Page 65 of Renegade

Somehow, knowing that I’d chosen Mike, didn’t leave me feeling any better about things though. I’d had a plan, but for whatever reason, I threw that plan right out the window after sitting on the porch and watching the sunset with him.

I stretched my back and was rewarded by a foreign twinge of pain from my pelvic region. Mike shifted in his sleep and mumbled something before his breathing evened out again.

What was I still doing here?

I’d known what he was from the beginning, but had gone for it anyway. The equivalent of diving into the shallow end of the pool. I sat up just enough to see his alarm clock. It was a little after six; if I left now I could avoid the awkward rejection that was no doubt coming once he woke up.

I slid out from under the covers and went down on my hands and knees, searching for my clothes.

I was exhausted and longing for sleep. It seemed I would just get settled only to be woken by Mike pushing his way into me again. I’d lost count of how many times it had happened, but the evidence was currently running down my leg.

Had he used a condom every time?

Okay, not a problem.

I was a responsible independent woman. I would just wait until the pharmacy opened and go get some Plan B, as my birth control plan up until tonight had been ‘what’s the point?’

I found my underwear near the foot of the bed just as Mike sat straight up. “He shot them. Grey, he just shot them.” His eyes were staring straight ahead and I realized that he was still asleep. He laid back against the pillow again while I clutched my chest on the floor in fright.

I slid across the hardwood and over to his side of the bed where I found my dress. I added it to the underwear and crawled out of the bedroom.

I wanted to sit and watch him sleep, but it wasn’t worth it. He wasn’t going to offer more and I knew that. It had been outrageous to think that I could make him fall in love with me.

I paused at the top of the stairs and pulled my underwear and dress back on. My bra was still out on the porch somewhere. Without reason though, my feet led me back to his bedroom.

He was still lying in the same position on his back with one arm resting behind his head. The sun was just starting to come up enough that I could see him without squinting. Something near him caught my eye in the early morning light and I realized it was blood. My blood. On his white sheets.

I held my breath and backed out of the room slowly. Well, there was absolutely no way in hell that I could stick around now. I made it downstairs and found my purse and sandals before recovering my bra from the porch.

And then, I was just gone.

I woke with a start to a pounding on my front door. I sat up, completely disoriented. It was one of those weird sleeps where you aren’t sure if it’s morning or afternoon when you wake.

I stumbled out of bed, stubbing my toe on the nightstand and letting out a very unladylike “Fuck” in the process. It was only nine AM, I needed a lot more than three hours of sleep so whoever was on the other side was about to regret waking me.

I threw the door open to… “Mike? What are you doing here?”

That had not been part of the plan. The plan had been sex, leave, sleep, pharmacy, and then carrying on with my life. Nowhere in the plans did he show back up again.

He held out a coffee. “I brought you this. Why’d you leave?”

I took the cardboard cup from him and held it in my hands. “You didn’t have to come all this way to deliver me coffee.”

He took a step forward and leaned against the door frame. “You didn’t answer my question. Why’d you leave?”

I sighed, “I thought that’s what you’d want. I was trying to make it easier.”

He nodded. “So, that’s it? You just use me for sex and then leave without so much as a goodbye or at least some fucking explanation for how you’ve managed to remain a virgin for twenty-seven years?”

I grabbed the front of his shirt and quickly pulled him into my apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. “Thanks for announcing that to the entire complex.”

Mike gave me that lopsided grin that made my insides turn to mush. I think he enjoyed tormenting me. “Darlin’, we could’ve had this discussion out in the country in private if only you’d stayed.”

I gestured to the couch and he sat down. “Do you want coffee? I think you’re gonna need coffee. God knows I need coffee.” He gave me that stupid grin again and I snapped, “What? Why do you keep looking at me like that?”

“Because you’re fucking gorgeous when you’re mad and yes, I’ll take some coffee. Thank you.” He turned away from me and began taking off his boots, but I could see that the grin was still firmly affixed to his face.

A few minutes later, I presented him with a large mug of coffee before grabbing my cardboard cup from the kitchen counter and joining him on the sofa.

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