“It’s Gray’s bodywash,” I say. “I spent last night at her place and forgot to bring my own stuff to shower, so I had to use hers.”
He sighs. “I might have to find a new seatmate until this thing between the two of you blows over.”
I resist the urge to glare at him. Just the suggestion that things with Gray might end someday has my bad mood returning.
“So what’s got you all riled up today?” Kelsier asks. “Nervous about playing Tampa Bay?”
We were supposed to play them back in December, but a freak blizzard canceled the game, and the makeup day was tacked on to the end of the season. The delay only kicked up my anxiety, though. It was as if the universe was telling me I wasn’t ready to face them yet.
I shrug. “A little,” I lie. “I’m more worried about Gray.”
“Uh oh,” he says. “Things going south between you two already?”
I wave a dismissive hand. “Nothing like that. Some shit went down at her place a little while ago, and…I may have done something unwise to try and fix it.”
He narrows his eyes. “How unwise?”
I’m not sure why I never told Kelsier any of this. I told Cedric about the break-in just in case it became a PR thing, but the press never got wind of the police presence at Gray’s that night. As for Kelsier, I guess I knew he’d have something to say about my decision to have Gray secretly watched, so I kept it to myself for the time being.
I sigh and tell him everything now, how someone broke into Gray’s house and left rose petals on her bed, and how she doesn’t know that and still thinks her mother was the only one there that day. I confess to hiring the private security, and I explain about Gray seeing the guy yesterday, then coming home to find her shade open again.
When I’m done, Kelsier stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. He’s not wrong, but…
“Someone was in her house?” he asks. “And you didn’t tell her?”
“Kels, you should have seen how freaked out she was just by the window and the wine,” I tell him. “She would’ve lost her shit if she’d seen her bed covered in rose petals. I nearly lost my own shit when I saw it.”
“Yeah, that’s creepy as fuck,” he admits, “but you better hope she never finds out or you’re in deep trouble. Women don’t appreciate things being kept from them, even when you’re trying to protect them.”
“I hope the security guys catch this sick fuck soon,” I say.
“And she doesn’t know about the security either?”
I shake my head.
“You are so fucked if she finds out.”
“I’m planning to tell her when I get back,” I say. “About the security at least. I want to avoid telling her about the rose petals.”
He shakes his head. “I hope the last sex you had was good, because I don’t think you’re getting any more for a while.”
His words bring up the memory of Gray’s full breasts bobbing up and down as she bounced on my cock this morning, and I groan. Once a night with her is never enough, and the nights I don’t get to have her at all arehell. The thought of her denying me sex indefinitely or even breaking up with me over this sends a chill through me.
“Yeah, well, that’s a problem for Future Me,” I tell him.
He angles his head. “I’m really surprised Future You hasn’t kicked the shit out of Past You yet.”
I shrug. “Future Me is usually too busy cleaning up Past Me’s fuck ups to have time for that. It’s a careful balance. As long as Past Me doesn’t do anything to get Future Me arrested or fuck up his hockey career, it’s generally a live-and-let-live situation.” Then I add, “Plus Past Me and Future Me are never in the same place at the same time.”
Kelsier shakes his head. “As long as you know what the hell you’re doing, carry on, man.”
That’s the problem. I knew exactly what I was doing until I met Gray. Now I don’t know which way is up.
Ash
It’s a funny thing about anger. It’s not always a bad emotion.
I took a course on Human Emotion as an elective back in college when I was working on my Kinesiology degree, and I learned that when a person gets angry, the body releases adrenaline, which is part of its fight-or-flight response. The adrenaline helps prepare the body for physical action, to key it up – either to fight or to run. Certain systems kick into gear to increase heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing, as well as to tense muscles in preparation for movement.
