Page 24 of Devoted

well, now I have squeaky clean skirting boards

…

wait, are you supposed to clean skirting boards?

Oh my god, I just checked one of mine and the DUST

I’m horrified

can you come and clean mine?

I was laughing again, swiping at my eyes as I imagined Zeke staring at his dust-caked finger in horror. Well, what I imagined him to look like, anyway. Seeing as I had nothing to base it on, I’d used my own dream man. Sam Heughan, specifically playing Jamie Fraser inOutlander.

I was a sucker for burly men who were gruff and rough around the edges. Throw in some red hair and I’d be on bended knee within minutes.

Maybe that was taking it too far. Let’s be honest, if I was dropping to my knees before a man like that, it wouldn’t be to propose. And if I was bending anything, it’d be over so he could fuck me until I was nothing more than a weeping, boneless mess.

Anyway, I digress.

Sam

Believe it or not, my skirting boards are usually as disgusting as everyone else’s

Zeke

is that why you cleaned them today? Or was it your OCD?

I winced. Yeah, itwasbecause of that, but I didn’t like admitting to it. Cleaning and OCD were so tightly interlinked that it was all anyone thought about when the condition was mentioned.

Zeke

shit, you don’t mind me asking, do you?

Sam

no, not at all

it was because of my OCD, but because I was avoiding something. It’s like procrastination on steroids. Today it was cleaning, but it could just as easily have been organising my filing, rearranging my furniture, or sorting out my wardrobe. Anything to prevent me doing the thing I was stressing about.

From how the dots danced, Zeke typed and deleted his response several times before finally pushing send.

Zeke

the thing you were avoiding, was it logging back on here?

I blew out a breath. How did Zeke see through me so easily?

Sam

yeah. I’d fucked up, and I thought maybe if I didn’t check the chat, nothing bad would happen

Zeke

nothing bad will ever happen involving me. I promise.

do you still want to keep talking? I don’t want to be something that adds stress to your day.

I typed backsofast.

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