I yawn again, rubbing my eyes with both palms. I check the time. It’s still early, but I have to get up and go to the gym.
I shoot a text to the prospect group chat to find out who’s on Willow watch and I get a message back in a few seconds. Lucky for them. We take shit seriously at the Rebels, and we train the prospects properly. If they fuck up, ain’t no way they’re ever gonna get a patch.
Streak
I’m across the street with Base
Two of the newer prospects, but both are reliable.
Me
Good. Make sure you stay out of sight
Again, I push my guilt down because I know this is me protecting her the way I know how. It’s for her own good.
“How did you sleep?” Willow’s voice sounds across the room.
I slide my phone onto the coffee table and sit up. “Got a crook in my neck that may never be ironed out, but other than that I’m good.”
“I can’t believe you slept on the couch.”
“I told you I’m serious about this. Does it mean I regret what we already did? Not a chance, but this is me bein’ real, to show you I’m serious.”
She shakes her head, bemused. “I think not having sex with anyone except for me is enough to show me that you’re serious.”
“I don’t wanna fuck it up.”
“Then we need boundaries,” she says. “But before that heavy talk, coffee?”
I rise, stretching out. I don’t miss the way her eyes skate down my body, landing at my crotch. Well, I’m a briefs guy, and it is morning. My wood can’t be helped.
“My eyes are up here,” I say with a smile.
“If you expect me not to look when you hang around my apartment looking like that first thing in the morning, this ‘getting to know each other’ is going to be extremely difficult.” She shakes her head, turning on her heel and heads to the kitchen.
And I follow. “We did have a marriage pact,” I remind her. “Remember?”
“You’re reminding me of that now, before I’ve had one single hit of caffeine?”
“Uh, huh.”
Well, we did. Not just our vows. A pact. If neither of us had moved on in five years, we’d get back together. I wonder if she even remembers. At the time, she was angry, so I sincerely doubt it.
She sets about making coffee in a french press and I marvel as I watch her work. Why can’t she see how easy everything is between us? Even the bickering makes for great makeup sex, I can see that nothing has changed there. Punishing myself, however, seems like the most obvious way to go because, deep down, I know I shouldn’t have left. I was trying to overdo the Mr.Nice Guy act that I’d never even contemplate doing now. Not if it meant letting her go.
“I trust you take your coffee the same?” she asks.
“You remember?”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s not rocket science, plus, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
“That’s pretty accurate.”
Our eyes meet. “Sometimes we change. I take half and half now.”
“Well, I like things just the way they are,” I say.
“Which is extra creamer, and one spoonful of sugar, extra strong.” Okay, shedidremember.That’s just how I like it.“Haze, some things are just etched into one’s memory.”
