Chapter 21
21
MALCOLM
I ended up staying at her place the entire weekend, too afraid to leave her until I knew she was done vomiting. Thankfully, she woke up the next morning after our middle of the night shower feeling like a new person. I could tell she was feeling better because she didn’t skip a beat when busting my balls or telling me not to be dumb. As much as she tried to tell me to go home, I refused and told her that if she wanted me to leave, she would have to physically remove me herself. We ended up spending Sunday together, watching TV, and slowly introducing normal foods back into her diet. When she managed to keep all three meals down, I knew we were in the clear. It wasn’t how I intended to spend my weekend off from the bar, but I would do it again in a heartbeat if she needed me to.
“Are you sure you’re feeling up to going to work today? It’s okay to call out, you know. You did spend all weekend barfing into a trash can.”
“Okay, one, it’s too soon to say any words associated with food poisoning. And two, I’m fine. I ate all day yesterday without getting sick and I haven’t felt nauseous since Saturday. I’m going to work.” She looks at me in the mirror of her vanity which she is sitting at getting ready for the day. Her hair is done and in loose curls down her back and she is wearing a black pantsuit that looks like it costs more than my monthly rent. I stand up from the bed where I’ve been watching her and step up behind her, our eyes catching in the mirror.
“Are you sure you can’t stay here? I could give you a job to do. Or I could do a job on you if that’s what you wanted.” I bend over at the waist and wrap my arms around her center, resting my hands gently on her soft stomach. She bumps into me before turning so that her nose is in my neck, making me wish desperately that she would kiss it. Or bite it.
“No way. I might feel better but I don’t think I feel that much better.” As if she heard my prayer, she takes my ear in between her teeth and nips it. “Maybe tomorrow if you’re good.”
“Consider me on my best behavior,” I hum, kissing the top of her shoulder and letting her stand from the stool.
“Are you at the bar today?” she asks, walking into her closet and coming back out with a pair of high heels dangling from her fingers. They are bright pink and match the lipstick she just painted on.
“Yep. I open so I was going to run home to shower and head there. I’m off at six and plan on going to the training center after work.” We move into the living room as she collects her things and slips on her heels.
“You can just shower here if you want, I can leave you my key and you can just put it under the mat.”
“Are you sure?” My voice picks up at the end, surprised by her offer.
“You spent your entire weekend taking care of me while I expelled my entire body weight worth of puke. The least I can do is let you use my shower so you don’t have to rush home and be late for work.” She’s standing at the kitchen island where her work bag sits patiently waiting for its Monday commute. Reaching in, she digs around until she pulls out her keyring and removes her house key before handing it to me. Instead of just taking the key, I take her entire hand in mine and pull her into me.
“Careful there, little fox, someone may think you like me as more than just a casual fuck if they see you giving me a key to your place.” I give her a cocky smile as I look down at her.
“Oh please, I would just tell them that I’m giving you a key so you can sneak into my place in the dead of night so you can have your way with me,” she chides as I hold her against my chest. I love that I can tell her cheeks have turned the faintest shade of pink.
“Just say the word,” I muse, dropping my hands down her back and settling them square on her ass. She pushes me back gently and looks at me with a sideways smile.
“Nice try. Here”—she presses the key into my chest—“take this. I have to leave or Dale will ask questions I don’t want to answer.”
I take the key from her hand before she turns away from me and grabs her bag from the counter. She’s about to open the front door when I stop her again.
“Hey.”
“What?” She turns around to look at me. When she does, I close the space between us and pull her into a kiss. When she pulls away, her eyes are wide and staring back into mine.
“I hope you have a good day,” I offer with a lazy smile. For a fraction of a second I see her lips twitch into what could be considered a smile before she rolls her eyes, trying to pretend like I didn’t just make her swoon.
“This is way too fucking domestic for me. Goodbye, pretty boy. Enjoy your shower.”
“I’ll be thinking about you while I do,” I call out as she closes the door behind her, shaking her head at me as she does.
Twenty minutes later I’m stepping out of the shower, my hair dripping water onto the floor, when I hear a key turning in the front door. I wipe my body off and am scrubbing my head with the towel as I step out into the doorway. At the same time, I hear the front door close.
“Did you forget something?” I ask, waiting for Ophelia to answer.
“Ahhhhhh!” A blood curdling scream rings out through the condo and I look up to see Bailey covering her eyes with her hands and quickly turning around to face away from me.
“Shit,” I exclaim, furiously bringing the towel from my head to my crotch, trying to cover myself even though I’m pretty confident she’s already seen everything she needed to see.
“What are you doing here?” she cries out with her back to me with her hands still over her eyes.
“I think I should be asking you that,” I say, taking a few steps into the living room where she’s standing.
“Uhm, I used to live here? My best friend was acting strange and I wanted to come make sure she was still alive? Your turn,” she chaffs over one shoulder, refusing to look at me.
“Bailey, you can turn around. I’m covered,” I explain, trying to get her to uncover her eyes and look at me. Slowly, she turns over one shoulder and glances at me between her fingers. When she sees that I’m covered from the waist down, her hands drop and she turns to face me. Her eyes take in my exposed skin and I can see her counting the tattoos I have scattered across my chest.
“Did that hurt?” she asks, looking at me with a single raised brow.
“Did what hurt?”
“You”—she points towards my crotch—“getting tattooed down there?” She has one hand on her chest and her face is pinched up as if she was in pain just thinking about it. I look down at the towel which is the only thing maintaining any sense of decency in this situation.
“Well I wouldn’t say it was the most enjoyable thing,” I explain with an airy chuckle.
She nods her head slowly as if she’s imagining what the experience was like. After a moment, she takes a breath and meets my eyes. “Why are you here?”
“I think you should ask Ophelia that.”
“I think I’m asking you that. Now spill.” She takes a step closer to me and her Southern drawl comes out which means there’s no way I’m getting out of this without a fight.
I sigh and try to choose my words wisely. “She was sick this weekend, food poisoning, so I came over to take care of her. That’s it.”
“ That’s it ?” She looks at me skeptically. I nod my head at her and she crosses her arms in front of her chest and shifts her weight into her other foot. “How dumb do you think I am?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I know Ophie, and I know you. You two are not the type to help someone else when they’re sick unless there’s something more to it. Explain yourself.”
“I have nothing more to say than that. You’ll have to take it up with her.” I smile at her as she tries to look tough to see if she can scare me into telling her more. Conrad may fear for his life when it comes to Bailey, but I’m not going to back down to her. She takes another step closer to me and squints her eyes up at me.
“If you hurt her, I will ruin you,” she hisses.
“I’d love to see you try,” I jeer, looking down at her.
“If you hurt her, I’ll tell Hank to kick your ass. And you know he will,” she says, pushing a finger into my exposed chest. She turns and takes a few steps away from me. “Where is Ophie anyway? Why are you here alone?”
“She left for work already. She told me I could stay and take a shower before I head to Butcher and Block,” I explain.
“Oh, well that was nice of her.” She looks down at her shoes before I see a smile bloom across her face and she looks at me again. “She’s never let a guy stay here alone before. She must really like you.”
“What can I say, I’m a likable guy,” I say confidently, and she rolls her eyes at me.
“Alright, well, if she was okay enough to go to work then she must be better. I guess I’ll go. Hank is waiting for me outside so we can go to work too.” She moves towards the front door and I watch her pause once she reaches for the handle.
“Do you like her?” she asks, looking at me over her shoulder.
I think about my words before speaking because I know as soon as I say them there’s no going back. “More than I like myself.” This gets me a hopeful smile.
“Be good to her. She’s been through a lot and deserves someone who will be good to her,” she says, nodding her head softly. I’m not sure what she means but I make a mental note to try and figure it out. Suddenly, she juts a finger in my direction. “And seriously, if you hurt her, I’ll figure out how to kill you. You might be bigger than me but I’m fast and know how to Google my way through anything.”
I chuckle loudly and it fills the space. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She waves at me and finally leaves, letting the door close softly behind her. I walk back into Ophelia’s room to get dressed and grab my things. Once I have everything and her door is locked behind me, I tuck the key under her mat like she asked. I’m halfway to my truck to head to the bar when I feel my phone explode in my pocket.
Dungeons and Dickheads: 1 New Message
Hank:
Malcolm, please explain to me why my wife is asking me if I knew that you have tattoos next to your dick and if I’ve ever considered getting some in the same spot.
Kolbi:
I’m more interested in the fact that she told us you were at Ophelia’s all weekend and you failed to tell any of us this?
Connie:
What the fuck?
Since when do you have dick tattoos?
I do not have dick tattoos you fuckwad.
I just have tattoos next to my dick.
Hank:
And why does my WIFE know this?
Listen man, she walked in on me unannounced. It’s not my fault I had just gotten out of the shower and she caught me with my pants down.
Kolbi:
What’s going on with you and Ophelia?
Connie:
Yeah, Malcolm, care to share with the class?
Hank:
I should fucking deck you.
Oh great, she’s now asking if we can go on a double date with you and Ophelia.
Fat chance of that happening.
Kolbi:
So you two *aren’t* dating?
Connie:
Malcolm doesn’t ‘date’, remember?
I’d happily date her if she’d let me.
Fuck, I’d call her my girlfriend if she wasn’t totally against it.
Hank:
She won’t let you call her your girlfriend?
Kolbi:
Oh my god are you dating…you?
Connie:
Wouldn’t that just be karma playing a funny little joke.
You’re all idiots and I hate you.
But if you must know, yes. She isn’t into labels or relationships just like I’m not. But, I don’t know, something about her makes me want to change that.
Kolbi:
Aww, little Malcolm has a crush
Connie:
I’d never thought I’d live to see the day.
Hank:
I’m happy for you man.
Even though I still want to slug you for showing off your shlong to my wife.
She walked in on ME! You should tell her to announce herself next time.
Hank:
Malcolm, when you’re married to such a strong-headed woman like I am, you can’t tell them anything because they’re going to do what they want to do anyway. You just wait, Ophelia is even more strong headed than Blondie if what I’ve heard is true.
Don’t you worry about me, I’m already starting to wear her down
Kolbi:
Go get her tiger
Connie:
And then there was one.