I’m not used to caring for someone else. Sutton might be my top priority, but Casey isn’t far behind.
“What are you doing?” she asks when I return with the wet cloth in hand.
“Cleaning you up, what do you think?” Quickly, I rip the covers from her and crawl onto the bed. “What?” I ask when she sits there frozen.
“No one has ever done that before.”
Anger shoots through me that no one has taken care of her properly, but at the same time, I puff my chest out, because I intend to show her just how things should be.
“Lie back,” I encourage.
She does, and I gently press the warm cloth to her.
“There, all clean and ready for another round.”
“Big promises for someone who’s leaving,” she teases, snuggling back into the sheets as I pull on the suit I abandoned a few hours ago.
“Don’t worry. The second Sutton is at school, I’m coming right back. And you’d better be exactly where you are now.”
“Oh?”
Stepping up to the bed, I lean over her, now fully dressed. “Don’t be a brat, Casey.”
“And what if I am?” She flutters her lashes, and my hand darts out, collaring her throat.
Her eyes widen in surprise as she sucks in a breath.
“Test me and find out,” I say darkly.
Her green pupils are swallowed by black as desire washes through her.
I smirk, tightening my grip for a beat and cutting off her air.
“I’ll be back soon, baby. Be a good girl for me.”
Leaning down, I steal one last kiss before I force myself to walk away.
After grabbing my carry-on and suitcase I had discarded in her living room, I make my way out of her apartment, feeling like I’ve left a piece of myself behind.
As I ride the elevator down to the ground floor, I call a car.
Thankfully, there’s one right around the corner, and not five seconds after I’ve walked out into the morning LA sun does it appear before me.
With one look up at the building where Casey’s apartment is, I let the driver take my things and climb into the back.
Iclose the door as quietly as I can and lower my luggage to the floor as Mom and Sutton’s soft voices float around me.
My heart is in my throat as I toe off my shoes and creep toward the kitchen.
Surprising Casey was a rush, but so is this, only in an entirely different way.
Happy they don’t seem to suspect anything, I step into the doorway and wait.
It takes two seconds before Mom looks up. Everything happens so fast it’s almost a blur. For the briefest of moments, pure, unfiltered fear covers her face. But then, she registers who’s standing there and the most incredible smile appears.
Sutton notices her distraction and turns to see what’s happening.
She freezes in pure shock as her brain tries to figure out what’s happening. But it doesn’t matter; her body has already figured it out. Wearing the brightest of all smiles, she launches herself from the stool and flies at me.
