Page 54 of Time for Change

Caden just grins from ear to ear. “Yes, but that just means the lovely Stevie gets to come right back and see us.”

I can’t help but chuckle. “I’ll grab your drinks and be right back.”

As I move to the servers’ station, I feel his eyes on me, which makes me smile. I fill a glass of ice water and one of Coke before returning to their table to complete their order. “Have you decided?”

“I have,” Caden purrs, flirting to the max. “I’m gonna have something different today. I’ll take Doggy Style,” he states, referring to the foot-long beef hot dog with coleslaw on top.

The corner of my mouth ticks up as I write. “And for you?”

“Yeah, Jack. Do you want Doggy Style too?”

He narrows his eyes at his friend. “No, I’ll have the Paradise by the Dashboard Lights burger.”

“Interesting. I figured you were ready for some good ol’ doggy.” Turning to me Caden asks, “So, are you working tomorrow, Stevie?”

His question catches me off guard, and when I reply, “No, I’m off,” I catch Jack rolling his eyes.

Caden gives me a wide grin. “I knew it.”

I look between the two friends with confusion on my face.

Jack sighs. “I took tomorrow off and Caden’s been trying to figure out what I was doing.”

“And you, my beautiful Stevie, just confirmed my suspicions.”

Placing my hand on my hip, I state, “Just because he’s taking the day off and I’m off work doesn’t mean we’ll be together.”

Caden takes a sip of his Coke and grins widely. “That look in my buddy’s eyes tells me it’s exactly what it means. But you won’t hear any complaints from me. I’m happy for both of you, even if it means I’m pulling double duty tomorrow because he’s busy getting his hot dog played with.”

I can’t help but snort a laugh. “All right, I’m going to get your order turned in. I’ll check on you soon.”

“Can’t wait,” Caden singsongs, grinning mischievously at his friend.

As I walk away, I can’t help but think the same thing. I can’t wait until I’m off work. Can’t wait until I’m at Jack’s. Can’t wait to see what he cooks for dinner and can’t wait for dessert.

It’s the dessert that has me wiggling where I stand, trying to find a comfortable position to relieve the ache between my legs.

Something tells me there’s only one way this particular ache is going to find relief.

Just a few more hours to go until I’m off work. I’ll run home, shower, and grab my overnight bag. Then, I can head to Jack’s for our night together.

I can’t wait.

Chapter Sixteen

Jack

I left work a few minutes early, so I’d have time to clean up before Stevie comes over. I told her five without thinking, mostly because I just wanted her there. With me. But when you usually get home around five, that would leave me no time to shower and make sure the house isn’t in complete disarray. Though I spent extra time picking up after the kids went to bed last night, in the hustle and bustle of preparing for school and getting out the door, I have no idea what state the house was left in.

It's four thirty, which leaves me at least thirty minutes. I park my truck in the driveway, leaving the garage bay open for her. Not that I’m embarrassed to have a car parked here all night, but I know how this town is. My neighbors will enact the phone tree system, trying to figure out who is at my place, and when the same car is still parked there in the morning, it’ll spread through town like wildfire. Honestly, I couldn’t give two shits about it, but I don’t want Stevie to be uncomfortable with the gossip. She’s not from a small town like this and isn’t used to the busybodies who have nothing better to do than talk.

First thing I do when I step inside the house is check the main rooms downstairs for remnants of the weekend with my kids. I find a pajama shirt that belongs to Christian on the floor in front of the couch, but not pants, so I make a mental note to keep my eye out for those haphazardly thrown somewhere else. I collect the empty cereal box and toss it in the trash, as well as load the dishwasher with everything in the sink. Once it’s ready, I hit start and move on to the next room.

Upstairs, I find the missing pajama pants in the hallway and toss them in the hall bathroom hamper, grab a Clorox wipe and clean the toothpaste off the sink, and flush the toilet. Clearly my son was the last one to use it this morning.

Finally, I pull the kids’ bedroom doors closed and move to my own room. It’s in fairly good shape, since I tidied it up before bed last night. I make the bed, flattening out my dark blue comforter and fluffing the pillows. The thought of her scent lingering to them in the morning puts a smile on my face.

I start to strip out of my work clothes, and after cleaning out my pockets and tossing the contents on my dresser, I discard the clothes in my closet hamper. Moving naked to my en suite bathroom, I crank up the hot water and slip inside without waiting for it to fully heat. One of the first things I replaced in this house was the water heater. I went with a tankless version and haven’t regretted that decision once, especially with having two kids who think hot water is endless and a daughter who believes showers are supposed to take a minimum of two hours.

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