Chapter 45
Sasha
Being back in her apartment was surreal. It wasn”t that she didn”t feel safe. She knew he was gone. Logically she knew that, but something about her apartment felt dirty. Just knowing he had been there felt violating. Everything was a mess. There was fingerprint dust everywhere and things were out of place, she felt like she was living in a crime scene not her apartment.
She unpacked and put on her pajamas. She knew there were no cameras, but she still felt weird. Once she had everything cleaned up and dusted off, she got in bed. Her phone buzzed and she smiled. Conner”s bed felt too big, while her apartment felt too small. It felt suffocating and uncomfortable. She wanted to say fuck it and get in her car and drive to Conner, but that wasn”t right. It was too soon.
The next morning, she got up and decided to skip her yoga. She had tossed and turned all night and never really got to sleep for any amount of time. She kept telling herself there were no more cameras. Her stalker was gone. But she just couldn”t shake it.
She was just going to shower and go to work, but there she stood in the bathroom looking at the ripped shower curtain. Logically knowing there were no cameras here wasn”t helping. Those three ripped holes where the shower curtain had been pulled was a reminder. She couldn’t bring herself to get into her own shower.
She cleaned up the best she could and got ready for work. There were many people who don”t shower every day, she knew that. She didn”t even think it was bad, she just wasn”t one of those people. No sleep and no shower with the most important game of the season looming over her. Sasha let out a long sigh. This was going to be a long day.
She pulled into work and got into her office. The mood was tense. Everyone knew they were in an uphill battle to stay in the fight for the cup, it all came down this game. But as she walked into her office, she finally found some semblance of normalcy that had been missing in her apartment. She opened her laptop and checked her email. Hillary had sent her the job listing for her team to make sure they were what she needed.
She took a deep breath and remembered she was Sasha fucking Maloof. She could do this... even if she used dry shampoo this morning.
“Hey there, beautiful.”
She looked up and saw Conner leaning against the door frame and her heart fluttered. Everything clicked into place. This place was right and this man in front of her was right. She could only imagine how big the grin on her face was because if it matched the way she felt looking at him it had to be taking up her whole face.
“Hi, Conner,” she beamed up at him.
He walked into her space and over to her desk. Leaning his head down he gave her a kiss and just like that everything was right in the world.
“How did you sleep?” she asked.
“Like shit. I tossed and turned all night.” As Sasha looked at him, she could see the bags under his eyes. Her heart shouldn”t be buoyed by the fact that he didn”t sleep without her, but at least they had shitty sleep together.
“Me too. It was weird being back there.” She sighed and looked up at him. “What are you doing here? I didn”t think you needed to be in until tonight, resting before the game.”
“I don”t, but I just wanted to see if some of the guys were here. I thought I could eat and hang out with them in the lounge, but no one’s here. Plus, my house feels really empty without you in it.”
Those words pulled at her heart. Her apartment hadn”t felt empty, it had felt suffocating. She was really beginning to doubt her decision to move back.
“Do you have much work to do today?” he asked as he propped his butt against her desk.
“Not too much. I have some game day posts to put up and Hillary just sent over the job listings for the new social media team for me to approve.”
“Oh wow, that”s awesome. I”m still so proud of you,” he said as he gently held her chin.
“Before the road trip Hillary mentioned something else to me,” she said looking up at him tentatively.
“What”s that?” he asked with a slight pinch between his brows.
“Well...she asked if we were together,” she looked up at him feeling a bit uneasy. “Because if we are, she said we needed to tell HR.” Just saying that out loud made her nervous, but not Conner.
“And what did you say?” he said with a steady loving expression.
“I told her I was just staying with you until this was over,” she said, biting her lip looking up at him.
“And did she believe you?” he asked with a cocked eyebrow.
Sasha gave a soft chuckle and shook her head. “I don”t think so.”
“I don”t think anyone would believe it, baby,” he said with a smile that shot straight to places she should be feeling things at work. “Do we need to go on a date before we do that too?”
“Do what?”
“Tell HR or whatever else we need to do on that end.”
“You”re serious? You’re ready to tell HR we’re together?”
“Baby, I meant what I said. You”re mine. You can take all of the time you need, but we”re end game. You know that, right?”
Her heart was just about to beat out of her chest. Now that everything was over, and it was just her and Conner, it felt even better than before.
“You, Conner McPhee, need to be worrying about your game tonight.”
“Oh, I am, but I can worry about my game and still want to be with you. And let me tell you, if that”s not growth I don”t know what is.” He pulled her up from her desk chair and held her close while still propped against her desk. Then he kissed her, and not a work appropriate kiss but a kiss to get lost in.
A throat cleared loudly by the door. They broke apart and she thought she heard Conner growl.
“Bill, Hi!”
“Sasha, Conner,” he said as he sat at his desk. “I heard about Florida, Sasha. I”m glad you”re okay.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“How’s Brianna?” Conner asked Bill with his friendly smile, like that hadn’t just been caught making out.
“Oh, she’s good. Enjoying her first year at NYU.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
He took Sasha’s hand and looked down at her. ”Come get lunch with me,” Conner said to her.
She nodded and grabbed her phone.
“See you later, Bill.”
Once they were in the hallway Conner whispered in her ear. “So, it looks like we should tell HR sooner rather than later.”
She elbowed him but couldn”t stop the smile that spread across her face.