AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gone.” She smiles, her eyes holding a secret she’s yet to tell me.
“Coffee?” I ask as I head to the bathroom. “I can make French toast.”
“Both, please.” She rolls to her side, looking like my fantasy come true. Like a woman I’d like to have around for longer than a few sweaty nights and rushed mornings. Like a woman I’d like to have around on a permanent basis.
Provided we make it that far. Not to be a Debbie Downer but the odds aren’t in my favor.
“Oh! The article!” Her face lights up and she scrabbles out of bed.
“No work today.” I step in front of her and hold out an arm. She pushes against my chest, but I don’t let her pass. I tuck her against me and kiss her instead. “Shower. Coffee. Spend the day with me.”
“Don’t you at least want to check for likes or comments?”
“No. And neither are you. I hid your phone.”
“Barrett!”
I smooth the crease between her dark eyebrows. “You work too hard. Today I want you to myself.”
“I didn’t work yesterday.”
“You checked your email on your phone. Several times.”
She twists her lips guiltily.
“Give me a day, Kitty Cat. No work. No screen time. Just you and me and everything revolving around us. You can check on work at work on Monday morning. And I mean at work. No scrolling through your phone in bed.
“Fine.” An eye roll pairs with the slump of her shoulders.
“Your gratitude wore off fast. What happened to those thank-yous after you nearly brought the roof down a few minutes ago?”
“There is such a thing as too much confidence, Fox.” She hoists an eyebrow, unhappy that she didn’t get her way.
“Yeah. There is.” I slap her ass, a stinging spanking that pops her eyes wide. She liked it. I can tell by the way her lips tip to one side. “Stick with me, honey.”
Please, I add in my head.
Catarina
We spent the morning sipping coffee and nibbling on sugary donuts from a local bakery. Barrett insisted on running out to pick them up. They were decadent and delicious. I’m typically a lot more careful about my breakfast choices.
Then again I’ve been doing a lot of things I don’t typically do. Like dating a former NFL player. Sleeping at his house. All but admitting I’m falling in love with him way too hard and way too fast.
Dax claimed that Barrett was a good boyfriend. All of the evidence I’ve gathered thus far points to yes. Maybe some relationships are doomed from the start. Maybe Barrett and Beth were destined to end up apart but kept returning to the familiar.
I won’t deny that after North left, I had a lonely night or two where I was tempted to call him and try to reconcile. I wonder if he’s seeing someone now. I wonder if he’s okay. Other than a random text from him last week, where he concluded “it’s better that we’re no longer friends” I haven’t heard from him. Luckily for me, I had Barrett. I was too preoccupied with work and with him as an extension of my work to give North’s rude text further consideration.
After Barrett and I crashed from our donut high, we snuggled on the sofa. When it came time for dinner, he talked me into pizza. I just finished my third slice.
“Ugh, are you trying to make me fat?”
“Gimme a break, Kitty Cat.”
“Okay, let me rephrase. Are you trying to raise my cholesterol?”
“I’m doing what I always do.” He grabs another piece of pizza for himself and takes a huge bite, commenting around it. “I’m influencing you to loosen up. Like me.”
This brings forth a belly laugh. “So, you want to date a bad-girl journalist?”
