"Josh?" Amanda asks as her husband comes home.
She hears his back pack drop to the floor and peeks out of the kitchen from where she's been working on dinner. She was hoping to make his Thursday a little better by surprising him with his favorite dinner, but considering he's taken his glasses off and is pinching the bridge of his nose, he's had a bad day.
Amanda sighs. She doesn't even have to ask. "Ryan again?"
He nods. "I did was disagree with him! Then he stopped me before I could get to the car and..."
Josh moves his hand, showing that his jaw is bruised pretty badly and his lip is split.
Amanda crosses the room and holds her husband's face in her hand. She kisses over the bruise and gently kisses his lips. "Someone needs to put him in his place."
Josh huffs. "I just want it to be done. It's a constant annoyance and... just because he's larger than me doesn't mean this should be fine." Josh trails off again, then looks at Amanda's apron. "You've been cooking?"
"I wanted to remind you that you deserve nice, delicious, wonderful things because you're a good man," Amanda says, playing with her blonde hair as it escapes her bun.
Josh sighs, kisses her again despite hissing at the pain in his lip. As they eat, Amanda looks over her husband. He's good, devoted, loving, works hard, and she knows that he checks every box a good man too. Plus, he's safe and sweet, sexy too.
She loves him, but this month long gap in sex is killing her. She just wants to rip his clothes off and remind him that he's a man, that he can take control of a situation, that he could bend it to his will if he'd just... take the initiative.
She rests her arm on the table and Josh shakes his head. "I'll find a way to handle Ryan."
"We'll see who gets to him first. I'm more than happy to make him stop," Amanda says seriously. "I can figure something out."
Josh smiles. "I've seen your angry look. I'm not doubting you."
"Then it's settled," she decides.
Josh ignores that thought, or at least doesn't comment on it as they spend the rest of the night cuddling, watching movies, all while Amanda makes sure that Josh feels loved and gets to enjoy his night. She knows she'll deal with Ryan in the morning.
She puts on some denim shorts and a band t-shirt. Taming her hair in a high ponytail, she makes sure her makeup makes her look as lethal as she wants to fear. It's not hard to find Ryan's house, barely takes any googling, so she shows up around eight a.m., sure he'll be on his way to work and she can confront him.
After the car ride here, remembering how upset Josh has been every time he's come home, whether he's bruised or not, Amanda's so mad she can't contain it. Her cheeks feel hot, her hands keep curling into fists, and she's ready to rip Ryan a new one.
She bangs on his door. The thud under her hand is satisfying, a promise of more intensity to come. She keeps talking herself up internally until the door opens and she realizes how unprepared she is for this.
Ryan is huge. The kind of huge that says he's a regular at the gym and doesn't shy away from a single workout. He's at least six foot six, so a solid foot taller than Amanda and six inches taller than Josh. He's packed with dense muscle that looks like it's trying to escape considering how he's built. He stares down at her, his intense dark eyes scouring her body.
He's big, broad, and the fact he's only wearing low-slung, unbuttoned jeans doesn't hide a thing. Amanda forces her eyes to narrow. "You're a fucking asshole. I don't know why you think it's acceptable to bully someone at work! Have you been hitting the weights or steroids so hard that your brain is as shriveled and unused as your balls? Whatever the reason it stops now."
He arches one eyebrow. "Do I look like a guy who doesn't get laid regularly?"
"You must be if you save your energy to beat my husband," she sneers.
The corner of Ryan's mouth lifts as he looks Amanda over again, his gaze lingering on her thighs, her wide hips, the curve of her breasts, and her full lips. He leans his head to the side. "And what is a girl like you doing with a guy that nearly pees whenever he sees me?"
"Josh is a good man," she says, crossing her arms under her breasts.
"And you're here to..." He studies her, then nods. "Convince me to stop beating him up?"
"Someone has to put you in your place," she says, the same thing she's said about him on repeat for the last month.
"We could make a deal," he offers. "Depending on exactly how much you want me to leave your pitiful, pathetic husband alone."
"Leave him alone or I'll call the cops."
"You're sexy when pissed," Ryan says, then opens his door. "Come in and we'll talk about it."
"Don't you have a job?"
"Boss's son, sweetheart. I come and go as I please," Ryan answers, his eyes shining with devilish delight. "So come in and convince me or accept that Josh is fucked."
Since Amanda doesn't feel like she has a choice in the matter, she heads inside, nibbling her bottom lip as the door shuts behind her. This wasn't part of the plan. She wasn't supposed to be in someone else's space. They were going to have words, he was going to back down, and that was going to be the end of it.
Now she's standing in a place she's never been with a man way too big to handle, staring at an expensive, organized, home that doesn't match anything about the man she had pictured when Josh had described Ryan.
