“Boo!” the intruder shouted right in my face. I swung the object before I realized it was Cassie, but I pulled up short just before it would have smacked her in the face.
“Fucking hell,” I snapped as my eyes focused on the vibrator in my hand and Cassie dissolved into an all-out fit of laughter.
“Oh. My. God,” she wheezed. She dropped to the floor and went fetal, the power of her laughter too much to maintain while standing. “Holy shit, this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” she said around big gulps of air. “I’d say you don’t know how to use that thing on me, but this is seriously the most pleasure I’ve ever gotten out of it,” she went on as I towered over her.
I shook my head to clear the tingle of excitement in my spine and focused on my irritation. “What are you doing here?”
“Pretty sure I told you I’d see you at home, boss man.”
My thoughts collided and fought for supremacy, but in the end, I couldn’t focus on any of them. “Right,” I mumbled, turning from her to the boxes and back again.
“What do you think, Thatcher?” she asked with a smirk and held out her hand. “Can I put my boner away?” I glanced down at my hand to find her toy still clutched tightly in my grasp.
I smiled then. “And by put it away, you mean…?”
The smart smirk dropped from her features, and her eyes narrowed.
Ah, and the tables turn.
“I mean put it away in my box.”
“Your box?” I questioned further with the raise of an eyebrow.
“Shut up,” she snapped at me.
“Later,” I teased. “I won’t say anything else.”
I looked around at the general female apparel and accessories hanging next to mine in the closet and all the product filling the counter of my bathroom vanity and tried to keep my brain on task. She didn’t like that I was calm, so I very much intended to stay that way.
“This sure is a lot of girl shit.”
She waggled her eyebrows and prompted me excitedly. “Yeah?”
I brushed a piece of hair from her face and murmured, “You must be worn out.”
She scrunched her eyebrows again. “Huh?”
“From all the packing and unpacking. How about I go get us some dinner?”
“Dinner?”
“Yeah. You know, the last meal of the day where we shouldn’t overeat but obviously do.”
“Dinner.”
“Yep,” I said with a pop of my p.
“I—” she started, but I cut her off.
For seemingly the first time during this interaction, she focused on my naked chest and torso. I unbuckled my belt and unbuttoned my dress pants as she watched.
“I’ll just shower quick and then run out,” I told her, stepping out of my shoes and socks and pushing my pants and boxer briefs to the floor. Her gaze followed every movement, but her mouth did absolutely zero talking.
“Did you want to join me, honey?” I asked.
“No,” she answered yet nodded her head at the same time.
I bit my lip to contain my laugh. “Throw those clothes in the hamper, okay?” I prompted with a wink and then climbed under the spray. I hadn’t even needed a shower, but fuck if the warm water didn’t feel good on my buzzing nerves as I watched the most obstinate woman on the planet stoop down to scoop up my dirty clothes. Confusion was an extremely powerful thing.
Showered and dressed, I walked out into the living room to find Cassie stretched out on the couch with the TV remote in hand. The screen was still black.
When I made it to her and she didn’t move, I reached toward her hand and pushed the power button without saying a word and then leaned down to touch my lips to her cheek. Her skin was warm and smelled like citrus. Immediately caught up in the memories of sex and us, I had to fight the urge to linger.
“I’ll be back,” I called as I walked out the door. When I settled on the other side, I was overwhelmed by déjà vu, but this time, the all-encompassing question had more to do with me than it did her. “What the ever-loving fuck is going on?”
The situation, my reaction, the way it made me feel. All of it felt completely foreign.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I scrolled through recent calls and hit Kline before I moved an inch.
“Yeah?” he asked, laughter in his voice.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. I should have known. “You gave her a key, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t,” he denied. “But Georgie did.”
“What the fuck, man? Is there no bro code in that cold heart of yours?”
His chuckles were obnoxious. “I thought it was hilarious. And she’s just messing with you. You should be in heaven. You’re always messing with everyone.”
“That’s right,” I corrected. “I mess with everyone. Not the other way around.”
“Ah,” he breathed. “I see how it is.”
I narrowed my eyes at the realization he was making me out to be a pussy.
“I can handle it. I’m just not used to it.”
“Poor Thatch,” Kline fake pouted.
“Screw you. I don’t know why I call you.”
“Because you’re looking for reason, and I’m normally the voice of it.”