“Is everything okay?”
I whip my head up to find Chloe standing in the bathroom doorway. The Seattle Serpents t-shirt I gave her hugs her in all the right places, clinging to her plush curves and soft belly rolls and hitting just under her ass cheeks. She’s fucking gorgeous, and I have to fight the urge to march across the room and fuck her right where she stands.
“Callum?”
I give myself a shake. “Huh? Oh, uh, yeah. Well, no.” I hold up my phone. “My pet sitter won’t be able to cover Percy for a few days. Apparently, their whole house is sick.”
“Oh no. That sucks.”
I nod, my eyes falling to where the t-shirt sits tight against her thighs. I swallow roughly. “Yeah, it does.”
“I can do it.”
I force my stare back to hers. “What?”
“I can do it,” she repeats. “I can take care of Percy for you.”
“Are you…sure?” She’s already nodding. “He’s a pain in the ass and requires allergy meds daily. It can get a little dicey sometimes.”
She laughs, crossing the room and stopping right in front of me. I squeeze my phone in my hands to keep from reaching out and checking to see if her thick thighs are as soft as I remember. “Oh, I know. How is your cut, by the way?”
“Doesn’t even hurt,” I tell her. I completely forgot about my scuffle with Percy while trying to give him his meds until just now. “Are you sure you don’t mind taking care of him?”
“Are you kidding me? I’d get to hang out with a three-legged cat and get covered in cat hair. It sounds like the perfect day to me.”
“All right. But only if you really don’t mind.”
She lifts her eyes skyward, then circles her arms around my neck. “I don’t. Let me do this for you.Please.”
It’s the same word that undid her earlier, and it has the same effect on me now.
“Okay.”
“Good.” She presses a kiss to my forehead. “Now that that’s settled…”
Then she practically skips to the bed. She pulls up the blanket and slides into the side farthest away from the door, and the familiarity of the scene almost knocks me down.
“I can’t sleep next to the door. What if someone comes in and…and…I don’t know! What if they try to touch my butt?”
“Then they’re going to get a handful with that big thing.”
“Hey! I thought you liked my big butt!”
“No, Clover, Iloveyour big butt.” I kiss her cheek. “Now go to bed.”
From that day on, even in hotel rooms when I was alone, I slept nearest to the door.
“Callum? Are you okay?”
I look over at her, the comforter already pulled up to her chin as she snuggles into the bed.
“Yeah. Sorry.” I point to the bathroom. “Be right back.”
I hurry away before she can say anything else and lock myself inside. I stop in front of the sink, resting my hands on the countertop as I pull in breath after breath. I’m about to sleep next to my wife for the first time in three years. I shouldn’t be nervous. I shouldn’t even be thinking twice about it, but here I am.
It’s just sleep. You’ll be fine. You’ll be gone tomorrow, and you’ll have some space to sort out everything you’re feeling. Just get through tonight.I tell myself that—or a version of it—over and over until I start to believe it.
I quickly brush my teeth and throw on the same sweatpants I wore to bed last night before padding back out to the bedroom. Chloe’s eyes are still open, and she’s staring at the door, almost like she’s afraid I wouldn’t come back. I give her a soft smile, then make my way to my side and flip the bedside lamp off. I slide into the bed beside her, and almost instantly, she scoots closer. I lift my arm, and she fits herself against me like it’s exactly where she belongs.
