“You’re not all that.” Oh, but he is. Right now, all I want to do is go get in that shower for a repeat of last night, but I need some distance from him.
“I fucking am all that.”
And he has an ego bigger than Texas.
“Uh huh, you keep thinking that. Now, go shower so I can. I’m hangry.”
“All she gives me is sass,” he mutters as he goes into my bathroom, leaving the door open in invitation.
Getting up once I hear him singing in the shower, I find my pajamas and throw them back on before scrounging up clothes to put on. I’d rather be dressed when dealing with Hutch. He can make me forget everything but the feel of him and I need a clear head. While he distracted me last night, I haven’t forgotten the flowers or the gift. Or the implications of them.
He knows where I am. I was so careful to leave no clue behind, not even doing a forwarding address form at the post office. I simply changed my address for those places that needed the new one. I told no one but Lucy and she sure as hell didn’t tell him.
What if he shows up? I mean he has practice and if he misses that, it’ll look bad for the draft, but I wouldn’t put it past him. Not after our last encounter. I’d put nothing past him. Maybe I should get that restraining order. I don’t know. It might make him mad and escalate the whole situation.
“All done!”
Wow, that was fast.
“Can I check the sports news on your TV?”
“Sure.” I pick up my clothes and go in the bathroom. He left his dirty towel in the corner and the seat up on the toilet. Wrinkling my nose, I put the seat down. I’ll deal with the towel when I’m done showering. Unlike Hutch, I close the bathroom door before taking a quick shower. He at least left me plenty ofhot water. Once I’m done and I’ve brushed my teeth and used the toilet, I dry my hair and go back out to find him glued to the TV watching the highlights from a hockey game.
“Is that the Raptors?”
“Nah, just another team who have been giving them a rough go of it this season. I try to make sure I stay up on my biggest opponents.”
“Hmm,” is all I say. I have no idea about any of it really. Even when I was with Joe and he started talking football, I tuned it out. It wasn’t interesting to me. That’s not to say I didn’t pick things up. You can’t live in a football town and not. I can run you through a game, explain the plays, and typically predict what play is going to be made. My brother played the sport and so I paid attention to the actual game and its mechanics. I just didn’t listen when it’s all anyone talked about. I tuned it out.
“You mind if we bring C? He texted me a hangry emoji. And he wants to tell you happy birthday.”
“Sure. Who am I to stand between food and his stomach?” Honestly, I’d appreciate the buffer Collin provides. I’m still processing what happened last night and if I can trust my own judgment.
“And it gives you a chance to keep more distance between us.”
I snap my head up and he’s smiling. There’s a hint of sadness in his eyes as well, but it’s there and gone so quick, I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been looking directly at him.
“I’m really trying not to get in my head about not trusting my own judgment.”
“It’s me not you?”
“Basically, yeah. I don’t trustme.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” The word slips out automatically.
He smiles. “Then we’re good, because I am not going to do shit to ever hurt you if its within my power to prevent it.”
“You’re a good man, Jonathan Wayne Hutchinson. I’m doing everything in my power to not let myself get in the way of this. I want us to work.”
“So do I baby girl, so do I.”
He comes over and pulls me close, his nose ghosting along my jawbone before his lips settle on mine to give me one of those mind blowing, knee melting kind of kisses that consumes every thought in my head.
He pulls back and smiles. “Ready to eat?”
It takes me a minute to understand what he said. My brain fritzed out.
