Chapter 31
Derek
I hated that I wasn’t home right now. Especially knowing there was a beautiful blonde curling up on my pillow. I tossed in the too small bed, my feet poking out the bottom, wishing I wasn’t in this shitty motel. The truth was I was more than ready to get back home. With a heavy sigh, I laid back and closed my eyes, letting my mind drift off. As I fell asleep, dreams of my Tinkerbell filled my head.
My phone buzzed, pulling me from my sleep daze. Groping around the nightstand, I knocked the glass of water onto the floor, causing it to splash all over my arm. The cool water wasn’t the wakeup call I wanted. “Shit!”
It took a minute, but I managed to pry my eyes open and check the time. It was just after eight in the morning. I had two more appointments today before could get out and head home. It shocked me that I had a message. No one messaged me. Opening it, my jaw dropped. The sexy minx had sent me a selfie. She was lying back in my bed wearing what appeared to be one of my t-shirts. Only one of my shirts. Nothing else.
“Fuck me!”
The semi I’d woken up with instantly tented the sheets. I needed a cold shower. And I needed it now.
Derek: That was just mean. ?
I ran my hand over my face, feeling the three days’ growth there. As my tongue rubbed over my teeth, I tasted the fur. Disgusted, I jumped from the bed. At the very least I needed to wash my face and brush my teeth.
With the toothbrush hanging from the corner of my mouth, my phone beeped and I bounded out of the bathroom, not really caring I had foam all over my face.
Mia: Thought you might like it. ?
“Grrrr,” I growled. I actually growled.
Derek: I do.
Tossing the phone down on the middle of the bed, I stepped out of my boxers and strode naked across the room, heading for the icy water. I spent the next twenty minutes taking care of business. Twice.
Derek: You’ll pay for that, Tinkerbell.
Mia: Don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Derek: Wish you were here.
Mia: You do?
Derek: Yeah. I do.
Derek: When I get back, you need to be there.
Mia: Be where?
Derek: My place. My bed.
Mia: Bossy much?
Derek: You have no idea, Tinkerbell.
Derek: Eight sharp.
Derek: Don’t be late.
I sounded like an ass. A bossy pain in the ass. But Mia had me so wound up I didn’t know what to do. My whole life, my plans, everything was shot to shit. The problem was I didn’t have time to make sense of it right now. Skipping the underwear, I tugged on my jeans and pulled a black shirt over my head. Today was the one appointment I didn’t want to keep but couldn’t break either. Seeing Jenna after all this time was going to be hard. I hadn’t seen her since the funeral. We’d both left town as soon as it was over. I’d kept my eye on her Facebook account, but even her updates had been scarce.
The truth was as much as I didn’t want to see Jenna, I needed to. I didn’t want the first time I saw her to be at the awards. Fuck, I didn’t even want to be at the awards. Guilt was a bitch, though. I needed to be there. I owed it to Jenna. To Spencer. I mean, after all, he wasn’t here to see the trophy which now bore his name. Rolling my shoulders, I tried to force some the tension from them as I scooped up my wallet, keys, and headed out.
I pulled into the driveway and stared at the house. My heart was pounding beneath my chest, physically causing me pain. I could feel the sweat gathering between my shoulders. This was my greatest fear about coming home. All the shit I’d been running from was here. I couldn’t hide from it. Not here. Everywhere I turned, there it was. Reality. And it sucked ass.
“You coming inside or you just gonna sit in the car and stare at the house?”
