AllFreeNovel
Share Us
One
Cash
She rolls off me,biting her lip in that come-hither way, my body still reveling in the sweet release as she sidles up to me underneath the sheets. Between the lingering effects of our sex and the buzz from the alcohol, I know for sure only one thing: This has got to be what heaven is like.
I groan, rolling onto my side as she snuggles up to me, the warmth of her breasts against my back making me wonder if I could go another round.
“Do you want me to stay?” she whispers in the seductive voice I’ve come to recognize but not love. At this exact moment, Killer kicks the bedroom door, whining and scratching. He snaps me to my senses because I almost said yes.
Dogs are truly a man’s best friend.
“Early morning tomorrow. New case. Sorry, Casey. Maybe next time.” I cuddle into the pillow and feel her exhale, her breath slapping against my back.
“Fine,” she says, and I can sense the tension in her words. It’s nothing new. This is the dance we’ve been playing for the past two months, this dangerous but sexy game of passion and walls.
I should feel bad, but the fact is—I’m a dick. I don’t feel one ounce of remorse. She’s known from the beginning what this was—sex. Nothing more, nothing less. Hot sex between two consenting adults.
The problem is, no matter how much Casey denies it, I think she’s convinced she can pull the sweet, settled side of Cash Creed out of me. I think the business suits I wear by day, the lawyer face, and the professional confidence send her the message that I’m a man waiting to settle down. In her mind, she’s probably got us married off and living in the white house down the street from my parents, two kids in the front yard and Killer, my Jack Russell, traded in for a Lab. Two lawyers raising the perfect lawyerly family in the middle of the perfectly quaint town.
The thought, although perhaps endearing, makes me want to gag. No freaking thanks. I’ve seen enough divorce cases come across my desk to know that love just doesn’t work out. But sex, well, sex always does.
Almost always.
“Goodnight,” I murmur, sitting up to watch her slink back into her clothes. “I’ll call you?”
“Yeah, Cash. I’m sure you will,” she mumbles as she rushes out the bedroom door to let herself out of my apartment. I sigh. I feel a little bit like an asshole. Just a little bit. Plus, if word gets out at the office and Mama and Daddy hear how my professional relationship with one of their best attorneys isn’t exactly professional anymore—yep, my ass is toast.
I might be a bit of a player and I might be twenty-six, but I’m a Texan boy through and through. I’m smart enough to know my mama can still kick my grown ass. I still sneak my sexual escapades around like I’m in the FBI. Woodville isn’t exactly population a million. It’s hard enough to keep a girlfriend secret in this place, let alone nightly romps with all the lawyers and professionals in town.
What can I say? I have refined taste in women. And that refined taste just so happens to lead me to many of the women in our office. Not quite ethical or smart, perhaps. But thinking with my brain instead of—well, other things—has never been my strength.
I lie back on my bed, Killer now jumping up with me. I think about kicking him down, the smell of sex and tension still palpable. He licks his paws, turns three circles, and plops down by my feet. I decide to let him stay. Hands behind my head, I stare up at the ceiling, thinking about basically nothing. Feeling basically nothing.
What the fuck is wrong with me? What kind of an animal am I, acting like some frat boy? Maybe Mama and Daddy are right. Maybe it’s time to start thinking about settling down.
But then I think about what that means. I think about the wild and reckless Levi, my brother, who has “settled down” despite all denials of it. Sure, he’s got a gorgeous girlfriend, and he seems pretty happy. Nevertheless, when I think of who he used to be and what kind of fun he used to have, I can’t help but feel a little bit bad for him. So much of him is lost, even if he won’t admit it, and that’s just not something I want.
I have a good life. It might be a little bit of a rambling man who’s stuck in one small-town kind of life. It’s a life where I spend Saturday night sexing it up with a hot blonde and then sleeping it off with my dog licking his feet at the bottom of the bed. It’s the kind of life where I go to Mama’s on Sundays just so I can get some home-cooked food. It’s the kind of life where I’m surrounded by people but always a little bit alone.
It’s probably the booze talking,I reassure myself. I’m always a bit of a depressed drunk. I turn back onto my side, closing my eyes and deciding to drift off. I can leave the psychobabble bullshit for another night. I’m wiped. And I really do have to be at the firm early tomorrow to finish up a discovery. Probably should get around to sleeping it off. Mom and Dad will be furious if they think I’m coming to work hungover. Of course, I’m basically a pro at hiding it at this point. What the hell else is the single life in your twenties for if it isn’t for partying and having a blast?
I close my eyes, reassuring myself that I’m doing it all right, when my phone buzzes. I think about ignoring it, but then it keeps buzzing. Maybe it’s Casey. She probably forgot her key or something.
Shit.
I sit up, slapping the nightstand for the phone until I find it, unhooking it from its charger and unlocking the screen. By the time I swipe, the phone’s stopped buzzing. I glance at the screen and recognize the number on the missed call screen.
It’s Levi. Something tells me he’s not just calling to see what I’m up to.
“Hello?” I ask after redialing his number.
“Cash, it’s me. Man, I don’t know how to tell you this. It’s not good.” Levi’s voice is strained. My heart stops. I’ve never heard him like this.
“What is it?” I ask, hating the waiting. I want to know right now what it is. I hate this delay.
“It’s Grandpa.”
“Is he okay?” I ask, my initial thought confirmed.
