Page 78 of Off the Rim
"Hey," Marcus says, kissing me awake. "Room service is here."
I groan and stretch, all my muscles deliciously sore. "What time is it?"
"Almost ten."
"In the morning?"
The smile on his face as he laughs is brighter than the sun peaking around the blackout curtains. I can feel it against my mouth as he kisses me some more, tasting the mint of his toothpaste and?—
Wait a second.
I pull back, narrowing my eyes. "Did you shower without me?"
"I've been awake for nearly two hours," he confesses, smirking. "I stayed in bed as long as I could, but you're a furnace and I had to pee. Besides, all the dried cum was starting to itch."
Wriggling around a little, I wince. "Yeah, it's not as pleasant when it isn't fresh."
"Makes your skin soft, though."
"Oh yeah? Well, in that case…" I pull Marcus on top of me. "Maybe you should give me a facial."
He laughs and swats me. "Get up and shower and let’s eat first. We haven't had anything but a few tiny appetizers since lunch yesterday and I'm going to get hangry soon." He looks down at me with a serious expression. "You won't like me when I'm hangry."
My stomach grumbles loudly, like it heard him. "Alright fine. Food first, then a facial in the shower." He rolls his eyes at me, but I can see the twinkle of amusement and interest there.
Marcus climbs off me and pulls me from the bed. I toss on a pair of boxer briefs that were laying on the floor on our way into the small living space. There's a cart waiting for us, with multiple dishes of delicious smelling food. We're ravenous, not even bothering with plates, sharing bites of waffles, bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy, and fruit right from the trays. Marcus pours us orange juice, and both of us gulp down a couple bottles of water each.
When there's nothing left but crumbs, we lounge across the couch. Marcus sits in the corner of the couch, his head resting over the side, one bare foot on the coffee table. I'm sprawled out over the rest of the couch, my head on Marcus' thigh and legs draped over the opposite end of the couch. Despite sleeping through the night and well into the morning, I still feel like I could sleep for a week. I guess it's a good thing we're off for winter break and don't have practice until Tuesday. Speaking of winter break…
"When are you supposed to go to your mom's house?"
"Yesterday," Marcus says, chuckling. "I told her a little bit of what was happening yesterday. She knows I went to the party with you to back you up. She just doesn't know for what. I'll have to figure out how much to tell her."
I stretch my neck to look up at him. "How much do you want to tell her?"
His lips twist uncertainly. "I'm not sure. I don't want to lie or omit anything, but there's still a lot we don't know yet, and still a lot that needs to be decided."
"It's your call," I tell him. "We tell her whatever you think she needs to know, whatever you need to get off your chest."
"And it's your call how far we take this."
"What do you mean?"
"Your tentative deal with your father is that he doesn't interfere in our lives in exchange for us staying quiet for now. But how long are we going to be able to keep him settled with such uncertain terms to the deal? Is the plan to hold him off until after graduation, and see where it goes from there? Or do you want to play this game with him forever? Are you actually going to turn him in?"
"If he doesn't live up to his part of the agreement, hell yes, I will. I'm not going to let him ruin your life anymore, Marcus. I mean it." Tucking my chin to my chest, I pick at my cuticles. "I know I need to come up with a plan, and fast. If anything, we've given him time to cover his tracks and retaliate."
A sad smile stretches across Marcus' lips. "Maybe we'll get lucky and just knowing someone knows the truth will be enough. Maybe this is as far as it needs to go."
"What about your dad? Your mom's pain? Everything you went through?”
"We can't change the past, Ash. And we can't really count on the future. All we can do is live for the here and now."
"I just keep thinking that this is my chance to make things right. If not with your family, then maybe for someone else's. Maybe I can blackmail him into not making backdoor deals that hurt people?" I give a short, self-deprecating laugh. "I'm not sure what kind of power I have here, if any. But it feels like this is my chance to actually do something useful for once in my life."
"Are you sure you don't want to take over AJames Enterprises after all?"
"What?"
