14. Back To Reality
BACK TO REALITY
Rory.
Chewy’s tongue was the first thing I felt.
I groaned and pulled my hand back, cracking one eye open.
“Boy… if you don’t—”
He followed, licking at my fingers again. He must be hungry, so I should get up. I blinked up at the ceiling, trying to figure out where I was.
Okay… so, not my room.
Then it hit me. I was at Marlon’s house.
The memory came back in pieces. I pushed myself up slowly, my mouth was dry like I hadn’t had water in days. And my head felt… cold?
I went to massage my temples when—No fucking way. I turned my head and spotted my wig sitting neatly on the side table. Did this man fuck my wig off? When did that even happen?
Next to my discarded wig were two bottles of water and a protein bar.
I stared at it for a second then grabbed one of the bottles, and twisted the cap off. The first sip hit fast and cold, exactly what I needed.
I didn’t stop until half of it was gone.
“Okay…” I muttered, setting it down.
I grabbed the protein bar next, tearing it open and taking a bite. Not my first choice for breakfast, but I wasn’t about to be ungrateful right now.
Chewy jumped up beside me, sitting like he was waiting on his share.
“No,” I said, chewing. “This is mine. I’ll get to you next but I gotta put me first right now.”
He huffed and laid down anyway.
I finished the rest of the water, then sat there for a second, taking in the room.
It was dark.
Not pitch black, but the curtains were drawn enough to keep most of the light out. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up slowly.
That was a mistake. Everything hurt.
“Yeah… we definitely did too much.” I exhaled and stretched slightly, rolling my shoulders.
Chewy watched me with his tail wagging as if he agreed.
I walked out of the bedroom and into the hallway, taking a second to get my bearings before finding the bathroom.
The door opened into a space just as clean as the rest of the house. Large mirror. Double sink. Shower already stocked.
I stepped inside and shut the door behind me, turning the water to hot enough to relax everything that still felt tight and sore.
Then I stripped down slowly, stepping under the stream once it was ready.
The heat hit my skin and I let out a long breath of relief. My body loosened almost immediately.
I stood there for a minute without moving, letting the water run over me before I reached up and started taking down my braids. It took time, but I didn’t rush it. When I was done, my hair fell loose around my shoulders, damp from the steam.
I grabbed the shampoo, working it in, massaging my scalp until the tension there eased too. I rinsed, then went in again, making sure everything was clean.
Finally, I turned the water off, then stepped out and dried myself in one of his towels before pulling on one of the robes hanging behind the door. It was too big and didn’t smell like him.
This part of the house must be for ‘guests’.
I rolled the sleeves up twice, tied it tight around my waist, then bent down to scoop Chewy up before he could make a run for it.
“Come on,” I said, adjusting him on my hip. “Let’s go see what your future daddy is doing.”
I made my way downstairs slowly, one hand trailing along the railing, the smell hitting me before I even reached the bottom.
FOOD!
I stepped into the kitchen and stopped.
Marlon stood at the stove, back to me and shirtless. “Please tell me there’s nothing with dairy in it.”
He glanced over his shoulder when he heard me. “Spaghetti bolognese.”
“Ugh, tomatoes give me heartburn. I hope you have tums.”
“What are you, sixty years old?”
I smiled to myself. “You mean like you?”
He paused, then relaxed. “You know what, I walked into that one. Nice to see you still got jokes after all that.”
I leaned against the doorway, adjusting Chewy on my hip. “How long was I out anyway? Couple hours?”
He turned back to the stove. “No, Rabbit. It’s the next day.”
I blinked. “…huh?”
He didn’t repeat himself.
“Wait—what?” I stepped fully into the kitchen. “I was out the whole day?!”
“That’s what happens when you don’t eat before you get in my bed.”
My head snapped around. “My phone. My peoples gotta be looking for me. Where’s my—”
“I handled it,” he said calmly.
I stared at him. “Handled it?”
“Yes. It’s on charge in the living room.”
I looked down at my dog. “But Chewy—how did he—”
“I handled that too.” He finally turned to face me fully. “Relax. Eat something.”
I stood there for a second, trying to process that, still staring at my Chewy. He looked fine, happy even. And Marlon was calm, so my dad wasn’t on my ass about my whereabouts so I guess it’s all good.
I exhaled and walked over to the counter, setting Chewy down carefully.
“You just be doing stuff,” I muttered.
“Somebody has to,” he replied, going back to the stove. I pulled out a stool and sat, watching him for a second.
“You spoke to my dad?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He knows you’re alive.” I watched him plate the food, then slide a dish in front of me. “Eat.”
I looked down at it. It looked… good at least.
I picked up the fork and took a bite, then paused.
“…okay,” I said, then two fingers touching. “This is actually really good.”
He didn’t react. But I caught the slight shift in his shoulders.
“Don’t sound so surprised. I’m a grown man and I gotta eat,” he said.
“I’m not surprised,” I replied. “I just didn’t expect you to be good at this.”
“At what?”
“Taking care of me.”
That made him look at me. “I’m always taking care of you, Rabbit. It seems to be my only priority since we stepped on that plane.”
I held his gaze with a smile. “You like it.”
He looked away. “Eat your food.”
I did. For a minute, it was quiet.
“You good, though? Like, you feel better?” he asked, pouring me something to drink.
I nodded, taking it. “Yeah. The shower helped a lot.”
“Good.” He leaned back against the counter, arms crossing. “We gotta work on that stamina, Rabbit. Can’t have you blacking out on me again.”
I stared at him. Again? We get to do this again?
“You want another night with me?” I teased.
“Actually. I thought about what you said. About us,” he clarified.
“Oh?”
He nodded once.
“You said you wanted to keep… whatever this is going through the summer.”
I set my fork down slowly. “And?”
“I’ll consider it.”
That made me sit up a little straighter.
“You’ll consider it?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him. “Wow. Thank you so much for the opportunity.”
“Don’t start,” he said, already irritated.
“You make it sound like I’m applying for a position.”
“You did,” he replied. “You just ain’t realize it. Being with me is a full time commitment. One I don’t know if you’re ready for so, like I said. I’ll consider it.”
I rolled my eyes. “What’s so special about this ‘commitment’ anyway?”
“There are conditions.”
“Of course there are.” I leaned back slightly. “Let’s hear it.”
He looked at me to fix my attitude, which I did.
“If we do this,” he said, voice steady, “it stays between us. When it’s done, it’s done. No revisiting it. No bringing it up. No… slipping back into it.”
I blinked.
“…that’s it?”
“No.” He held my gaze. “You gotta sign something. An agreement with the terms laid out clearly.”
I let out a short laugh. “Oh, hell no.”
His expression didn’t change. “It ain’t up for discussion.”
“Who’s your lawyer, Marley? Your brother who is also my father’s friend?”
“Marcus knows how to be discreet.”
“I’m not signing no shit like that, Marlon. It ain’t that serious. We can just agree verbally.”
“You got a terrible habit of not keeping your mouth shut, Aurora,” he said. “I don’t trust verbal.”
I sat up straighter. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” There was a hint of a grin that let me know he found the whole thing amusing.
“Then stop fucking with me or fucking on me,” I shot back. “If I can’t be trusted, don’t touch me anymore.”
That shut him up and wiped the grin clean off. “…I can’t.”
My brows pulled together. “What?”
“I can’t,” he repeated, quieter now. “And I don’t want to.”
I looked at him for a second, trying to read past that usual control he kept wrapped tight around everything.
“Then you gotta trust me,” I said. “Because I ain’t signing nothing.”
He didn’t respond.
So I pushed a little. “I ain’t told my dad, right?”
He sighed. “No. You didn’t.”
“Exactly,” I said. “I got shit to lose too.”
I leaned forward slightly, resting my arms on the counter.
“So just… relax.”
His eyes stayed on me longer than necessary. “You asking me to take a very big risk.”
“You already did by fucking on me. We both in this shit now so we both got something to lose.”
He looked down briefly, then back at me.
“Summer,” he finally agreed.
I tilted my head. “Summer.”
“No paperwork,” he added. “But when it’s done, it’s done.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
“No,” he said firmly. “We agree now.”
“We’ll see when the time comes.”
“Aurora.”
I held his gaze, then sighed in defeat. “…fine.”
He watched me for a second, like he was waiting for me to change my mind or argue or something. I didn’t.
“Good,” he said.
I picked my fork back up.
“Good.”
But neither one of us moved like this was a simple agreement. Because it wasn’t. And we both knew it. I chewed slowly, watching him over the rim of my fork.
“On one condition.”
He didn’t move, but his eyes rolled slightly. “Here we go.”
“I like full access to my dick,” I stated softly but no less direct.
He pushed off the counter, walking a few steps before spotting in front of me. “You tryna stay here?”
I shrugged, like it wasn’t a big deal. “The house big enough, ain’t it?”
His mouth twitched, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I like my space, Bunny.”
I leaned forward, resting my chin in my hand, studying him. “More than you like me in your bed?”
“Ha. Got me there,” he shook his head. “Let me think about it.”
I smiled, small but satisfied, and picked my fork back up.
“Take your time,” I said. “I ain’t going nowhere anytime soon.”