Her mouth hangs open, shocked. “You go, girl,” she laughs. A loudthudbehind her captures her attention. “I gotta go now, or they’ll throw me out of this gallery. Everyone seems to have a stick up their ass.” She rolls her eyes. “Give that pretty boy a belly rub from Auntie Josie. Talk to you soon. And bitch, don’t disappear on me like that again!” She points a finger at me before she disconnects.
I make do on my promise and give Ghost a belly rub before turning to the kitchen with a sigh. What a disaster.
It takes me a couple of hours to remove the water from the floor. By the time I’m done, I’m sweaty and stinky. The floorboards are raised, so they’ll need to be replaced. It certainly wasn’t on my list of things to spend money on, so I’ll have to dig into my savings. I was hoping to use them to put a down payment on a house. I silently pray I’ll still have enough.
My phone rings.Kayla. I pick it up, praying for good news.
“Sorry, Alicia, we have two plumbers, and they’re both in Copeland, working on houses that recently had a fire. They say they’ll be there for a while. I think they’re trying to fix the place next to it too, since it was damaged or something like that. I’m not sure. How urgent is your problem?”
“That’s not urgent,” I tell her, trying to sound optimistic. Inside, I’m deflating like a spent penis.
“You sure? Maybe Justin can come and take a look?”
“No!” I say way too fast and too loud. I sigh. “No,” I say calmer, “I’ll wait until they’re done. It’s totally fine.”
“All right. I know Justin wanted to visit you tonight. I can tag along too.”
A feeling of pure horror spreads through my chest. “Nah, I’m still unpacking,” I lie. “Let me make it look pretty first, and I’ll have a housewarming party.”
There’s a pregnant pause on the other end of the phone. Kayla isn’t an idiot. She knows I’m hiding something, but she also understands the desire to be left alone.“All right, there’s a new movie I’ve been dying to see; I think I’ll make him go tonight.”
“Yeah, you should do that.” I sigh in relief. “Thank you.”
“No problem. Call if you need me, all right?”
“Will do. Thank you, Kay.”
I think she’s unofficially adopted me as a big sister. Even though we’re about the same age, Kayla is far more mature, considering she’s been living on her own forever. Plus, I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have her to avert Justin’s attention from me here and there. My big brother is super overbearing.
I look behind me to the family room, seeing Ghost curled up. He senses my gaze, picks his head up, and lets out a lazy yawn. I walk to him, dropping down beside him as I let out my own yawn. He instantly places his head on my lap, and my hands dig into his fur of their own accord. I think rubbing his ears is comfort for me more than it’s a pleasure for him.
I think about what I should do now. I have no plumbers and no contractors. I can’t call my brothers or father because I’m scared I’ll be dragged back to my parents. It’s a shame, really, two days after I’ve moved out.
I pull up Google, search for plumbers and contractors in neighboring cities, and make a few phone calls. None of them are available immediately, and I needed the work done yesterday. I don’t even have water, for God’s sake. I can’t take a shower or flush the toilet. All I have is a case of bottled water.
Mark offered to take a look at my pipes—I make a mental note of how dirty that sounds and promise I’ll use it later in one of my steamy series—and I just might have to accept his offer. I didn’t want to accept it at first because it’s so embarrassing, but I may not have any other choice. And I need a shower. But I have no water. I can’t go into town looking and smelling like this. I cover my face with my hands and groan.
ChapterSeven
MARK
The morning after the pipe situation, I wake up with pain in my back. That’s what happens when you pass the thirty-year-old mark (ha-ha, a corny joke here) and sleep the whole night on the couch. The next stage is aching knees when you stand up too fast; thank God I’m not there yet, but carrying heavy shit all day, every day, has undoubtedly taken a toll on my body.
It feels weird not to have Ghost’s body next to me. He went to sleep with our guest yesterday, so I woke up alone, grumpy, and in pain.
I glance at the bedroom door, trying to recall the events of the evening before and figure out how she ended up at my place. She’s the type of girl I stay the hell away from. After everything that happened in the past, messing with girls like her is never worth it. They are used to getting everything handed to them from birth. Everything comes easy for them, and I want nothing to do with her—a cold-blooded, gorgeous woman, too beautiful and perfect despite the state of total disarray I found her in. Her head was held too high and the clothes on her confident shoulders probably cost more than a car. She has the attitude to match.Yeah, I don’t think so.
And yet, here we are. I gave up my comfy bed for her. My perfectly made bed with perfectly fluffy pillows and that goose-down comforter that Ghost and I love so much. I curse a little that the little bastard still got to enjoy them.
My sigh is loud.Why? Why did I do that?For fuck’s sake, I’ve never even liked my girlfriends staying the night. So much so that I always tried to meet up at their place. I like guests, but I don’t like women as guests. They tend to bring too much trouble, and I have the stories to prove it.
And yet, remembering this does nothing to bring my morning wood down. It actually does the opposite. When I recall yesterday, my blonde neighbor appears in front of my eyes. Her see-through shirt… clinging to her breasts. All my blood rushes south, and the sensation in my dick turns painful. I give it a hard squeeze, hoping to ease it a little, but it makes it worse. I bury my face in my hands and groan. I brought trouble into my own house.
I know from experience that my little situation won’t go away on its own. If I ignore it, I’ll risk ending up with blue balls for my whole shift, which is not fun. I glance at the bedroom door one more time and stand, hoping she won’t walk out. I sneak to the bathroom, mentally thanking myself for keeping a spare change of clothes in the bathroom cabinet. It’s a habit from the firehouse I picked up over the years I’ve been there, and it comes in handy from time to time.
While I wait for the water to warm, I brush my teeth and try to pee. A useless fucking task with a hard dick that refuses to subside. I consider taking a cold shower. It would work for the time being, but I remember the last time I decided to skip my morning jerk-off session.
I lean back, silently cursing my desperate need to get off every day to stay sane. None of my girlfriends could keep up, and honestly, I didn’t share my problem with either of them—didn’t want to risk sounding like a psycho.
