Chapter Eighteen
“You need to stop.”
Charlotte bolted upright, shocked by the volume and intensity of Trey’s command. Sheet pressed to her chest, she looked around for the man that had spent the better part of their weekend making up for all the years she’d gone without any kind of sexual experience.
After their second round on Friday, she’d insisted they go back to her apartment so she could feed Weasley. The poor cat was not happy about their guest and had been hiding ever since they walked through the door. He’d get used to having a man around eventually, right?
Through blurry eyes, Charlotte took in her bedroom. Clothes were flung about, the curtains drawn tight, and it smelled vaguely of sex. A grin stretched across her face to the point of her cheeks aching. The place had never looked better.
“Please, just come talk to me. I’ll make time for you.” Trey’s voice was an odd mix of angry and pleading.
Wrapping the sheet around her, Charlotte padded out to the living room to find him. She drew up short at the sight of his larger than life body hunched over her kitchen counter, one hand gripping the base of his skull, the other with a phone pressed to his ear.
“It’s getting out of hand.”
A high pitched female voice came through the line, muffled, but distinctive enough to tell who ever Trey spoke with was pissed as well.
“No, don’t… Fuck!” The phone dropped away from his ear, clattering to the floor. Trey clenched his fists on either side of his head, bracing his elbows on the countertop.
Frozen in her spot, Charlotte had no idea what to do. She’d spent most of her life avoiding big emotions, scared that indulging in them would lead to the same road her mother traveled. Ups and downs. Manic and depressed. To avoid all that, Charlotte stayed numb. But Trey had ended all that with his demanding body and sweet words. He wore his big heart on his sleeve, and it was obvious at that moment that it was breaking.
Quietly, she drifted behind him, taking his big strong body in her much smaller arms, hugging him from behind like she could hold his pieces together. The heart that she was quickly falling for pounded under her hand, and a tear dropped onto her skin.
“What can I do?”
His head shook back and forth. “Nothing. There’s nothing to do.” Sucking in a huge breath, Trey stood to his full height, patting her hands where they still clung to his chest. “Just family drama. Nothing to worry about, I swear.”
It didn’t take a genius to recognize the lies pouring from his mouth. The journalist in her wanted to dig, to keep scratching away at his surface until he let her deeper. Until he told her everything. But the terrified girl in her first relationship kept her lips sealed.
The smooth skin between his shoulder blades called to her, and she laid a kiss there, sweet, lingering, not meant to ignite passion. Not like the rest of their kisses had been.
Trey turned to face her, his face now schooled, no trace of the tears that he had allowed to spill just seconds ago. “It’s just been a couple rough days with the fire and everything. But I heard from the Chief this morning, both the men injured the other day are going to be fine. They’ll both be out for a while, but none of their injuries will derail their careers.”
“That’s great news.” Charlotte nuzzled into his chest, that heart that had been under such turmoil only moments before slowing to his regular steady beat. Her touch had done that. Helped calm him. For some reason that knowledge made her feel even more powerful, more confident than anything else.
“Yeah. The cat lady is fine, too. Just some smoke inhalation on her end. Should be out feeding the strays of the world in no time.” Breaking their hold on each other, Trey turned toward her bedroom, striding in with purpose. The sheet that had been wrapped around her chest slipped to around her waist before she caught it and tugged it into place once again. Trey didn’t even look at her half naked form. “I need to head into the firehouse and meet with some of the guys to rework the schedules. There will be a few holes to fill now that Jerome and Will are officially out on leave.”
Disappointment rang through her body like the ripples of a stone tossed across water. She was due back at work tonight, but had hoped they would have at least a few hours together.
“Oh, okay. That makes sense.” She stood behind him as he finished dressing, unsure what to do.
Neither spoke, the silence filled with so many questions it felt as if the unspoken words physically pushed them further apart. For more than forty-eight hours, they'd been inseparable. Could she have been crowding him without knowing? Did he need a break from her? What was he hiding? Who had been on the phone? Those and a million other questions tickled the tip of her tongue.
The only one to make it past her teeth was the simplest. Or so she thought. “When can we be together again? I'm on the overnight shift for two more weeks, then I'll start my new hours.”
Trey paused for a moment, every muscle in his back twitching before he relaxed again and slid his shirt back on. “I don’t know, Char. The house is going to be busy for a while since we’ll be short staffed.”
Embarrassment burned behind Charlotte’s eyes, threatening to turn into tears. But she clamped her teeth down, willing the unwelcome emotions back.
“Okay.”
“Maybe we should just take some time the next couple weeks. You’ll be transitioning to the new position. I’ll be trying to hold the firehouse together. It will be a lot.” Trey turned to her, but kept his gaze trained on the floor, seeming to look for something. Charlotte realized it must be his boots and crossed the room to pull them from under the bed where Weasley had drug them the night before. The laces were frayed slightly at the end. The cat’s revenge for taking his spot on the bed. Taking them from her hand, Trey finally made eye contact, but all the warmth and affection Charlotte had grown used to in their short time together was now shuttered. “We’ll keep in touch. Check in with each other, but let’s not make hard plans, okay?”
Charlotte waited a beat. Then another. Hoping he would add something else. Something along the lines of he would miss her or despite their busy careers he wanted to make her a priority in his life. Neither came.
“Okay.”
If Trey noticed she hadn’t said more than that simple world in the past few minutes, he didn’t show it. Instead, he crossed the room, laid a gentle kiss on her forehead, which sent her traitorous heart speeding inside her chest. “This weekend, it’s been everything, sugar. I could never forget the past few days. And I know it will be all I think about.” One more kiss pressed to her forehead, then he turned and left through the front door. His boots were still clutched in one hand.
