Falling Fast
Page 19
“I’m sorry about your parents,” he says quietly, and I turn to look at him, surprised that he knows. “Ma told me about what happened to them.”
“It—”
“Don’t say it’s okay,” he cuts me off, shaking his head. “Losing them had to be a blow.”
“It was,” I agree, holding my cup a little tighter.
“Do you have any other family?”
“My mom was an only child. My dad has two sisters, Holly and Christen. They both live in Oklahoma. Neither of them have ever been married and they don’t have kids.”
“Are you close?”
“I love them. We talk, not often, but they always call to check in and I do the same. But they have their lives there.”
“Did you have any family close by when you lost your mom or after you lost your dad?”
“No… well, my dad married Colleen not long after my mom passed away, and I stayed with her after my dad died, but we’re not close.”
“How long after your mom did he marry her?” he asks, and the question sounds growled.
“Not long. A few months.”
“Jesus.”
“It is what it is,” I reply, and he shakes his head but doesn’t say anything, which I’m thankful for.
“You gonna be okay going to the hospital by yourself today?”
My heart sinks that he’s not going to come with me, but I remind myself that he has a life and a job. He can’t be with me all the time, even if a part of me wants him to be. “I’ll be okay on my own.”
“I have to work or I’d be there with you.”
“I know,” I assure.
“When are they going to admit your grandma into the nursing home?”
“I’ll find out today when I go to the hospital,” I answer, still not happy with the idea of moving her there, even if it is for the best.
“Let me know and I’ll make time to be with you when it happens.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to, Gia. I want you to let me in. I want you to let me be there for you when you need me.”
“Colton,” I start, but he pulls his feet off the rail and stands.
Leaning over me, he wraps his hand around my jaw, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Let me in, Gia,” he urges, before bending at the waist and pressing his lips to my forehead.
My eyes close, and before I know it, he’s gone and I hear the door open and close. Opening my eyes back up, I can’t see much through the tears clouding my vision, but I don’t need to see anything, since I’m feeling everything.
CHAPTER 6
Sleep
Colton
ROLLING MY NECK ON my shoulders, I try to get rid of the tension gathered there while hot water pours over me. It’s been a week since Gia moved in with me. A week of having her in my space, under my roof, playing with my dog, making food in my kitchen, and taking up my every waking thought. I wanted her from the second I saw her, and that want has only gotten worse, meaning this last week has been torture. Resting one hand on the wall of the shower, I lean forward, closing my eyes.
Last night I was lying on the couch, when she came out to get some water before going to bed, she was wearing my T-shirt, the one I gave her the day she got here. I’m sure she had shorts on under it, but I couldn’t see them. All I could see was her tan legs and her thick thighs. Thighs I want to bury my face between.
“Fuck,” I growl, wrapping my hand around my cock when it throbs. Picturing her, her mouth, her eyes, her hair, the way she smells like vanilla and home, I stroke faster. She sets my blood on fire and makes me want more, more of whatever she will give me. “Gia,” I groan as I come. Opening my eyes, I blink against the water running down my face, knowing I can’t take much more of this.
I step out of the shower, turning off the tap, grab a towel, and wrap it around my waist. I go over to the railing that overlooks the living room and check to see if Gia’s gotten up yet. She hasn’t, and I know she hasn’t, because Loki is still lying in front of her bedroom door, where he’s been sleeping every night for the past week. My dog has fallen in love with her. It could be because I’ve seen her sneak him human food when she thinks I’m not looking, but I doubt that’s the reason. I doubt that’s the reason, because I would sleep outside her door if I could too. Actually, I’d prefer her sleeping upstairs with me in my bed. On that thought, I push back from the railing and head to the closet to get dressed.
Yesterday, the doctor admitted her grandmother into the nursing home, and today we’re meeting with the fire chief to see about her gaining access into the house. He called two days after the fire and told Gia they were still looking into the source of the fire and that his investigators would need more time. Yesterday, he called and asked if Gia could meet him at the house, and since I have the day off, I told her I would go along with her.
Pulling on my jeans, I grab a thermal from the basket of clean laundry in the corner of the closet—clean laundry Gia washed and folded when I was working late one night. She’s always doing stuff like that, cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking, no matter how many times I tell her she doesn’t need to. Once I’m dressed, I head downstairs to the living room. Loki looks up when he hears me, but he doesn’t move from his spot. He won’t get up until Gia opens her door, and then he’ll only get up to follow her all over the place.
“Loki, you big lug. One day, you’re going to kill me,” I hear Gia say, and turn just in time to watch her bend at the waist to pet Loki, who is now up on all fours with the side of his head pressed into her stomach.
“You should just let him sleep with you,” I tell her as she comes into the kitchen, with Loki following. Like I said, my dog loves her.
“I would, but the bed’s not exactly big,” she points out, grabbing a mug and pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“True, but he could sleep on the floor. Just drag his bed in there.”
“You wouldn’t mind that?” she asks, and I frown, leaning back against the counter with my own cup.
“Why would I mind?”
“I don’t know; he’s your dog. He doesn’t sleep upstairs with you in your room?”
“He’s not in love with me, Dimples,” I insert, and her eyes drop to Loki, who’s sitting at her side and leaning into her.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll start doing that. I always feel bad when I go to bed and he gives me his sad puppy face as I shut the door,” she says, rubbing Loki’s head as she speaks.
“You sleep okay?” I question, taking a sip while studying her. She looks tired but still beautiful, with her hair tied back away from her clean face, a long-sleeved top, this one dark peach, that looks good against her complexion. The scooped neck shows off some cleavage, but just a hint. She also has on jeans, these black and tight.
“Yeah, like a baby, actually.” She leans back against the counter opposite me. “Are you sure you want to come with me today? I know that yesterday was a long day and—”
“I told you already I’m coming,” I cut her off. “And Tide is going to meet us there with his truck after they let us in, so we can load it up with anything you want to keep and put it in the garage.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Are you hungry?” she asks, pulling down a bowl that I know she will fill with Golden Grahams, something she eats all the time.
“No, I’m good,” I mutter, and she shrugs like “your loss” before making herself a bowl of cereal and climbing onto one of the barstools. Knowing I can’t watch her eat, because it’s just one more form of torture—yes, even the way she eats cereal turns me on—I head for the door, saying, “Loki, come.”
“I’ll be out when I’m finished.”
“Take your time.” I leave, grabbing my coat and taking my coffee with me out the door. Snow fell overnight, not a lot, but enough to cover the ground and Gia’s Jeep. Going to the garage, I punch in the code then grab one of the snow removal brushes out of the barrel in the corner, to clean off her windows. Once I have that done, I rearrange a few things in the garage so she can park inside from now on, and then go about finding the spare door opener for her.
“It—”
“Don’t say it’s okay,” he cuts me off, shaking his head. “Losing them had to be a blow.”
“It was,” I agree, holding my cup a little tighter.
“Do you have any other family?”
“My mom was an only child. My dad has two sisters, Holly and Christen. They both live in Oklahoma. Neither of them have ever been married and they don’t have kids.”
“Are you close?”
“I love them. We talk, not often, but they always call to check in and I do the same. But they have their lives there.”
“Did you have any family close by when you lost your mom or after you lost your dad?”
“No… well, my dad married Colleen not long after my mom passed away, and I stayed with her after my dad died, but we’re not close.”
“How long after your mom did he marry her?” he asks, and the question sounds growled.
“Not long. A few months.”
“Jesus.”
“It is what it is,” I reply, and he shakes his head but doesn’t say anything, which I’m thankful for.
“You gonna be okay going to the hospital by yourself today?”
My heart sinks that he’s not going to come with me, but I remind myself that he has a life and a job. He can’t be with me all the time, even if a part of me wants him to be. “I’ll be okay on my own.”
“I have to work or I’d be there with you.”
“I know,” I assure.
“When are they going to admit your grandma into the nursing home?”
“I’ll find out today when I go to the hospital,” I answer, still not happy with the idea of moving her there, even if it is for the best.
“Let me know and I’ll make time to be with you when it happens.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know I don’t have to. I want to, Gia. I want you to let me in. I want you to let me be there for you when you need me.”
“Colton,” I start, but he pulls his feet off the rail and stands.
Leaning over me, he wraps his hand around my jaw, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Let me in, Gia,” he urges, before bending at the waist and pressing his lips to my forehead.
My eyes close, and before I know it, he’s gone and I hear the door open and close. Opening my eyes back up, I can’t see much through the tears clouding my vision, but I don’t need to see anything, since I’m feeling everything.
CHAPTER 6
Sleep
Colton
ROLLING MY NECK ON my shoulders, I try to get rid of the tension gathered there while hot water pours over me. It’s been a week since Gia moved in with me. A week of having her in my space, under my roof, playing with my dog, making food in my kitchen, and taking up my every waking thought. I wanted her from the second I saw her, and that want has only gotten worse, meaning this last week has been torture. Resting one hand on the wall of the shower, I lean forward, closing my eyes.
Last night I was lying on the couch, when she came out to get some water before going to bed, she was wearing my T-shirt, the one I gave her the day she got here. I’m sure she had shorts on under it, but I couldn’t see them. All I could see was her tan legs and her thick thighs. Thighs I want to bury my face between.
“Fuck,” I growl, wrapping my hand around my cock when it throbs. Picturing her, her mouth, her eyes, her hair, the way she smells like vanilla and home, I stroke faster. She sets my blood on fire and makes me want more, more of whatever she will give me. “Gia,” I groan as I come. Opening my eyes, I blink against the water running down my face, knowing I can’t take much more of this.
I step out of the shower, turning off the tap, grab a towel, and wrap it around my waist. I go over to the railing that overlooks the living room and check to see if Gia’s gotten up yet. She hasn’t, and I know she hasn’t, because Loki is still lying in front of her bedroom door, where he’s been sleeping every night for the past week. My dog has fallen in love with her. It could be because I’ve seen her sneak him human food when she thinks I’m not looking, but I doubt that’s the reason. I doubt that’s the reason, because I would sleep outside her door if I could too. Actually, I’d prefer her sleeping upstairs with me in my bed. On that thought, I push back from the railing and head to the closet to get dressed.
Yesterday, the doctor admitted her grandmother into the nursing home, and today we’re meeting with the fire chief to see about her gaining access into the house. He called two days after the fire and told Gia they were still looking into the source of the fire and that his investigators would need more time. Yesterday, he called and asked if Gia could meet him at the house, and since I have the day off, I told her I would go along with her.
Pulling on my jeans, I grab a thermal from the basket of clean laundry in the corner of the closet—clean laundry Gia washed and folded when I was working late one night. She’s always doing stuff like that, cleaning, doing laundry, and cooking, no matter how many times I tell her she doesn’t need to. Once I’m dressed, I head downstairs to the living room. Loki looks up when he hears me, but he doesn’t move from his spot. He won’t get up until Gia opens her door, and then he’ll only get up to follow her all over the place.
“Loki, you big lug. One day, you’re going to kill me,” I hear Gia say, and turn just in time to watch her bend at the waist to pet Loki, who is now up on all fours with the side of his head pressed into her stomach.
“You should just let him sleep with you,” I tell her as she comes into the kitchen, with Loki following. Like I said, my dog loves her.
“I would, but the bed’s not exactly big,” she points out, grabbing a mug and pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“True, but he could sleep on the floor. Just drag his bed in there.”
“You wouldn’t mind that?” she asks, and I frown, leaning back against the counter with my own cup.
“Why would I mind?”
“I don’t know; he’s your dog. He doesn’t sleep upstairs with you in your room?”
“He’s not in love with me, Dimples,” I insert, and her eyes drop to Loki, who’s sitting at her side and leaning into her.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll start doing that. I always feel bad when I go to bed and he gives me his sad puppy face as I shut the door,” she says, rubbing Loki’s head as she speaks.
“You sleep okay?” I question, taking a sip while studying her. She looks tired but still beautiful, with her hair tied back away from her clean face, a long-sleeved top, this one dark peach, that looks good against her complexion. The scooped neck shows off some cleavage, but just a hint. She also has on jeans, these black and tight.
“Yeah, like a baby, actually.” She leans back against the counter opposite me. “Are you sure you want to come with me today? I know that yesterday was a long day and—”
“I told you already I’m coming,” I cut her off. “And Tide is going to meet us there with his truck after they let us in, so we can load it up with anything you want to keep and put it in the garage.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Are you hungry?” she asks, pulling down a bowl that I know she will fill with Golden Grahams, something she eats all the time.
“No, I’m good,” I mutter, and she shrugs like “your loss” before making herself a bowl of cereal and climbing onto one of the barstools. Knowing I can’t watch her eat, because it’s just one more form of torture—yes, even the way she eats cereal turns me on—I head for the door, saying, “Loki, come.”
“I’ll be out when I’m finished.”
“Take your time.” I leave, grabbing my coat and taking my coffee with me out the door. Snow fell overnight, not a lot, but enough to cover the ground and Gia’s Jeep. Going to the garage, I punch in the code then grab one of the snow removal brushes out of the barrel in the corner, to clean off her windows. Once I have that done, I rearrange a few things in the garage so she can park inside from now on, and then go about finding the spare door opener for her.
