I Didn't Want it to be Weird

The plan for this week:  I have two more posts planned for sure.  One is from Brody's perspective, and will be up on Tuesday or Wednesday, and the other is a regular storyline post, which will be up Thursday or Friday.  At some point I'd like to get back to having some posts in reserve so I can actually keep a schedule, but for now I'll just keep letting you guys know.  You can always count on a post sometime on Sunday, and one at the end of the week, and I'm trying to get one up midweek when I can as well.  
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When we left after dinner with Brody's mom, my head was spinning, and I don't think it was just the wine we'd had with our meal.  Brody kept up a steady stream of chit-chat on the drive home and I tried to keep up.  He didn't seem to mind doing the majority of the talking and I gladly let him.

When we got home, I said, "I think I'm going to take a bath."

Brody looked at me carefully.  "Okay.  Is everything okay?"

"Yes," I said, smiling.  "I'm just a little overwhelmed by the last couple days and I need to wind down a little."  My inner introvert needed my "me time".

Brody kissed me softly and said, "Okay.  Want a glass of wine?"

"That sounds good."

He kissed me again and turned me towards the stairs.  "Go.  I'll open something and bring it up for you."

"And that's why I'm marrying you," I said over my shoulder as I walked up the stairs.  I heard him laugh as he went towards the stairs to the lower level to find a bottle of wine.

I had just settled into a bath with a lavender scented bath bomb when Brody knocked lightly on the door and stepped into the now steamy bathroom.  He handed me an almost completely full glass of wine.  "Well, that's a little more than a glass," I said with a chuckle, taking it gratefully.

"It's a liberal pour," he agreed.  He leaned down to kiss my cheek but I turned my head so our lips met instead.

"Thank you," I said.

He smiled.  "You're welcome, enjoy your bath." He left the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind him.  I took a long drink of my wine and then set it on the edge of the tub and shut my eyes.

I was in the tub long enough to have to drain some of the water and add more hot water to warm it up.  By the time I got out, dried off, and wrapped my robe around me as I walked into the bedroom, Brody was laying in bed playing on his phone.  I could feel his eyes on me as I shed my robe and pulled on one of his t-shirts that I had commandeered months earlier.  I hung up my robe and climbed into bed.  Brody set his phone aside as I laid down next to him and settled my head onto his chest.

"Feel better?" he asked wrapping his arms around me.

"Mmmhmm," I murmured, nodding.

"Good."  He stroked the back of my arm with one hand while he reached over and turned off the lamp.  "Tomorrow should be interesting."  During dinner we had rather hastily arranged brunch plans with Lauren, Alex, and Kinsley.  They were the only people that had responded.  I assumed Kinsley would bring Damien, as well.

"Yes, it should be," I agreed.  I yawned and we shifted into a more comfortable sleeping position.  It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

I was still sleeping soundly when Brody's phone woke me up.  I fell back asleep as soon as he was out of the room with it, and barely woke up when he got back in bed.  I didn't wake up again until my alarm went off, telling us we had to get up and get ready for brunch.

I rolled over and groaned, and felt Brody sit up next to me.  I was constantly jealous of his ability to go from asleep to awake and moving so quickly.  He leaned over and rubbed my back.  "I'll shower first," he said.  I nodded, my face buried in the pillow still.  Not a morning person.

I laid there, slowly waking up, until I heard the shower turn off.  Then I forced myself into a sitting position.  By the time Brody emerged from the bathroom I was ready to get out of bed.  I took a quick shower, more to help myself wake up than anything, and dried off.  I got dressed quickly and put on just a little bit of makeup.

I could smell coffee as I wandered downstairs, and I gratefully took the cup that Brody handed me when I came into the kitchen.  By the time we made it to the restaurant for brunch, I was fully awake and excited to share our news with our friends.

We were the first ones there and we were quickly seated at a table for 6.  I texted Lauren and Kinsley to let them know where we were sitting.  We had just ordered drinks when Lauren and Alex arrived, and Damien and Kinsley came shortly after.  Once everyone was settled and had drinks, Lauren said, "Why didn't you guys come out last night?"

Brody and I exchanged glances, and Lauren furrowed her brow curiously.  "We were having dinner with my mom," Brody said.  Lauren looked at him like, "so what?"

"And then we went home," I continued, "Because we were both a little worn out from getting engaged."

Lauren's jaw dropped and Kinsley's head snapped up from the menu she was reading.  Alex grinned and held up a hand to high five Brody, which caused me to roll my eyes and laugh.  "Well let's see it," Lauren demanded, waving vaguely at my left arm, the hand of which was concealed under the table.

I moved my hand above the height of the table and Lauren grabbed it, pulling it towards her.  "Holy shit," she said, tilting my hand to admire the ring.  She looked up and Brody and nodded. "Nicely done."

"Thank you," Brody said.

Kinsley snatched my hand away from Lauren while Damien met my eyes.  "Congratulations," he said, smiling.

"Yeah, congratulations," Alex echoed.

"Thank you," Brody and I said at the same time, which made me laugh again.

"So, tell us how you did it!" Kinsley said excitedly.  I had told the story to Jen, so I let Brody tell our friends.

When he was finished with the story, Lauren said, "That proposal was perfect for you."

"It was," I agreed.  "But remember what you had to say about our second date?"  I smirked, remembering Lauren's words that hiking was a terrible second date.

"Well, yeah, because hiking on a second date is just wrong," she insisted.  "But you guys are a little beyond that now, aren't you?"  I chuckled and shook my head.

It didn't take long before Kinsley and Lauren were being bombarding us with standard wedding questions, like did we have a date in mind?  Were we going to do it here or in Wisconsin?  "Ease up," Alex scolded Lauren.  "They've been engaged for less than 48 hours."  Lauren pouted briefly before rebounding and easily changing the subject.

It didn't stop her from pelting me with more questions when we went to the bathroom a little later though.  "Lauren, I don't know," I said finally.  "We haven't talked about it yet.  I mean, a few weeks ago we'd kind of talked through what we wanted and didn't want, but we haven't talked about it since we've been officially engaged.  When we figure it out, you'll know."

"Okay," she said, shrugging.

It was beautiful outside, so after brunch, Brody and I wandered around a nearby park for awhile before heading home.  I called Lynn as he drove.  Of course, she knew it was coming because she'd given Brody some input on the ring, but he hadn't told her his plans.

"Hi, Liv!" she answered cheerfully when I called.

"Hi, Lynn," I returned her greeting.  "How are you?"

"I'm good," she replied.  "How are you?"  I was impressed with her ability to keep up a normal conversation, even though I knew she was probably dying to know if I was calling because he had proposed, or just randomly calling.

I tortured her a little by making normal chit chat for awhile, to see how dedicated she was.  She didn't say a thing to potentially give away the knowledge she had.  Finally, I put her out of her misery and said, "Well, I'm calling to tell you that Brody proposed--"

She didn't even let me finish before she said, "You whore!  You knew I knew and you were testing me to see how long I could last!"

I burst into laughter and once I had caught my breath I said, "Guilty as charged, you're an excellent secret keeper.  We might need to have a conversation about your loyalties though."

"By keeping his secret, I was being loyal to you," she argued playfully.  "You wouldn't have wanted the surprise ruined!"

"You're right.  Thank you for helping him.  The ring is amazing, and the proposal was perfect."  I told her the proposal story, which she had apparently tried to get out of Brody but he refused to share his plans.

"I was hoping you'd be engaged before you came home for the 4th," she said excitedly.  "What did your mom say?"

"She asked if I pregnant," I replied.

Lynn snorted.  "Of course she did.  Always a class act, that Karen."  We laughed.  We chatted for a couple more minutes then hung up.  When we got home, I sat next to Brody while he called Jack and told him.  Jack was surprised, but excited, and insisted on talking to me to say congratulations as well.  It was sweet.  Then I called Kendra, while Brody called Christian.  I listened while Brody called Kevin after that.

"Do you have work you need to do?" I asked Brody after he hung up.

"I always have work to do," he said.  "But it's Sunday."

I shrugged.  "That's true, it is Sunday.  But if you need to get some stuff done, I'm good with that.  We spent all Friday and all yesterday, plus this morning together.  I think you've earned some time to do some work.  If you wanted to, I mean."

Brody looked at me carefully.  "What will you do this afternoon then?" he asked.

"I have a few more phone calls to make.  I should call my parents again, and Amy.  I guess I should probably tell John before someone else does, and James.  Then I'll probably sit downstairs and read for awhile.  I'll be fine."  I silently willed him to agree.  I wanted to finish up my phone calls and decompress a little.  The bath last night had helped but I was wound up and needed some more alone time.

"Okay," he said, after studying my face for several seconds.  I smiled and kissed him.  He stood and wandered back to his office and I picked up my phone.

I called my parents first, and when they answered I started making my way downstairs.  My mom was much more excited today, and apologized profusely for her reaction yesterday.  She insisted I apologize to Brody on her behalf as well.  Then the questions started again.  When?  Where?  I patiently told her we hadn't figured it out yet, but once we had, she'd be the first to know.  When I got her off the phone, I called Amy.  She didn't answer, so I sent her a text with a picture of the ring.

I called James next.  I wasn't really expecting him to answer, but he surprised me.  "Hi, Olivia," he said, picking up on the third ring.

"Hi," I replied.  We hadn't spoken much since everything had happened with Cassie, besides the one night he'd been out.  Even that night we hadn't talked much.  "Um, I wanted to let you know that Brody and I got engaged," I said awkwardly.  There was a weird distance in our friendship now, but I still felt like he deserved to hear it from me and not from Damien.

"That's great, congratulations," he said warmly, evaporating some of my anxiety.

"Thanks," I replied.  He asked how he did it, and I repeated the story that I now felt like I had told a hundred times, even though that was a gross exaggeration.  He stopped short of asking all the annoying questions I had no answers to, and I was grateful for that.  We chatted for a few minutes and then I awkwardly asked, "Have you...have you talked to Cassie much?"

"Yeah," he replied.  "We talk a couple times a week.  I've seen her a few times.  She's working on getting things back on track, and she's doing well."  He paused for several seconds and then said, "She misses you, you know.  I don't expect you to forgive her, but if you ever did, she'd probably be happy to hear from you."

"I'll keep that in mind.  I'm glad to hear she's doing well," I replied, a little stiffly.  I don't know what I expected by asking.  We said goodbye shortly after and I hung up.

I looked down at my phone, dreading the next call.  I had debated in my head if I should call John and tell him or not.  I heard from him occasionally, and I was sure I'd see him at some point when we were back in Wisconsin in a couple weeks.  I had decided it would be less awkward for both of us if I told him myself prior to that.

I found him in my contacts, his number no longer popping easily into my head.  I hit send and waited anxiously while it rang.  He didn't answer, and I hung up without leaving a message.  I tossed my phone aside and grabbed my Kindle, settling onto the chaise in my little library.

I hadn't been reading long when my phone rang.  It was Amy, and she was really excited.  I repeated the proposal story for her and we talked about my upcoming visit.  We made some loose plans to get together.  Once we hung up, I was able to relax, getting sucked into my book.  I hoped that John just didn't call back.  Hey, at least I tried, right?

But, it wasn't that easy, of course.  Nearly an hour after I had called him, he called me back.  I took a deep breath and answered.  "Hey," I said.

"Hi, you called?  You didn't leave a message, so I didn't know if you needed something, or..." he trailed off, sounding about as awkward as I felt.

"Yeah, kind of.  I mean, I just wanted to let you know that my boyfriend proposed and I said yes, and I'll be back in a couple weeks and I didn't want it to be weird, so I thought I should probably tell you."  I stopped, recognizing that I was rambling like an idiot.

"Oh," he said.  I waited, desperately wanting him to say more.  Maybe this was a bad idea.  Maybe I should have let him find out from Amy or Lynn or someone else.  Would I have wanted him to tell me if he was engaged?  I honestly had no idea.

"Yeah, so I just didn't want it be weird, but I clearly failed at that, so..."  I filled the silence, willing him to say something to give me an out in this conversation.

"Well, that's great, Liv," he said finally.  "Congratulations."

"Thanks," I replied.  And then my mouth had a mind of its own, and I just kept talking.  "Look, maybe I shouldn't have called, I just didn't want you to find out from someone else and have it be weird, I guess I didn't really think about how it would go, I'm sorry if you'd have preferred for me to not call.  I just think--"

"Liv," he cut me off, chuckling a little.  "I'm not sure what you want from me.  I mean, It's cool.  I appreciate you wanting to tell me.  I think you failed miserably at making it not weird, but making things weird has always been one of your talents.  Your intentions were good.  I just don't have much to say about it, but I think that's okay."

"Yeah," I said.  "Yeah, of course that's okay.  I don't want anything from you, I just wanted you to know."  I stopped myself before I could ramble nonsensically any more than I already had.

"Alright, Liv.  Thanks for calling.  Maybe I'll see you in a couple weeks."

"Yeah," I repeated.  "Maybe.  Bye, John."  He hung up without saying goodbye, not that that was entirely out of character for him.  I rubbed my forehead and realized that by trying to make it not weird, I had achieved exactly the opposite.  This had been about as awkward as it could be.  I wished I hadn't called at all.

The Aftermath

Once Cassie confessed to feeding information to Savannah, I barely heard anything else she had to say.  I sat, shaking with silent fury, wondering if she laughed when she told Savannah about what Jordan did to me.  I couldn't believe that someone I had thought was a friend, someone I'd trusted, had been telling my secrets to and doing the bidding of someone that just wanted to hurt me and Brody.  On top of that, she'd been doing it for 10 months.  I thought back to all the things Savannah shouldn't have known.  Every single bit, she knew because of Cassie.

After Cassie left, I sat in my chair and picked at the edge of the table, even though there was nothing to pick at.  Granite doesn’t peel.  “Should we go home?” Brody asked gently.  I shrugged.  “Do you want me to drive?” he pressed.  “We can leave your car here and get it in the morning when we come back into town.”  He put a hand on the seat of my chair and swiveled it so I was facing him. 

“Sure,” I agreed. 

“Okay, let me go shut my computer down and get my stuff.”  I got up and followed him silently.  I felt a desperate need to put words to the horrible emotion I was feeling, but my head was still cloudy with anger and I couldn’t. 

Brody gathered his stuff and shut down his computer. As we walked out the door I looked up and said, “Wait, you still have work to do.  You can stay, I’ll be okay.”

He shook his head.  “I think it’s better if we both just go home,” he insisted.  “There are a few things I can finish up at home, but I probably won’t get much else done tonight even if I stay.”

I followed Brody silently down the 8 flights of stairs.  I thanked him automatically when he pulled open his car door for me.  He kissed me lightly on the cheek before he closed the car door.  My leg jiggled restlessly as I waited for him to get in.

When we were on the road, heading out of town, he spoke.  “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Yes, but not tonight.  I need to be less angry first.”

“Good plan,” he agreed.  His voice was calm but I could tell by the set of his jaw and the crease in his forehead that he was angry too.  I envied his ability to keep it so firmly together despite his anger.  In a weird way, I was also relieved that he was mad too.  To me, it meant my anger was reasonable.

We were mostly silent the entire drive home.  About halfway there, he reached over the center console and slid his fingers between mine.  The warmth from his skin and the pressure of his palm against mine was reassuring and calming.  I was suddenly exhausted.  Have you ever noticed how tiring anger is?  It saps the energy right from your body.

I leaned my head back and shut my eyes.  “Thank you for driving,” I said, without opening my eyes. 

“Of course,” he replied, squeezing my hand gently. 

When we got home, Brody asked, “Is it alright if I finish up a few work things?” 

I nodded.  “I’m going to take a quick shower and go to bed, I think.”

Brody caught my arm and pulled me to his as I turned to head up the stairs.  He hugged me tightly, then kissed me and said, “I love you, Liv.”

“I love you too,” I replied, smiling weakly.

As I walked upstairs to shower and get ready for bed, I was finally able to pinpoint my feeling: I felt completely and utterly betrayed.   Cassie had manipulated me into thinking that we were friends, all while she was feeding information back to Savannah, so Savannah could attack my relationship with Brody.  And then she used what I thought was our friendship further to try to ruin Brody’s livelihood.  As I started the water in the shower, I let my thoughts drift to Savannah’s part.  If what Cassie did was shitty, Savannah was seriously wretched.  Now I regretted even more that I hadn’t gotten my hands on her this weekend.  I hoped for her sake that she stayed in California.

Now that I had figured out what emotion was weighing so heavily on me, the anger from earlier melted out of me.  I let my tense muscles relax under the hot water of the shower and by the time I got out I felt much better and ready for bed.  I was still upset about everything, but I was no longer shaking, raging mad. 

I grabbed my Kindle and got in bed.  I read for about 15 minutes before I turned the lights off.  About 5 minutes later, Brody slipped quietly into the room.  I heard him swear quietly as he bumped into something.  “You can turn the lights on,” I said softly.  “I’m still awake.”  A few seconds later, the lamp on the dresser was on.  Once he got his bearings, he turned the light back off and I heard the bathroom door open and shut. 

I was almost asleep when he got into bed next to me.  I snuggled into him, pressing my back into his chest as he wrapped his arm around me.  “I thought of something positive about this whole mess,” I said. 

“Oh really?” he asked skeptically.

“Yep.  When we leave for our trip in 5 days, we get to do it knowing what’s going on and not worrying about coming back to more ridiculousness from either of them.”

“I sure hope that's true,” he agreed, not quite as optimistic as I was. 

The next day was a struggle.  I avoided Josh like the plague, worried that my already short temper would get a serious workout if he set me off.  In my head I counted down the days until our trip.  I was looking forward to a chance to recharge and reset.

Brody made it home by 7, which was by far the earliest this week.  Then again, he’d left for the office around 5:30am, so he’d still been at work for nearly 13 hours.   We ate dinner fairly quickly and quietly, and then Brody asked if I wanted to go for a walk.  I loved this time of year because we still had close to an hour of daylight left.  

"Feeling better today?" he asked, once we were wandering the neighborhood.

"I am," I replied.  "Are you?"  

He shrugged.  "I guess so.  I feel a little less like I want to hit someone.  Things are blowing over at work, but she could have done some serious damage to my reputation and my company.  And I keep thinking that it's my fault, because I started it all with Savannah."

"But it's not your fault she's a total nutjob," I protested.  "Normal people don't do that shit.  You didn't know."  We talked for 20 minutes about the whole thing while we walked.  We agreed that we both felt really betrayed and hurt by everything.  Brody was still angry--and he should be, since his business could have been destroyed--but I was feeling far less angry now.  

"So do you think you and Cassie will ever be friends again?" Brody asked curiously as we headed back towards home.

I snorted.  "I don't think so," I replied.  "I feel like such an idiot for trusting her.  She betrayed us both so completely I don't know if I can ever forget that.  But part of me still feels for her.  It sucks that she got dragged into Savannah's bullshit."

"But she still had choices," Brody said, finishing the part of my thought I'd left unsaid.  I nodded in solemn agreement.

"I don't want to dwell on it though," I said.  "I want to move forward and be better off now."

"I like that idea," Brody said, smiling and reaching for my hand.  As we continued to walk, our conversation turned towards happier topics, and I teased Brody about his lack of knowledge about our upcoming trip.

"Do I need my passport?" he asked.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Hmm, I guess I'd better find it then, huh?"

My eyes widened.  "You don't know where your passport is?  That seems like a bad life choice."

He laughed.  "I have a pretty good idea where it is.  I just haven't actually laid eyes on it in awhile."  That wasn't very reassuring to me.  But when we got home, he disappeared into his office and came out holding his blue passport book.  "See?  We're good.  I knew exactly where it was."

"Lucky for you," I replied, smirking, "or I would have been going on an awesome trip without you!"


Saturday morning I wanted to get to work early to finish up some paperwork so I had time to go to the gym after work, but still get home at a reasonable hour.  I stumbled sleepily into the bathroom when Brody was done showering and shaving.  I showered quickly, then went to the sink to brush my teeth.  I made a face at all the little dark facial hair trimmings all over the sink.  I rinsed them out, brushed my teeth, and walked out into the bedroom, where Brody was finishing up getting dressed.

"Can you please not leave face clippings all over the sink?" I asked, as nicely as possible.

"Face clippings?  That sounds gruesome," Brody joked.  "I thought they went well with the long blonde hairs that are all over everything in there."

"They are not!" I protested indignantly.

"No?" Brody asked.  He was smirking, and came to the door, then stepped into the bathroom.  "Hmmm, I see some in the tub, some on the counter, a few in the sink, and look!  There's even one on the top of the toilet tank."

I blushed as I realized he was right.  "Is this really what we argue about now?" I asked, deflecting the conversation.

"Who's arguing?" he asked.  "We're having a conversation about the charming colony of hair that's taking over the bathroom.  Both of our hair."

"Fine," I replied, admitting defeat.  "I will try to control my hair if you try to control yours.  Deal?"

"Deal."

I got dressed and ready for work then headed downstairs.  Something smelled delicious, and I hoped Brody never stopped making breakfast before work.  I would never get tired of it.  "Breakfast this morning is to go," he said as I appeared in the kitchen, handing me an English muffin with egg and cheese and spinach wrapped in a napkin.  Then he handed me a travel mug of coffee.

I juggled things in my hands so I could grab my gym bag too.  "Thank you," I said gratefully.

As we walked out the door he said, "I feel like I've hardly seen you at all since you moved in."

"I agree," I said.  The night before I'd gone to dinner (which ended up being almost 3 hours long) with Kinsley, Kendra, and Lauren to fill them on what had happened with Cassie.

"I know I get to spend an entire week with you with no work and no crazy ex-friends, but can we do something together tonight?"

"Yes," I agreed.  "Something 'out' or something 'in'?"

"Hmmm...we haven't gone on an actual date in awhile, but I'm exhausted after this week, can we do 'in' tonight?" he asked.

"'In' sounds perfect.  What do you want to do?"

"You planned our trip, I'll plan tonight.  What time do you think you'll be home?"

"I'm done with work at 2, I'll stay to finish up my paperwork, then the gym...maybe around 6."

He nodded and kissed me before pulling open my car door for me.  He took my gym bag off my arm and threw it in the back seat.  "Okay, I'll see you then.  I love you."

"I love you too."

It was nice to have a day at work where I didn't spend the entire day trying to avoid Josh.  I got everything done that I needed to before being gone for a week, then went to the gym.  After a good workout, I took a quick shower and threw my dress back on, then headed home.

I saw Brody's vehicle in the garage, but he was nowhere to be seen when I got in the house.  I started up the stairs to change, and heard the sliding door in the kitchen open.  "Hi," I greeted Brody, stopping halfway up the stairs. "I'm just going to change quick."

"But I like that dress," he protested.

"Alright, then I guess I'm not going to change quick," I said, laughing.  I turned and walked back down the stairs. He grinned and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into him and kissing me.  

"Hungry?" he asked.

"I'm starving," I replied.  I had just come from the gym, after all.

"Do you mind eating outside? It's nice out and then we won't have any distractions."  With that, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and deposited it on the counter.  He led me out onto the deck and down the stairs.  He had a blanket on the lawn and we grabbed plates and food from the table on the patio.  We sat on the blanket with plates full of cheese, charcuterie, olives, and fruit, and glasses of wine.

"This is classiest I've ever felt hanging out in my backyard," I joked, tucking my legs carefully to the side.  "Thank you for dinner."  We talked as we ate, catching each other up on the little things that you overlook when you don't have much time to talk for a few days.  When we finished eating, Brody took our plates back over to the table and brought back the bottle of wine.  He topped off our glasses and we relaxed in the yard.  When my glass of wine was gone, I laid down on the blanket with my head on Brody's leg as we continued to catch up on life.

"Well, I know you haven't been here very long, but are you happy with your decision to move in so far?" he asked tentatively.

I rolled onto my back so I could look up at him.  He used his fingers to gently comb a few wayward pieces of hair out of my face.  "It's been a little crazy lately," I admitted.  "But if I was still at my old place, I may not have seen you at all this week.  So I'm definitely happy about that.  I like it here.  It's going to take a lot of getting used to not being right down the street from bars and restaurants and having a longer drive to work, but I'm glad I'm here.  I think you've done a really great job of making this just as much my place and our place as yours, and I appreciate that."

He grinned down at me.  "That's probably the most sentimental thing you've ever said," he teased.

"That's true," I agreed, laughing.

"Well as long as I have you in a sentimental mood, I don't think I've told you how great it was to have your support with everything that's happened lately.  It means a lot to me that I had your full trust and didn't have to deal with proving myself to you on top of proving myself to everyone at work."

"It's easy to trust you when I've already hacked into all your email addresses and read all your texts and emails every day," I joked.

"Annnd you ruined it, as usual," he said, shaking his head.  But he was smiling.

"Seriously, though," I continued, "I think I've already put you through the wringer of proving yourself."

"That's true," he agreed.  I made a face and we both laughed.  "My family loves you, too.  Or at least my mom and my sister do, so the family that matters the most."

"How sappy are we going to get here?" I asked.  "I'm about one declaration of love away from a dirty joke and some swear words."   Brody rolled his eyes.  "I'm sorry!  I can't help it.  It makes me uncomfortable because I don't know what to say back.  I love you.  I'm glad that your family loves me.  I'm happy to support you, and I know you'll support me.  I'm out of things to say and I feel like it all sounds really rehearsed and strange."

"How about you shut up and kiss me then?" Brody suggested.

"That I can do," I agreed, sitting up.  I scooted closer so I could easily press my lips to his, and he kissed me back hungrily.  One of his hands slid across my neck and tangled in the hair at the back of my head while the other slid just far enough up my thigh to tempt me, but not so far that the neighbors got a show.  He tightened his grip on my hair and tilted my head back, then moved his lips to my throat, which earned him a low sigh.  "Let's go inside," I requested.  He moved his mouth to my collarbone.  "Brody," I gasped.  "Inside."  Finally he stood and pulled me to my feet.  He grabbed the blankets and the empty wine glasses.  I grabbed the plates and empty wine bottle.  All of it got dumped rather unceremoniously on the kitchen table as we made our way rapidly towards the stairs.

Brody followed me into the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind him.  As I started to turn around, he slid arm around my waist and pulled me back against him, keeping me facing away from him.  He kissed the back of my neck as his other hand slipped under my dress and slid lightly across my panties.  I groaned and he released me.  By the time I made it to the bed, his pants were gone.  He didn't even bother with my dress, just pushed the skirt up and pulled my underwear to the side.  I pulled him hard against me as he thrust into me.

After, when we were a sweaty, breathless, dazed, and tangled heap I finally let myself hope that things might get back to "normal".

(Then/Now) Cassie: I Fucked Up

November 2008

"Oh come on," Savannah wheedled.  I regarded my cousin with disdain.  I didn't really care for Savannah, but now that she was going to school in Denver, she seemed to pop up whenever she needed something.

"No, Savannah.  My dad keeps inventory."  If she thought that I was seriously going to sneak her into my dad's restaurant in the middle of the night so she could steal some booze from his storeroom, she was out of her fucking mind.

"It's fine, I have some empties.  I'll fill them up with water.  I only drink clear liquor anyway," she reported.  "He won't even notice for months if we take the right bottles.  Don't be a pansy."

I didn't really care what kind of liquor she drank.  We were both 20, and apparently the latest boy she'd been sleeping with--who had, of course, also been buying her booze--had decided she was too high maintenance for his tastes and had taken his I.D. and credit card (and the rest of him, but that was apparently easily enough to replace) away.

"Go away," I said, holding open the door to my tiny apartment.  It was a studio (which Savannah disapproved of completely), but I was paying my tuition and my rent on my own, and I was proud of that.

"You are so lame," Savannah replied, but she flounced out the door.  I closed it tightly behind her and looked at the clock.  Shit, Savannah had distracted me for too long, I needed to get ready for work.

I pulled into the parking lot of my dad's restaurant, which I'd been working at since I was 15, and parked my car.  My watch read 4:49, which meant that I had one minute to get inside and clock in  before bar time said I was late.  I grabbed my stuff and booked it inside, clocking in seconds after the clock had changed to 5:00.  Stupid bar time.

We were dead that night, and I had my sidework done and was out by 9:30.  I also hadn't made shit for tips.  Oh well.  Tomorrow--Friday--would be better for sure.

I had a message on my phone, and I rolled my eyes when I listened to it.  It was Savannah, continuing to bug me about getting her in so she could take some alcohol.  I deleted it and didn't call back.  I didn't understand why she couldn't just find a new 21+ toy to play with.

Over the next week, though, Savannah badgered me to my breaking point.  I finally agreed to let her in for one bottle.  My dad made a ridiculous profit on alcohol anyway.  And hopefully after that she would let it be.

We went at 3am on a Saturday.  I pulled my car up behind the restaurant.  I had to go in the front door to disarm the security system, but Savannah insisted on waiting for me to open the kitchen door for her.   As I unlocked the front door, I looked automatically up at the camera like I always did, and I realized why.  "Bitch," I muttered.  I could think of a million ways to explain away my presence though, if my dad looked at the tapes for some reason.  And hopefully, like Savannah said, he wouldn't even realize his alcohol had been tampered with until months later, so he wouldn't put two and two together.  Hopefully.

My stomach roiled and clenched with nerves and I botched my first attempt at disarming the alarm.  "Shit, shit, shit!" I muttered to myself.  I quickly put in the correct numbers as the warning beeps grew louder and closer together, signaling that I was running out of time.  When it chirped and quieted, I briefly shut my eyes as I breathed out in relief.

Why am I doing this? I wondered to myself.  I was seriously questioning my own sanity, but it was too late now.  I walked quickly through the dark restaurant and flipped on the kitchen light--the only one that wouldn't be seen from outside.  Then I hurried to the kitchen door and pushed it open.  Savannah stepped in, looking as cool and collected as she always did.  "I was starting to think you wussed out and left me here alone," she sniffed.

I rolled my eyes and led the way to the store room where my dad kept the extra alcohol.  I unlocked it quickly and pushed the door open.  Savannah tried to slip past me but I put an arm up, blocking her.  "No way," I said.  "I know how this stuff is organized.  Give me your bottle and I'll make the swap."   She sighed and handed me the Ketel One bottle and I quickly found the case of Ketel One and pulled out one bottle and stuck hers in.

"Here," I said bitterly, handing it to her.  "Go straight out the kitchen door and don't touch anything else.  I'm turning the light off."  She took out her cell phone to illuminate the way.  I waited until she was at the door and flipped it off.  I heard the door open and I made my way back to the front.  I was insanely nervous again, and I peeked out into the parking lot before I emerged.  I locked the door quickly and walked around to the back.  Savannah was already sitting in the car.  I glanced at the kitchen door, then started the car and drove home.

"Never, ever again," I reiterated as Savannah and I got out of my car in front of my apartment building.

"You are such a drag," she replied.  "Thanks though!"  I waited until she was in her car, then I headed into my apartment.  I was shaking from the adrenaline of what I had just done, and I was so tired.  It was nearly 4 am by this point.  I pulled off my clothes and fell into bed, tossing and turning for nearly an hour before I finally fell asleep.

I was awakened rudely by my phone ringing loudly.  I fumbled for it before I realized it was still in the pocket of my jeans, which were across the room.  I squinted at the clock and saw it was only a little after 7.  The ringing stopped, and I decided I'd take care of it when I got up.  I rolled over and started to try to go back to sleep, but my phone rang again.  Swearing, I stumbled out of bed and fished it out, then answered.

"Cassandra."  My mom's voice was tight and anxious sounding.

"Yeah?"

"Your father's restaurant is on fire."  I was silent, trying to wrap my brain around those words.  "Cassandra?"

"Mom, don't call me that," I replied pointlessly.  "On fire?"

"On fire," she reported.  "The fire department is there now trying to put it out.  Your father is down there."

Suddenly, panic jolted me.  I would clearly be on tape, entering and exiting the restaurant at 3 in the morning.  Would they blame me?  "I...wow.  D-do they know how it...started?"  The words weren't coming out the way I wanted them to.

"Of course they don't," my mom snapped, and I could tell she was losing her patience.  "It's still burning."

"What can I do?"

"Nothing, right now," she replied, and her voice was kinder.  "I'll keep you posted, I just wanted you to know.  I didn't want you to get up and turn on the news and hear about it that way."  Like I watch the news on Saturday mornings.

We said goodbye and hung up, and I immediately dialed Savannah's number.  It went right to voicemail.  I cursed and left her a curt message demanding she call me back as soon as she got up.  I didn't even bother laying back down.  Instead, I got up and made myself some coffee.  I sat down with it, but was only able to sit for a few minutes.  I didn't know what to do.  I decided to go for a run.

I'm not a runner, but running is what people do when they're stressed, right?  Well, I'm not sure how it helps.  All it did was make me sweaty, sore, and out of breath.  I got back and took a shower.  I was checking my phone over and over but Savannah hadn't called back yet.  Finally, I got in my car and drove to her apartment.

I slipped into the controlled access building with someone else and ran up the 6 flights of stairs to her apartment.  I pounded on her door for nearly a minute straight until she finally opened it.

"What the hell, Cassie?" she demanded.

"My dad's restaurant is on FIRE!" I practically shrieked, shoving my way into her apartment.

"I know," she replied.

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned.  "What do you mean, you know?" I asked.

"It's all over the news, don't look at me like that."

"Well what am I supposed to do?  My face is all over the security footage."

Savannah shrugged.  "It'll probably be destroyed in the fire."

"And if it's not?" I demanded.

"Your dad won't ever believe that you arsoned his restaurant," she said dismissively.  It was clear she wasn't at all worried.  I couldn't stay here with her, she was pissing me off.

After I left, I decided to drive to the restaurant.  When I got there, I realized Savannah was most likely right that there would be nothing left of the security tapes.  The restaurant was still on fire.  Firemen were everywhere.  I had to park several parking lots over.  I sat and watched the firemen fight the blaze for nearly an hour.  It didn't seem like they were making any progress.  I felt absolutely sick.  Regardless of how they determined the fire was started, my dad's restaurant was destroyed.

My mom finally called me the next day.  "It's out," she reported.  "It's gone.  They'll tear down what's left."

"Do they have an idea how it happened?" I asked meekly.  I was exhausted.  I hadn't slept.  I still felt vaguely like I was going to throw up.

"They think it was arson," my mom replied, and my worst fear was confirmed.  I sat down hard on the floor.

"Shit," I muttered.

"Cassandra," my mom warned, but it was a very lackluster warning.

"Is there anything left?" I asked desperately.  "The security tapes?  Can they see who was there?"

"The tapes didn't make it." I breathed a sigh of relief and said a silent prayer of thanks.  I realized my mom was still talking.  "Which is unfortunate.  Since it's arson, the insurance won't pay unless we can prove who did it.  Your father and I just lost a lot of money."


*****

Now

I sat in the conference room in Brody's office suite and looked at Liv, willing her to be sympathetic.  Instead, she just looked confused.  I don't blame her.  She thought I was coming here to explain what was going on, and I had just told her a story from nearly 7 years ago.  I was planning on telling them what was going on, but the story was necessary.

"Okay, and?" Brody asked.  Even from here I could see the set of his jaw.  I looked at James, who nodded reassuringly.

"In June, Savannah and I were forced together for my brother's birthday dinner.  I mentioned that I had a new neighbor," I looked pointedly at Liv, "and she was suddenly really interested.  She told me she wanted to know more about you, but didn't want me to tell you I knew her.  It was fine at first.  We had a few conversations, I fed her a little info, she mostly left me alone.  When I realized she was scheming, I said no more."  I looked desperately at Liv, whose expression morphed briefly from confused to angry before she smoothed it into a placid, expressionless mask.  Her therapist face.  "I was getting to know you, and I liked you.  And I didn't want to be in the middle of her feud."

"But you kept telling her things anyway," Liv said.  "That's how she knew about my dinner with John.  That's how she knows about James and Jordan.  You just kept telling her.  Plus, you took that job to spy on us!  And what does your story about the fire have to do with any of this?  Because I'm starting to feel like you're wasting some more of my time, and I'm not very happy about it."  Brody laid a hand on her leg, but she brushed it off.  She was working hard to keep her face unreadable, but she was clearly furious.  I couldn't blame her.

"I'm getting to that," I replied patiently.  I took another deep breath and James bumped my knee with his under the table.  "When I told her I didn't want to do it anymore, she showed me that she had pictures of me in the restaurant the night it burned down.  She had taken them on her phone, and they sucked, but it was clearly me.  And they were date stamped on the phone.  I don't know where she'd been keeping that stupid old thing, or why, but she had it.  She said she'd tell my dad."

Liv's expression didn't change, but a muscle in Brody's tightly clenched jaw twitched.  I was worried about his teeth.  "I couldn't bear for my dad to know I had been in the restaurant that night.  I still don't know if Savannah set me up or if it was a big coincidence, but my dad lost the most profitable of his establishments that night.  He would be devastated to think I had something to do with it."

Liv and Brody remained silent so I continued.  "I was desperately trying to figure out a way out of it by the time she started asking me to stir up some rumors about Brody doing illegal business.  I was trying to avoid you, so I wouldn't have much to say to her.  She told me this was the last thing she wanted from me.  When everything backfired and you supported Brody and the rumors didn't take, Savannah told me to just get out of the way.  That's why I went to my parents' house.  I just needed to get out of here and be somewhere where I couldn't do any more damage."

"So why are you telling us this now?" Liv asked, her tone bitter.

"Because I heard about what she did this weekend.  Enough is enough."

Liv snorted and rolled her eyes.  I had never seen her this angry.  Brody put his hand back on her leg and this time she allowed it to stay.  "So what do you want from us now?" Brody asked.

"Nothing," I replied honestly.  "I wanted you guys to know the truth.  I want to apologize.  I'm so incredibly sorry.  I fucked up.  I fucked up really, really badly, and I regret every second of it.  I don't expect you to accept it, or to forgive me.  I just want you to know.  I told my dad everything, too.  He called her dad and he flew out this morning to collect her and take her back to California.  I don't know what they're going to do, but I'm pretty sure she's done gallivanting around with my uncle's credit card."

I tried hard not to shrink under Liv's glare.  Brody nodded though.  "Thank you," he said, surprising me.  Apparently it surprised Liv too, because she gave him a funny look.  "I appreciate you telling us this, but now you need to leave.  And I think it would probably be best if you didn't contact either of us unless we contact you first."

"That's fair," I agreed.

"It doesn't fucking matter if it's fair," Liv snapped.

"Liv--" Brody started.

"No!" she interrupted.  "She doesn't get to come in here and talk about "fair" after the shit she's done."

"I get it," I said softly.  "I deserved that."

Liv looked about ready to throw something at me.  "It's time for you to go," Brody said.  He motioned to the door and James and I stood.  He walked us silently to the door of the suite and held it open.  I heard the lock click behind us.

"Well," James said.  "Now what?"

I shook my head.  "I have no idea."




 

Surprise Visitor

I sat up again and grabbed my phone.  No missed calls, no texts.  It was about 4:30 am.

While I was trying to decide if I should answer the door or not, whoever was out there knocked again--hard.  I don't know why I was so nervous.  People that want to hurt you rarely knock on your front door first.  Right?

I finally decided to just go look at least.  I walked quietly downstairs in the dark and peeled back the edge of the curtain on the window near the door.  I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw James standing in the light of my front porch.

I pulled the door open.  "What the fuck is wrong with you?" I exclaimed.  "It's 4:30 in the morning, and you scared the everloving shit out of me."

"I'm sorry," he apologized.  "Can I come in?"

I regarded him warily.  I had no idea why he was here.  Apparently the events of the last week and a half had made me awfully suspicious of people.  "Sure," I said finally, opening the door the rest of the way and moving so he could get past me.  I shivered in the chilly pre-dawn air.  Once James was in, I shut the door and locked it, then flipped on the living room light.  "What are you doing here?"

"I got a weird text from Cassie, and it made nervous.  I came over to try to talk to her, but she's not answering the door.  Have you seen her lately?"  I shook my head and told him about the letter.  He pulled his phone out and showed me the text.  She had sent it at 3:13am, and it said, "I'm going home.  Don't call me."

"Home?" I asked, confused.

"Her parents live in Golden and she was talking about maybe moving back there for awhile and trying to find a job there.  But I wasn't expecting her to do it at 3 in the morning.  Her phone was off when I tried to call her back, and she's not answering her door."

I blinked at him.  It was weird.  But I didn't understand why it required James to scare the shit out of me at 4:30 in the morning.  "Okay, and?"

He sighed and rubbed his forehead.  "I don't know, Liv.  This whole thing has been really weird, and I don't know what's going on.  I'm worried about her."

"It is really strange," I agreed. 

"It's strange enough that I'm almost ready to break my own cardinal rule."  I raised an eyebrow, having no idea what he was talking about.  "I don't ever look into the people I'm seeing," he explained.  "It would make a weird power differential, and I'm sure I'd usually find something I didn't want to know."

"Oh," I replied unhelpfully.  Then I said, "Is it possible she just made a mistake, or got some weird information, and she's overwhelmed with quitting her job and needs some space for a bit?"  But even as I said it, I knew there had to be more to it than that. 

James shrugged.  I yawned then, and he said, "Shit, Liv, I'm sorry.  I'll get out of here so you can get some more sleep."

"Okay," I agreed, though I knew that sleep was unlikely at this point.  I stood and walked with him towards the door.  After he left, I locked the door and slid the chain into place.  I trudged back up the stairs and reset the alarm on my phone to the latest possible time that I could get up and still make it to work on time looking presentable.  Then I tossed and turned for two hours.  I finally dragged myself out of bed when my alarm went off, showered quickly without washing my hair, put on a bare minimum of makeup, and left.

My phone rang around lunchtime, and I looked at it and saw it was Brody.  "Hey," I answered.

"Hi gorgeous," he replied.  "How are you?"

"Tired," I grumbled.  I filled him in on the events of last night.

"Well, I was going to ask you if I could spend the night, but maybe we should stay at my house tonight," he said, when I had finished.  I agreed.  "I was also going to ask you if you wanted to check out a couple furniture stores tonight, just to get some ideas, but if you're not up for it, we can always go this weekend."

"No, I'd like to actually," I said.  I just wanted to do something normal and forget about what was happening with Cassie.  "I have some boxes packed up too, maybe I can bring them out and get them out of the way."

"Sounds like a good plan," Brody responded.  We planned that he'd meet me at home at 6, we'd put my boxes into his SUV, then we'd look at furniture for a little while, grab dinner, and head back to his house.  Our house?

I made it through the rest of the day by sheer force of will and was relieved to leave at 5:30.  I ran home, changed out of my work clothes into jeans and a sweater, and brought some of my boxes downstairs.  I jumped when Brody knocked on the front door, then unlocked it and pulled it open.

Brody frowned at me.  "You look exhausted," he said.

I made a face.  "Thanks," I replied sarcastically.

"Sorry," he replied, hugging me.  "Are you sure you want to do this tonight?  Why don't we just go this weekend?  We can load these boxes up, grab something to eat, and just head home."  I noticed he said "home" and not "my house" and that made me smile, despite my fatigue.

"No, I want to.  Maybe just one or two stores, but I want to do something besides just sit around."

"Okay," he agreed reluctantly.  "Then let's get these boxes in my car."  We carried them out and loaded them into the back of his SUV, then grabbed the last couple that were upstairs.  There were 8 boxes total already, some of them filled with heavy books.  "Next time, please don't fill boxes completely with books," he groaned, lifting the last box into the back and pushing the button that shut the back tailgate. 

"Sorry," I said sheepishly.  "I normally don't, because they get damn heavy, but I had just put them all in those boxes to get them out of Lauren's room."

"You're lucky you're pretty," he teased.  I glanced at Cassie's townhouse, next to mine.  It was quiet and I couldn't see any lights on.  "You okay?" Brody asked, slipping an arm around me and following my gaze.

"Yeah," I said, shaking my head a little to clear it.  "Sorry.  Let me just grab my bag and we can go."

Brody got into the driver's seat while I grabbed my purse and overnight bag and locked my door.  When I got in the car, I asked how things were going with the auditor.  "Pretty well," he responded.  "He found a couple small discrepancies so far which he traced to the same person, but they were small enough that he thought they could be mistakes.  So I'll be keeping an eye on that.  But so far nothing big."

"That's good to hear," I replied.

We wandered two different furniture stores, inspecting coffee tables and sitting on couches.  I got particularly comfy on a loveseat/chaise lounge combination that wouldn't really work anywhere in Brody's house, but was amazing nonetheless.  We got some good ideas, and it was fun.  I was glad we had gone, even though I was just about ready for bed.  We decided to go somewhere quick to eat and stopped at a diner for breakfast for dinner.  

We were on our way back towards Brody's house by a little after 8 and when he pulled into the garage at 8:30, I groaned at the thought of bringing the boxes inside.

"How about this," he suggested.  "We can leave them in the garage for tonight.  I'll get them out of my car and you can go inside and relax.  Maybe you should give that giant bathtub I never use a little attention."

Brody had an amazing whirlpool tub that he claims to have only used a couple times, which is tragic.  "That's an amazing idea," I said. 

"Alright, then go!" he directed me.

After a quick look around his bathroom, I realized that one of my first purchases for this house needed to be some bath bombs or bath salts or something to make the bath a little more interesting.  Oh well, the hot water and jets would be good enough for tonight.  I filled the tub up while I combed out my hair and wound it into a topknot so it stayed out of the water.

When the tub was full, I eased myself down into the hot water with a grateful sigh.  I sunk into the water up to my neck and closed my eyes.  I had been laying there for about 10 minutes when there was a gentle knock on the door.  Brody opened it a little and said, "Can I join you?"

"Yes," I replied, sitting up so I could drain some of the water so the tub didn't overflow.  Brody came in with a glass of wine in each hand. He handed one to me and climbed into the tub and settled behind me, and I leaned back against him.  The tub was the perfect size for both of us, and I made a mental note of that.  I closed my eyes again as I said, "Get all the boxes out of your car?  I can bring them in tomorrow."

"No you can't," he replied.

"Why not?" I asked confused.

"I already did.  I figured I might as well.  I took them all downstairs for now until we get everything sorted out."

"Thank you," I said gratefully.  "I feel bad that I didn't help now."

He slid his hands up my arms and to my neck, beginning to massage the tense muscles there.  "Don't," he said.  "It only took me a few minutes."

I sighed softly as he continued to knead the muscles in my neck and shoulders.  "I feel like you're trying to butter me up," I joked.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"You hauled in my boxes while I laid in this tub, you brought me wine, and now you're rubbing my neck."

He laughed. "I'm not trying to butter you up," he insisted. "I just feel bad because you had such a shitty night last night. I thought we could both use a little relaxing and a good night's sleep tonight."

We relaxed in the tub until our wine glasses were empty and the water was tepid. Once we were out and dry, we went straight to his bed, where we had the laziest sex we could possibly manage.

When we were laying in bed after, Brody asked, "how much stuff do you have left to pack and move?"

"Not much," I replied. "I packed up a lot of stuff to make room for Lauren, which was most of the stuff we brought today. I didn't bring much with me from Wisconsin and I haven't accumulated a ton of stuff. Really, all that's left is stuff I use regularly, kitchen stuff, clothes, and furniture."

"Well, just let me know when you want to schedule movers for the furniture. I'll make sure my old stuff is taken care of then."

"Maybe tomorrow we can pick a day?" I suggested. "I'm thinking one of the next Saturdays I'm off, so I have that Friday to get everything ready. I'll need to let Lauren know then too." Brody agreed with that plan.

Even though it wasn't even 10pm, I was exhausted from not sleeping much the night before.  Brody must have been tired too, because we were both out within minutes of saying goodnight.

Morning Person

Don't mind me, just another quick bonus :)  The next post will still happen on Wednesday.
____________________________________ 

I went home after work on Monday for the first time in a few days.  Lauren and I still planned to do our Monday roomie night, and I needed to tell her I was moving out.  Brody was clearly still nervous about Cassie, but he just asked if he could come late and spend the night.  I agreed to that, even though I still though his worry was unfounded.

Lauren was already home when I got there, and Cassie was nowhere to be found.  "Hi," Lauren greeted me.  "It's good to be back, huh?" We both laughed, and she handed me an envelope.  "It was in the mailbox."  It just said "Olivia" on the back, and I recognized Cassie's handwriting.  I opened it curiously and read.

"Liv, 
I know you're pissed at me, and I don't blame you.  I'd be pissed at me too if I were in your shoes.  I just wanted to let you know that I'm not going to bother you. I'll stay out of your way (and Brody's, and Lauren's too), but if you ever want to talk again, let me know.
Cassie"

I rolled my eyes and handed it to Lauren.  She read it quickly then snorted.  "Yeah, if you ever want to talk about how she accused your boyfriend of running a dirty business, she'd be delighted!"   I laughed, but I was glad to have the letter.  I hoped it would help Brody relax a little bit.

I couldn't help but be a little curious.  Even though I trusted Brody fully and didn't believe for a second that he was doing anything he shouldn't be, I wondered what kind of information Cassie had and where she had gotten it.  The whole situation was really strange and confusing, but I wasn't curious enough to pursue getting any more information.

Once we were settled on the couch with our Thai (changing it from pizza this week) and wine, Lauren asked, "So how's the house hunting going?"

"Not so well," I admitted.  "And actually, we decided to hold off, and I'm going to just move in with him."

Lauren coughed, then looked at me.  "Really?" she said, surprised.  "When?"

I shrugged.  "Yes, really, and I don't know.  I guess I'm just going to start moving stuff as I pack.  Depending on how things go with Brody's job this week, we're hoping to take a vacation near the end of the month, so it would be nice to moved before that."

Lauren looked impressed.  "You know, I didn't think you'd go through with it.  I thought you'd drag it out, not commit to a house, and just stay here for a few more months."  I glared at her.  "What?" she asked.  "Come on, Liv.  It was not that long ago that you were horrified by the idea of moving in with him."

She had a point, and I acknowledged that.  "But everything changed after his dad died, I guess.  It just made me look at it differently."

Lauren nodded, then grinned.  "It will be nice to have my own place again, then.  Though it was nice to live with you for awhile, once we adjusted, at least."

I laughed.  "Yes, definitely once we adjusted.  Once we adjusted and once you stopped destroying the kitchen!"

"Had to keep you on your toes," she shot back, also laughing.  We enjoyed the rest of our night, and Lauren promised to help me pack and move, since I had helped her.  I reminded her that she still had to move her furniture over, and she grimaced and said she was hiring movers because she wasn't dealing with Alex's attitude again, plus moving furniture.  I laughed and agreed that was a good idea.  I had been planning on the same for moving my furniture.

Brody arrived a little before 10 and greeted us.  "Can I shower?" he asked, after kissing me.

"Of course," I replied.  He headed upstairs while Lauren and I cleaned up our dishes and takeout trash.  I snuck into the bathroom and brushed my teeth while Brody was in the shower, and was already in bed by the time he came out.

He climbed into bed and I scooted over to him, curling up against him with my head on his chest.  "How was your day?" I asked, running my fingers aimlessly across the lean muscles of his chest and stomach.

"Fine," he replied.  "Pete and I spent most of the day getting things ready for the auditor to come tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to getting that out of the way.  How was yours?"

I told him about the letter from Cassie, which he seemed to find interesting.  "I guess I can probably leave you here unsupervised now," he joked.  "Did you decide where we're going yet?"

Brody had insisted on paying for our trip, but I had refused to divulge any of the information I had collected on Sunday while I researched.  I told him I'd narrow it down and let him choose, since he was paying, but he had decided that he liked the idea of a surprise destination and told me he didn't want to know.

"I have it narrowed down to a couple places.  I just need to read a few more reviews before I decide for sure," I replied.  We had talked about a general idea of what we wanted and had settled on finding an all-inclusive somewhere in Mexico or the Caribbean.  We didn't want to have to worry about anything that we didn't want to when we got there, and we wanted somewhere we wouldn't feel bad about just laying on the beach or by the pool and never leaving the resort, if that's what we decided.  Plus, Brody pointed out that leaving the country was an excuse for him to turn off his phone and leave it that way, and who could argue with that?  I had originally looked at a few places in Central America and South America, but decided to save those for a trip when we were feeling a little more adventurous. 

"Good.  After this week, we'll figure out when to go, then you can book it."  He had given me a general budget to work with, which was a whole lot more than I'd ever considered spending on a trip in my life.  I had quickly found that there were very cheap all-inclusive resorts, and really, really ridiculously expensive ones.  I was shooting for one in the middle where we could get an upgraded room without going over the budget.  I also had to find a resort that still had rooms available mere weeks in advance.

Our chatting tapered off and we shifted onto our sides and got comfortable again.  Brody kissed my shoulder lightly and said goodnight, and I drifted off to sleep.

Brody was already out of bed when my alarm went off in the morning.  I assumed he had left, and I showered and got ready quickly.  When I walked downstairs, I saw Brody in the kitchen and smelled breakfast.  "It doesn't suck to have a boyfriend that's a morning person," I said with a grin.

"Good morning to you, too," he said, kissing me and handing me a plate with eggs, sausage, and toast.

"Thank you," I said, kissing him a second time.

"Won't miss PDA bright and early in the morning," Lauren grumbled, coming down the stairs.  Brody handed her a plate and she quickly changed her tune.  "On second thought, maybe you could stay?  Liv can go, she doesn't make me breakfast."

"I'll remember that the next time I'm making dinner," I retorted.

"You ladies have a great day," Brody said.  "I need to get going."  He made his escape, leaving Lauren and I alone to our non-morning-people sleepy breakfast eating.

"I wish Alex made breakfast," Lauren griped.  She's even less of a morning person than I am.

"Doesn't he ever?" I asked.

She snorted.  "Sometimes, but never on a weekday."

"Well, at least he's usually home in time for dinner?" I suggested.

"Good point."

We finished our breakfasts and I put both plates in the dishwasher then went our separate ways to work.  I had a busy day with lots of clients, but it went quickly.  I was happy to get a text from Lauren that she was spending the night at Alex's.  Brody was planning on spending the night at home, and I was too.  As much as I loved both Lauren and Brody, I was excited for some alone time.  It had been awhile.

When I got home, I made myself dinner then decided to spend an hour or so packing up some stuff.  I'd had my books and some various other things in the second bedroom, so those were already packed, because I had shoved them in boxes to get them out of Lauren's way.  I focused on packing some other things that were not essential to my life for the next few weeks, like DVDs and decorative things.  I made a pretty good dent in it before calling it quits for the night.

Later, as I got ready for bed, I felt a little nervous about being in my house by myself.  I rolled my eyes at myself.  Clearly I'd been spending too much time around Brody.  But I hadn't spent a night by myself in awhile, and I still wasn't sure what Cassie was up to.  I pushed the thought out of my head and climbed into bed.

At first, the bed felt too big.  But then I shifted and stretched out and quickly began to enjoy the extra room.  I fell asleep a lot more easily than I thought I would.

I woke with a start, shivering and drenched in sweat, several hours later.  I sat up in bed and tried to slow my breathing.  "Fuck," I whispered, throwing the blankets off and getting up to go into the bathroom.

I splashed some cool water on my face while I reflected that it had been quite awhile since my last nightmare about Jordan.  But tonight, my subconscious had taken advantage of my slight anxiety about being home alone and Cassie's recent antics.

On my way back to my bed, I picked up my Kindle and settled into bed.  My mind was still racing and I knew I wouldn't fall back asleep if I tried.  I read for about 20 minutes before my brain quieted down and my eyelids got heavy again.  I set my Kindle aside and got comfortable.  I was nearly asleep when I heard someone banging heavily on my front door.

Change of Plans

Brody let me drive myself to work on Friday, but only after I assured him I had no plans to stop at my house.  Really, I didn't have any plans to do anything but go to work, then go back to Brody's house.  This week had worn me out, and I had to work on Saturday.  So I went to work, worked, and went back to Brody's house, just like I'd planned.

I knew Brody would be at work late, so I made myself a quick dinner and then settled on the couch.  I'd just gotten into the book I was reading when my phone rang.  I was surprised to see it was James.  I was a little nervous about him calling, but decided to answer.  "Hello?"

"Liv, hi," he answered.  He didn't waste time on pleasantries, and said, "What's going on with Cassie?"

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied, confused.  "You probably know more than I do."

"All I know is that she said what she said to you last Saturday, then Brody fired her this week, and I haven't talked to her since--"

"Whoa, hold on!" I interrupted.  "Brody most certainly did not not fire her.  She quit."

James was quiet for several seconds and then said, "Well, that's not what she told me."

"Then she lied to you," I said bluntly.

James chuckled.  "That honestly wouldn't surprise me."  That wasn't the response I was expecting, and I didn't reply.  James continued, "Have you talked to her?"

I told him about our conversation on Monday, then our brief exchange on Wednesday.  Then he asked, "So what kind of information do you think she has?"

I snorted derisively.  Frankly, this whole situation was starting to seriously annoy me.  "You tell me, Mr. PI."

"Liv, I don't know anything.  I'm actually a little insulted because I'm pretty sure you're insinuating that I've been out trying to dig up dirt on your boyfriend.  Brody doesn't strike me as the shady business type, but on the off chance he was, I wouldn't want that on my hands.  This has nothing to do with me and I'm staying out of it.  I'm just worried about Cassie."

"I don't know what to tell you," I said, my tone softer now.   "All I know is that this whole thing is irritating the shit out of me."

"I don't blame you," James replied.

I paused, then said, "So you don't know anything about where she's getting this?"  I don't know why I asked.  I didn't quite believe that he'd tell me if he did know something.  He had a lot more reason to be loyal to Cassie than to me.  And I didn't believe for a second that Brody was up to anything he shouldn't be...but I also didn't believe that Cassie was completely crazy.

"Sorry, Liv.  I really don't know anything.  I'm just as confused as you are."

I sighed, then said, "Want me to let you know if I hear from her?"

"Could you?"

"Definitely."  He thanked me and we hung up.  I wished I hadn't answered.  I had managed to pretend that none of this craziness had happened for most of the day, and now I was frustrated all over again.  I picked up my book and managed to distract myself again.

I must have distracted myself exceptionally well, because I woke up to Brody crouched next to the couch, kissing me softly on the cheek.  I didn't remember falling asleep (though who does?) and was a little disoriented.  "It's not that late," he teased me gently.

"What time is it?" I croaked.

"9:30," he replied.  I stretched and sat up, blinking sleepily at him.  He laughed and sat down in the spot that my upper body had recently vacated, and I promptly laid back down, resting my head in his lap.  "Sorry I'm so late," he said, running his fingers through my hair and lightly scratching my scalp.  "I called to let you know, but you didn't answer."

"My phone is...somewhere around here."  I shifted and shoved my hand underneath my body, finally fishing it out.  I saw one missed call, one voicemail, and two texts from Brody.  "Sorry," I said sheepishly.

"It's okay," he said, laughing.  "I just wanted to let you know I'd be late and the texts are asking if you wanted me to pick anything up while I was in town still."

"How was your day, besides long?" I asked, struggling to stay awake long enough to at least have a short conversation with him.

I felt him shrug, then he said, "It was fine.  I promoted one of Cassie's former assistants into her role and got that position posted.  Pete found an auditor and he's coming next week.  I turned down two new clients because I can't take any more right now.  The usual."  I reached for his hand, which was still playing with my hair and massaging my scalp, and linked my fingers with his.  He squeezed gently and we sat in silence for a couple minutes until I yawned.

"I need to go to bed," I groaned.

Brody chuckled.  "Clearly.  I'm not quite ready yet, but I'll come up with you.  I need to change."  I sat up and stretched, then stood and followed Brody up the stairs.   I washed my face and brushed my teeth and got into bed, yawning the whole time.  I was surprised when Brody climbed into bed and snuggled up behind me.  I shifted to press my back to his chest and entwined my fingers with his when he slid an arm around me.

"I thought you weren't ready for bed," I said.

"I'm not," he replied.  "I just want to lay with you for a couple minutes, then I'm going to get up.  I'm going into the office tomorrow, do you want to ride into town together?"

"Do I have a choice?" I joked.  I could practically feel Brody rolling his eyes.  "Yeah, it would be dumb for us both to drive if we're going in at the same time, then looking at houses after."

"That's what I was thinking," he replied.  After cuddling for a few minutes, he got up, kissed me, and headed downstairs.  I fell asleep right away and didn't even wake up when he got back in bed later.

Saturday morning I drove us both into town and dropped Brody off at work before heading to work myself.  The day was uneventful, and when I was done, I picked Brody up and we went to look at houses.

We looked at 5 more houses, and none of them were the one.  Elena made a couple phone calls and then took us to see one more, one that she promised we'd love.  It was a great house; we couldn't find anything to complain about.  But I just wasn't excited about it, and I could tell Brody wasn't either.  Elena looked confused and a little frustrated, but said she'd try to set up some more showings for us in the coming week.  We thanked her and got in my car.

We were quiet the first half of the drive back.  Finally, Brody said, "What didn't you like about the last one?"

"I liked it.  But it just didn't feel like our house.  That sounds stupid, but it's true.  What didn't you like?"

He chuckled.  "I liked it too.  But not as much as I like my house now."

I nodded in agreement.  I was quiet for several seconds and then said, "You know, maybe we should just stay in your house."

"We'll find something sooner or later," he replied.

"I'm sure we will," I agreed.  "But I love your house, and you love your house, and this is already not fun anymore.  And you've got enough going on.  Plus, every time I try to think about how I want to do payments and the title, I just get completely overwhelmed.  I don't want to do this right now.  I want to move into your house."

Brody didn't say anything at first, and I could feel him watching me.  I glanced at him quickly, and he said, "Are you sure?  Or are you just saying that because you're frustrated?"

"I'm not frustrated," I protested.  "Looking at other houses made me realize how much I really love yours.  And with everything that's been going on, I don't feel like adding the stress of house hunting and moving is a good plan.  I think it makes more sense for me to move in with you for now.  Maybe further down the road we can look again, and find something new, together."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his lips twitch into a smile.  "If that's what you want, then that's what we'll do," he said. 

I grinned back and said, "That's what I want." 

I pulled into Brody's driveway and parked as he said, "Well, I'll let Elena know.  And I guess I'll need to make room for your car in the garage, huh?"

"That would be nice," I said with a laugh. 

As we walked inside, Brody flipped on the flight and turned to me with a smile.  "Welcome home," he said.

I snorted.  "You are so lame," I replied, but I couldn't help smiling back at him. 

"I'm hurt," he said dramatically, pretending to be offended, while he pulled me close to him.  He kissed me hard, pulling my hips against his before sliding his fingers underneath my shirt and brushing the tips across the bare skin of my back.  I shivered.  "Was that lame?" he asked, pulling away just enough to look down at me, one eyebrow cocked.

"Only a little bit lame," I teased.

His other eyebrow joined his first, then he kissed me again.  This time his fingers skated up my back to my bra, which he easily unhooked.  One hand stayed on my back, trailing lightly up and down my spine, while he brushed the tips of the other hand's fingers lightly across my breasts.  When he rolled one nipple between his thumb and forefinger, I moaned into our kiss.  Then he pulled away again.  "How about that?  Still lame?"  I shook my head breathlessly.  "Are you sure?  Because I can do better."  He didn't give me a chance to respond, and kissed me again, backing me up towards the wall. 

His hand on my back kept me from hitting the wall, then he moved it away and pressed me firmly back against the wall.  His hands went for my pants, unbuttoning and unzipping them with ease, then pushing them down my legs.  He crouched down and tugged them away while I stepped out of them, then nudged my feet apart with his knee.  He hooked his thumb under my underwear and pulled it to the side, and I gasped and grabbed his hair when his tongue touched me.  His other hand held my hips steady against the wall, which helped my shaking legs support my weight.  After I came, one hand gripping his hair tightly and the other on his shoulder, he stood, quickly got rid of his pants, and in one smooth motion lifted me and thrust into me.  I cried out as he pinned me between the wall and his body, grinding his hips into mine. 

I came again within minutes, and he followed shortly after me.  He kept me pinned to the wall for about 30 seconds while we both caught our breath, then he carefully lowered me back to the floor and made sure I was steady before letting go and taking a step away.  "Dinner?" he asked, grabbing his pants and pulling them on.

I leaned against the wall and just stared at him.  "Uhhh...yeah," I responded dazedly.  Brody grinned and kissed me, then bent down and grabbed my pants.  He handed them to me then disappeared into the kitchen.  Guess he showed me.

Once I had composed myself and pulled my pants back on, I followed Brody into the kitchen.  We made dinner together then sat down to eat.  "So when you do think you want to get moved in?" Brody asked. 

"I don't know, I guess I'll just start packing and moving some stuff over as I do it.  I don't know what I'm going to do with my furniture, it's practically brand new."

Brody nodded and said, "I've been wanting some new stuff for awhile; this all came from Miami with me.  I was thinking we could get rid of most of my stuff, move your stuff in, and then get a few new things together too.  Maybe it will feel a little more like 'our' place then, too.  What do you think?"

I pondered this.  My couch and chairs would work well in his living room, but it was a much bigger space than mine, so we'd definitely need a few more pieces to fill out the space better.  I also loved the idea of merging his house with my furniture and a few things we picked out together, and I was happy that he was trying to think of ways to help me feel like this was my home too.  "I like that idea," I agreed.  "But I do like your bed better than mine, so let's keep that."  Brody agreed, and after we finished eating we made a list of some things we wanted to look for once we got my stuff moved in.

I was surprised to find myself getting excited about this.  It helped confirm that I was making the right choice.  Later, as we were laying in bed, Brody said, "I didn't expect you to be moving in by spring, but I'm really happy you are.  I can't wait for this to be every night." 

"Me neither," I agreed.  "Lauren's worried we'll become hermits."

"It will be tempting to stay in with you every night, but I think we'll actually go out more, since we'll get to see each other more.  Plus, I'm still really hoping that things will settle down soon at work and I'll have more time in general."

"I hope so too," I said. 

He tightened his arm around me and said, "So now that we're not house hunting, how about that vacation we were going to go on?  I don't want to set anything in stone until I see how things are going to shake out at work, but I'm thinking somewhere that we can turn our phones off and lay on the beach and relax."

"That sounds awesome," I said excitedly.  "Why don't you let me plan?  I won't book anything until you let me know when you want to go, and you can just relax and let me figure everything out."

"I love idea," he said, tightening his arm around me.  "I'd love to be able to go by the end of the month, but I'll have a better idea after the auditor does his thing this week." 

"Sounds good, I'll start doing some research tomorrow."  The wheels were already turning in my head, and I was bound and determined to make this an amazing trip for both of us. 

House Hunting

I actually briefly considered backing out of my driveway and just leaving.  I could come home in the morning and get ready for work.  But then I realized that would be silly, so I parked the car and got out.  Cassie stood about 5 feet away, waiting for me.

"Liv, we need to talk," she said, once I had shut my car door.

"I don't really think we do," I replied, shifting to step around her.

She put a hand on my arm, but pulled it away quickly when I glared at her.  "Please," she said softly.  "I think you'll want to hear what I have to say."

"Does it include an apology?" I snapped, starting to walk towards my front door.

"Yes," she replied, trailing behind me.

"Then I'm listening."  I stopped in front of my front door and turned towards her.

She looked at me curiously.  "Can we go inside?"

"No.  You can say whatever it is you need to say, and then we can both move on with our evenings."

She sighed.  "Fine.  I'm really sorry that everything went down the way it did."  I cocked an eyebrow at her.  So far, this was shaping up to be a piss poor apology.  "You weren't supposed to find out that way."

"Find what out that way?" I interjected.  "I didn't find anything out."

She shook her head sadly.  "You weren't supposed to find out about what Brody was doing until I had the proof.  He has you completely fooled.  He has everyone fooled.  I'm actually really impressed...but he truly is doing shady shit.  I'm sorry you found out like this, but better from me than from the FBI, right?"

I gaped at her, then laughed and shook my head.  "Goodnight Cassie."  I turned and unlocked my front door, then slipped in and slammed it shut and locked it behind me.  "What a fucking lunatic," I muttered to myself.

I stomped up the stairs and gathered together clothes and makeup for the next day.  I was really starting to get excited about moving in with Brody.  We'd been spending so many nights together lately, and this back and forth and packing shit was getting old.

I peeked out my front window before I left, but Cassie was nowhere to be found.  I sighed in relief, because I didn't really feel like being accosted by her again, and left.

I made it to Brody's house without further incident.  I quickly filled him in on what happened.  "Maybe you should stay out here for a few days, and Lauren should stay with Alex," he said when I finished.

I made a face.  "I don't think she's going to do anything.  She's not legitimately crazy, she's just got some wild hair up her ass about this."

"Even so, I'd feel better if you called Lauren and let her know, and if you stayed here for a few nights," he replied stubbornly.   "I'll take you home to get some stuff tomorrow after we look at those houses, and you can come back here and stay through the weekend.  Please?"

"Fine," I grumbled.  "But only because you said please."  I pulled out my phone and called Lauren, and Brody took his out too, presumably to freak Alex out by taking this all way too seriously.  I filled Lauren in and she agreed that Brody was overreacting, but then said that Brody had just texted Alex about it and now Alex was also insisting that she stay with him for a few nights.  We commiserated passive-aggressively about our overprotective boyfriends for a bit, then hung up. 

I refused to talk about the subject for the rest of the night, and Brody obliged me.  I wasn't trying to be a brat, I just didn't think it was a big of a concern as Brody seemed to be worried about.  By this point it was getting fairly late, and we ended up going to bed not long after I got there anyway.

By now we had our morning routine fairly well choreographed.  I got up and showered first, then Brody showered while I got dressed and dried my hair.  He went downstairs and made coffee and breakfast while I put my makeup on (and I admit that this is my favorite part of spending the night with him.  There's nothing quite as awesome as having breakfast made for you before going to work), then we ate together and left.  Some mornings he had to be to work earlier than me and he had mastered getting ready quietly--sometimess I didn't even wake up until my alarm went off.

He'd been going in early most of this week, so I was expecting him to already be gone by the time I got up on Thursday morning, but he rolled over and groaned when my alarm went off.  "Good morning, beautiful," he said his voice raspy from sleep.

"Good morning," I replied.  "I thought you'd be gone already."

"I thought we could ride in together," he said casually, rolling over again and stretching.

"So Crazy Cassie doesn't get me?" I asked, rolling my eyes and hauling myself out of bed.

"Something like that," he replied.  I shook my head and headed for the bathroom to shower.

When we were eating breakfast, I said, "You know, I could just drive myself into town, and then I could stop at home and get my stuff, then meet you for our appointment with Elena.  Then you don't have to schlep me all over the place."

"I don't mind," he responded.  "I like riding into town with you in the morning."

"Why don't you just say that you'd rather keep a close eye on me to protect me from Cassie?" I asked.

Brody sighed.  "Yes, Liv.  I'm being overprotective.  It's annoying the shit out of you.  I get that.  This situation is a little weird and it's got my hackles up.  I'm sure you're right and I'm overreacting, but the last time I wanted to try to protect you and you didn't let me, you got in a car accident and you could have been seriously injured.  I haven't quite recovered from it, so give me this one, please?"

"Okay," I conceded, finishing the last bite of my toast.  "If it means that much to you, you can drive."

"Thank you," Brody said.

I grabbed our plates and put them in the dishwasher, then finished my coffee.  "Ready?" I asked.  Brody said he was, and we headed out.


You'll all be relieved to know that Cassie didn't show up at my job.  She also wasn't waiting at my house when Brody and I stopped there so I could get clothes for the next few days.  I bit back the bratty impulse to say "told ya so"--I'm clearly maturing.

I was excited to go look at houses, and it helped me forget about my irritation at being chauffeured around the city by my overprotective boyfriend.  We met Elena at the first house, and as we pulled up, Brody frowned.  "Needs a new roof," he said, squinting up at it.  Probably not a good sign if we haven't even parked the car and are already seeing a problem.

Elena got out of her car at the curb and greeted us cheerfully.  "So this one clearly needs a new roof," she said, once we got greetings out of the way. 

"I just said that to Liv," Brody replied.  "It really does."  

Elena nodded and then said, "Also, just so you know, the listing agent is here."  That meant little to me but Brody cocked an eyebrow at her, then shrugged.  Elena led us inside and introduced us to the listing agent.  I soon realized what Brody's face was about.  The listing agent followed us around and didn't give us much space to actually look at the house.  Any time we asked Elena a question, the listing agent jumped in with a rehearsed and insincere sounding answer.  I'm reasonably sure Brody and Elena were both ready to strangle him.

We didn't spend much time there.  On top of the roof needing work, neither of us cared much for the layout.  We followed Elena to the next house, which I liked a lot from the outside and was excited to see the inside.

Elena let us into the house with keys from a lockbox.  I loved the entry way and living room.  When we walked into the kitchen, Brody made a face.  "How old are the appliances?" he asked.

Elena looked down at her notes and then said, "Dishwasher was replaced last year, dryer the year before.  Everything else is original to the house.  House was built in 2002."

"So we'd be replacing everything within a year or two," he responded.  "Hmmm."

As we continued through, I pointed out a spot where the baseboard was pulling away from the wall, and then we quickly found some indicators of poor workmanship on the house.  We left this house a little disappointed because we had liked it otherwise.

"Well, we have three to look at on Saturday," Elena said optimistically.  "These were just the first two."

We said goodbye and got in Brody's SUV. My irritation at him for insisting on driving me into town today had faded, and I was just ready to go back to his house and relax for the evening.  "Should we cook or pick something up?" he asked as he drove away from the house we'd just looked at.

"Pick something up," I replied immediately.

"Good choice," he agreed.  We stopped and grabbed some takeout and then continued on to Brody's house.  His worry about the Cassie situation now had me a little nervous as well, and I was relieved to see everything the way we left it, no Cassie to be found, when we got to Brody's house. 

After we ate, Brody said he had a little work to finish up.  I cleaned up the kitchen a little, washing the dishes from that morning and sweeping, then grabbed my Kindle and laid on the couch to read for a little bit.  Brody emerged from his office about an hour later.  He moved my feet, sat, then set my feet down in his lap.  He began massaging one of my feet and said, "What did you think about the houses today?"

"I liked the second one, but didn't like that it didn't seem made very well.  But I really liked that it had a fireplace and I thought the master bedroom and bathroom were perfect for us.  I really liked the kitchen too.  The first one sucked."

"I agree," he replied, picking up my other foot.  "I just want to make sure to give Elena some detailed feedback so she knows what to look for."

"I know it was just the first two," I said, "but I'm really hoping that we have a little better luck on Saturday.  It's a little discouraging to see two disappointing houses right away."

"Yeah," he agreed.  "I'm biased, because this house was the third one I looked at, and I know that's not normal, so I'm trying to remind myself that it's not likely to be that easy this time around.  We'll find something though."  He grinned at me and slid his hands up my calves as he shifted on the couch and moved up to kiss me.  "Let's forget about that for now."

"Hmm, okay.  What would you like to do instead?" I asked, teasingly.

He kissed my cheek.  "I have a couple potential things in mind."  He kissed my other cheek.  "I could go back to doing work."  He kissed my lips.  "And you could go back to reading."  I could feel his breath on my jaw as he moved so he could press his lips to my neck.  He started at the base of my neck and kissed his way all the way to my ear.  He tugged on my earlobe with his teeth and then said softly, "Or we could go upstairs..."

That was an easy choice.