Chapter Seven #2
When he’s done, he bathes himself while I rinse off. He leads me out of the shower and wraps the towel around me while he rummages through the cabinet for another one. I dry off and a wicked look dances in my eyes.
“What are you scheming over there?” he asks with a smile.
“Wanna get me wet again?” I wiggle my brows at him, waiting for him to take the bait.
“Hmmm when you talk like that, I just might.”
“Then, catch me!” I exclaim and bolt into the bedroom.
Just as he comes through the opening, I fling open the glass door and dive into the pool that’s thirty feet outside of our door, Cass right behind me.
I sink to the bottom, using my feet to propel me upward just as I hear Cass hit the water.
The water is warm, making the air that much colder when my head pops up through the surface.
Cass comes splashing through the surface seconds after me, his arms gripping my waist on the way up.
“It’s so much colder now that we’re in here,” I say, kicking to keep my head above water.
“It’s gonna be cold as fuck when we go back inside, you know that right?”
“I may or may not have not thought this through very well.” I shrug my shoulders and lunge at Cass, my hands on his shoulders pushing as hard as I can to get him to go under. I catch him off guard and his head disappears under the water easily.
With a satisfied “hmmph,” I swim a few feet away just as his head pops up.
“Oh, it’s on now!”
Cass darts toward me, diving under the water as he approaches.
I swim as fast as I can to the other end, where it’s shallow and my feet can touch, but Cass is a little bit faster.
His arms hook around my waist and jerk me under with him.
I’m giggling underwater, trying to remember not to suck in air, only exhale.
I’m running out of air quickly though, so I shoot to the surface again.
“Gotcha,” Cass whispers, his lips a hairsbreadth away from my ear.
My head rests on his shoulder and I inhale a long, deep breath and release it on a sigh.
“You do have me. In every way possible,” I whisper, staring at the star splattered sky.
The only indication he heard me speak is the squeeze he gives me.
“You ready to get out? We have a brand new bed that’s already learned my name and is calling for me.”
“It’s gonna be cold!” I shriek, rubbing my arms at the thought.
“Not if we run fast.”
I give him a side eyed glance before I swim toward the concrete steps that lead out of the pool with Cass hot on my heels.
We both take off running for the double doors, somehow managing not to bust our asses.
Cass grabs the towels from earlier and wraps one around me before he dries himself off.
We curl up beneath the heavy, comfortable blanket, a tangled mess of arms and legs.
We lie there facing one another until I bury my face into the center of his chest. I breathe in the scent of him mixed with saltwater from the pool, committing it to memory.
Tonight is the first night of many that I don’t want to forget in our new home. The new house that he had bought for me. For us. I sigh into him, and my entire body relaxes.
“What is it, baby?” he asks, stroking my back lightly with his fingertips.
“I’m just happy. I’m finally…happy,” I breathe.
***
When the sun breaks through the windows the next morning, I shield my still closed eyes from the bright rays.
In my distorted state of half-awake and half asleep, I instinctively reach out and my hand lands on an empty bed.
I sit upright, looking around the room. It takes me a second to remember where I am, and where Cass isn’t.
I rub my face, trying to wipe the sleep from my eyes and the fog from my brain.
I grab the clothes that are waiting for me in the bathroom.
While I’m in here, I brush my teeth and splash cool water on my face.
That definitely helps wake me up a bit more.
Once I feel human, I go in search of Cass throughout the house.
It isn’t like there’s anything for him to do since none of our things are here.
After coming up empty in the living room, I hear rustling in the kitchen.
Cass is standing at the stove with his back to me, cooking.
He’s wearing his black HFFH cap turned backwards, a black, slim fitting t-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans that hug his large, toned thighs.
There are grocery store bags strung out on the island and the smell of scrambled eggs has my stomach rumbling.
I can hear the soft sound of music playing from his phone as he works his magic on the stovetop.
His hips sway back and forth, completely unaware that he’s not alone.
I decide not to ruin the show I’m getting as I watch the way his hips move, and I imagine them moving just like that without clothes and on top of me.
I sneak up behind him, my arms sliding around his waist. Cass runs a hand over my arm and lifts my hand to his lips, placing a kiss there and continuing to sway with me.
“Good morning,” I whisper.
“Good morning, beautiful. Did you sleep well?” he asks.
“Mmhmm,” I hum my agreeance, my eyes closing tight as I think about just how great I slept.
“Hungry?”
“Starving.”
Cass puts eggs and bacon onto a paper plate that he just pulled from one of the many grocery bags and sets it on the bar for me. While he fixes his plate, I grab a bottle of orange juice for him and the bottle of milk for myself. He thought of everything we would need for breakfast.
I set his drink down next to mine and sit down at the bar and begin scarfing down the eggs and bacon he made for me. They’re perfect. Just the way I like. Scrambled and extra cheesy. He sits down beside me, and we eat our breakfast in the most comfortable silence I’ve ever endured.
“Thank you for breakfast,” I say when I’ve finished every last bite and downed the last of my milk.
“You’re welcome, baby.” Cass kisses me in the center of my forehead. I lean into his shoulder, resting my head there for a moment before I sit up, looking at him curiously.
“Where did you get a pan to cook in?”
“The same place I got the food. At the store down the street.”
“Oh. I can’t believe I didn’t hear you leave this morning. What time did you wake up?”
“Around six. I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I might as well do something useful.”
“You are always useful, baby,” I purr, my hand slipping down the center of his chest. I’m already picturing myself tearing his shirt off, followed by those sexy as hell blue jeans when an unfamiliar dinging noise has me fumbling my hands and jumping.
Cass laughs at me as I look around in a state of confused curiosity.
“That, my love, would be the sound of our doorbell. Better get used to it,” he chuckles and walks toward the front door. I’m right behind him, even more curious now.
“Why is someone ringing our doorbell this early?”
“Because they’re here with our things so we can actually move into our home.”
“They?”
Cass opens the door and on the other side stands Scott, Snapper, Leo, and Shorty.
“Hey guys!” Cass welcomes them as they all walk inside.
“Hi, y’all.” My greeting is much quieter and less enthusiastic than Cass’s but it’s still early and they had just interrupted my morning. My first morning in my house with my sexy man. I suppress the sigh that I desperately want to huff out, mostly because I sound like a selfish bitch.
Outside, there’s a box truck parked in the driveway, filled with what I can only assume are mine and Cass’s belongings.
In addition to the moving truck, there’s one other truck, loaded with furniture in the bed, and two motorcycles.
The sound of laughter draws my attention, and I walk in the direction of it.
The guys are gathered around the island and bar in the kitchen, talking and eating.
I was so caught up in Cass this morning that I failed to notice all the extra food he’d made.
“What do y’all think of the house?” Cass asks, munching on a crispy slice of bacon.
“It’s fucking badass, man,” Snapper says.
“You did good,” Shorty says through a mouthful of eggs.
“It’s a great house, but I think it would’ve been better if it weren’t so far out,” Scott adds, standing up and walking around.
“That’s the point,” Cass counters.
“I didn’t want to be way the hell over there anymore. Besides, I got a damn good deal on the place and I knew Lilly would love it. Ain’t that right, baby?” he asks, pulling me under his arm.
“Hell yeah. I couldn’t have hand-picked a more beautiful, perfect place to call home with you.” I smile, looking up at him as someone makes a gagging noise.
Without looking in their direction, I flip the bird to whoever made the noise and tiptoe until my lips press into Cass’s.
“Come on, you two love birds. Let’s start unloading,” Snapper says, walking past us toward the front door.
I sigh and rest my head on Cass’s chest for half a second. “Ugh.”
“Come on, baby. Let’s make this place a home.” Cass kisses my forehead again and walks out the front door behind the rest of the guys.
Within five hours, everything is unloaded, arranged, and damn near unpacked.
These guys are fucking rockstars because there’s no way in hell I could’ve done all of this without their help.
From Leo helping Cass hang things on the wall to Snapper organizing boxes and putting them in their according rooms, the amount of help that they offered was more than I could’ve dreamed.
The house is beginning to feel more like ours with all of my things and the guys here.
Cass has already selected the room we’ll use for his man cave and the guys had started lugging boxes in there while I work on our bedroom that’s quickly becoming a wreck.
With boxes everywhere, both empty and full, I’m hanging clothes in the closet and putting away knickknacks.
I’ve stayed out of the way as they packed boxes and furniture inside. Staying out of the way meant staying away from Cass and although I’m grateful the guys are here to help, I’m ready for them to go so I can start christening every square inch of our home, but that isn’t in the cards today.
The doorbell chimes and I hear someone holler about getting the door.
Good thing, too, because I’m half buried in clothes on the closet floor.
After I dig myself out of the mountain of our clothes, I emerge from the bedroom and follow the sound of voices.
The guys are once again gathered around the island and the bar in the kitchen.
That seems to be the most popular hangout spot in the house so far.
This time, though, Clayton and Brock stand there as well.
“Hey, Lilly,” Clayton says, walking over to hug me.
“Hey!”
I embrace Brock’s hug immediately following Clayton’s, then look around. It appears I’ve interrupted something. I move closer to Cass.
“I was just coming to see who was here. I’m going to finish with our closet now,” I point toward the master bedroom and begin to walk away but Cass stops me by grabbing my wrist.
“The guys were just talking about how hungry they are. Do you want to stop for a little bit to go grab a bite to eat?”
“Food sounds perfect. It has been a while since breakfast, huh?” I ask rhetorically, rubbing my stomach.
“Alright, where are we going to eat?” he asks.
“How about pizza?” Leo’s suggestion is approved all the way around.
“Pizza it is. There’s a pizza buffet in town, y’all wanna follow me?”
With a few “yeahs” and “uhhuhs” we’re out the door and on the bikes, headed to dinner. With the exception of Scott, Snapper, and Shorty who rode in the truck because they hadn’t shown up on their bikes.
The pizza buffet is relatively dead, with only one couple sitting down to eat and one leaving as we walk inside. My phone chimes as soon as I sit down. While everyone else fixes their plate, I look at my phone. A text from Raven.
Raven: We’re on our way to your side of town, but I’m not supposed to say anything. So don’t say a word. But something is going on. Cass called for backup.