to eat while you shower? Kill two birds with one stone,” she says.
Something rings off about the words despite her saying them sweetly. However, my head is starting to hurt, I’m starving, and I want to get in my bed as soon as possible. Instead of sending her on her way, I move around her and unlock the door.
Pushing inside, I turn on the lights and start for my bedroom. “I have some soup you can heat up. I’m in the mood for grilled cheese,” I call over my shoulder.
It’s a comfort food my mother used to make me when I wasn’t feeling well or in a bad mood. I need some type of comfort tonight. My brothers almost lost the women and children they hold dear.
My mind goes back to Roni. If anything happened to her… I’m grateful to Nate for not placing her on assignment. I know she’s been wanting to go out in the field, I can’t say that I’m upset that she’s not.
As I strip out of my clothes, I think about my own future. I have options. Dad has been talking me through the pros and cons.
The question is, am I ready and willing to cross that line. It’s not an every now and then thing, it’s not here and there. I’d be committing.
“All in,” I grumble to myself.
Stepping under the spray of the shower, I clear my head and think of nothing. I channel the focus and control I have during a scene, allowing myself to just be. Placing my hands to the shower wall, I drop my head between my shoulders and let the water run down my back.
I release a heavy breath. Something has to give.
***
I wake with a hand caressing my back. Jumping up, I look down at Missy lying beside me. I squint at her as I try to recall last night.
Shit, I was so tired, I climbed out of the shower, wrapped a towel around my waist, and faceplanted on my bed. I never made it to the kitchen or to put anything on. Shifting my gaze down my body, I find my cock out and on display. Grabbing the edge of the bedspread, I yank it over my waist.
“What are you doing here?” I say tightly.
“I didn’t want to wake you. So, I climbed in bed and waited for you to wake. You looked so peaceful.”
“You should go. I need to get back to the hospital,” I mutter.
She pushes up on her elbows, her blouse gapes open to expose her breasts. I look away and go to climb out of bed. Missy reaches for my arm, halting my exit.
“Wait, I can come with you. You know, for moral support. You didn’t say what happened. Are your brothers okay?”
“I don’t think that’s going to be a good idea. This is a sensitive matter. I’ll call you, but you should go.”
With that, I head for the bathroom. Hoping for once, Missy will take a clue and leave when I ask her to the first time.
Yeah, today, I don’t have it in me not to be a dick.
Chapter 31
Not A Fit
Roni
“I don’t think this is working out for me,” I say as I look up at John.
He says he’s here for a quick visit. I think Nate and Rita called him in. I’ve been mouthing back and not giving my all to training.
It’s not like they plan to put me in the field. I’m no one, I have no past and that’s dictating my future. I’m stuck in this void.
John sighs and pushes off the bookcase he was leaning on. We’re in the library here at the Toy Cop Academy. It’s the only place I could find to hide. Everyone knows I like to go to the gym when I want to avoid people and interaction.
Funny. If you know I don’t want to be bothered why come find me. I needed a new hide out. So here I am. Don’t ask how John found me.
“Then what do you want to do?”
I give him a side glance. “I won’t be carted off to some third world country.”
He laughs. “Where’d you get that from?”
“People talk,” I mutter.
“First of all, the Briggs are half Greek. No one goes to a third world country. Some of the recruits that didn’t work out went to work in Greece for a family company,” John explains with humor in his tone.
“Yup.” I let the “p” pop. “Ain’t going to Greece either. Although I hear the men are good