“Are you sure? Have you ever tried?” I’m not sure how to react to that, because I haven’t. Not since the nurse showed me how to give it to myself. “Come here, I’ll show you what I mean, and if you hate it, I’ll stop. Okay?”
“NOPE! I’m not about to be scarred mentally for life as you make her shot a sex thing.” Dani grabs another waffle off the stack and heads outside.
He watches me prep everything, asking questions as I go. He has me stop just before I’m about to poke myself in my belly. His arms wrap around me and he whispers in my ear that I’m beautiful and perfect. He’s kissing his way down my neck, jumping a little at the loud pop the injector makes, and then it’s over. But I don’t move. He shuffles around me and tilts my head back, drying the tears.
“Does it hurt?”
“N-no,” I sob. Burying my head into his shirt while I fist the fabric in my hands. “I’m sorry. I don’t…I don't normally cry when I do this.”
“Didn’t like me holding you?”
“No. I mean yes. I mean, I did like it. It’s just, there’s so much going on lately and, I…I…”
He pulls me close and rocks me, “Come on, Sunshine. Let’s go eat by the pool and figure out your schedule and mine so I can get a driver for you on days I can’t take you to work.”
I sniffle, following him out to the pool. “I can drive myself to work, Chase. We both would benefit to getting our lives back to, well, normal.”
The sun’s come up, but there’s a nip to the air and steam coming off the pool from the heaters Chase had on for his morning laps. I expect the dogs to be at our heels with the food, but we’re pretty sure Lulu slept in the pool house with Devin, and Pongo paces out in the yard chasing a bird he’ll never catch. I shiver as I sit, and Chase grabs a throw blanket off a chair and wraps it around me.
“Alright, no shoots till Thursday,” Chase announces after taking a big drink of coffee and checking his emails. “How about I stay at your place for a night or two?” I roll my eyes and he holds up a finger. “Hey, Xander did it for Dani. Also, it will make me feel a lot better knowing you’re not alone. I promise, only a night or two. You need your space.”
“You’re going to hate the bed.”
“I’m sure I’ve slept in worse. Oh, like the weekend Steve, JimJam, and I decided to go camping, and it rained, so the three of us slept in Jamie’s old as hell VW Bug!”
“JimJam?”
“Jamie. It’s a childhood thing that stuck. Kind of like him calling me Coop. Or Dipship McFuckface when I really fuck up.” We both laugh as I hug my coffee close to me, enjoying the warmth. The chime on his phone dings and he groans as he reads the message.
“Uh oh,” Dani smirks. “Wait, let me guess, the blond with the personality?”
He nods and rolls his eyes, and I’m looking between the two of them, trying to understand.
“Charity event,” he answers after swallowing a mouthful of waffle. I haven’t touched mine yet, but they smell delicious. “There’s like four interns at the office they can send out with us when we need a plus one. This chick fucking hates me for whatever reason.”
“Uh, because you insist on posting stupid shit on her watch!” Dani reminds him.
“Whatever. She treats me like a five-year-old.”
“Because you social media like a five-year-old. Or a fifty-five-year-old.”
“I mean, unless you’ve changed your mind about the charity event?” He asks me, and my eyes go wide. “Go public and show your ex and the whole fucking world?—”
“Who Ibelongto?” I ask, one eyebrow raised.
Chase laughs, almost choking on his food. “Oh shit, that’s funny. I was gonna say whoIbelong to. You belong to no man, Ren.”
“Nice, LOTR reference, nerd. Shit, I gotta go to work. See you guys later!” Dani scoops up her plate and takes off for the kitchen. She pops her head back out before she goes, “Yo, don’t forget Mom’s birthday next week. Can you pick up a cake?”
“Sure.” I answer, but my mind lingers on what Chase said about belonging to no man. I’m not sure why, but the thought makes me smile a little, then a little more. No one has ever said that before, especially no man I’ve ever known. A few men I’ve met would choke on theirmachismoif they tried to even say that out loud.
“You’d have fun…att the charity thing,”
“Sure, and how do you introduce me? The teacher you're banging? The woman causing you more headaches than anything else?”
“Well,” he looks me right in the eye as he picks up a strawberry and holds it out for me. “The words you’re looking for might beyour boyfriend,so I would introduce you as mygirlfriend, right? Or date, if you prefer to go gender neutral.”
His phone vibrates with an alert that someone has pulled into the driveway, and he excuses himself to let them in. Pongo stays behind, staring at me with a little drool bubble on the side of his mouth. I toss him a small piece of bacon and pet his head.
