“Andy,” I begin.
He groans. “For the record, I hate that we live so far apart. I’m getting used to waking up with you. We should think about getting a place together, somewhere halfway between there and here.”
My mouth goes dry. “What are you saying?”
He turns me around so that I’m facing him. “I’m saying I want us to share space. I’m saying that I need you Cate. We’ve spent enough time apart.”
I place my finger on his cheek and begin to trace his the line of his cheekbone. “No one knows we’re together yet. My parents, yours, … Ben.”
He sighs. “I know. Maybe we should tell them when we go home for Christmas. You are going home?”
I nod. As much as I don’t want to and deal with the questions and possible hurt feelings, I have to face that reality if I plan to be with him. And I’ll have to go back to calling him Drew. I’m not sure I’m ready for that either. The bubble wrap we’ve created around our relationship will finally pop.
“I am. When are you planning to go down?”
He shrugs. “I’m not sure. I’m asking because I thought maybe I could drive you down or back, if not both, depending on our schedules.”
“I’m planning to take the week, not much more.”
“Okay, I’ll see what days I can get off. And there’s something we should discuss later.”
I rise up on an elbow. “Tell me now.” Curiosity makes me feel like a kid at Christmas.
He shakes his head. “I have to leave and this is something we need to talk about. But before I go…” His hand snakes down the sides of my body. When he reaches my hip, one hand moves to my center to test the moisture levels. My climate is ripe for the taking and boy does he take me.
When he finally leaves the bed for the shower, I watch his perfect body with awe. He’s always been a specimen to behold. As his backside disappears into my bathroom, I hustle out after him. By the time he leaves for Baltimore, snow is starting to fall steadily. Nervous about the weather, I wait on pins and needles until he calls to let me know he got home safely.
The rest of my Sunday is spent taking care of the little things like cleaning up and laundry because I’ll be busy soon. I start a new engagement on Monday. The offices where I’ll be working the next few weeks are located on the other side of the Potomac in old town Alexandria, Virginia. It will just put more distance between Andy and me. I have to seriously consider a move so that we are closer together because waking up without him bothers me, too.
The amount of snow we’ve gotten before the official start of winter has all the news organizations talking on Monday morning. It’s one of the reasons I didn’t go home for Thanksgiving. That and I wanted to spend it with Andy. It was a quiet affair, the two of us cooking a dinner for the both of us. He got called into the hospital once. He wasn’t gone that long. Otherwise, we spent the weekend together and it was really nice. It made me want what he was offering that much more.
I sit in my living room enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee. Our offices are closed again today because the storm hit us head on. The federal government is closed and that means DC is practically shut down. Many businesses follow the feds as a rule for office closings because the feds rarely do since DC has an extensive public transportation system.
“You are coming to my Christmas party, right?” Jenna’s voice sounds loud and clear as I’m reminded I’m talking on the phone.
“I don’t know.”
“You have to. It’s like bestie code or something. Bring him with you.”
“That’s the thing. I’m not sure I’m ready for everyone to pry into the fact that we’re together again,” I say, even though Andy suggested we come clean.
“People are going to find out soon enough.”
She is right. “Still, don’t you think I should sit down and talk to everyone, not show up at a party with him on my arm? There is Ben to consider.”
Jenna sigh is loud and dramatic.
“Ben’s going through his own thing right now. I think some woman has crawled under his skin and turned him inside out. I don’t even know who my brother is anymore.”
“Oh, is it—”
“Don’t say her name and jinx it.”
We laugh for a few seconds before Jenna sobers.
“Really Cate, you can’t hide this. You’re going to have to be honest.”
“I know. I just don’t want to hear everyone’s opinion. And what if Ben hates us for it? He was there. He was there for all of it. He watched me walk away.”
“Are you back there again? No one hates you. I thought you’ve given up that guilt. That’s not what you need while you’re rebuilding your relationship. Did you just tell me he hinted at moving in together?”
“Yes, and I don’t know what to do. If I move, I’ll have to get a car. It’s a lot.”