“Yep, especially if you tell me I snore.” She tilts her head to the side, a coy smile playing on her plump cherry-colored lips.
“Even though it’s cute as hell?” I’m sinking my ship further to the bottom of the ocean, where it could stay and potentially become coral reef. Except watching Ronnie go through the range of emotions from sleeping to waking up to annoyance and then laughter would have me doing it over and over again.
“Nice, really nice.” She rolls back toward me, grabbing the blanket with her foot until her hand reaches it. When she’s settled, her hands go beneath her cheek, and while I’m more than ready to mourn the fact that I’ve lost my view of Ronnie’s hot body, I’m also glad in a way. She had to have gotten cold, and it’s not like I’m there to keep her warm.
“What time are you going into work today?” I ask, sitting up until my back is leaning against the headboard. Her eyes watch every move I make as I grab the phone and hold on to it. The damn thing is hot from being on all night, and the battery is currently in the red zone.
“I’m closing again tonight, so six. What time is it?” She looks around her room. The room is dark minus the slash oflight that bounces off the corner from what I’m assuming is coming from her bathroom.
“Almost noon.” Ronnie grabs the phone where she had it propped up on a pillow, looking frazzled, and starts flailing at the covers, kicking them off then climbing out of bed. I’m greeted with a different view, one where she’s standing, a lot like last night when I got the surprise of my life and she called me. I may have suggested the video call, but she took the decision by the balls and didn’t hold back.
“Jude, why the hell are you still in bed or on the phone with me? You wanted to be on the road heading to Rock the Nation by ten.” She yanks the curtains back, wincing as the sun shines brightly in her eyes.
“Goddamn, Foxy.” Seeing her at night through a phone had my knees ready to hit the ground and pray to whatever fucking god there is to let me keep this woman in my life. This morning, though… Son of a bitch, if it weren’t for my ass lying in bed, my knees would have already hit the floor.
“What?” Ronnie doesn’t have a goddamn clue how gorgeous she is.
“You, Ronnie. You. The reason I’m not off the phone or on the road yet is because I didn’t wake up that much earlier than you,” I explain as she moves away from the window after opening the blackout drapes, which allows me to see her. Instead of going back to her bed, she plops down in a chair, grabs a blanket, and places it on her lap. I can see the circles beneath her eyes from the lack of sleep lately. She’s slept a solid seven hours and still looks like she could use another seven.
“Shit, is that because of me?” She doesn’t know that I’vebeen adjusting my schedule to hers when I can, and doing so means I’m sleeping in later.
“No, not at fucking all.” I move the pillow off my lap, flip the covers back, and grab the phone myself. My room gets more sunlight than Ronnie’s, probably the reason I woke up when I did, or I’d have slept all day. “You sure you don’t want to stay with me at the campground?” I’ve been trying to convince her to stay the night with me, and I’ve had zero luck.
“You make it really hard to resist, you know that?” she says with a smile.
“Does that mean it’s working?” I flex my muscles with each step I take to the alarm keypad. I have the app on my phone to arm and disarm it. I also have a voice activated way of doing it. This way causes less interruption, and I’m able to focus on Ronnie. I take a step outside, immediately heading to where my smokes are on the table, and wait for her response.
“Nope.” She pops the ‘p’,exaggerating her stance.
“You worried about money?” I ask, situating the phone on the table. My cock finally got with the program and settled down.
“Aren’t I always?” Ronnie lets out a puff of air as I’m inhaling when I light my cigarette. Through it all, she’s had her eyes on me, watching as I picked up the pack, pulled one out with my mouth, flicked the lighter, and cupped my hand while lighting up.
“I already offered, but it’s always there, Foxy. You need money, I’ll pay for the tickets to be upgraded.” I’ve hacked into more than I should have. While her bank account isn’trolling zeroes, it isn’t stacked, either. That’s a fucking secret that will go to my grave. Not a single soul will ever know all the information I’ve pulled on her, not even my brothers.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. How about we compromise?” I arch my eyebrows and take a drag from my smoke.
“Somehow, I think this might backfire on my ass.” She tosses her head back, elongating her throat while laughing at my statement. If only she knew what I’d have in mind with her sexy-as-fuck mouth.
“It won’t, maybe. How about this? Let’s play it by ear. See how the first day of the event goes.” I notice she’s worrying her bottom lip, probably over money again. I’m going to make some calls and see if they’ll upgrade Ronnie’s shit. A lot of times, these events don’t sell every ticket, and instead of missing out, they’ll finagle a few things. The more bodies at the festival, the longer they’ll stay, and the more they’ll make.
“Sounds good to me, Foxy,” I respond on an exhale, blowing out the smoke as I look right at her.
“I better let you go. I’ve got a few chores to do before work.” Either she’s upset about hanging up or aggravated with work, or both.
“Ronnie?” I grab her attention before we get off the phone.
“Yeah, Jude?”
“Fuckin’ loved watching you wake up, especially since I couldn’t do it in person yet.” I leave her with those words before hitting the end button, having the last word, or so I thought. My phone vibrates across the table with a text from her.
Foxy: Not nice, Jude, not nice at all. And yeah, it was nice waking up with you, too. Talk soon <3
Me: Text me when you leave for work. I’ll check in when I’ve got the van set up.
I finish smoking my cigarette before I get my day started. I’ve got clothes to load in the van, food to pack up, and a few other things before I’ll get on the road. Still, fucking hate that she’s working while I’ll be thirty minutes away from her.
4
