Chapter 9
Beck
Bed. I need my bed.
It took hours to get a flight. Naturally, not a single direct flight was available tonight and because, of course, my fucking luck, I was on standby for four hours before making a flight to New York, where I could take a red-eye to Boston.
At this point I’m too tired to feel anything. I’ve gone numb and my only thoughts now are sleeping for the next twenty-four hours and kind of hoping I wake up from this nightmare.
Opening the door to my apartment, I don’t bother with lights, I don’t even wait for the door to close before I abandon my suitcase, rip off my shirt, and walk right out of my sweats. I want to walk up my stairs directly to my bed and crash.
Opening the door to my pitch-black room, I let muscle memory take me to my side. I set my glasses and phone on the nightstand and fall onto the mattress.
There’s a sharp bark, and before I can even process what I just heard, the side of my face is wet.
“What the fuck!” I jump off the bed just as there’s another bark and a girlish scream. I hit the lamp on the nightstand and find Dottie on my bed. She barks again as her tail and whole body wiggle in excitement. Pawing her way to the edge, she whines to get more attention.
“What the fuck, Beck!” Jensen yells. “I thought you were supposed to be in Virginia. You scared the shit out of me!”
“Me? Me! This is my fucking house! What the fuck are you doing here?”
I blink a few times as I process what the actual fuck is happening. She might be slightly blurry, but I can tell Jensen looks absolutely horrified right now as she holds her hand over her chest—is she wearing my T-shirt too?
“Callie and Lucie said you were going to be gone for another week! You could have warned me you were coming home after Callie called you!”
Jensen reaches for her pillow and chucks it at me. I catch it despite my exhaustion and toss it back to the top of the bed. None of this is making any sense to me right now. “Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t give you a heads-up when I didn’t know you were going to be here!”
Jensen holds out a shaky hand. “Wait, you didn’t say I could stay? But Callie said…”
The horror on her face is enough to confirm that she was just as blissfully unaware as I was. I mumble several curses and press my palms to my forehead. This day really just won’t stop.
“Callie didn’t mention anything about you staying here. No one mentioned it at all.”
Her jaw drops then she mumbles words in Spanish under her breath and I’m pretty sure I catch “matar” somewhere in there. Before I can ask her to repeat it, she sighs, going back to English. “I’m going to kill them.”
“Get in line.” I let out a deep breath and finally scratch Dottie’s head as she whimpers for attention. I have a million questions right now, but zero energy to ask them. I glance at my alarm clock: 3:47 a.m.
Jensen still didn’t answer why she’s staying here and not her apartment. Not to mention sleeping in my bed with one of my T-shirts on. For all that’s holy, this is an in-the-morning conversation.
I reach for the covers and have Dottie move back to the middle. “Come on, let’s get some sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow.”
“What? Have you lost your mind? I’m not sleeping here now. Come on, Dottie, down.” Jensen hits the mattress with the command, but her dog doesn’t move. Doesn’t even flinch. “Dottie, come.”
Fucking hell. “Get in the bed, Jen. You clearly had no issues sleeping in my bed even though I have two perfectly good guest rooms.” I click off the light, not wanting to argue— I should have known that wouldn’t stop her.
“Beck, you’re not wearing any clothes—I don’t have pants—I’m not sleeping—”
“Jensen! For all that is holy, get your ass in this bed. Despite how many times I’ve thought about this exact damn thing, I’ve had an extremely shitty day and I’m exhausted. Please, get in this fucking bed and go to sleep.”
There’s roughly three seconds of silence before I hear a sigh, then the sound of covers rustling.
“Thank you,” I whisper when I feel her settle on the bed.
I’m way too tired to open my eyes. Although the light is off, I’m sure the moonlight hits Jensen just perfectly on that side.
God, I’m going to kill Callie for not telling me she’s here.
I can assume the reason for her stay is valid, but a heads-up would have been nice.
I guess that could have been what the phone call was for…she still could have followed up in the text. Hey, heads-up, Jensen’s staying at your place tonight.
“Beck,” Jensen whispers.
“Yeah?” I grumble already halfway lost to sleep.
“I’m sorry you had a shitty day.” She pauses. “I did too.”
Blindly, my hand finds hers and I give it a soft squeeze before pulling it back. “We’ll have a better one tomorrow.”
Just as quickly as sleep hits, I swear the morning comes just as fast. Except this time, it comes with another lick to the face.
“What the—” I grumble as Dottie licks me again then lays across my chest with a soft whine. “Alright, I’ll take you out, but be quiet.”
Sliding out of my bed, I look over to find Jensen still dead to the world. Her long black hair is splayed across the pillow while her tan, inked arms hold on to the comforter tightly.
Man, I’ve dreamed of having her in my bed countless times, but none of them went down like last night.
Walking into my living room, I grab my trail of clothes to throw them back on and spot Dottie’s leash hanging on one of the hooks by the door. She turns in circles as I pick it up.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m hurrying. Hold still.” Fighting her for the clip, I take her down the stairs and into the designated dog park area.
Pulling out my phone, I FaceTime Callie. If I have to be up, then so does she.
“Beck?” Callie mumbles. Her eyes can barely stay open as she rolls over on her pillow. “Why are you calling me at seven in the morning?”
“Oh, I thought since I’m taking Dottie out bright and fucking early, that I’d call to find out why I’m taking Jensen’s dog out at seven in the morning!”
“Dottie?” Callie mumbles again, then she sits straight up with a gasp. “Wait…nooooo. You’re home? What are you doing home?”
“Callie Bear, I love you like a sister so I will cuss you out.”
“The fuck you will,” Will snaps, then joins in on the call.
Great, I’ll cuss him out too.
“Why the hell did you not tell me Jensen’s staying at my apartment?”
Will looks at Callie, then back to me with a sigh. “Alright, cuss her out.”
Callie’s jaw drops. “Hey, I had a perfectly good reason not to tell you. It all happened yesterday! You said in your text that if it could wait then to call tomorrow. I didn’t think you were coming home early! You left out important details too. I have it in writing.”
When I roll my eyes, Callie snaps. “Oh, don’t do that.
I may not know what happened, but I do know you.
I was calling to make sure it was okay for Jensen to crash there, but then you sent that text.
Filling you in on Jensen’s situation was something I truly thought could wait.
I knew you’d let her stay knowing she would never agree to it if it wasn’t important.
“Deep in my gut, I know you wouldn’t have wanted to hear what was going on with Jensen yesterday.
It seemed you both were having shit days and I, your friend, decided to let you have time to just be.
I didn’t need you calling to check on her, and her, in return, biting your head off for being overbearing when she doesn’t know what’s going on with your family.
I didn’t think you would come home early!
That’s the first night she was there, I swear! ”
Shit, I hate that I’m right. I knew Callie would have a valid reason for not telling me. “Cussing you out would have been more fun. Me coming home wasn’t exactly my choice.”
Callie folds her lips in a thin line, then frowns. “I’m sorry, you can still cuss me out if it’ll make you feel better.”
“It won’t.” I let out an aggravated sigh.
“Wanna talk about it? Will’s an excellent listener and you know I can talk,” Callie says while Will hums a laugh. “No commentary is needed. I know what I said.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to talk, but can you tell me now why Jensen’s crashing at my place? Or were you waiting to tell me that she’s moving in?”
Will makes a cocky grin. “This was so worth the early wake-up call. Go on, Blaze, tell him.”
“You hush, go back to sleep.” Callie pushes him out of view. “She just needs a place to crash for a bit. She was going to stay here, but we have a no pet policy. I’m all for sneaking around…but from past experiences, we all know Will and I aren’t the best at that.”
That one gets me. God, this is why we’re such good friends. “Good point.” I look around the park and spot Dottie sniffing around some of the obstacle courses. “I guess I should get back inside and talk to my squatter?”
“You call her that and she’ll chop it right off.” Callie clicks her tongue then makes a slicing hand motion. “Just clean off.”
“Yeah, yeah, her threats make my dick hard.”
“Gag.” Callie snarls her nose then smiles. “I’m glad you’re back, ya know, minus all the circumstances you don’t want to talk about.”
I swallow down a lump in my throat. “Yeah, maybe I’ll feel better about it when I kick your ass in pool.”
“Keep dreaming, buddy.” Callie falls back on her pillow. “Update me later?”
“Will do,” I say with a nod, then hang up. Whistling for Dottie, she comes racing over. “So, how mad is your mom about to be at me, huh?” Patting her head, I clip her leash to her collar. “I know you can’t respond, but I’m going to keep talking to you anyway.”
Making our way up the steps, I barely get in the door before Dottie tugs hard on the leash. I let it go knowing exactly what she’s after. “Well, look who’s up—my little squatter.”
Jensen’s eyes cut from her dog to me and the look she gives me supports Callie’s “clean off” comment.
With a snicker, I walk over to my island and lean back against the counter. “Come on, let’s figure this out.”
Jensen sputters a tsk. “It’s figured out. I’m not staying here.”
God, this woman is so stubborn. It’s a welcome fucking distraction. “Oh, and you’re going where?”
Jensen stands firmly planted at the foot of the stairs. Her face still looks like she wants to absolutely murder me for asking a question that she doesn’t have an answer to.
I wait a second longer for her to respond and her glare only intensifies. She’s no longer in my shirt, which is so very unfortunate, and is now wearing some green yoga pants and matching long sleeve athletic top. I’ve seen her running in it before, which reminds me…
“Alright, Jenni-cakes, let’s push this conversation off again. How about some normalcy? Give me five minutes.”
Pushing back from my chair, I start to walk toward my room to change.
Jensen steps in front of me, her arms crossed and ready to argue now that there’s been a subject change. “What do you mean, normalcy? None of what’s happened in the last sixteen hours has been normal.”
“You’re right. So, do you want to sit down and talk about it?” I raise my eyebrows with the question.
Game. Set. Match.
Jensen scrunches her nose in frustration, before cocking her hip. “Do you want to talk about why you’re home over a week early?”
Motherfucker.
When I don’t answer, Jensen gives me her smirk.
Dottie, however, has zero capabilities to read the tension in the room, so she puts her paws on my side with a whine.
Scratching her head, I look back to Jensen. “It’s Tuesday. Let’s go run off our shitty day.”