“Huh,” he says in a way I know he’s calling bullshit. “That’s a shame. I would’ve loved to have heard those details.”
“Some dreams just aren’t good enough to remember,” she offers, even I can tell she’s lying. Not a second later, she catches me where I stand, watching them in their early morning spoon. It’s when her eyes widen and then narrow that my suspicions are confirmed. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Do you live here now?” I counter. “Because if so, we’re out of milk . . . Sean, a word.”
Sean’s sparkling eyes dim as he groans in protest. “This can’t wait?”
“If it could, I would’ve spared myself your pillow talk.”
Cecelia cuts in. “It’s fine. I need to get going anyway.”
She lifts the sheet closer to her chest and frowns at me. “Do you mind?”
Unmoving, I motion dismissively. “Take your time.”
Sean chuckles. “Come on, man. It’s too early for your shit.”
Snaking her arm out, Cecelia snags her shorts from the floor and tugs them on beneath the covers while shooting daggers at me. “You’re a real asshole. You know that?”
After managing to get her shirt on the same way, she stands and slides on her flip-flops.
“While you’re out, grab some coffee too, and don’t be cheap.”
Rolling her eyes, she looks back down at Sean and plants a knee on the bed, hovering within reach. “See you at work?”
“Yeah,” he whispers, “and after, so don’t make any plans.”
“All right.” She dips and kisses him, and he cups the back of her head, making it last, no fucks given about the audience. Her eyes flick to mine before she pulls away. After grabbing her purse from Sean’s dresser, she moves toward the door, and I give her just enough space to squeeze through. She attempts to get past me without contact and fails.
“Sweet dreams,” I utter low enough for her to hear when she pushes past me. Her eyes flit to mine briefly before she stalks toward the stairs. Turning back to Sean, we sit in silence until the front door closes and her car starts.
Sighing, he moves to sit at the edge of his bed before grabbing his jeans from the floor. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“Sounds like a question you need to direct to your mirror.”
He fastens his jeans before walking over to his dresser, rolling on some deodorant before snatching and pulling down a fresh T-shirt. “So, what couldn’t wait?”
“You really do feel for her.”
Sean pauses before tucking his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans. Grabbing his keys, he looks over to me, the answer clear in his eyes as Tyler appears at his door. “Good, you’re both up.”
Sean runs a hand through his hair. “What the fuck is up with you two assholes creeping into my room so early this morning?” His eyes scour Tyler with concern. “You just getting in, man?”
“Yeah. I’ve been working on our crate issue.”
“And?” Sean prompts.
“Let me rephrase, we’ve got different problems,” Tyler says, his exhaustion apparent.
Sean tucks a fresh pack of smokes into his jeans. “So, basically, business as usual? Oh, happy fucking day.”
Tyler nods. “And it’s just getting started.”
“Mind if I get a coffee and have a smoke first?” Sean asks.
“No time. I’ll meet you outside.” Tyler exits the bedroom and heads downstairs, and Sean glances over at me, resuming our conversation.
“Yeah, I do feel for her, and I’ve been honest about it, so that makes one of us.”
“The fuck?”
He shakes his head. “I’m not blind, man. Seems to me you’re both fighting the inevitable.” He lifts a brow. “Want to talk that out?”
“Sure, pencil that in for fucking never.”
This past week, Sean’s infatuation has led to more run-ins with Cecelia. A few days ago, she caught me in the midst of a deep session, pacing my room. Undeterred by my openly hostile reception, she offered me the bowl of ice cream in her hand.
One long look at her profile as she stepped into my room to leave it on my desk, silenced every bit of the roar inside my head and chest and had me losing focus. I thanked her by slamming the door in her face. Sean reads my lingering silence as an admission that sends his wheels turning in the wrong direction and jacking his jaws. “You in need of another field session to work some of that aggression out, Major Malfunction?”
“Cute. Will you be using all your girlfriend’s quips against me now that you’re strung out?”
“Yep, this is a case of full-on penis envy,” he taunts.
“Sure it’s not you who’s envious?” I playfully slap his face. “Because I think we both know who she was dreaming about.”
With that, he pounces, managing to dodge my first light fist, landing his own sucker punch before racing into the hall. I lunge for him as he swings and narrowly misses me before leaping onto the stairs. When he’s halfway down, I tackle him at the landing, and we both slam into the drywall, hearing it crack.
“Get your fucking dick beaters off me,” Sean groans, gaining his bearings before throwing a blind fist behind him, catching me in the throat and momentarily stunning me. My hoarse threat reaches him as he pushes off the wall giving chase. “You better run.”
Sean bursts out of the townhouse with me hot on his heels and comes to a dead stop a few feet out. He curses before glancing back over his shoulder at me when I see Tyler’s expression—and whom he’s waiting with.
“It is lonely when you’re among people, too.”—Le Petit Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Ginger sits passenger in Tyler’s truck where he stands next to his open door, holding an ice pack to her cheek, her lower lip caked with dried blood.
Fury clouds my vision as I stalk toward her and pinch her chin between my fingers, slowly turning her face to survey the damage.
“I’m sorry, Dom. I didn’t know where else to go. He’s on a rampage, and Toby,” a sob bursts from her as Sean speaks up from behind me.
“Dom, listen to me. You can’t go off. Now is not the time.”
He steps up next to me, his instructions for Ginger. “Ginger, I hate fucking saying this, but you’ll have to go the legal route.”
“Jeffrey’s cousin is a Triple Falls cop,” she discloses softly. “I’ve already tried.”
“Fuck,” Sean exhales, snapping his Zippo closed.
Tyler gently tucks her back inside his truck. “Give us a few minutes, sweetheart. Okay?”
Ginger’s eyes remain glued to mine through the glass after he shuts the door.
Tyler ushers me away from her as we huddle in the yard, my pulse thrumming in my ears.
Sean audibly exhales a plume of smoke. “Can’t we just wake up and eat our Wheaties like normal folk?”
“Not what we signed up for,” Tyler answers, eyes on me for a decision.
Sean waves him off, looking between us. “Yeah, yeah. What’s the plan?”
Tyler picks up where Sean left off, his words for me. “Dom, she’s going to have to go through legal channels to get him out. There’s no other way.”