and she had never been really good at not cooking for more than one. It just wouldn’t be Serbian fair. Or, she suddenly decided, maybe she could do an internet search and see if she could find a Serbian food restaurant she could order from. Then she changed her mind. It would be best to let him be the one to decide that. He knew Serbian food better than she did after all and she didn’t want to take the risk of getting something neither of them enjoyed.
                  “Besides, it’s just nice to lay here all by myself,” she admitted to herself. In her marriage, she’d barely