I snicker at his words. Can’t mention that I asked her to marry her.
“You knew, didn’t you, when you advised me to move in with her?”
“I guessed. Truth is, you already made up your mind. I just did the nudging.”
I exhale. He’s right, there wasn’t the slightest chance I was going to allow any man besides me move in with her. My soul had claimed her before my brain registered it. Now my heart needs to accept it and get my whole being into the task of making her claim me back. There lies my real challenge. Everything else is a distraction.
“Thanks, Luke, for nudging me.”
“That was easy, because you already laid claim to her.” He chuckles taking a sip of his drink.
I nod.
“I get it now, why you and Declan have Bruce always watching and protecting your wives. I can’t imagine how mad I would be if something happened to her.”
“Are you telling me Bruce is tailing her?” he questions.
“Damn right he is. Turns out her brother, who she told me was happy to buy her a house and let her live alone in Chicago, isn’t so happy about the idea, so he’s got guys watching her.”
“Now that’s interesting. How did that go down?”
“It wasn’t easy, if that’s what you are asking. Bottom line, we both agreed to work together.” I say
“Good. So, she knows you are working with her brother?” he asks
“No, she doesn’t know that we’ve talked at all.” I reply
“Be careful. She might not like it when she finds out you teamed up with her brother.” Luke says.
“I’ll deal with that situation when she finds out rather than leave her unguarded and have something crazy happens. You know she rolls with Cole A, and some crazy fans just might do something stupid. You and I both know you can’t teach stupid.”
“I hear you.”
Chapter 40
Daniel
The last few weeks, Anu and I have been spending our evenings together. We have dinner together and I join her on the sofa as she watches her animated movies, sips her tea, cuddled up under a blanket with her legs resting on my lap while I read documents. I have come to enjoy these moments as our thing. I look forward to them. I can’t believe I’m saying this. I’m no longer an "I". I have transformed into a shared experience of "we" and "us."
Most evenings, we barely make it through the movie or the reading before our insatiable feeling for each other takes over. I like having her close to me.
We have just taken our positions when her phone beeps with a text. She looks at it and sets it aside. I continue reading and a chuckle escapes me from the jokes in the movie. I didn’t get why she watched the animated movies at first, until she said a happy ending or warm fuzzy feeling is guaranteed, plus a laugh. Most importantly, she gets to relate with the kids and know what they are talking about when they bring up a song or a joke.
Her phone beeps again. She looks and sets the phone back down. Now that has me intrigued; something is up. I don’t say anything and continue our palpable moment, until her phone beeps again and, like before, she does the same thing.
“Are you going to answer that?”
“Nope.” Her tone sounds final.
“Why not?” My question is subtle.
“Because it’s my ex, Teni.”
Now, that has my attention.
“He’s texting you because—” I let the rest hang for her to fill in the gap.
“He wants to come over and pick up his Xbox, which is a code for booty call. He always texts me about picking up his Xbox whenever he’s in town. When he comes over, he somehow decides to leave it after sex, until he’s in town again. I stopped answering his calls once I noticed the pattern.”
