His breath evens out, his body sinking into the mattress a bit more. I ease back, attempting to extricate myself from his hold, but his arms tighten. “Where are you going?”
I laugh, this time shaking him off as I roll away. “I’m going to remove your shoes so you can rest comfortably.”
He says nothing, just continues watching me as I remove one shoe and then the other, placing the pair in the closet.
Turning back to him I suddenly feel ridiculously awkward. “What time do we need to leave?”
“If we’re in Seattle by 4pm, we should be good.”
I move to the head of the bed, kneeling on the mattress so I can pull the blanket up over him. Feeling foolish, I tuck it around him, then, not knowing what to do, I place a quick kiss on his forehead before scurrying off the bed, and hurrying toward the door. “Sleep well.”
“Cass?”
I stop in the doorway, turning slightly toward him. “Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
I smile. Nod. Then leave him to his sleep.
18
A ROCK STAR IN THE SHADOWS
REN
Adjustingto my new life has been an adventure.
After my ridiculous reaction to not being able to reach her, we fell into a nice rhythm of push and pull. Mostly she’d push and I’d pull, but having a better understanding of necessary communication made things easier.
Not that cohabiting with anyone is necessarily easy, but when you train yourself to talk through the uncomfortable parts, the rest of it comes more naturally. Even on days where you’d just as soon talk to a wall than the person you live with.
I finally moved into her place, a much roomier house in a less affluent yet, according to Cassidy, up-and-coming part of the suburbs. While my condo isn’t small, it’s much smaller than Cassidy’s house, a sprawling yet still homey, brick construction with large windows and high ceilings. I understand why she wanted us to live here, especially given the fact there will be at least one child at some point. The property is fenced, there’s a nice yard, even a dog door on the back exit, just in case.
I will admit I enjoy the quiet, but it’s also been quite the culture shock for me having spent the last fifteen years living in a downtown condo.
It has been nice having new places to fuck her. And not having super close neighbors means we don’t have to worry about being loud.
That being said, if I have to hear one more motherfucker on my team say something questionable about Cassidy, I’m going to fucking lose it.
Not that locker room talk isn’t something I’m not used to. I’ve been all but living in a locker room since I was old enough to enter one without parental supervision. Shit, I’m sure at one point or another I’ve made Cassidy my own punchline, though I’m rather ashamed to think about it too much.
I guess it’s true that a woman really does change a man.
My lip curls at the thought, and once again I’m annoyed by the random sentimentality dancing in my idiotic head. We have a deal. A solid legally binding contract that will earn me the greatest reward of my life.
Yanking my pads off, I toss them in front of my stall then turn back to where the guys are all still fucking around, hoping they’ve changed the subject.
They have not.
If anything, it has only escalated into a competition of who can be the crudest, with Warren the douchebag vying for first place, like usual.
“Yeah,” Warren sneers, his hands coming out in front of him as he mimes humping someone. “I’d like to bend her over the Zamboni and show her a thing or two.”
“Seriously, man,” I respond clearly. “Fucking cut it out.”
He ignores my warning, or perhaps he doesn’t even hear it because he adds, “She’d have a hard time running her mouth with my dick in it.”
Fed up, I slam my fist against the locker, the noise reverberating through the room as I snarl, “That’s enough.”
