Page 7 of With You

Walking through my front door, the first piece that caught your eye was my hot pink velvet couch. It was loud and dramatic and incredibly comfortable. I’d bought it before I even had a bed to sleep on, sneaking it inside with the help of the delivery men when I knew no one would be in the building.

The shit that I would’ve been given if the guys had seen it would’ve never ended. But, I was a girl, damnit, and I liked nice things. Besides, pink was rad. Just because they wanted to surround themselves with leather and the same eighteen shades of brown didn’t mean I had to.

A pair of black, lacquer bookshelves stood opposite my couch and held some of my most precious possessions. Memorabilia from my time in the Marines and knickknacks that I’d picked up while traveling were interspersed on the shelves.

A growing collection of books lined an entire shelf by themselves and I made a mental note to bring one or two with me to help with the boredom.

Pictures in gold frames held my best memories. My mom and I on the day of my high school graduation, identical smiles and matching blonde hair blowing in the breeze. A couple of framed shots of me with my teams when I was deployed. Then there was the picture that had accompanied me no matter where I’d been stationed since it was taken.

The one that Roe had snapped of us the day that everything had changed. In it I was scowling at the camera, annoyance clear on my face. That wasn’t special, my mom had photo albums full of me with the same look. No, what was unique about this picture was Roe. He was smiling big, true happiness shining on his younger face but it wasn’t aimed at the camera, he was looking at me.

If I’d seen it before the events of that night, I never would have proposed sleeping together. Because Roe was looking at me the way that a man looks at a woman that he wants for more than a night.

He’d sent the picture to me through a text, hours after we’d separated. I’d waited for more, for words that never came, words I didn’t deserve. My fingers had hovered over the keyboard, wanting to say something. When the pilot came over the loudspeaker asking us to shut off our cell phones, I’d turned it off and stowed it in my bag, loathing my own cowardice.

That was the last time I’d heard from him until I walked into the Falls Security office and got the shock of my life. That picture served as a brutal reminder of my failures and of what I’d given up. I grabbed a book at random and trudged back to my bedroom to finish my packing.

Kane called an hour ago with an out-of-town assignment. He’d called it surveillance but had mentioned the target knew we were coming. Surveillance was common when you worked in a security business. It was usually boring, long hours of staring at the same scenery, hoping your target would do something interesting. What wasn’t common was for the person you were surveilling to be aware of your presence.

It wasn’t unusual for me to be able to talk my way into a club or bar where a suspect was letting loose for the night. Maybe it was the way I looked, maybe it was my ‘don’t fuck with me’ attitude, either way I could slip inside of some of the most well-guarded venues.

I’d been paired up with Gage often, done countless others solo, but never, not once in all the time I’d worked at Falls Security had I been paired with him. My former friend, the first man I’d had sex with and now, my coworker. We’d done a great job of never mentioning our night together but it still sat between us like a live grenade.

Roe and I had created a reality where we could speak and even joke with one another but not once were we ever alone. Gage, Kane and Gray were our constant buffers and the office was our safe space. I didn’t know what would happen when we were alone for days, potentially weeks and that had me feeling anxious and unsettled. Which in turn pissed me off.

It was a feeling that had more to do with me than him. Seeing Roe again after our time apart hadn’t been completely unwelcome. I was surprised, undoubtedly, but after years of silence and wondering, I’d felt nothing but relief at knowing he was okay. Yet, he’d changed, a lot.

Gone was the lean body he’d had as a teen. Monroe Ross was now packed with muscles that could rival the most dedicated weight lifter.

The colorful tattoos that he’d only just started when we met now covered every inch of him from his chin down. Swirls of ink flowed over his neck and arms, blending into a mural that was incredibly beautiful. I’d caught myself on more than one occasion mesmerized by the art that covered him.

There were nights when I lay awake wondering what those tattoos looked like as a whole, what the bits and pieces I’d seen bleeding out of his clothing became.

His brown hair was longer now, curls growing in every direction giving him that messy bed-head look. He still had the glasses, though, black, square frames that enhanced his chocolate brown eyes. It was nice to look at them and be reminded of the man I’d known.

My nipples pebbled in my thin tank top as I remembered the way those eyes had raked over every inch of my naked body. The memories I had of that night were better than any fantasy I could create, they’d play like a slideshow behind my closed lids whenever I touched myself.

I trailed my fingers over the strip of exposed skin where my top ended and my sleep shorts began. Toying with my waistband, I contemplated bringing them up now and relieving some of the tension I was feeling.

The tip of my finger skated under the fabric and the image of Roe’s impressive cock formed in my mind. Would it look the same or had it changed as his body matured and got thicker? My phone pinged from the bedside table and I tore my hand away from my body like I’d been caught.

Heat filled my cheeks when I grabbed my phone and saw it was Roe who’d messaged me.

I’m getting snacks for the road! So far, I have Doritos, gummy bears and Twizzlers. Want anything else?

I texted back a simple, no, and received a weird string of emojis in return. I understood the binoculars, house and car but then for some reason there was a zombie, a puffer fish and a juice box.

I rolled my eyes and tossed my phone to the bed, resuming my packing. That was the reminder I needed that I was a professional and the last person I should be fantasizing about was Monroe Ross. This was just a job, nothing more.

3

ROE

The trunk slammed shut and I began pacing next to the non-descript sedan I’d rented at Gray’s insistence. Something about our cars being a liability, blah blah blah. My eyes darted from the door to the white box in my hand, sealed shut with a pink sticker and the Sweet Cheeks logo.

It wasn’t weird to get your colleague their favorite breakfast before leaving on a work trip, right? Even if she’d never told you what she liked and you discreetly asked your boss’s girlfriend what your colleague’s preferred donut was? No, that was a completely platonic and not at all stalker-like thing to do.

Lily, the owner of the bakery and Gray’s girlfriend/obsession, had exchanged looks and smiles with her co-owner Benji as she’d packed up my order. When she threw in a bag of Italian wedding cookies, she assured me that Sam couldn’t resist them.

---