12. Deacon #2
Beck’s all about revenge, and I love it.
She’s leaving Sean one solitary plate—a prank gift from some Christmas long ago.
It’s plastic with a picture of a cock on the front.
Not the male variety, though that would have been funny, but of a male chicken.
I half-expect her to leave a Post-it on it with the words, “Oh, look, it’s you.
” But she lets the plate make the proper statement.
Beck brings me a big box. “I know I said a few days ago that I’m He-Man, but could you lift the espresso machine down into this box?”
I laugh at her audacity. “You’re taking it, huh? He’s going to miss that.”
“It was a gift from my parents. To Sean, but that’s a technicality. I think they’d want me to have it, given what a schmuck he was the whole time we dated.” Beck beams. “And then in this box, could you pretty please, oh-so-carefully, pack my blender?”
Snorting, I shake my head. “You mean that nine-hundred-dollar monstrosity Sean uses to make his workout shake every morning?”
Beck’s eyes light up. “I imagine him walking back in here and seeing it’s missing.
Maybe he’ll shed a tear. Maybe he’ll curse my name.
Who know? I imagine he’ll try to text me, but by then, I’ll have blocked his number.
He can buy his own monstrosity. This one’s mine, and it was meant for margaritas, not kale, spinach, and blueberries. ” Beck shudders at the thought.
I press my hand to the small of her back and inch her closer to me. “You, Beck, are incredible. Your propensity for spite is so gloriously unexpected and unhinged, I’m impressed, terrified, and hell, maybe a little turned on.”
I wink at her as she bites her bottom lip exaggeratedly and whispers, “You ain’t seen nothing yet, baby.”
Despite my full knowledge that she’s joking, I love the way “baby” sounds directed at me from those luscious, full, dusky-pink lips of hers.
“Show me more, show me more,” I demand lowly, leaning into her like she’s mesmerizing me. Our gazes lock, and she smiles slowly.
“If you want to see spite, you should take a look at the linen closet.” Beck takes me by the elbow, leading me into the primary they used to share.
Where the linen closet used to be filled with sheets, blankets, towels, and a whole section of expensive first aid supplies, there’s now a refrigerator box beside the shower holding the former contents.
Beck has left him one tiny, thin white towel with his toothbrush on top of it. Not even a tube of toothpaste to be found. And frankly, Sean should find another toothbrush, because I don’t know if this one has been used to scrub a toilet or the tile floors or...who knows…something worse.
“You know it’s going to take three grown men to carry this box, right?” I ask, attempting to lift it with all my might and failing.
Beck pouts and then holds up four fingers.
“You. Jett. Bear. Emmett. We’re golden.” She steps into the closet.
“But hey, don’t worry. I’ll leave his favorite sweatpants I got for his last birthday.
” She steps out of the ones she’s wearing, and now she’s wearing nothing but a crop top and pale pink panties that show off her spectacular ass.
Dear god. I bite back a moan, unable to wrench my eyes away from the incredible sight of her wearing so little as she bends and digs through boxes of clothing on her side of the sprawling closet. I force myself to walk away from the unparalleled view.
“Ready to get back to work on Monday?” I turn away and adjust my hard-on through my basketball shorts.
“Yes and no. I miss my clients, I hear I have a couple of new ones, and I love my job. Being a grief counselor is fulfilling, but I needed the week to feel my own grief. I gave myself exactly seven days to mourn Sean, and, well, it seems like I only needed five or so. Just forget I cried a few minutes ago, okay, because I swear I feel much better now.”
“And have you gotten used to the sound of the refrigerator making ice, or do I need to sleep over and slay the ice demons?” Thankfully, my dick settles, and I turn and flash a grin at her.
“It’s still pretty quiet,” she admits with a shoulder shrug. “I’ve figured out the ice machine. It’s the creaks that get me. Not that I’m not used to sleeping alone, given He Who Shall Not Be Named routinely worked nights.”
“I’m game if you ever need.”
“Well, maybe I’ll take you up on that when I move back into my parents’ house. It’s been so long since I’ve lived there, my suite over there is still pink.”
I burst into laughter. “What? Pink?”
“Hey, give me a break. I was a teenager back then. At least the suite is nearly as big as this one. The king-size bed will fit nicely. I guess I should start thinking about getting a U-Haul.”
“Nah, Bear’s got a trailer, and his truck can pull its weight. Remember, we moved Marissa with it a couple of years back?” Beck squishes up her face like she’s trying to remember but can’t.
“You don’t think Bear will mind?” Beck wonders as she bends over to pack up her bedside table into a small box, including several well-worn paperbacks that I can’t let the opportunity pass to tease her about.
“Not at all, but I’d hide all that smut.” I wink at her, and she smacks my shoulder, hard.
“Never! I love my smut. You can pry it from my cold, dead hands, dude. I’ve got three more boxes of it sitting in the closet, and some still left to pack from the bookshelf in the living room.
Only the discreet covers, of course, since Sean didn’t want ‘sculpted male chests’ on display in his living room. ”
I grunt and shake my head. “Sounds like there were a lot of rules in place for you that I never realized.”
It’s Beck’s turn to shake her head. “Not your fault for not noticing. I didn’t talk about it. I thought most of his behavior was normal. Didn’t realize how controlling he was, or how deceptive. Love blinded me. I know how to pick ‘em, huh?”
I stare at her with the sudden urge to tell her everything.
How close she was to missing out on Sean completely.
How the last ten years were almost our shared history.
And how much regret I still carry over the way things went down at that frat party where all three of us first met.
But Beck’s been out of a relationship for six days, and no matter how often it wants to tumble out of my mouth, I keep it in. I suffer through it. Because Beck needs to heal, and I don’t want her to feel like she doesn’t deserve as much time as it takes.