18. Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
Cal
I woke to Skye’s nose in my face like every other morning. Except instead of being in the bed beside me, she stood on the floor, giving me a stern look. Memories of last night came roaring back. I rolled over and found Rowan sleeping with her arm thrown over her face. Her long red curls fanned across the pillow. I resisted the urge to kiss her but couldn’t stop admiring her while she slept.
Skye gave a frustrated snort, and I rolled back to rub her ears. This was not our usual routine. When I had company, I put Skye in the laundry room with her dog bed and a few extra treats and shut the door. The women I slept with never spent the night. After they left, I opened the door to the laundry room. Skye either followed me to my room or kept sleeping in her bed. She’d never opened the door herself, but then again, I’d never left her in the laundry room all night.
I grabbed my phone, checked the time, and groaned. 4:45AM was early, even for Skye, but once she was awake, she needed to go outside. Rowan stirred beside me.
“Don’t get up,” I said, swinging my feet to the floor. “I just have to take Skye out.”
Rowan’s eyes snapped opened at the sound of my voice. She sat up, looking startled, and my stomach sank. Maybe she’d had more to drink last night than I thought. Maybe she was regretting waking up with me. Skye caught sight of her and let out an excited bark before jumping onto the bed.
Rowan giggled as Skye licked her face, and the tension in my chest eased.
“What time is it?” she asked when Skye hopped off the bed and started prancing beside it. I had about two minutes to get her outside, or I’d be cleaning pee from the carpet.
“Not even five,” I said, grabbing my shorts from the floor and pulling them on.
“Good,” she said. “I might be able to sneak into the house before Mom wakes up.”
She pulled the comforter from the bed and wrapped it around her body before searching around in the dark for her clothes, which Skye mistook for a new game. My dog grabbed Rowan’s bra in her mouth and started shaking her head from side-to-side like she’d won it.
“Give me that,” I said, taking the bra and handing it to Rowan. “Sorry for the dog spit.”
She laughed. “I think I’ll go braless this morning.”
My cock liked that idea, but instead of taking my shorts off again like I wanted, I grabbed my shirt and pulled it over my head. “Let me take out Skye, then I’ll walk you home.”
She nodded, clutching her clothes in front of her. I’d explored every inch of her body last night, but I had a feeling she wouldn’t get dressed unless I left.
I walked through the house with Skye to the laundry room, then opened the back door, so she could do her business. I stayed inside, listening for Rowan. I hoped she didn’t try to sneak out the front door. Skye scampered back in record time and bolted for the bedroom.
“Incoming,” I shouted, running after her.
When I reached the bedroom, Rowan was on the floor rubbing Skye’s belly.
“Did she knock you over?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“No,” Rowan said and laughed. “I was looking for my underwear. I’m not leaving another pair behind.”
I chuckled and held out my hand, “Let me help you up, and I’ll find it.”
She gripped my hand. After I pulled her up, I dragged her close and wrapped my arms around her. “Good morning,” I said, kissing her neck. “I had a great time last night.”
She let out a little sigh and took a step back. “I did too, but I really need to get home before Mom wakes up. She’ll either think I’m jumping into something too soon or get too excited because she thinks I’m moving on with you.”
I nodded. “Let’s find your underwear.”
Rowan shoved her bra into her purse, and I tried not to notice how sexy she looked in her tank top without it. I found her thong between the bed and the nightstand and helped her into it. It took every ounce of self-restraint I had to pull my hands from under her skirt.
“Stay,” I said to Skye. She jumped onto the bed and curled into a ball on the side Rowan had just left. No doubt, after waking me before dawn, my dog would be snoring before I got back.
I held Rowan’s hand on the walk to her house. I loved the silence of Sullivan Street early in the morning, knowing so many families were tucked in their houses, sleeping. The ache that usually filled my chest on peaceful mornings like these didn’t appear. I gave Rowan’s hand a playful squeeze and she squeezed it back, the street too dark for either of us to see anything beyond the beam of light from my cell phone. I stopped when the beam landed on Theo’s truck parked in front of the Stevens’s house.
The porch light was on, but the house remained dark.
“Theo stayed over,” I said, pointing to the black truck.
“Well, guess they aren’t just friends anymore.”
I shook my head, unease tightening my stomach. “I don’t know. Theo has his own place. Would it have ever crossed your mind to invite me back to your house with your mom and brother home?”
“No,” she said, her grip on my hand tightening. “But Poppy does have a studio in the backyard.”
“And you think they’d go there instead of his apartment?”
Rowan tugged my hand as she started walking to the backyard. Light spilled onto the grass from the windows of a small building on the edge of the lot.
“Um, how should we handle this?” Rowan said. “I don’t want to walk in on my sister with a guy. My eyeballs would never recover.”
“I’ll knock,” I said, walking to the shed. Rowan stood behind me like I was her personal shield. I gave the door a light tap and Theo swung it open a moment later.
“Cal,” he said. “Can you check Poppy? I’ve been checking her pulse every so often—”
“What’s happened?” Rowan said, shoving me and then Theo aside with surprising strength. I followed her inside where Poppy laid curled on a futon with a trashcan by her head. Rowan knelt beside her and gave her sister’s shoulder a shove. She didn’t move.
“She threw up twice and then passed out,” Theo said, his voice rough.
“How much did she have to drink after we left?” Rowan asked, brushing the short black hair from Poppy’s face.
“One more of the same drink she’d had all night. Then some idiot insisted she take shots with him. I dropped off Lauren around one and then Aiden. By the time we got back here, Poppy was slurring her words. I figured she’d rather come to her studio than inside. I tried to get her to drink water, but then she got sick. I couldn’t leave her.”
Theo looked like he wanted to be sick himself.
“How was Lauren when you dropped her off?” Rowan asked.
“Tipsy, but judging by how much she and Aiden were bickering, she seemed fine. Shit, I didn’t even think to check on her. I don’t have her number. She didn’t take any shots that I saw.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Rowan said, but she looked worried.
“Let me check Poppy,” I said, crossing the room to kneel beside Rowan. I lifted Poppy’s wrist and measured her pulse. Her heart rate and breathing were steady. Her skin didn’t feel clammy or appear blue. I sat her upright and snapped my fingers in her face. Poppy opened her eyes a slit, groaned, and shut them. I laid her down on her side. “She’s going to feel terrible when she wakes up, but I don’t think she needs to go to the hospital. Rowan, you should stay with her in case she gets sick again.”
Rowan nodded.
“I’ll stay,” Theo said, pacing back and forth.
I had a feeling he’d done that a lot over the past few hours. Rowan put her hand on my shoulder to steady herself but stood on her own and walked to Theo.
“Thank you,” she said, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “You’ve taken really good care of her, but I know my sister. She’s going to be embarrassed when she wakes up, and if she sees you here, she’ll feel so much worse. I promise to stay with her, and if you give me your number, I can text you updates, if you want.”
Theo fumbled in his pockets and pulled out his cell. “Here,” he said handing it to her. “Text yourself so I have your number too.”
I didn’t even have Rowan’s number. A fact that bothered me more than it should. I lived right down the street and saw her in the office twice a week. Chris’s number was one of my top contacts since he walked Skye. Hell, I even had Poppy and Rose’s numbers. I could reach Rowan anytime I wanted. While she’s here. My chest tightened.
Rowan sent herself a text from Theo’s phone. It buzzed in her purse, and I fought the urge to hand her my phone as well. She gave Theo his and pulled him into a tight hug. “She’ll be fine,” Rowan said. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. They stepped apart and he ducked his head.
“Come on, brother,” I said, standing. “You can crash in my guest room for a couple hours before Chris’s training. Go ahead, I’ll catch up.”
He nodded and left the shed without a word.
“He was pretty shaken,” Rowan whispered. “Honestly, Poppy seems fine to me. I might have slept beside her with a trashcan on the floor, but I wouldn’t have stayed awake all night.”
I felt a small smile tug at my lips. “He’s been taking care of Aiden and me for years when we’ve had too many. He knew exactly what to look for to know she wasn’t in serious trouble. And you’re right, with us he’d have just rolled us on our sides and slept nearby. He must really like her.”
Rowan nodded. “The fact she let him bring her here speaks volumes. She doesn’t allow any of us inside her studio. After I check on Lauren, I’m 100% snooping around. I love seeing Poppy’s works in progress, but she refuses to show us anything until it’s finished.”
I took Rowan’s face in my hands. “Well, don’t let me keep you from your snooping,” I said, placing a soft kiss on her mouth.
I wanted to ask when I could see her again. Monday was too far away, and I didn’t want our next meeting to be at the office. Part of me wanted to make the most of the time we had before she moved on, but a larger part told me to keep my distance. She needed to understand that things between us were casual. “I’ll see you,” I said.
The smile slipped from her face momentarily, but she forced it back with a nod. My stomach sank as I closed the shed door behind me. When I reached the street, I found Theo standing by his truck, waiting.
“I’m going to head home,” he said. “I’ll be wrecked for work later if I get up and train with y’all. Tell Chris I said hi.”
“You sure? We could grab Skye and take a walk first.”
He chuckled and opened the door, the interior light illuminating his tired face. “Those Stevens sisters,” he said. “I’m a shit substitute for Rowan.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I said, walking around the front of his truck to stand beside him. “I thought you might not want to be alone after staying up all night worrying about a girl you obviously care about. I thought maybe you’d want to spend time with Skye to calm down. I did not invite you back because I needed the company. Forgive me for giving a shit.”
“Admit it,” he said, leaning into my face. “You like her, and that scares you to death.”
“Rowan and I had sex. Big deal. I know you’re not into casual hookups, but it works fine for me.”
Theo nodded. “Keep telling yourself that, brother.”
“Forgive me for not taking advice from a guy who feels too guilty to live his own life.”
Theo rubbed his forehead. “I’m going to go before you say something you regret.”
He climbed into the truck and slammed the door. As he drove away, I knew he hadn’t left soon enough. I’d said plenty to regret.