He let out a woof and lowered his head again. I chuckled and pulled up one of Ashton’s old games. We watched that, butbefore long, I could hear Titan snoring. I got caught up in the game, missing Ashton and wishing he were here.
I checked his location after a while and noticed that he was on the road. He wouldn’t turn the rental car in until tomorrow since Shaniece had reserved it for two days for him. His car was parked at the private Laramie airport. I planned to ride with him in the rental tomorrow to pick up his car, and he could return the rental at that time.
After I finished watching the game and a couple episodes of the cooking show that Ashton had turned me on to, I scrolled my social media accounts. The same old things were going on, nothing new, but fortunately, I wasn’t tagged in as many posts.
I did notice an uptick in Ashton’s posts. People were wondering if he would dump me, run to his wife’s side, and reconcile with her. A few posts had memes of me with my mouth wide open as though I was ranting, saying that was what happened to side chicks. The picture was taken from a football game that I attended earlier this year. I had been reporting at the game and was up in arms about a call that the ref made.
I scrolled through a few more pictures and noticed that Shaniece was in the background. “I need to call her,” I stated out loud. His birthday was coming up in less than four months, and I needed to do something special for him. I would get her ideas and feedback.
I had thought about calling Amélie, but she was so damn territorial, and I had a strong vibe that she didn’t like me. I thought it might be best for me to reach out to his PA, who was extremely sweet.
Aside from his birthday, I needed to get him a Christmas gift too. Christmas was less than a week away, and while I had done all the shopping for my family and friends, I hadn’t got Ashton anything. At the time that I started shopping for them, he and I hadn’t been involved. Now that we were, I kept forgetting aboutChristmas because there was so much other crap going on in our lives.
The timer on the oven went off, and I slid Titan’s head off my lap. I got up from the couch, and he jumped down and followed me. Washing my hands, I headed to the oven to remove the chicken as Titan headed to the rear of the cabin.
On the first floor, there was an open concept living and dining room and kitchen. The bedrooms and bathrooms were on the second floor, and there was a full bathroom downstairs on the main floor. A long hallway led to his den, game room, and the indoor pool at the very rear of the cabin.
I wasn’t worried about Titan getting in there, because it was locked up. Sometimes, he would go rest on Ashton’s couch in his den, and I figured that was probably where he was.
I started preparing the broccoli just as I heard a noise. My heart jumped with excitement. It was funny how I hadn’t had Ashton in my life, but in the short time we had become involved, I didn’t want him to be away from me.
But such was the honeymoon period of any relationship. After a while, one or both parties would grow bored, and you would have to fight to keep the spark going. I prayed that didn’t happen to us. My man was very affectionate, patient, and kind.
I giggled at the thought of calling him “my man.” Would I become one of those girls in a relationship with Ashton? I hadn’t been that way with Darius, and especially not any man after him.
I rounded the island to meet him at the living room door as the knob turned. But no sooner than I cleared the couch, I stopped in my tracks.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”I greeted as the door finally opened.
“I came to drop off some paperwork for Ashton to sign when he returns.”
“Oh, he didn’t mention you were coming. You could have scanned them to him to make sure he received them in time.”
“They don’t want a digital signature. It has to be the original, and he’s on a deadline.”
“Oh. What is it?”
“It’s relating to his current contract and his sports management business that he’s starting with a couple of guys.”
“Oh, yeah, Unleashed Athletes,” I replied.
Before she could respond, Titan came racing from the back of the house, barking and lunging at her. I grabbed him by the collar. “Whoa! Down, boy. Down! Titan, . . . what has gotten into you? We don’t treat our guests that way,” I chided, kneeling beside him and stroking his back and head. He was as stiff as a board, and his muscles were taut with tension.
I looked up and saw her trembling. “I’m so sorry. Are you scared of him?”
“Yes, I’m scared of all dogs.”
“He probably senses that. Let me go put him away. I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you,” she replied, visibly relaxing as I pulled Titan from the room. He was heavy, and I struggled with pulling him back as his ears flattened, and his teeth bared in a ferocious snarl as he barked again.
He acted as if danger were around, which concerned me. I led him back to the den, recognizing that her nervousness would not help Titan calm down.
“You’re a good boy. Calm down, okay?” I stroked his head and patted it reassuringly. He calmed down just a little but let off a series of barks. I had to shove him away as I slipped out of the room and closed the door behind me.
I felt bad at pushing him back inside of the room and closing the door on him. He always had freedom to roam around the house, and I was taking that from him. It didn’t help when I heard him whimper and hitting against the door. I prayed that he didn’t break the damn door with the way he was slamming his body into it or, worse, tear up Ashton’s den.
“Sorry about that. I don’t know what got into him. He probably senses that you’re nervous like I said before.”
