His mouth fell open as that oh-so-male shit, I fucked up expression crossed his face.
“My nephew, Beau, was sick yesterday,” he started. “Noel had important stuff going on at the high school where he works, so I skipped class to stay home with the kiddo. And he was really whiny and clingy and shit. I was busy running ragged trying to keep him happy so it didn’t upset Aspen all day yesterday and most of today. I just…it’s been a fucking blur. I totally forgot about our countdown texts. I’m sorry.”
Feeling instantly shitty because that was not the reason I thought he’d been avoiding me at all, I waved a hand, immediately forgiving him. “It’s fine. Don’t apologize. It’s not like the text messages were mandatory or anything.”
“But I like them too,” he argued, trying to step forward once more.
Huffing out a breath, I held up my hand, barring his way. “Look, it’s not going to happen tonight.”
When his mouth fell open and worry filled his eyes, I blurted, “It’s that time of the month, okay? This...” I circled my hand over my lap area. “Is closed for business until further notice.”
Then I slammed the door in his face and promptly burst into tears.
I’d really wanted to see him tonight too. I’d wanted to cuddle with him and rest my head on his shoulder while the pain pills did their thing and he rocked me to sleep. I wanted my man.
But we were only supposed to be about sex.
I hated myself even more because the last time we’d talked he’d had to watch me have a moment with Brandt, and now I was turning him down. What if he decided there was too much drama and messiness here and dropped me because of that?
I slumped back to the couch where I cried for a good ten minutes longer.
My hot tea wasn’t even doing it for me when a knock came at the door while I was still sniffling and miserable. Not wanting to talk to anyone, I didn’t move, ignoring the knock. But it kept coming until a muffled voice yelled, “Baby doll! It’s Colton,” to which I bolted upright and gaped at the entrance before I tripped in my haste to return to the door and yank it open.
“Wha…?” I started as he stepped inside, sweeping past me before I could bar him from entering.
He turned back to me, grinning, as he held up a grocery sack. “I come bearing gifts this time.”
“Why did you come back?” I uttered. This made no sense. “If you think anything in that sack is going to make me change my mind—”
“Oh, no. No! Hell no.” He lifted his hand and shook it before backing away from me. “Trust me, I want no part of that. Jesus.” He shuddered for emphasis before pulling a handful of chocolate bars from his grocery sack. “I brought pick-me-ups.” When I only frowned at him, more confused than ever, he caught my gaze and asked, “What?”
I shook my head so he sighed and dropped the chocolate back into the bag. “Okay, fine. I know it’s only supposed to be sex between us, and there’s not going to be any nookie tonight.” He rolled his eyes before adding, “But look at it this way. I’m tending to my investment.”
That only confused me more. I squinted. “Huh?”
“Just because there are no flowers blooming in the garden this week, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t still water the soil, you know, so I’ll have a better chance of seeing a nice pretty posey next week.”
“So…you think I’ll forget about you and drop you flat if I don’t see you for a few days?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Maybe. Let’s not test it. So…what’s your poison? The Notebook, Hitch, Dirty Dancing, or Waiting to Exhale?” He pulled each movie from the bag, one after another before he was holding them up in a fan of chick flicks.
I wrinkled my nose. “Eww. None of those. Are you crazy? I’m already a hormonal, emotional wreck and you want to add to that with some romance movie that’s going to make me worse?”
“Umm....” He shoved the movies back into the sack before slowly guessing, “No?”
I shook my head. “No,” I agreed.
His shoulders deflated and the expression on his face reminded me of an abused puppy who’d been kicked too much and had just been tossed out into a miserable, cold rain. Something uncomfortable slithered through me. I couldn’t treat Colton this way.
Letting out a breath, I tipped my head toward the hallway that led to my room. “I have Coming to America on Amazon Prime if you want to watch that on my laptop in my room with me.”
“Coming to America? With Eddie Murphy?” His eyebrows lifted with interest. When I nodded, his lips twitched into a smile. “God, yes, I would love to watch a comedy with you.”
Lunging toward me with a grin, he swept me off my feet, one arm under my knees, the other around my back. I shrieked in surprise and clutched his shoulders. “Colton!”