Page 40 of Brighter than the Boss
"So in all seriousness, Cain, what are we?"
He sat up in bed, his hands cupping my face and bringing us nose to nose. "We're dating. Exclusively. We're going to figure out the rest as we go along."
My heart softened with relief and I relaxed in his grip. Nodding, I said, "I can do that."
Then he kissed me quickly and lifted me off of him so he could climb off the bed.
"We gotta get out of here or we're going to make little Sunshine babies and fuck this whole thing up."
I could see exactly how much he wanted to fuck things up. "You know, I am on birth control."
His eyes narrowed as he considered. "You're trying to kill me aren't you?"
"No! But I promise you I take the pill every day. No chance of little Cains running around any time soon." Although that idea didn't terrify me as much as it should. I was too young to be starting a family and Cain and I had so much to still work out. Adding a baby to the mix would just complicate matters.
Cain spun around and pulled on his shorts from yesterday no longer looking at me. "I hear what you're saying and I'll definitely take that into consideration later, but I have to protect you at all costs. As much as I hate to even talk about this with you, I haven't been tested since the last time I...well, you know what I'm saying. I want to make sure I'm clean before we take that step, okay?"
He was rubbing the back of his neck, not quite able to look me in the eye. I jumped off the bed and pulled his hand down to clutch it between my own.
"Hey. I know you weren't celibate before me. I just ask that you be truthful with me while we're together, okay? Just get tested and then we'll go from there."
He shook his head and tried to step away from me. "See? This is why this is going to be hard. I'm not good enough for you. Full stop."
I tugged him back into me, though I'm sure he was strong enough to have stopped himself if he'd really wanted. Reaching up quickly, I twisted his nipple, none too gently.
"Ouch! What the hell?" He jumped back, covering his nipple, his mouth wide open.
Hands on hips, I let him have it.
"Stop it with the negativity! You keep saying you're not good enough for me, I'm going to inflict pain. You got me?"
He shook his head slowly, mouth still dangling open. "You're vicious," he whispered.
"When it comes to protecting you from your messed-up inner voice, darn right I'm vicious. You're welcome." I smiled smugly.
He walked away to pull on his polo shirt. "I'm not sure hanging with the Beach Squad is a good idea," he tossed over his shoulder.
"Oh, don't blame the titty twister on my girls. I was feisty long before I met them. You just prematurely judged me, Cain. Thought my lack of cursing and sunny disposition meant I couldn't stand up for myself." I followed his lead, finding some clean clothes in my dresser and pulling them on, like getting dressed together was a normal occurrence for us.
"Don't ever say premature in the same sentence as my name, baby. People will get the wrong idea." His swarmy smile made me laugh.
"There's that big head again."
"Now that, you can say anytime you want."
"Oh, good Lord..."
20
Cain
I had Sunny pack some clothes in an overnight bag and bring it back to my place. We took showers and I was able to take advantage of her again now that I had access to my supply of condoms. She couldn't quite hide her shock at the collection I had. Nothing like a dose of shame burning in your chest to make you want to change your ways. I'd never even given two thoughts to how many I had until I saw them through Sunny's eyes.
We both complained of being sore in weird places. Hers because of our night together (and yes, I was rather smug about that), mine because of the things we had to do yesterday to evacuate the beach. I'd never carried so many people in my arms in one day. I worked out all the time, but lifting people and sprinting across the sand was a completely different kind of workout.
By the time we left to head to Esa and Ivan's house, we weren't sure how long we'd last before heading home to crash.
While we were driving, Sunny got a call from the police about her Vespa being banged up in the parking lot of Lifeguard Headquarters. Best guess was it got knocked over by the water and scraped up on the pavement.
