Chapter 19

CHAPTER19

“Perfect,” Cayley said with a satisfied sigh as she took in the files, notebooks, and snacks that she’d placed on the coffee table to ensure that her day was productive and-

She really didn’t want to have to work from home, Cayley thought, feeling her shoulders slump in defeat as she reached over and grabbed the file on top, deciding that she should just get it over with. At least she could work in comfort, Cayley told herself, biting back a sigh as she grabbed a fresh notebook and a pen and set to work as she thought about all the perks of working from home.

She was able to work in her pajamas, enjoy a leisurely breakfast while working with a movie playing in the background, and…she really wanted to go to work today, but this was the next item on her list to prove the big jerk face that was pissed at her, wrong. She could do this, Cayley told herself, following that up with a firm nod as she reached over and grabbed the cold PopTart that she’d been forced to settle for because she had no idea where her toaster was. She should probably unpack, Cayley thought, absently nodding as she took in the boxes that she’d moved out of the way to make room for her Christmas tree.

Two days and she could go back to the office, Cayley reminded herself as she focused on the file on her lap and went through it, making notes on the notepad, and wrote down questions that she had even as she debated calling someone for help. It surprised her that the first person she thought about calling was Bryce. She never would have even considered calling him for something like this before and-

God, that man could snuggle.

It felt so good being in his arms last night. She loved the way that he held her, loved waking up to find him gently caressing her back as he held her. She hated leaving him this morning. She never had that problem with Kevin. Those few times that he’d actually held her had been nice, but he’d never made her feel the way that Bryce did last night. Bryce made her feel like he never wanted to let her go.

She should definitely call him.

Deciding that was a good idea, Cayley reached for the phone only to end up worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she told herself that this was a good idea. It was his project, she told herself, only to sigh as she scrolled to Sean’s number and-

Wondered why the man that she shouldn’t be thinking about was walking into her apartment carrying bags from her aunt’s bakery.

“Sorry I’m late,” Bryce said, dropping the bags on the coffee table as he sat down next to her and pulled a coffee out of the bag and handed it to her before grabbing one for himself. “What did I miss?”

“Many things,” Cayley mumbled, unable to help but frown when he reached over and grabbed the notepad off her lap, which was followed by a nod and him stealing the pen out of her hand to make notes of his own. “What are you doing here?” Cayley asked, taking a sip of her much-needed coffee.

“We’re supposed to be working on the Dawson Project together,” Bryce said as he went over her notes.

“I was going to make you a copy of my notes.”

“And while I appreciate that, it would probably save a lot of time if we did it this way instead of playing email tag,” Bryce murmured absently as he paused in what he was doing to search through the files on the couch between them.

She opened her mouth to argue, but he was right. It would go faster if he was here, Cayley thought as she took one last sip of her coffee and put it down and got back to work. They worked quietly for the next ten hours. When she had a question, Bryce would stop what he was doing to explain it to her, taking his time to make sure that she understood why they had to do something a certain way. That would be followed by helping him work out the details for this project, figuring out where he should start and what needed to be done to get there.

They made sandwiches for lunch and ordered pizza for dinner, and when it was finally time to call it a night, Bryce dropped his notebook on the coffee table, absently murmured goodnight around a yawn and headed for the door while she sat there thinking about how much she liked being around him. The silence never got awkward and she had to wonder if that was because they grew up together, but she knew that wasn’t it.

She loved Sean even though he was like the annoying brother that she never asked for and desperately wanted to beat the shit out of and could happily spend all day with him, but at some point, she always found herself debating grabbing whatever was within reach and beating the shit out of the annoying bastard. With Bryce, it had been so easy, so comfortable, and just…she couldn’t explain it, but it was something that she’d never felt around anyone before.

He always made her feel safe. It was the one thing that let her know that everything would be okay when she was little and her father had to work all the time. No matter how scared she was that her father was going to suddenly go away like her mother did, Bryce was there.

He was always there.

Bryce made her feel safe even when he was glaring at her, and God, did that man love to glare, Cayley thought as she decided to call it a night and headed to her bathroom and found herself wondering why she never felt this way about Kevin. When she was with Kevin, it had always been pleasant and easy, but…

It never made her feel like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

She found herself thinking about how much she liked sleeping in Bryce’s arms, how good it felt when he touched her, and how much she wanted to-

Not happening.

This was not a good idea, Cayley told herself before her mind could go where it definitely had no business going. It was a very bad idea. One that she wasn’t even going to consider because it wasn’t happening. The first time she slept in his bed, it was to get away from the annoying bastard that had been unusually quiet today, and last night, she only slept in his room because-

She wanted to, Cayley admitted to herself even as she told herself that was the end of it. She wasn’t sleeping in his bed again. She wasn’t. That was it. She was not going to do something incredibly stupid like crawl back into Bryce’s bed. She wasn’t because she didn’t need to. She was fine where she was and didn’t need him. She-

Wanted to go crawl back in his bed, Cayley thought with a grumble as she pulled off her clothes and took a quick shower. Crawling back into his bed wasn’t an option, especially since the last thing that she needed was for Bryce to think that she was obsessed with him. She wasn’t, but she’d be lying if she said that she didn’t like being around him, like the way that he touched her, and-

“What the hell am I doing?” Cayley found herself wondering as she shook her head in disgust.

There was something seriously wrong with her if she was thinking about Bryce James this much, Cayley decided as she forced herself to focus on getting ready for bed. Grumbling to herself, she rubbed lotion on her skin in a half-assed attempt at a skincare routine, pulled on a light green cotton camisole and matching panties and reluctantly left the bathroom, resigning herself to sleeping alone.

For a moment, Cayley considered crashing on the couch and starting a Harry Potter marathon, but she knew that would only lead to her coming up with an excuse to make her way across the hallway and crawl into Bryce’s bed. Wondering when she became this pathetic, she walked into her bedroom and-

“Did you miss me?” the annoying bastard asked from the comfort of her bed, where he was devouring a bag of chips.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Cayley found herself asking.

“Because you need me,” Sean said, nodding solemnly.

“I really don’t, though,” Cayley said, biting back a sigh as she gestured for him to get off her bed.

“Why are you lying to yourself?” Sean asked, settling more comfortably on her bed.

“Why are you leaving me with no choice but to kill you in your sleep?” Cayley asked, once again gesturing for him to get the hell out.

“I like to challenge people,” Sean said, nodding solemnly, “It’s my thing.”

“Please leave,” she said, praying that he took pity on her tonight.

“I will,” Sean promised her before adding, “just as soon as you tell me what I want to know.”

“It’s late. Can’t this wait until tomorrow?”

“Are you coming to work tomorrow?” Sean asked, blinking at her.

“I’m working from home again,” Cayley said even as she couldn’t help but wonder if the man that she really shouldn’t be thinking about was going to join her again and-

She really needed to stop thinking about Bryce.

“Then, no, it can’t wait,” Sean murmured, looking thoughtful as he took his time selecting his next chip.

“Sean,” Cayley said, slowly exhaling as she reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on as she struggled against the urge to grab one of the pillows he had shoved behind him and beat the shit out of him, “please don’t make me kill you.”

“Why must you fight your feelings for me?” Sean asked with a heartfelt sigh as she dropped her hand away and-

“Wait. What are you doing?” Sean asked, watching curiously as Bryce, who looked seriously pissed off for some reason, walked into her room wearing a pair of gray cotton boxershorts and grabbed Sean, who released a pained grunt when Bryce yanked him off the bed and onto the floor and then proceeded to drag him into the hallway while he glared at her the entire time.

Not really sure what that was about, Cayley stood there watching as Bryce shoved Sean into the hallway, closed the door and locked it before turning off the light and-

Oh, God, she was about to die, Cayley realized as she stood there, trying to think of the best way to apologize for whatever finally made him snap, only to frown when she found herself picked up and gently laid down on her bed seconds before Bryce crawled in behind her and pulled her into his arms. Admittedly confused, she lay there for a moment, trying to figure out what just happened, only to decide to just go with it when he pulled her closer and pressed a kiss against the back of her neck.

“You were taking too long,” Bryce murmured with another one of those kisses that she had to admit that she liked and-

“This isn’t over!” came the announcement that had her biting back a sigh as she resigned herself to what she knew was coming.