Chapter Twelve
Marti
Since I’d been staying at Sutton’s house, I’d slept better than I’d been able to manage in years.
Even during my time in the dorm, away from my toxic home life, I’d still had that niggling fear that my dad and brother would show up and drag me out of my room by my hair or something.
Sleep was precious to me, and something that didn’t always come easily, but by staying there, I felt secure like I hadn’t since my mom was alive. Maybe I’d never felt that secure.
It wasn’t really a surprise to me that I’d slept even better wrapped in Sutton’s arms, though it had surprised me that I’d ended up in his arms in the first place. And that near kiss the day before? What was happening? Was I being delusional in thinking that there was a shared chemistry?
Probably. After all, I had woken up completely alone in his bed at four in the morning, when the alarm on my phone had gone off. The phone that I distinctly remembered leaving in my room the night before.
Had he waited until I went to sleep to sneak out? Well, that was embarrassing. What had all that talk about taking advantage of me been? Was he trying to hint that I was taking advantage of him?
I sighed at the ceiling. It didn’t have any answers, and I really needed to get up and get ready for work.
The bedroom door was still open, so I could hear that the TV was on, even if I couldn’t make out what was on it.
I guessed that meant he was in the living room, regretting ever helping me, so I made my way down the hall.
He was sitting on the couch, watching an old TV show while drinking coffee, and even though I felt incredibly awkward, I made my way over, easing myself onto the cushion at the other end.
I owed him a huge apology for taking over his bed.
The man should not be pushed out of his own room in a house with two perfectly usable bedrooms.
I turned to tell him I was sorry, and that I completely understood if he wanted to kick me out, but I stopped when I saw the way he was watching me, one eyebrow raised and lips firmed into a straight line, like he was waiting for me to do something.
When all I did was continue to watch him, trying to decide what I might have forgotten, he set his coffee cup down on the end table, and without seeming to struggle at all, he leaned toward me, wrapped an arm around my waist and dragged me into the seat next to him.
Actually, it was more like the same seat he was in.
“This okay?”
He’d asked me that the night before, and the answer was still the same. It was more than okay. I’d encourage it wholeheartedly if I weren’t worried about pushing him too far.
“If it’s okay with you.”
“You sure?”
I bit my lip, snorting out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Are you?”
“I’m twelve years older than you.”
“Eleven and half. I turn twenty-one next week.”
His lip curled as if I'd said something awful. “That makes it seem worse somehow.” But he didn't let go, instead he dropped his head to mine. The tension seemed to leave his body all at once, like air being let out of a balloon.
I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but I sat there for far longer than I should considering I really needed to get ready for work, enjoying the sweet intimacy of the moment.
I’d almost been lured right back to sleep when his breath tickled my hair. “How long until you need to get ready?”
“About five minutes ago.”
He laughed, pressing the softest kiss to the side of my head, and if I hadn’t just stumbled into the room with morning breath, I might have dared to tilt my head back and see if he’d be willing to share his lips with mine.
It was probably for the best. I still wasn’t sure if he was on the same page as me.
My luck, we weren’t even reading the same book.
He helped me to my feet, and even though I wanted nothing more than to call in and curl right back up with him on the couch, I made myself get ready for work.
It would be easy to get super clingy way too fast with him, and I was pretty sure that was like number one on the list of what not to do in a new relationship.
Not that I would have seen the list, since I’d never been in a relationship, but I’d definitely heard about it.
I got ready faster than I ever had, desperately wanting to spend as much time with him before I had to go into work as I possibly could. Did that fall into the category of clinginess? Maybe, but I thought I might have pulled off the casual way I wandered back into the living room.
The raised eyebrow and the twitching of his lips told me I was probably wrong about that, but I ignored it. At least he didn’t seem annoyed.
The entire ride to work I forced myself to look out the side window unless he spoke to me directly, and when we pulled in, and he walked me inside I made sure to pick my foot up over the threshold and proceed the rest of the way to the back with caution.
As far as I was concerned, I felt pretty cool, calm and collected.
Until he sat down at one of the booths and proceeded to watch my entire shift.
Every bit of cool escaped me, and by the wink and the smirk he sent me when I reached for a napkin dispenser and punched a salt shaker, sending it directly into Mrs. Roberts’ purse, simply because Sutton had stretched, lifting his arms over his head and showing off a strip of skin between his shirt and jeans, he knew it.
By the end of my shift, I was covered in the remnants of spilled drinks, and one boob looked a bit crusty from when I’d turned too quickly with a plate in my hand, ran into the ice machine, and chest-bumped someone’s mashed potatoes.
I consoled myself that night with the fact that Sutton let me fall asleep against his shoulder while we watched a movie on the couch, and when he carried me to bed, it wasn’t my room he took me to, it was his.
In fact, night after night I slept in his bed with him. Either he dragged me there by the hand or carried me there when I dozed off on the couch.
One night, he even came into my room when I’d been too nervous to go myself, and he picked me up out of my bed and took me to his.
Four weeks to the day after I’d started staying with him.
Ten days since I’d last thought I’d seen my brother, it hit me that eventually I was going to have to move back into my own apartment.
I’d been served the subpoena for my father’s court date, and it wasn’t for another month.
There had been no signs of my brother in Beatrice, and Rendi had checked with her friend in Lina, and she had confirmed that Jackson had returned home.
I probably didn’t need to be staying at Sutton’s anymore. Jackson had most likely realized it would be much more convenient for him to wait for me to have to go there.
The thing was, I wanted to stay. I knew it was wrong, and I knew I was taking advantage of the situation, but I was sleeping all night, and even though we hadn’t even kissed or even talked about what we were to each other, we were definitely more than bodyguard and client.
“You guys need to talk about it.”
I didn’t dare look away from the light bulb I was trying to screw into the fixture to give Rendi any kind of look.
We’d already ruined one light bulb by cross-threading the stupid thing, and Livy had threatened us both when she’d had to get the base out of the fixture in the pantry.
Rendi had been the one to do it, but she’d lied to her Mom, and we were both dangerously close to getting fly-swatted.
“No, we don’t. We don’t have to do that at all, actually. I’m just going to keep living there until he kicks me out.” I fastened one clasp on the light cover and then the other, relieved that Livy wouldn’t be coming after me.
“The only thing talking will do is bring attention to the fact that I’m safe now, and really, we don’t know if I am.”
“That’s true.”
I gasped at Sutton’s voice, jerking my hands down fast, and upsetting my stance on the step stool. Thank goodness I’d already passed the burnt light bulb off to Rendi because I would have thrown that thing directly onto the ground.
Not surprisingly, I didn’t remain standing on the six-by-twelve-inch plank, although I did scream like an idiot as I went down.
I threw out my right leg, since that was the direction I was going.
The only thing it found purchase with was Sutton’s knee.
He cringed when I slammed into him, but he managed to keep both of us from falling by catching me and keeping his feet under him as the weight of my body careening into him sent him stumbling backwards.
An oof of air wheezed out of him when his back hit the wall.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, scrambling to give him room to breathe, but he wouldn’t release me. It was bad enough that I went around being a hazard to myself, but it was completely different when I was injuring my bodyguard.
“Does this count as attention seeking behavior?” He asked when he could finally breathe, still holding me to him while he was basically pinned to the wall.
Slowly, I relaxed into him, glad to see the way he was back to looking amused instead of in pain. “Well, we all use what we have. Not everyone has the skill to endanger themselves as ridiculously as me. My life is an actual farce.”
His laugh shook us both, since we were plastered together, my chest pressed directly to the top of his stomach. It sent a zing of euphoria straight through me, and as usual, that buzzing in the back of my neck sent goosebumps racing along my skin.
My eyes locked on his. His arms tightened.
“You never look into my eyes like that anymore,” Rendi said on an overdramatic sigh.
My eyes slammed closed, and I groaned, letting my head fall to Sutton’s chest. “You don't catch me when I fall anymore. Most of the time, you’re pushing me.”
He chuckled again, and I smiled as I pulled away, letting him help me stand with a press of his palms to my sides. I didn’t know if Rendi was trying to help me or hurt me at this point, but one thing was definitely for sure, she was enjoying herself immensely.
She flapped her hand around in the air, rolling her eyes when I turned to face her. “I told you I was pushing you out of the way. You should be thanking me.”
“Pushing me out of the way of what?”
“Of getting in my selfie. That would have been a really bad picture of you. Someone has had to mention how bad you look in orange.”