The Mercenary and the Mortician (The Silent Hollow #1)

84. Ryan Fairview

A fter Cal fucked me senseless, I decided to change the sheets and run a load of laundry.

I told Cal I would meet him downstairs, but even though I had done my best to soothe Cal’s mind, he was still clearly feeling lost.

I had to keep reminding myself that Damian had been the closest thing Cal had ever had to a parent, and killing him was definitely taking a toll on his mental health.

Not that he would ever admit that. But it was clear in the underlying current of sadness that he tried to cover up with his usual boyish charm.

Between my broken dark angel and getting Fairview back up and running, I had my work cut out for me… but I felt optimistic.

Thinking of the way Cal’s hard, warm body felt pressed up against me and the insane amount of pleasure he’d stroked from my core, I couldn’t help but smile.

I had no idea sex could be like that. The few times I had sex in college, it’d been clumsy and not something I particularly enjoyed.

There was a time with one girl where I was having a really hard time staying hard, and she said something about it that I think she meant to be kind but was just fucking humiliating.

‘It’s ok, it happens to everyone!’

Like I had erectile dysfunction or something… It was just easier to avoid sex altogether after that.

It all made sense now. Obviously, it had been difficult to stay hard for her. I was fucking gay.

My cheeks didn’t even flush at the thought anymore. I was fucking gay, and my boyfriend was the hottest fucking person I had ever seen in my life. And he was all mine.

As I loaded the washing machine, my mind wandered to the night before and how it had felt when he pushed deep into me for the first time.

The intense burn that had given way to the most amazing feelings of pleasure. I had never felt like that in my entire fucking life. How could something that felt so good be wrong?

It couldn’t be. We were meant to fucking be together. I knew that now.

The way he had looked at me when he told me he loved me. The fear in his eyes when he thought I wouldn’t say it back… It made my heart both swell and break at the same time.

How could he think I wouldn’t love him back?

Cal was everything to me.

He was fucking incredible. He was so strong for surviving what he had, and for the first time in my life, I understood what all those musicians seemed to go on about in love songs.

When I looked at Cal, my whole body tingled, and I always seemed to feel lightheaded. I had never really been a touchy person before, but now, I constantly craved his hands on me.

He always seemed to be on my mind, even when he shouldn’t be, and I honestly didn’t care to try to change that.

My goal had always been to keep Fairview up and running to honor the memory of my father. But now, I had a new goal, and that was to keep that gorgeous smile on my man’s face and that darkness out of his eyes.

When I entered the kitchen, I smiled when I found what I was affectionately calling my ‘band of misfits’ up to their usual antics. Cassandra and Theo were bickering… or, I think Cass was bickering, and Theo was flirting in her strange Theo way.

Cass was working away on her laptop while sipping a smoothie, and Theo kept trying to read what she was doing over her shoulder, which seemed to be driving Cal’s sister insane.

I didn’t miss how unnecessarily close Theo kept pressing in next to Cassandra’s ear, her dark eyes sparkling with amusement every time Cass scoffed or complained about her ‘personal space.’ However, she never physically pushed Theo away or changed seats, which I found interesting.

Naomi was sitting in front of a stack of college brochures and animatedly telling my mother about all of her options while Vox subtly watched her over the top of his own laptop. While Iris was smiling in her dreamy way as Naomi yammered on about majors and arts degrees, Vox was watching her like he wanted to snatch the brochures right out of her hands and send her to her room.

I frowned, unsure where all the intensity was coming from, when Cal appeared, pressing a warm cup of coffee into my hands.

“Here you go, baby.” He smiled, brushing a soft kiss over the corner of my mouth. I glanced up at him and smiled.

“Thanks, angel.” I took a sip of the hot, delicious coffee. “Are you on breakfast duty today?” I asked, glancing at the disaster area that had ‘Chef Cal’ written all over it.

He beamed at me. “Yup. Making your favorite.”

My stomach growled, and my mouth watered despite the fact that the mess on the counter was making my eye twitch.

“Omelettes?”

“Yeah. Spinach and mushroom. I also asked Iris to pick up that Swiss cheese you’re obsessed with.”

My cheeks flushed, and my heart did that little pitter-patter thing that it only ever seemed to do for Cal. No one ever made me their number one priority like he did. He always seemed to be thinking of me and doing small things for me that he thought I might like. It was fucking adorable.

“Thank you,” I murmured, pressing another soft kiss to his lips. “Though I miss the Obituary apron.”

He barked out a laugh and shook his head. “Noted.” He smirked before gently slipping his hand around the small of my back and leaning in to whisper in my ear.

“How are you feeling? Are you okay?” he asked, and my already flushed face turned an even deeper shade of red.

“Uhm, yeah,” I choked. He pulled back and grinned at me, rubbing a thumb over one of my red-hot cheeks. “A little sore, but I’m okay.”

“Good,” he said, dropping one more kiss on my head before heading back to his messy omelet station.

I took a seat at the kitchen table, and Theo slid down into the chair next to Cass, turning her dark gaze on me.

“Dracula mimed earlier that the douchebag is dead. That true?” she asked with a cavalier grin.

“Fuck yeah, it is! Blew his bitch ass up,” Cal chirped from the stove as he flipped an omelet.

“Bad ass.” Theo grinned, sprawling out in her chair and draping her arm around the back of Cassandra’s seat.

Cass looked up from her work and scowled at Theo, her brown eyes looking pointedly at where my sister had rested her arm, then back again.

Theo just gave her a mischievous grin and raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t encourage him, Theodora,” Cass snapped, and Theo chuckled.

“Oh-ho. Full naming me? Nobody calls me that, princess.”

“Why not? It’s your name, Theodora,” she snapped back, and Theo’s grin just widened.

“Mmm. Wasn’t complaining. I like it when you say it like that, princess. Though it would sound better if you were screaming it.”

“Jesus Christ, Theo!” I barked, gesturing to Naomi, who was watching their interaction like she wished she had popcorn.

“What? I’m not a child. I’m nineteen and read more kinky shit than you can probably even dream up, Ry-guy. Don’t censor the flirting on my account.”

“We are not flirting!” Cass hissed, and Theo laughed again.

“Speak for yourself, princess.”

I looked at Vox, whose eyes narrowed on Naomi at her implication that she was not as innocent as we all had pretended she was.

Fuck, when did this place turn into such a madhouse?

“Well, if the threat is gone, then can I please go back to my condo?” Cass asked, and my heart skipped a beat.

I hadn’t thought about what would happen now that Damian was dead. Of course, everyone would leave Fairview and go back to their respective places.

Well, except for Vox. I didn’t know where he was going to stay. As far as I knew, he lived at Apex.

Theo didn’t look happy about the idea of Cass leaving either.

I glanced over at Cal, whose mind seemed to have gone down the same path as mine.

Was he going to go back to the townhouse?

“I guess,” Callum muttered, and Cass let out an uncharacteristic squealing sound that made Theo’s expression turn murderous.

“Fucking amazing! I’m so sick of living out of a suitcase.”

“You have a closet in your room; you could have unpacked,” Theo snapped, and Cass rolled her eyes.

“You call that cubby hole a closet? There’s not even room for half of my shoes, and the lighting is terrible.”

“There is no lighting. It’s a fucking closet.”

“ Exactly.”

“Okay, enough!” I snapped, and they both looked at me with completely contrasting expressions.

“I want to make it clear that no one has to leave.” I glanced over at Vox, who raised an eyebrow at me in question.

“I know you lived at Apex, Vox. So if you want to stay here while you find a place, please stay as long as you want.”

“And you two,” I turned to Naomi and Cal, “same goes for you. I know Damian owned that townhouse, so if you don’t want to move back there, you can stay here. Though, I understand if you’re homesick.”

Naomi wrinkled her nose.

“Nah. Fuck that place. I don’t want to live somewhere that has anything to do with that asshole. Not after what he did to Cal.”

I beamed, the anxiety that had been building in my chest at the thought of Cal moving out quickly disappearing.

“Besides, I’ll be heading off to school soon anyway, so I won’t be in your hair for long!”

Feeling giddy that Naomi was on board, I glanced at Cal, who was plating my omelet with a frown on his face.

“Cal?” I asked, confused as to why he seemed upset. He stalked over to me and dropped the plate in front of me, shrugging.

“Sure.”

The anxiety was back.

What the fuck? Did he not want to stay here?

He wanted to go back to the townhouse?

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked, but he avoided my gaze.

“Nothing.”

That felt like a lie. I watched him head back to start cleaning up the shitstorm he had left in his wake while making me my breakfast, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore.

Looking around the table, Cal wasn’t the only one who seemed to be upset. Vox and Theo both had equally sour expressions on their faces.

Forcing myself to take a bite of my omelet, I wondered what the hell it was I was missing.

I bit my lip while watching Cal clean a frying pan more aggressively than necessary.

What was I supposed to do?

I’d asked him what was wrong, and he said nothing… but clearly something was wrong…

Did I ask again?

Or give him space?

Fuck.

This relationship thing was hard.