Waking up to find Chloe curled in close next to me is something I’ll never get tired of. With her face turned up, her long thick lashes closed, and her perky nose and pouty lips within kissing distance, she’s a sight to behold. I’d stay in bed all day if I could. Impossible, however, because I can hear Mom in the kitchen, and she has a way of making her presence known without actually barging in.
For instance, the humming when she walks past our door. No one on the planet hums that loud. She’s going to lose her voice just from trying to get my attention. I smile to myself, thinking how crazy it must be driving her that we aren’t out there with her at the crack of dawn.
I’m tempted to get up and let Mom see that I’m fine, but then Chloe slides her leg between mine and does this purring sound of contentment. I’d have to be an idiot to leave. I can’t resist and brush my lips against her forehead, then over her closed lids, the tip of her nose, and over her lips. She parts her lips, kissing me back, not hurried and wanting, but soft and sweet.
Christ, she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I could live to be a thousand, and this moment will be forever ingrained in my memory. The flutter of her lids opening, her fingers caressing my cheek to the nape of my neck, and burying them in my hair, all while she’s pressed up against me. I can feel her nipples through the thin T-shirt she pulled out of my drawer and put on last night.
The caveman in me wants her to wear only my clothes, simply because I want to be the one to see her this way. The hem of my shirt rides up to bare her thighs and panties. Her creamy skin is exposed to my touch, and I grab her ass cheek with my good hand, feeling a tremor run through her.
“Mornin’, sweet pea,” I murmur.
“Morning, honey bear.” She smiles against my mouth and kisses me again, this time deeper and longer.
“Kids, are you up yet?” Mom calls out. Apparently, her patience has reached its limit. Chloe giggles, hiding her face in my neck to silence the choking laughter welling up inside her.
“Dear God in heaven, I can’t catch a break,” I whisper, looking up to the heavens.
“Damian, sweetie, are you okay?” Mom’s still calling. The doorknob starts to turn, and the last thing I want is for Chloe to feel embarrassed with Mom bursting into our room.
“We’re good, Mom. Just getting up. We’ll be out in a minute,” I say. I wait to hear her walk away from the door before I gingerly shift onto my side and pull Chloe closer. “This isn’t over. I’m going to have a hard-on all through breakfast,” I tease.
“We better get up. Next time she comes to the door, I have a feeling she’s coming in,” Chloe whispers. “I don’t have any clothes with me.”
“Top drawer over there.” I point to the tall dresser at the end of the bed. “There are some jogging pants. You can wear a pair of my boxers, and I have sweatshirts in the bottom drawer. After breakfast, we’ll go grab your things.”
She hops out of bed, and when she bends to get the clothes, her ass is directly in my line of sight. I move to grab at her and bring her back to bed with me, but a severe pain sears through my shoulder, dropping me back to the pillows.
“Oh my God, what did you do?” Chloe’s next to me in a heartbeat, gently touching my shoulder.
“It’s nothing. Moved too fast,” I grit out from between clenched teeth.
“You should really eat before you take more pain meds, or they’ll upset your stomach. Let me help you up.” Chloe guides me to a sitting position. I swing my legs out and get up slowly, then make my way to the adjoining bathroom. I quickly brush my teeth and wash my face one-handed.
When I come back to the bedroom, Chloe’s wearing my clothes. They’re far too big and baggy; she’s swimming in them, but she’s incredibly adorable. Her hair is piled high on her head in a messy bun. “There’s a new toothbrush on the counter. Mom’s probably chomping at the bit to feed us. Hurry up, baby.” I kiss her cheek, not trusting myself to kiss her on the mouth for fear that, my shoulder be damned, we may not leave the room.
Mom made all my favorites: pancakes, scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, and hash browns. By the time I was done eating, I could hardly move. Mom left shortly after clearing the dishes with Chloe. I took that time to call the guys and make arrangements for them to meet me at Chloe’s place to get her packed and moved.
Zeke’s bringing a truck, and I’ll help Chloe pack as Caleb and Alex assist in loading the boxes. I still have no clue what we’re going to do with the extra furniture, but we’ll figure it out.
We approach the apartment, right where it all started with the two of us. The garage that Los Asesinos work out of is dark. The bays are shut, and now it looks like the shop has been abandoned. Luis has already had it cleared out, not that it matters, because at this point, shooting a cop is going to result in a long stretch in prison. Lurking in the shadows in the alley are the youngest members of Los Asesinos. Without Luis to lead them down the path of drugs and death, they may get a shot at a clean life. Those who decide to stay on the road to crime end up behind bars sooner or later, and hopefully, we’ll get them off the streets as well. We’ve got a list of members thanks to one of Luis’s men who played it smart and cut a deal. He gets a little less jail time and he’s doing his time in another state. If Luis finds out he talked, he wouldn’t last a day in the same prison.
“Sabrina is coming to pick up some stuff. Your place is pretty full, and she just moved out on her own. Although, I have no idea how she’s going to fit anything in her little Toyota,” Chloe says, bringing me back to the moment.
“That’s cool. But if there’s something you want to keep, bring it. We’ll find a place for it. It’s our place now,” I say. Chloe’s driving, but glances over and smiles.
“Thanks, honey bear. At the end of the day, we need what we need, and anything else is just…” She scrunches her shoulders to her ears, trying to find the right word, “Uh…stuff.”
“Just know that if you want it, bring it,” I insist.
“Got it.”
The guys are already sitting outside, waiting. Chloe’s about to put on a pot of coffee for them when Sabrina waltzes in through the open apartment door.
“Hello?” Sabrina says cautiously before coming any closer.
“In here,” Chloe calls out.
“I brought coffee and muffins.” Sabrina sets the coffee and box of muffins on the counter before hugging her friend. She looks at me and asks, “How are you feeling?”
“I’m good, Bri,” I tell her. When I call her Bri, she smiles shyly.
Caleb and Zeke come out of the spare room where Chloe kept her unpacked boxes, each of them carrying two at once.
“Hey,” Zeke says as he’s walking past. “Good to see you, again.” When he notices the muffins, he shouts, “Sweet! Food.”
“Jesus, Zeke, you have a bottomless pit for a stomach.” I laugh and point to Caleb. “That’s Caleb. This is Sabrina. She works with Chloe.”
“Yo, Bri.” He nudges Zeke. “Bud, stop staring at the muffins. They’ll still be here when you come back up. Move your ass, man.”
Zeke looks longingly at the muffins as he walks by and heads downstairs along with Caleb. Alex comes out and stops dead when he sees Sabrina next to Chloe. Alex shaved off his scruffy beard and cut his hair and is looking more like the man I know. He’s shedding the persona of Alex the drug dealer. He must have done it right after he left our place last night. I don’t blame him. Keeping up with Luis and his gang was doing a number on him.
Alex is standing taller, and the bags under his eyes are almost gone. Another week of decent sleep and he may actually crack a smile. Right now, he’s dumbstruck, his eyes glued to Sabrina.
Sabrina’s the first to break the silence. “Hi. I’m Sabrina.” She lifts her hand in a small wave.
“Like the witch?” Alex blurts. What the fuck is wrong with him? He’s never this weird.
“The witch?” Sabrina repeats, but looks at Chloe for clarification.
“Do you mean the show with the teenage witch? Oh, I remember her. I loved that show.” Chloe claps her hands together with a laugh.
Shit! I know that look in his eye. Alex is laser focused on Sabrina. He hasn’t even blinked.
“I wish I could conjure up magic,” Sabrina says, laughing along with Chloe. She waves her hand around like a wand floating through the air. She taps a finger on my shoulder. “Voilà! All better.” Then she does the same to the empty boxes in the middle of the room, waiting for Chloe and me to get that far. “All packed.”
“Now I wish you were a witch.” I chuckle. Alex hasn’t moved and hasn’t noticed Caleb and Zeke entering the room. Caleb takes one look at him and shakes his head. In order to get things back on track and get this place empty, I hook my arm around Chloe’s middle. “Sweet pea, why don’t you and Bri start in the bedroom.” Chloe pops a quick kiss on my cheek and leads Sabrina away.
Caleb gives Alex a light punch in the shoulder. “Yo, buddy, we got work to do.”
Alex clears his throat. “Right. On it.”
As he picks up a box, I say, “She’s her best friend here. All the rest of her good friends are back home, and Bri means something to her. Tread carefully. I don’t want Chloe to get caught in the crossfire.”
“What the fuck? You think I’m a man whore?”
“No one’s ever been good enough. You start with someone and are bored to tears three days later. You’re one of my best friends. Bri’s one of hers. You start something and it ends badly, it blows back on us,” I warn, letting out a heavy sigh.
“Fine. Plenty of women out there,” he replies. “By the way, Zeke’s had half the box of muffins while you were telling me off.” He gives me a smug smile and walks away, and I turn to see Zeke with his mouth full and reaching for another.
“Don’t even think about it,” I say. Zeke gives me his sad puppy dog eyes, but I say, “I’m not your mother or a chick. That shit’s not going to work with me.” I know he’s just waiting for me to turn back around before he shoves it in his mouth.
“How can the best cops I know act like kids, that’s what I want to know,” Caleb says before he picks up another box and puts it in Zeke’s hands. “You can eat later,” he commands.
Chloe
“I guess it’s a good thing I never got too comfortable here,” I say as I take the clothes off the hanger and place them in boxes.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, moving in with Damian? Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s great, but it’s only been two weeks.” Sabrina’s concern is touching, and I can tell it’s taken courage to bring it up. Her cheeks are pink and flushed with embarrassment.
“Two days ago, I almost lost him. Time is precious, Bri, and I’m not wasting any of it. Am I scared? Yeah. Can it all fall apart? Yeah.” I sit on the edge of the bed, pulling her down next to me. “He loves me. When Zeke walked in that day, I didn’t think I’d have a chance to tell Damian. I know this is right. I know he’s mine and I’m his.”
Sabrina grins. “I’m so happy you have that. I want that for you and more.” She becomes more grim. “I thought I had the right guy for me, and it turned into a nightmare. I’m letting my past experience cloud my judgment,” she confesses.
“I’m here to listen anytime you need to talk,” I say, but I can see that she’s already closed herself off. It’s prudent to move on to a new topic. “Did you want the couch and table? There’s no way that’s going to fit at Damian’s place.”
“It’s brand-new. Are you sure?” she asks. “It’ll be a step up for me. I think mine is being held together with duct tape.”
“It’s not new. I brought it from back home. It’s still in really good shape, though.”
We spend most of the day sorting, packing, and purging. By the time the afternoon rolls around, we have the “must have” items in the car so we can unpack those quickly. The boxed stuff and small furniture is in the truck, along with stuff the guys are dropping off at Sabrina’s first.
Damian’s overdoing it, and I can tell he’s in pain. I make him take a couple more pain pills and decide it’s time to get home so he can rest properly. Caleb, Alex, and Zeke are following Sabrina home and unloading her new furniture, before coming by Damian’s.
When we get in, I practically have to force Damian to sit down, and within minutes, he’s asleep. I sneak back out to the car to bring in my things. I’m sure I’m going to get an earful when he finds out. With the boxes inside, I root through his pantry and freezer to find all I need to make spaghetti and meatballs. It’s the least I can do to thank the guys for all their help today.
A couple of hours later, Damian is the first to the door, awake from his much-needed nap. I poke my head out the kitchen. “Hey, guys, where’s Alex? I made dinner.”
“Hell yeah,” Zeke says.
“He looked wiped. I told him to go home, and we’d finish up,” Caleb explains.
“Glad he shaved the fucking beard. He’s almost back to normal,” Damian joins in.
When Damian makes a move toward the door to go out to the truck, Caleb pulls him back. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’ll grab the light boxes.”
“No way. I need you back at work as soon as possible, so sit your ass down,” Caleb tells him sternly.
“It won’t take long,” Zeke adds and starts to unload. On his trip back in, he asks, “Where do you want these?”
“Put them in the spare room. We’ll sort them out later,” Damian tells them. I can tell he’s frustrated not being able to help more than he is.
“Hey, honey bear, do you want to grab the platter? I can’t reach it.” I really can’t, though I easily could have grabbed a chair.
He reaches above my head and brings it down, but instead of setting it down and walking away, he corners me against the counter. He drops his lips to my ear and says, “I know what you’re doing, baby.” He kisses my cheek. “Thanks. I’m not used to doing nothing.”
“You’ve done far more than you should have. You do remember you were shot, right?”
“I’m not used to not pulling my weight.”
“Just this once, can you lean on me and your friends? Please?”
He expels a breath. “I’ll try.”
I go up on my tiptoes and press a kiss to his lips. “Call the guys to the table for dinner.” When he turns to leave, the view is just as awesome. He’s as sexy as ever with his biteable ass and tapered waist.
The guys inhaled dinner. I would have sent leftovers home if there were any. They leave shortly after, and Damian and I chill out in front of the television. Watching mindless comedies is definitely the way to go. Damian and I laugh and talk. It feels good to talk without drama in the mix.
The owner of the clinic responded to my earlier email asking for the week off to spend with Damian. They insist that I take the time and are reworking my patient schedule to have them come once I’m back.
“Isn’t that great? They’re so understanding,” I say.
“Yeah.” Damian strokes my hair, then cups my cheek.
“Maybe we should wait to unpack until the end of the week. You may get sick of me,” I tease.
“Never. You’re beautiful, smart, adorable, and you can cook. I’m keeping you.”
“So far, I’m liking this cohabitation thing.” I giggle.
“Ditto, sweet pea.”