CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ingram
I woke to a text message from Mouse. It was simple and sweet.
I wish I was staring at your beautiful face and not my phone this morning. Thinking of you.
I was pretty sure I smiled for a good ten minutes as I read it over and over again.
I sent him a reply telling him I wished for the same thing and that maybe one day soon, we could make it happen.
The thought of staying the night in his arms made the butterflies take flight in my belly. I would have to slyly work something out with Chris and hope that my brother wouldn’t blow his lid when he figured it out. I knew asking if Mouse could stay here was out of the question. Ky seemed a bit more laid back about the Mouse and me thing, but there was no way I was going to push to see how laid back he was about it. So I knew that meant that I’d have to go to the compound for a night. I hated the idea of being away from Chry at night but Chris had made me see that it was okay for me to take a mommy timeout every now and then. Just because I was a mom didn’t mean I had to lose the woman that I still was.
I got Chry up and ready for the day, then headed for the kitchen to get breakfast together.
Chris smirked at me the moment I came into view and I knew the blush was hitting my cheeks.
“We are not going to talk about it,” I told him pointedly but I couldn’t hold back the laugh for long.
“As long as he wrapped it up, I have nothing to say. Because it was clear from your glow last night that it was good, so I don’t need to know that part.”
My jaw fell open as I stared at him blankly.
“Ky will be home this afternoon. I was thinking of making chicken and lemon rice,” he said as he opened the fridge and pulled out a yogurt for me.
“Sounds delicious. I’m not going to miss that.”
I made Chry’s breakfast then the three of us sat down and ate together. Luckily, nothing more came up about last night.
We took Chry to the park for a little bit and the day seemed to slip by quickly.
Dinner with Ky was normal and I was glad that he didn’t notice anything. I mean, how would he know that I had sex with Mouse? I wasn’t sure but it seemed like I was having to force myself to relax all throughout dinner.
Mouse sent me a text message after we were done eating. He wanted to know when he could see me again and I smiled knowing that he was feeling much like I was. I didn’t want to go all crazy and rush into this thing. I wanted to savor these parts. Even the ones when I missed him because we were apart. I was smart enough to know that a bright flame burned out fast.
Later that night, I sent him a goodnight text message after I slid into bed. I tried to be flirty and tell him I was thinking about him and added one of those winking face things. I didn’t really know how to flirt, especially through texting, but I hoped it worked.
He sent me one back saying that he didn’t need those type of images in his head while he was hanging out at the bar with his brothers. But he added a face that looked like it was laughing so I took it as a good thing.
The next morning I was a little disappointed when I didn’t wake up to a text message from him. I tried to brush it off but then the whole day went by and I didn’t hear a peep out of him. I wondered if I had done something somehow. Maybe he had a chance to think about it and decided that it wasn’t going to work between us. Or maybe… I had been awful and he didn’t know how to tell me.
My mind spun with all the things that I might have done wrong. I knew it was stupid but I couldn’t seem to help it.
Finally, I had to tell myself enough. I closed my eyes, counted to ten, took deep breaths, and remembered the things that made me smile. That seemed to do the trick.
But then, I didn’t hear anything from him the next day either. I sent him two text messages because I couldn’t hold back any longer. What if something had happened? But I was sure I’d hear about it from Ky or Chris if it had. I was wracking my brain trying to come up with answers so I could clear up the confusion that tainted my head and heart.
Work was a blur and Ky was home to watch Chry so there was no hope in seeing Mouse. In fact, Ky and Chris were able to watch Chry for the next couple of shifts that I had so I didn’t need to bother Mouse with it anyway. However, it was just strange that he seemed to poof off the face of the earth.
After work, I blindly drove to the compound since I knew Ky was in for the night with Chry.
I banged on Mouse’s door and when I didn’t get an answer, I set out to search the compound for him.
Everyone I asked shook their head and gave me a small shrug like they didn’t know where he was.
I was a mix of hurt and angry.
Then I checked the bar out front only to receive the same thing when I asked some of the members hanging out there. I even went to Iron because from what I’d seen he was the man that knew everything. Being the President, I guessed that was pretty smart and all. But he sighed heavily and told me that Mouse wasn’t around right now. I didn’t know what he meant by that but I knew better than to press the man.
