25. Brent
25
Brent
“ P lease don’t take this the wrong way.” When Joey stiffens, I kick myself. What a supremely dumb thing to say. Doesn’t someone always say something offensive right after uttering those words?
“Fuck.” I backtrack. “What I’m trying to say is, don’t take this personally, but I don’t want you working on me anymore. Here at work, I mean,” I clarify when she seems to be taking my words very personally. “Based on how I react when you’re touching me…it’s not a good idea. And obviously, we can’t tell anyone we’re together. I mean…you know…”
Jesus. I rub a hand over my face. How am I at the top of my game and a multimillionaire, but I can’t have an important conversation with a woman. No, not any woman. I’ve had no issues talking to other woman about this kind of shit. It’s Joey. She’s so fucking sweet, and I hate putting that hurt expression in her eyes.
I want to take her hands as I continue, but I don’t. I can’t, not here. “Look, I can handle any jerk-off comments from the guys, but I don’t want you to have to deal with that crap. Some of them can be assholes. But, baby”—I lower my voice and lean in—“at home, you can touch me all you want.”
Joey’s face gives away nothing of her thoughts. I sigh in relief when she finally nods. “You’re right. No one here can know. It’s probably against the rules anyway. What about Charlie and the rest of your family?”
Shit. I’d forgotten about them. Before I can think of how to respond, she says, “It’s probably best not to tell them either. If we…When this ends, I don’t want anything to change or for things to get awkward between us.”
I hadn’t even thought of that. Why should I? My family never meets the women I sleep with. But it will be different with Joey. Not only because they know her, but my family is her family. And as much as they love her, it’s inevitable the dynamics will change. She might even be afraid of losing them, or at least the closeness she currently enjoys with them. I won’t let that happen.
God, I wish I could lean over and kiss her right now to reassure her.
I’m prevented from doing something that stupid by Tom’s appearance. “Hey, guys. So I guess you two know each other already from somewhere?” He sits down at the table with a tray of food.
I eye him closely to see if there’s any hidden meaning behind the comment. I relax when I observe only Tom’s usual eager-to-please expression. Though he’s been with the team for a couple of years, he’s still starstruck by the players. He’s like a little kid wanting to be with the cool big kids.
“I’m good friends with his sister,” Joey explains simply.
“Cool.”
Before Tom can expand on that, I ask Joey about her apartment search.
“I have a lead from my landlady that I’m going to check out after work today.”
I want to ask if she’ll be coming to my place afterward, but with Tom listening, I only nod. We talk to him for a few minutes before Joey returns to work and I go home.
The dilemma of her housing situation bothers me. I’m an asshole for not asking her to stay with me. For fuck’s sake, we’ve slept together in the same bed several nights already. One of those beds was my own at the beach house, where no other woman has ever slept. Granted, I no longer live there, so it’s almost like staying in a hotel. Except my sheets had smelled of her and I’d wanted her there with me.
I’m still thinking about how much I like sharing a bed with her when I get up from Joey’s that night. She squints her eyes open and frowns.
“You’re not staying?”
“There’s no way I’ll sleep on this bed. And neither will you if I share it with you.”
“Really? Again?” Joey groans and closes her eyes again. “How do you have the energy?”
“Smart-ass. I’m talking about the size of your bed. It’s barely big enough for one of us.”
“Mm-hm.” Joey sounds ready to drop into sleep. “Okay, I’ll see you at the facility tomorrow?”
It kills me to see her so tired. After working all day, then checking out an apartment, she came to my place and cooked for me. I tried to insist she didn’t need to, but she said she needed to cook for herself anyway.
She almost fell asleep in the car on the way to her place but responded eagerly when I kissed her as soon as we got inside her apartment. I hadn’t meant to take it beyond that, knowing how tired she was, but I couldn’t resist when she plastered herself against me and returned the kiss with enthusiasm.
Fuck. I really am being a dick. What’s the big deal if she stays with me? She’s not some random woman, and I’ve slept with her more nights in a row than I have with anyone else since Caitlyn.
I have to at least make the offer, so I force the words out. “You can…You want to stay…at my place?”
Joey’s eyes pop open, and she stares at me. I use the excuse of pulling on my clothes to avoid looking at her.
“I mean, until you find something,” I quickly clarify.
Damn, when did it get so hot in here? A drop of sweat runs down my back. Why doesn’t she say something?
“Oh.”
“Oh?” That’s it? “What? You don’t want to stay? You have a better offer?” Suddenly I’m irritated.
“No. Sorry, you just surprised me.”
Surprised the hell out of me too.
“But it’s okay,” she continues. “I think the place I saw today will work out. My landlady found someone who’s going to India to care for a sick relative. She’ll be gone a couple of months, so it’s perfect.”
“Oh good. Hope it works out.” Torn between relief and disappointment, I turn away to put on my shoes, my movements jerky. I’ve just made a grand sacrifice and she casually rejected it like it was nothing. I stiffen when she gently rubs her hand on my back.
“Thank you for offering though. I really appreciate it.”
When I turn to look at her, the sincerity in her eyes shines. She understands how hard that was for me. The tension drains from my body. And I decide I can make another “sacrifice.”
“Well, then,” I say, my gaze dropping to Joey’s breasts, barely covered by the sheet. “Why don’t I stay over here tonight and drive you in tomorrow morning?” I start undressing again.
“What about the bed not being big enough for the both of us?”
“I’m sure we can figure something out, if we put our minds—and bodies—together.”
Joey plays along. “I’m sure we can. But what’s another ride all the way into Queens going to cost me?”
I pull the sheet off her. She bites her lip, her attention on my erection, already thick and long despite its recent satisfaction.
“Hm. During rush hour? Double the usual rate, I think.” I lower myself over her body, using my elbows to keep my weight off her. I cup both breasts and rub circles over the hard tips. She gasps, her torso bowing, begging for more. “I think fulfilling another fantasy should cover the ride.”
“A ride for a ride?” Joey asks.
“So to speak.” I grin in response, then bend my head to her breasts.
To keep my promise to my mother, I try to check on Georgie again. She was unavailable when I wanted to stop off on my way back from LA to visit her. When I call her again, she says she has another commitment.
I visit my mother instead. With training camp starting in a few short days, I won’t have the chance again for a while. I would have liked to bring Joey, knowing she would enjoy the visit as well, but she’s working, and I don’t want to give away our new relationship to my family.
When I arrive, Charlie is at work and Bobbie is taking a summer class at the community college. Stevie has left to resume her travels, staying stateside this time.
Mom shuffles around the kitchen, making us lunch. She’s refused my offer of help. She may be partially disabled, but she’s still strongly independent. Kind of like Joey.
“What has you smiling like that?”
I wipe off the smile I wasn’t aware of. “What? Nothing. Just thinking how you’d snap my head off if I insisted on helping you.”
“Hm.” She clearly doesn’t believe me. “Tell me what’s going on with you. And don’t say the usual.”
That’s exactly what I was about to say. I squirm uncomfortably, immediately reduced to a twelve-year-old again when my mother somehow knows I’ve been up to no good.
“What do you mean?”
She gives me that look, and I sink lower in my chair, rounding my shoulders and avoiding her sharp gaze.
“Give me a break, Mom. And give me a damned hint so I don’t confess all my sins to you, trying to guess what you’re talking about.”
“Committed that many, have you?” She smiles at me, then nails me to the wall. “I hope you haven’t been committing any of them with Joey and corrupting the sweet girl.”
Damn it, now the collar feels tighter around my neck. How the hell did she guess? I don’t bother denying it. There’s no point in lying to Mom. She always knows.
“I can see you have. What are you thinking, son?”
“Jesus, I’m thinking that we’re both adults.” When she merely stares at me, I grow even more defensive. And turn into a six-year-old who abdicates responsibility for any wrongdoing. “Besides, she started it, so don’t look at me like that.”
Mom takes a sip of her tea and sighs. “She’s a tenderhearted, innocent girl, sweetheart, and you need to be careful with her. She’s had enough hurt in her life.”
My first thought is to gloat. She’s not a girl, and she’s definitely not innocent anymore. But I sober at my mother’s last sentence.
“I know, Mom. I like her—as a friend,” I rush to clarify when my mother’s eyes light up with hope, “and I don’t want to hurt her. Which is why we talked ahead of time, so she knows exactly what to expect.”
I sound like an asshole even to my own ears. And to be having this conversation with my mother of all people. We haven’t talked about my love life since the birth-control talk in high school. Somehow this is more uncomfortable.
“She has no idea what to expect,” Mom disagrees. “This is all new to her, and you live in a world that doesn’t respect boundaries or privacy. The media and the people who hang around you are going to chew her up and spit her out. It’s your responsibility to protect her from that.”
I hate that word, responsibility.
But Mom is right. Joey isn’t made for my world. Which is why what we have—friends in public, lovers in private—is perfect.
I nod, but my mother isn’t done yet.
“And was that Caitlyn with you in LA?”
Christ, is my mother stalking me online? “She wasn’t with me. We bumped into each other.”
“I never said anything while you were dating her because, frankly, I knew it wouldn’t last. But watch out for that one. She’s a viper, always has been.”
Too late, I think. That viper already did her damage years ago.