Page 34 of Feel It All

“Hmph, yeah that sounds like Owen. What made you want to move here to be a cop? Why not stay in your hometown?” I ask, munching on the last of the chips.

“Um, well, I’m not very close with my family. My mom can be a little much, and Dad does the bare minimum. So, when Owen called about the opening, I took it. It’s only like thirty to forty-five minutes away depending on traffic, so I didn’t go far, but far enough that it doesn’t feel like my mom is breathing down my neck all the time.”

I want to dig deeper about his parents, but I decide to wait and play it safe. “And no siblings, right?” I ask.

“Nope, it’s just me. I’m a product of a one-night stand that came with consequences,” he shrugs.

“I’m sorry, I’ll let you borrow my sisters if you want the sibling experience,” I offer.

He laughs it off, but I can tell talking about his family is not a fun topic for him. “I think I’m okay. I don’t mind not having siblings. Especially if it includes talking about sex, I’m not sure I would do too well at the sibling bonding.”

I let out a giggle. “We may be a little closer than others. I don’t imagine all siblings talk about sex. My sisters and I always blame our mom for being so casual about stuff like that. She always walked around naked and encouraged us to be open about our bodies and sex. Not that she would encourage us to have sex, but she didn’t want us to not be able to talk about it and didn’t make it out to be this bad thing.”

“Please tell me you haven’t talked about our sex life with your mom. Sisters I can handle, but I don’t think I would ever be able to be in the same room with your mom again.” Graham looks white as a sheet.

My head falls back in laughter. “No, I haven’t talked to her. I imagine my sisters called her this morning though after they found us.”

“Oh, God. I’ll never be able to go to your parents’ house ever.” He covers his face with his hands.

“Come on now, you can’t tell me that your parent don’t know that you have had sex. I mean your mom practically sent Claire to your house for it. Plus, they would find out we are together at some point; they can put two and two together.” I place my hand on his shoulder, massaging lightly.

“Okay, I’ll give you the Claire situation, which was definitely uncomfortable. Especially because I had my eyes on the hot girl next door.” Graham pulls me into his lap.

“Oh really, well I would suggest you do something about that.” I give him a pouty but seductive look.

“I intend to.”

Chapter 12

Graham

Thenexttwoweeksfly by. Winry and I spend every moment we can together. To be honest, I was afraid I would freak out by now, but I can’t seem to get enough of her both in and out of bed. It’s so refreshing being with her; every time we are together, I learn something new about her that only makes me adore her more. Like how she hates anything remotely scary—movies, haunted houses, doesn’t matter, she will not budge. She loves anything chocolate chip, especially cookie dough, and she kicks ass at every game and sport known to man apparently. I haven’t beaten her once.

It’s one of our Mondays off, so we will have the whole day together. I get off at seven and know she won’t be up for a couple of hours, so I go for a run, shower, then head to Crossroads for her favorites.

“Hey, Graham.” Ivy greets me as I walk in the door. “Here to get some stuff for Winry?”

“Yeah, double her order, I’ll take the same.” I slide her my card.

“Man, couples really do start to act like one another over time.” She whips up our drinks and grabs two banana chocolate chip muffins. “Here you are. Oh, hey I wanted to ask you if you had any plans for Winry Saturday for her birthday.”

“Her birthday? This Saturday?” I must have a puzzled look on my face because Ivy gives me a sympathetic look in return.

“Of course she didn’t tell you. Ugh, that girl, I swear. Yes, her birthday is Saturday, but she hates her birthday, so usually she stays in her house the whole day hiding. I was hoping you would be able to talk her into doing something, but I guess not.” Ivy’s shoulders slump.

“Why does she hate her birthday?” I ask, still confused.

“Because something always goes wrong on her birthday. I’ll let her tell you about it. Some are pretty funny, but don’t laugh, she will kill you.” Ivy sends me off with our breakfast.

I can’t believe she didn’t tell me it’s her birthday this week and she was just going to hide all day in her apartment. No fucking way.

When I get to our apartments, I go to knock on her door. I can hear her talking to someone, I am assuming over the phone. It takes her a minute to answer the door. When she finally answers and I get a good look at her, I know something is wrong. Her chest is blotchy red, and her eyes are puffy like she has been crying.

“Hey, what are you doing here? I figured you would come over after you slept.” She is putting on her best fake smile, but I’m not buying it.

“Winry, what’s wrong?”

“What? Nothing, I’m fine. Want to come inside?” She turns and walks back to the downstairs bathroom, leaving me standing in her doorway. She is not getting off the hook that easily.

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