Chapter 21 #2
“I said everything is great,” he grunts before taking his shirt off as well as his shorts, leaving him in nothing but his boxer briefs. He submerges himself up to the neck into one of the ice baths and breathes heavily as he lets his body adjust to the cold.
“Sore?” I ask him.
“Something like that.”
I think back to the text conversation we had and I wonder if the girl OC was talking about has anything to do with his mood. Because he’s been so invasive with my personal life, I decide to insert myself into his.
“Want to tell me about the girl?”
“There is no girl,” he says.
“Says the guy icing his dick.”
He glances over at me. “I’m not icing my dick.”
“Then what are you icing?”
“My ego,” he mutters.
“Care to share?”
“No,” he says as he blows out a heavy breath. “I’m assuming everything’s great with you and Blakely? You’re welcome by the way.”
Seeing that he’s riding the bitter train, I decide to throw him a bone. “Thank you, Posey. Yes, everything’s good with us.”
“Better be your best man at your wedding. If it’s Eli, I’m going to fucking scream.”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself.”
“You’re telling me you haven’t thought about buying that girl a ring?” he asks, a knowing tilt to his head.
“I thought about buying her a ring the day I met her,” I answer. “But I need to make sure she’s ready, so cool it on the marriage talk.”
“Well, someone needs to get fucking married. All of you have girls but no one’s set a date.”
“Why the rush?” I ask.
“Because . . . good things happen at weddings. Look at you. You started hitting it off with Blakely at a wedding. I need a fucking wedding.”
“Dude—”
He holds up his hand. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay . . .” I pause and then ask, “Do you have a valentine?”
His eyes narrow. “I really hate you.”
“Does it hurt?” Blakely asks as she sits on my lap while she gently traces the gash I took to the head tonight.
“Not too bad,” I say.
Despite wearing a helmet, I took an elbow to the head, right above my eye. The hit was so hard, it split the skin and I had to get two stitches during the game.
“It looks disgusting.”
I chuckle. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” She looks me in the eyes. “I didn’t like seeing you bleed. It made me sick to my stomach.”
I stroke her thigh with my warm palm. “I was okay.”
“I know, but it still sucks seeing it, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it. It’s a hazard of my job.”
“I guess so. Although, the black eye is kind of hot.”
“I don’t know what to think about that.”
She laughs. “Neither do I.” She rests her head to my shoulder and I hold her closely as we snuggle on my couch. “I hate that you’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Me too,” I say as I kiss the top of her head.
“Penny was telling me that she and Eli have FaceTime sex all the time.” She lifts up to meet my eyes. “Is that something you’re interested in?”
“I’m interested in anything you want to do,” I say.
“So . . . if I answered the phone wearing that lingerie you like so much, what would you do?”
“Start rubbing myself immediately,” I answer.
She smirks. “I like that answer. Can I ask you another thing?”
“You can ask me whatever you want,” I say as I pick up a strand of her hair and start twirling it.
“Do you ever watch porn?”
“What do you think the answer to that is?”
Mischievously she dances her fingers over my chest. “Yes.”
“You would be right. At the moment though, since you’ve been around, I haven’t needed it.”
“What did you like to watch?” she asks.
I shrug. “Didn’t matter. I don’t have a specific kink. Anything that would get me hard, really. Why . . . do you have something you like watching?”
She shakes her head, but I can tell she’s lying.
“We’re honest, right?” I ask her and she nods. “So tell me.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“No, it’s not,” I say. “There is nothing embarrassing about getting turned on, it’s natural.”
She moves her teeth over her bottom lip before she says, “I really like watching guy-on-guy porn.”
“Really?” I ask, surprised. “Huh, I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
“There’s just something about it. I don’t know. Two dicks are better than one.”
My brow raises. “Well, just so you know, I don’t share. There will only be one dick in this relationship.”
She laughs. “Trust me, Halsey, you have enough dick in your pants for four men.”
“Good answer.”
She plays with the collar of my shirt. “Would you ever watch it with me?”
“Sure,” I say.
“Really?” she asks with a look of surprise.
“Yeah, why not? If you’re into that, then sure, babe.”
She shakes her head almost in disbelief. “Perry would never.”
“Good fucking thing I’m not Perry.”
“You certainly are not.”
Halsey: I hate that I’m not there on your last day. I’d take you out to dinner to celebrate, then I’d eat you for dessert.
Blakely: Don’t freaking tease me, not after last night.
Halsey: Still thinking about it?
Blakely: Halsey Holmes, I will never stop thinking about it. My pussy is actually throbbing from thinking about it.
Halsey: Don’t make me hard on the plane.
Blakely: Don’t make me wet at work.
Halsey: If you’re wet, then slip two fingers against the delicious clit for me and taste yourself.
Blakely: Can you NOT sext me right now? I’m trying to write a wrap-up email for my boss to give to the new hire so they know everything they have to take over.
Halsey: You started it.
Blakely: How about this. I go to the bathroom and you go to the bathroom and we FaceTime so we can masturbate to each other?
Halsey: I’m in if you’re in.
Blakely: Oh my God, Halsey, I was kidding.
Halsey: Baby, don’t play with me. You know I’m up for anything. Last night proved that.
Blakely: Stop talking about LAST NIGHT!
Halsey: LOL. Never.
Blakely: Then I’m going to have to end this conversation.
Halsey: Is that what you really want to do?
Blakely: No.
Halsey: That’s what I thought. Is Penny doing anything special for your last day?
Blakely: Uh . . . why is there a bonsai tree being delivered to my office?
Halsey: Right on time.
Blakely: OMG, Halsey.
Halsey: Do you like her?
Blakely: There’s a bow in her leaves! Halsey, you did this for me?
Halsey: Just a little decoration for your home office. Probably not smart delivering it to work because you have to cart her home, but I wanted something special for you on your last day.
Blakely: I love her. Oh she’s a Chinese Elm bonsai. She’s so beautiful. Does she have a name?
Halsey: That’s up to you.
Blakely: Why am I getting so emotional over a freaking tree?
Halsey: Because you have the best fucking heart I know, and you care about things . . . even if they’re mini trees.
Blakely: I love her so much. I want to put her next to Sherman. Ooo, I should name her with an S name, you know, so they feel cool together. Kind of like how you and Holden did that.
Halsey: That brought a smile to my face. So let’s pick an S name. How about . . . Shonda after Shonda Rhimes. I know how much you loved Queen Charlotte.
Blakely: True, true, but I kind of want this little girl to be her own person, you know? To not have to live up to the name. Shonda gives her some big shoes to fill.
Halsey: I see that we’re going to overthink this. How about you toss out some names?
Blakely: Let’s see . . . Sylvie, Susanna, Shirley.
Halsey: Shirley is cute.
Blakely: Yeah, I agree and it goes so well with Sherman. OMG, they’re going to be the best of friends. Halsey, this was such a wonderful gift. Thank you.
Halsey: Hell, if I knew you were going to like Shirley so much, I would have waited to give her to you in person to see your reaction.
Blakely: [picture] Here’s a picture of me and her so you can at least have a sneak peek.
Halsey: Fuck, Blakely. You’re so beautiful.
Blakely: You SPOIL me.
Halsey: I just state the facts. Glad you’re mine.
Blakely: Glad you’re mine, too.
“Hey, you,” Blakely sleepily says into the phone.
I lie down on the hotel bed while I hold the phone up to my ear. “Were you sleeping?”
“Maybe a little.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m on the couch. I should move into the bed, but I just hate when you’re not there. It’s so empty and cold.”
“You wearing my shirt?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t replace you.”
A smile tugs on my lips. “I miss you, too.”
She yawns into the phone and then asks, “Did you win?”
“We did. It was a good game, so you shouldn’t have fallen asleep.”
“I’ve struggled sleeping, and I think my energy is drained from trying to make sure I’m doing everything right with the new job. I have to go to the office sometime next week when you’re there for away games.”
“Yeah?” I ask. “Maybe we can share a room?”
“Perhaps.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“If we’re in the same city, we’re sharing a damn room.”
She chuckles. “Yeah, I agree with that. I didn’t know I’ve become so dependent on you. How did you make that happen?”
“Just slowly needled my way in over a year and a half.”
“Well done, sir. Now I don’t sleep well without you. Look what you did to me.”
“Trust me, I don’t sleep well without you either.”
She sighs over the phone. “We’ve become that nauseating couple.”
“Best news I’ve ever heard,” I say.
She chuckles. “So were you asked any stupid questions after the game?”
“Like what?” I ask.
“Like . . . what cup size do you wear?”
“What?” I laugh. “I don’t think that’s ever asked.”
“Maybe not yet.”
“All right, Blakely, your fatigue is showing.”
“You might be right, but I don’t want to get off the phone, not yet.”
“Then get ready for bed and tell me about your day, but don’t ask me if reporters asked me my cup size.”
She laughs. “Why not? It’s an interesting question. The women want to know.”
“There should only be one woman who cares.”
“Oh Halsey, trust me when I say, there is more than one woman who cares. You should see the comments Penny has to filter through every time she posts about you.”
“Well, I only care about one woman.”
“This I know.” I sit up from the bed and go to the bathroom where I turn the phone on speaker and set it on the counter. “Are you getting ready for bed too?” she asks.