Holding onto this was key, because one slip, one crack and that door would come flying open again and I just… well, I just couldn’t handle that.
We finished up the night and Jo and Craig kindly offered to let me go early since I ‘hadn’t been feeling well’. I wasn’t going to argue. I grabbed my stuff and said goodbye to Brian at the door and headed up the steps onto George Street.
“Jocelyn.”
I spun around and found Braden standing on the sidewalk by the club. My stomach was back to churning again. We stared at each other silently for a minute until I found my voice. “You were waiting on me?”
He smiled a little as he approached. “Thought I could walk you home?”
Relief I wasn’t willing to admit to for too long poured over me, and I grinned up at him. “Does that walk happen to conclude with us naked in my bed together?”
His laughter was low, rough, and it floored me like always. “That’s what I had in mind, yes.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m forgiven for being a bitch then?”
“Babe.” Braden reached out to stroke my cheek, clearly forgiving me.
I tugged on his jacket, pulling him closer. “I think you should show me who’s boss anyway.”
His arms wrapped around my waist and I found myself snuggled up against him. “I thought you told me I was to stop bossing you around.”
“Well there are special circumstances where I’d allow it.”
“Oh? What would those be?”
“Any that results in me coming.”
He grinned, squeezing me closer. “Why do you have to make everything sound so dirty?”
I laughed, remembering those were the words he’d used the day he’d walked in on me naked. God, it felt like a lifetime ago.
17
With a lot of sex and laughter that weekend, Braden and I closed the breach between us. I worked, Braden worked, and then on Sunday, Elodie and Clark took the kids to St. Andrews for the day so Ellie, Braden and I hung out with Adam, Jenna and Ed. It was the first time Braden and I were out in a social situation with other people since starting our arrangement. I knew as soon as we walked into Ed’s favorite pub on the Royal Mile for lunch that everyone was now aware of our arrangement. Jenna stared at us like we were a science experiment and Ed had this stupid little boy grin on his face. Adam actually winked at me. I swear to God I would have fled the premises if Braden hadn’t anticipated it and grasped my arm to pull me forward. Once they realized nothing had really changed – we weren’t a couple, there was no handholding or fondling, and our chairs were, in fact, pretty far apart – the guys just acted like normal. We had a great lunch, a few beers, and then hit the movies together. Braden did take the seat next to me in the theatre and okay… there may have been fondling in the dark.
We didn’t see each other on Monday, so I actually managed to write another chapter of my book and squeeze in a visit with Dr. Pritchard. That was fun. Tuesday, Braden took his lunch break in my bed. Wednesday he got caught up with work so I didn’t see him at all. I spent the night with Ellie, enduring a teen romance that actually made my teeth hurt it was so sweet. I insisted next movie night we watch something or someone get maimed by an action star or put on a Gene Kelly movie.
“You’re such a boy.” Ellie wrinkled her nose as she chewed on chocolate buttons.
I glanced away from the sickly sweet romance to look at her across the room. She was sprawled over the couch, covered in chocolate wrappers. How did she not put on weight? “Because I hate cheesy romance?”
“No. Because you’d rather watch someone get pummeled than declare their love.”
“True.”
“Boy.”
I made a face. “I think Braden would disagree.”
“Ugh. That was mean.”
I grinned wickedly. “You called me a dude.”
She turned her head on a cushion to look back at me. “Speaking of… Not that I wanted to notice – I can’t help my exceptional observational skills – but you seem to be doing whatever you guys are doing on Braden’s schedule? You okay with that?”
It wasn’t that I hadn’t noticed that myself. But seriously, how could I argue with it? I ‘worked’ from home, and Braden worked all the time. When I did work, it was on two of the only nights Braden was free. “He’s a busy guy. I get that.”
Ellie nodded. “A lot of his girlfriends resented it.”
“I resent being called his girlfriend,” I warned her teasingly.
“I never called you his girlfriend. I just meant… actually, you know what, I don’t know what I meant because you two boggle my mind.”
I could tell she was getting ready to work her overly romantic self into a conniption over me and Braden, so I quickly changed the subject. “You haven’t said much about Adam lately.”
My roommate’s face fell and I wished I’d picked another subject to change my subject from. “We’ve barely spoken since that Sunday at Mum’s. I think he realized he was sending mixed signals so he’s just completely backed off.”