Chapter Twenty-Nine
Monroe
I’m in my apartment eating lunch by myself after the clinic morning when the banging on my front door begins. I was about to get ready for an afternoon class, but apparently I now have to stop someone from breaking my door down.
“Monroe,” a female voice hollers from the hallway outside. “Open up. I’m basically your sister now. You have to let me in. It’s like a law or something.”
I look through my peephole to see a topknot of messy brown hair. I open the door and look down slightly at Sloane. My brain was still caught on ‘basically your sister now’.
I blink at her. “Sloane, you literally could’ve just knocked. I would’ve let you in.”
She barrels past me without hesitation, settling herself onto my couch and yanking a throw blanket over her lap, kicking her feet up. “Can you get me a water?”
I laugh, mostly amused at the sheer size of her presence. My apartment was empty and now it was filled to the brim with Sloane. “Sure, Sloane. Anything else?”
“Nope, that’s great,” she says, accepting the drink once I return. She takes a long sip, her dark eyes pinning me. “So, we both know my brother is a colossal idiot.”
I stare at her, unsure how she wants me to respond to that.
She doesn’t wait for me to catch up and continues, “Listen, he’s taken way too many hits to the head. We can assume he’s functioning on sheer good looks at this point. Please don’t stay mad at him.”
My face must look like it’s buffering, because there weren’t any words coming out of my mouth.
Her expression morphs into horror. “Oh, no.” She gasps. “Are both of you idiots? Don’t have kids. Actually, wait, you have to have kids. I want to be an aunt.” She pauses, briefly, thinking. “Okay, maybe they’ll get my brains and your red hair. It’ll balance out.”
“Sloane?” I finally manage.
“What?”
“I’m not mad at Rhodes, if that’s why you’re here.”
She lets out a relieved breath. “Thank God. I had an actual panic attack when I realized he wasn’t answering anyone. Because of your whole…vibe”—she gestures vaguely at me—“I was worried this would send you back into that vampire-adjacent spiral you had going on for a while.”
It’s at this point I start to wonder if Sloane Eastwood had ever taken a breath in her life or said anything that wasn’t her entire stream of consciousness.
“Not that I don’t love a black cat queen vibe, don’t get me wrong,” she adds.
“But I like you and Rhodes together. I think you’re good for each other.
He just likes to think he can do everything himself, you know?
He hates asking for help. It’s why his dad was able to pull this shit over on him again.
And I know he’s gone all AWOL now, and that is probably stressing you out, because it’s totally stressing me out, and I haven’t even told my parents he’s gone yet, because nobody knows exactly where he went.
He’s obviously going to give his dad a real piece of his mind, and that’s been a long time coming, but, like, where exactly he went, who the hell knows.
I hope he breaks Wayne’s entire face. Just shatters the whole thing.
A real face-soup situation when he’s done—”
“When Rhodes is ready,” I say, interrupting her monologue, “I’ll be here.”
She takes a big breath and grins smugly. “Phew. Then my work here is done.” She slaps her knees and goes to stand, depositing her water glass onto the coffee table, sliding a coaster underneath it.
I don’t bother telling her that I had already decided to be here no matter what anyone said. She seems far too pleased with herself.
I don’t like that he shut me out, but I respect that he’s trying to work his shit out.
And I get it. Asking for help isn’t my strong suit either.
But I’m not going to let him push me away, like I did to everyone in my life.
He wanted me, and now he’s stuck with me.
And I plan on telling him as much as soon as he gets home.
“You don’t look like a hugger, but I’m going to hug you anyways,” she says, before wrapping her arms around me.
Her head only comes up to my chin. I smile softly, and after a beat I hug her back because, as chaotic as she is, I genuinely like her.
The part of me that longs for the kind of female friendships I’ve never gotten to experience wants to hold on tight to whatever is beginning to blossom here.
And something tells me you’ll never have a more honest friend than Sloane Eastwood.
* * * *
After my afternoon class, I’m in for the rest of the night. I barely focused on my classwork, but it didn’t end up being that critical, so I took my notes, highlighted some assignments for the week and put it away for the day.
I text my dad to see if he has any updates—he doesn’t—and open up the empty text stream between Rhodes and me. I told Sloane I was going to wait for him to figure his stuff out, and be here when he was ready, but I can’t deny that my feelings are hurt.
Once I decided I was in, I was all-in. I know it took me a while to get here, but…
Doubt begins to creep in while I lay staring at my bedroom ceiling.
What if he decides that with all this on his plate, that I’m too much? It’s too soon? That he doesn’t have the bandwidth to resurrect his career and be my boyfriend? I feel like I can’t even blame him. That would be a lot for anyone to digest and figure out.
A sharp rap at my door startles me into a sitting position. That’s two unexpected visitors in one day, which is two too many for me. I swing my feet over the side of my bed and pad to the front door. I peek through the peephole, and my stomach drops to my knees.
I open the door to Rhodes’ devastatingly handsome face. Navy-blue eyes stare into mine, and his hands reach forward, but he stops them, like he isn’t sure if he’s allowed to touch me.
“Hi,” I whisper.
“Hi,” he whispers back.
“You’re home.”
“I’m home.”
I step aside and motion him into my apartment. Our fingers graze as he steps in. He follows me into the living room and I take a seat, gesturing for him to do the same. He sits at the opposite end of the couch.
“Where were you?” I ask.
“I went to see my dad,” he says, and I suck in a breath.
Sloane was right. I wait for him to continue.
“I served him papers for a defamation lawsuit and a restraining order.” I raise my brows in surprise, newly relieved that he’s come home to me in one piece after that.
“And I recorded a confession from him, detailing the blackmail and the gambling forgery.”
“That’s great, Rhodes, oh my God,” I say honestly. “Did you tell my dad?”
“Yeah. I just came from seeing him, actually. He wanted to call you and tell you I was back, but I asked that he let me do it myself. You deserved to hear an explanation directly from me.”
“I appreciate that,” I say quietly. “I wasn’t mad you left. Just for the record.”
“I shouldn’t have left you hanging like I did. I just… I just wanted to fix everything before we went any further. Before I fell any further for you. I want…I want to be someone you deserve. Who has their shit together. I didn’t want to tie you down to a sinking ship.”
I huff out a laugh. “Rhodes, out of the two of us, you are definitely not the sinking ship.”
“You don’t see yourself very clearly, Monroe. You’re on your way up. I didn’t want to drag you back down.”
“Don’t give yourself so much credit, I can do that all by myself,” I retort with a smile.
He gives me one back, but it doesn’t reach his dimples.
“I just wish you would have told me, at least. I thought I was your girlfriend. I know it’s been a while since I’ve been in a relationship, but I don’t want ours to be full of secrets. ”
“I don’t either,” he says earnestly. “I didn’t mean for the last few days to be like that. I swear that won’t be how it is moving forward.”
We sit there a moment before I move over to his side of the couch and curl up next to him. He releases a heavy exhale and wraps his arms around me, kissing the top of my head.
“Parents are tough,” I say quietly. “A therapist would probably have more insight to offer. I could hook you up with the one I ghosted. She’d probably be thrilled to hear from me.”
Rhodes huffs a laugh, the tightness in my chest easing just a fraction. “Bet she’d have a field day with us.”
“Undoubtedly,” I reply, dryly. The quiet settles again, the kind of silence that doesn’t need to be filled. Rhodes strokes the side of my arm and I breathe him in, deep into my chest.
“I wish he would have just gone away and left me alone,” he mutters.
“I know,” I whisper back. “But actions have consequences, Rhodes. He chose to do this. Nobody made him.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, voice low. I feel him shift, tugging me so I’m fully on top of him.
“Thanks for letting me be here. I needed this. The only thing I could think after I was done with my dad was that I desperately needed to get home to you. I felt like I couldn’t breathe until you opened that door.
I practiced the ways I would beg for you to forgive me for taking off like that all the way over here . ”
I think for a moment, soaking in his declaration. “I don’t think I made you apologize hard enough,” I tease, whispering into his mouth.
“You were very understanding,” he replies. I can feel the smile on his mouth against mine.
“Should we start over? I can make you beg a little more.”
“I think that would be good. I didn’t get to use some of my best lines.”
“Oh yeah? What were they? I’ll rate them out of ten.”
He pulls back to really look at me, eyes searching my face for something. I wonder if he finds what he’s looking for. I see the moment he lands on a decision of some kind and wait for him to let me in on the secret.
“You gonna tell me, hotshot?”
“I’m scared you’ll run away if I do.”
Silence settles between the two of us as I catch up to where Rhodes is. I am always catching up to where Rhodes is.
“I’m not running, Rhodes.” He still looks unsure. “I’m all-in. I…” I pause. “I’m all-in.”
He strokes my face with his hand, soft. “Me too, sweetheart.” Then his mouth is on mine and it’s demanding and claiming all at once. “Come here,” he breathes, as if I could get any closer than I am right now, on top of him, limbs tangled together, skin pressed to skin.
“I’m here,” I say back, returning his kisses with fervor and urgency. How is it possible to want someone this much?
He slides his hands up my shirt, stoking my rib cage, murmuring praises into my skin, adoration into my soul. How is it possible to be wanted this much? Rhodes kisses my body as if he’s afraid it will disappear, afraid that I’ll vanish if he doesn’t claim every single inch of it.
“You’re. So. Beautiful.” The words are each punctuated with a press of his mouth.
“You’re right, I didn’t beg enough. Let me beg for you now.
” He slides me off his lap and gets down onto the floor on his knees, hands bracketing either side of me.
Rhodes looks up at me with raw devotion, and I wonder if this is what it was like for Greek gods to be worshipped by their people.
He tucks his fingers up under the waistband of my shorts and tugs them down my legs, leaving me bare before him.
He groans a deep, guttural sound. “Jesus, sweetheart, you didn’t have anything on under these the whole time?
” I nod. He presses a finger to the most sensitive part of my center and strokes me.
I lean my head back against the back of the couch, eyes fluttering at his touch. “That’s right, baby.”
Rhodes adjusts his hand to slide down my already wet skin so he can press a finger inside me. I moan a breathy, “Rhodes,” and I look down to watch him grin.
“So pretty when you say my name.” He slips in another finger, pumping in and out of me.
“You know how much I respect you, right, Monroe?” My face is puzzled at his admission right in the middle of his hands inside of me but he continues when I nod my confirmation.
“Good. Because the way I need to fuck you might not feel like that in a minute.”
My eyes widen in understanding. I nod more vigorously at his suggestion and he pulls out his fingers, taking his time to lick off each one coated in my arousal.
“So delicious, baby.” Then he picks me up with one easy motion and crosses the room to the hallway, kicking open my door and flipping me so I land stomach-side-down on my bed.
Rhodes leans over me, the hardness of his length pressing into my back, and gathers my hair around his fist, pulling slightly.
I moan again at his handling and I am so wet he’s probably getting covered behind me.
His chuckle is my confirmation. I hear the slow unzip of his jean, then they fall to the floor.
I turn back over my shoulder to see him drop his boxers, his cock springing free. Words are completely failing me now.
“Turn around, baby,” he says. “I’m going to lose it and come all over your back if I don’t get inside you right now.
” I do as I’m told and he grabs my hips, pulling me onto him in one motion.
I whimper at the stretch without any ease into it but I like the way it feels.
Nothing has ever made me feel as full as Rhodes in the best, most delicious way.
He pumps into me, fingers digging into my skin.
I hope I have bruises tomorrow to mark where he grabs onto me.
“Rhodes,” I cry out, gripping my sheets.
He removes a hand from my hip and reaches around to add pressure to my clit.
I feel the wave of orgasm approaching and close my eyes, repeating his name over and over again. “I’m going to come,” I whine out.
“Me too,” he says, voice low behind me. He plunges into me one more time and it’s the tipping point for both of us. We fall over the edge together, panting heavily. He leans over, still inside me, kissing my shoulder. Always kissing me.
“I love you,” he whispers. “I love you, and if that scares you I’m so sorry, sweetheart, but you have to know it.” He rests his forehead against the center of my back.
“I love you, too,” I say. Because of course I do. It was always inevitable with him, I think.