“Go back to sleep, brat,” Calvin mumbled, tightening his hold on me. Who was I to argue? I closed my eyes and eventually drifted back to sleep.
The next time I woke, it was to an empty bed and the smell of coffee brewing. After eleven. I stretched like I did every morning, but today my body wasn’t as sore as it usually was. And my mind was quiet for a change.
“Finally joining the land of the living?” Calvin teased as he walked into the room with two steaming mugs of coffee.
“Yeah.” I yawned and stretched again, more out of habit than anything else. “Didn’t mean to pass out on you last night.”
Calvin set the coffees on his nightstand and sat on the bed next to me. He held out an arm and I sat up, snuggling into his side. He kissed the side of my head. “You needed the rest. And from what I’ve heard, it’s normal to crash like that after what we did.”
“We didn’t even do that much,” I protested. I’d been so hell-bent on getting off, it was hard to believe I’d fallen asleep so easily. Thinking about what he’d done to me both in the bathtub and after had my dick perking up, like it suddenly remembered what it’d missed out on.
“I disagree.” Calvin pulled me so I was straddling his legs. “Last night was everything. I hadn’t wanted to push you, but now, I realize maybe I should have done that sooner. You seemed to be into it.”
“I was,” I admitted. “I don’t understand why, but it was good. Hurt like hell, but somewhere in the middle, I realized that you weren’t doing it for yourself as much as you were for me. That you really mean it when you tell me you don’t see my problems as burdens and you want me to come to you with them.”
16
Calvin
Because Ryanand I would be out of town for yet another tournament on his actual birthday, Marisa arranged for us to take him out to dinner earlier in the week. She hinted, not subtly, that I invite ‘that cute roommate’ to join us, but I’d declined on his behalf, telling her he had to work.
The more I thought about it, the more I worried he’d be upset that I hadn’t left this decision to him. I started questioning my motives; whether it was to save him the discomfort of feeling out of place at dinner with my ex-wife and her future husband when our relationship was so new or if it was so I didn’t have to face my past and what I hoped was my future colliding. Unfortunately for me, Frankie was getting as good at reading my emotions as I was his, and he called me out Monday night while we were running errands. Yep, we’d officially settled into that level of domestic bliss where we did things like shopping for groceries and toilet paper together. Ours was truly a charmed life.
“You know, if you expect me to tell you when something’s bugging me, it’d be nice if you did the same.” I tripped over my feet, nearly stumbling into a display set up in the middle of the aisle. I’d put Frankie into this neat little box where he was the submissive in our relationship despite the fact I knew he wasn’t in every sense of the word. Other than me helping him avoid obsessing over the restaurant every minute of the day and coaxing him to take better care of himself, I thought of us as equals, at least outside the bedroom. But my actions may not have been supporting my thoughts.
“You’re right,” I admitted, because what else was there to do? This wasn’t a conversation I cared to jump into in the middle of a big box store, but at least I knew Frankie wouldn’t cause a scene if he was pissed off at me. He’d go quiet, letting every bit of anger simmer until we were home and then he’d lay into me. And maybe I had that coming.
“So, what’s going on? You’ve been in a mood all weekend and it seems like it’s getting worse every day.” He paused while he looked for the brand of detergent he knew I preferred. I appreciated his attention to details because I wasn’t sure I could deal with the strong perfumes in the brand he used because ‘it’s what Mama always used’. God bless the woman for raising a great son, but the crap screamed flowery fields, and I wasn’t a flowery type of guy. “Are you worried about this weekend? Because I already told you I’m going to stay with Tony and Enzo so I’m not faced with the empty house. And if that’s not enough, I promise I’ll text you and let you know I need a few minutes of your time.”
I had been worried about the second major tournament of the year, this one six hours from home, which meant we’d be gone longer, but I trusted both of us had learned some valuable lessons from the last ordeal. I believed Frankie when he said he would be okay this time. “It’s not that.”
“Then what is it? I’m the bitchy one out of the two of us, but I swear I was waiting for you to bite the head off the cashier at the last store. You’d tell me if we were spending too much time together, right?” He worried his bottom lip and wrung his hands around the plastic handle of the shopping cart. God, I was such a prick. My second-guessing myself had planted seeds of doubt in his mind.
I eased his fingers from their white-knuckle grip on the cart and drew him into my arms. “It’s nothing like that,” I promised him. “You’re the brightest part of every day. I’m beginning to understand why it’s hard for you to be at the house when I’m out of town because I feel the same way within a few hours of you leaving for work.”
“God, you’re such a sap,” he teased. That was his go-to reaction whenever I praised him. He still didn’t deal well with compliments, which was why I tried giving them as often as possible.
To show him I wasn’t a complete softie, I smacked his ass right there in the store. He pursed his lips to stifle a surprised yelp and glared at me. “Keep it up and there’ll be more of that when we get home.”
“That threat might’ve worked when we first got together, but now it’s just as likely to make me turn up the brat,” Frankie turned back to his shopping list, hips swaying as he sauntered down the aisle. I thought he’d realized the crap timing for him to confront me, but then I noticed the disapproving glare from an elderly woman coming up from behind me. She muttered something under her breath about how young people had no respect for others as she passed.
“Sorry, ma’am,” I apologized, keeping my head down so she couldn’t see the deep flush of my cheeks. I rushed to catch up to Frankie, who was already one aisle over. “You’re a menace, you know that? I used to be so reserved, but you make me impulsive.”
“It’s good for you,” he called over his shoulder as he looked for the next item on the list. “Keeps you young. Now, you gonna tell me why you’re all pissy?”
“It’s stupid, really.” Frankie spun around, cocked out one hip, and glared at me. I laughed, immediately realizing my mistake. “Man, you’re not going to let me get away with anything, are you?”
“Nope. Now, spill it.”
“Yes, sir.” I gave him a playful salute and took over steering the cart so he could grab stuff off the shelves. “Okay, so I did something and I’m worried you’re going to be pissed when I tell you.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s probably not as bad as I’m making it out to be, but I need you to remember I did what I thought was best for you,” I told him, wanting to make sure he went into the story knowing I hadn’t declined to invite him because I didn’t want him there. I did. “Marisa called and asked if we could celebrate Ryan’s birthday Thursday before we leave for the tournament. When she suggested that I invite you, I told her you had to work that night.”
Frankie shrugged and stared at me with a blank expression. “And where’s the problem?”
“I should’ve checked with you. A good boyfriend would’ve asked you if you wanted to go instead of assuming you wouldn’t.”
