The warm, bitter scent of coffee accompanies me, masking the smell of sex perfuming the air.
I glance at the bed where she’s still asleep, tangled in the sheets. She’ll be a sight when she opens her eyes. Instead of the cute, pillow-cuddling pose she slept in half an hour ago, she’s sprawled out, one arm dangling over the edge, her blonde hair no longer a silky waterfall but a knotted wild mess.
I set the tray on the nightstand, careful not to make much noise so she’ll sleep off the headache, but as I step back, she snaps upright. Her wide eyes meet mine, and she holds my gaze, a panic of self-consciousness in hers.
“Morning.” I snatch my coffee off the tray. “Sleep well?”
She looks around, probably checking where she is, then bolts out of bed, her confidence from last night gone as she sprints to the bathroom, taking the comforter with her.
“How’s your head, pretty girl?” I call out, rapping my knuckles against the door.
“Painful,” she mumbles, her voice tinged with a mix of frustration and embarrassment.
“I brought painkillers. Grab a shower and come out before your coffee gets cold.”
“Um... yeah, okay.”
The water starts running a moment later. I take a seat in the wingback chair, flipping through my emails and messages until the bathroom door inches opens.
Hailey’s still in my t-shirt, her hair wet, eyes rimmed pink, uncertainty clouding her features. “I’m sorry about last night.” She pads toward the nightstand, then chases two pills with coffee.
“Which part of last night are you sorry about?”
She doesn’t sit, squirming in place and wringing her hands. “I... I’m sorry that...” Her voice breaks a little, wiping the smirk clear off my face.
My pulse speeds up when frightened tears pool in her eyes.
“Hailey, what—”
“I’m sorry I fell asleep before we took care of you,” she finishes, her voice quivering with every word. Her lips pinch and she’s rigid with tension. “I don’t know when I drifted off... I can...” She looks up but snatches her eyes away when she catches me staring. “I’ll do it right now. I know it’s too late, but—”
She falls silent when I jerk to my feet, erasing the distance between us, my pulse whooshing in my ears.
“Look at me,” I say, and give her no choice, tilting her chin up. “You think I’m annoyed I didn’t get off?”
“You’renot?”
Surprisingly, not at all. Which is fucking bizarre given my past. In all my years I’ve nevernotfinished.
Last night was my first time.
“Did I look pissed off before you started apologizing?”
Her brows furrow, two vertical creases marking her forehead. “No... I guess not.”
“I’m pissed off now. I’m fucking fuming, thinking about the selfish fuckers you were with before me.”
Fucking hypocrite.
True. I am a selfish bastard, but as it turns out, I am anything but where Hailey’s concerned.
“Never apologize for something like this again.Never. Is that clear?”
“Um... so... we’re okay?” She’s so fucking embarrassed even her ears are pink.
“Of course we’re okay.”
“And you’re not mad I came on to you?”
