Page 60 of One More Round

She pushes off the door and walks past me, grabbing my hand as she goes.

I follow her to her room and she closes the door even though no one will be back tonight.

I go to her bed as she heads for her dresser.

“Meh, I wouldn’t bother with clothes,” I tell her.

She just smiles but continues to grab some sleep shorts and a tank. She walks past me to go back out to the bathroom, but I lean forward and snag her hand. “Hey, come back. You can’t taunt me like that.” I pull her to the bed to stand between my legs. I catch her rolling her eyes but the sweet smile on her face tells me she isn’t really annoyed.

“How am I taunting you, Si?”

“Just look at you. All wet and naked.”

“Yeah, because I just got out of the shower. I’m trying to remove the distraction. I actually want to just talk for a minute.”

“OK, but at least let me see them real fast. Let me say hi,” I tell her, staring hungrily at her barely covered chest.

“Really?” she squeaks in disbelief.

“Really, really,” I say, as I start to finger the towel where it’s folded under to keep it wrapped around her. She heaves a sigh and lets me pull down the towel.

“Well. Hello, ladies.” I smile and lean in to show them my appreciation.

“Oh my God,” she mutters. But before I know it, she is pulling the towel back up, covering herself. I pout, and she pushes my face away and I just chuckle as I fall back onto her bed.

A few minutes later she comes back into the room and closes the door. She’s so sexy just as she is, wet and naked. Seeing her, standing there in her shorts and tank gets me just as excited. I kick off my shoes and scootch up her bed to lean back into the pillows.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” I ask, realizing that she is just standing there in the middle of the room wringing her hands together.

“G, what’s wrong?” I’m immediately on alert.

“I have some news,” she says quietly.

I don’t say anything but look at her expectantly when she finally looks at me.

“I applied for a writing job several months ago, like right before Morgan’s accident, and I just found out that I got the job,” she says with more confidence.

“That’s great, G! I’m so happy for you.” I stand and reach to give her a hug, but she shakes her head slightly.

“There’s more.” I move to sit back down on the bed.

“It’s for TVEdge.com and I start at the end of the month. And …” she pauses, worries her lip then continues, “and it’s in LA.”

My heart slams against my ribcage. I try to compute the words she just said, but my head feels like it’s filling with water. I focus on what she said about the company and her start date, but the blood in my veins starts to boil and the food I ate a couple of hours ago starts to sit heavy in my gut.

“So, what does that mean …” I barely get the words out without a stutter.

“I’m moving,” she says barely above a whisper.

And my heart plummets.

It breaks open into a million fucking pieces right there on her bedroom floor.

“No,” I manage to growl.

A small cry comes from my left and I clear my head to see her sitting next to me.

“You can’t do this again,” I say.

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