around us are eyeing me. Shaw chuckles, clearly not caring then leans over to kiss my head. “I’ll go grab us a few beers. I need to make a call anyway. Try to keep the hyena from publically declaring our entire sex life, okay?”
He gets up to leave, and I turn my glare to Claire. “I can’t believe you said that,” I hiss.
“It’s true!”
“But I don’t want the entire world to know. Have a little class.”
She starts to laugh and plops in her seat, turning to me. “You’re the color of a tomato.”
“I’m mortified.”
“That makes me happy.”
“My embarrassment makes you happy?”
“No, the fact that you’re showing signs of being back to yourself. I’ll stop with the comments, but I needed to see for myself you still had some of the old you.”
The buzzer sounds, and the players skate off the ice for intermission. The seats around us start to empty, and we have a small amount of privacy.
“I’m getting better. Having him here with me makes me feel whole again. The two weeks away gave me some clarity, but overall, I realized I don’t want to be without him.”
“Was that even an option?” She sits back and looks at me, stunned.
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “A part of me thought, if I got out of the way, he’d find a way to have a cohesive relationship with Sasha. But he’s made it clear that’s not the case.”
“You’d better never, ever let him know you even thought about those things. He’ll go insane. He’s proven time and time again you’re the most important person to him. Damn, I didn’t realize how fucked up your thinking was.”
“I know, but the time away helped me. Now, I have a brighter outlook on our future. She’s going to be a problem. There’s no way around that, but loving him is worth all of it.”
“Absolutely, and she knows, Bizzy. I saw it on her face the day in the hospital when you walked away. She knows it’s real between you two. She’s desperate.”
I don’t want to think about her, so I change the subject. “You sure you’re okay living with us?”
“Of course. Our schedules are so crazy, I doubt it’ll be any kind of problem. Besides, if you think I’m giving up a swank apartment to live in a hotel, you’re crazy.”
“He’d get you a place of your own.”
Her eyes grow wide in disbelief then start to dance with humor. “He really does have more money than sense, doesn’t he?”
“He wants to take care of you, too. He knows how close we are.”
“Well, how about we see how it goes. It’s only another six weeks. I’m sure we can handle it.”
She looks over my shoulder and back to me with a slight head jerk. Shaw sits down, handing us each a beer, and brushes his fingertips down my cheek before giving me a sweet kiss.
The amount of love I have for this man grows with every touch. I know we’re going to make it.
Now, we need to figure out how to deal with Sasha.
Chapter 26
Shaw
The last two weeks have been better than I deserve. Bizzy is thriving in her position, helping wherever she’s needed, and even giving input on the policies and procedures being implemented. I haven’t seen her this happy since she found out about Sasha.
We didn’t spend much time apart in Miami, but living together is totally different. I fucking love it. Surprisingly, Claire is fun to have around. I’ll be glad when we get back to my condo, and it’s the two of us, but for now, Claire is a great roommate. Even if she wasn’t, Bizzy wants her here, so I’d deal with it.
My phone rings, flashing Sasha’s name, and I lean back in my chair, preparing for our daily call. Since our family lunch, she calls every day, and as promised, I take the call or make sure to call her back. Typically, she tries to steer our conversation to my work, what exactly I’m doing, and when I’ll be back in Miami. But I dodge her by redirecting the conversation to her. That usually makes her forget her interrogation, and I listen to her drone on for at least half an hour about her life, her work, and her upcoming social engagements.
The phone rings for the third time, and I know if I don’t answer now, she’ll start sending text messages, so I reluctantly pick up.
“Sasha.”
“Ren! You won’t believe what’s happened!” For the first time in my life, I