Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Kat

By the time Whit is back, I'm back in my own clothes - his jersey in his room neatly folded and on his bed - and my face is scrubbed clean of all the crap I had to wear for the wedding. Let's hope the marriage lasts longer than my fake nails. I lost two during the wedding dinner and a few more trying to get myself into the apartment last night. I could count on one hand how many are left -three, only three of them are still on.

I'm not really surprised when both men come back. They seemed like they were…close. Not that I would know what that looks like between guys, but I just got that sense because of how me and Bea act with one another. Or maybe Whit is gay and this is his guy.

In the first couple of minutes of being back, Spade clears that right up for me. Not gay. Definitely not gay.

"So, you and Whit didn't hook up last night." My eyes go wide, and I look over at Whit standing over the stove. He's shooting eye lasers that could kill his friend. "Whit told me so no need to think I think anything happened. He also made it very clear you were off the dating list but…you got any friends that might need a good man to come sweep them off their feet for an hour or two."

Before I can think about what I am saying the words are out of my mouth, "Just an hour or two? That's a little quick, isn't it?"

He throws his head back and laughs deep and long as he throws his arm over my shoulder and pulls me over to the island. "She's alright. We'll keep her and raise her just like she was our very own."

I can't help but give him a smile. I like him. He's easy to talk to and doesn't expect anything from anyone. Whit has good taste in friends.

Breakfast is easy and I find myself relaxing around the two men as they joke back and forth and include me in all the conversations and witty remarks. It takes me a while to finally pull Whit away and ask the question that has been burning in my mind since I woke up this morning.

"How did I wake up in your jersey? With nothing on underneath."

"Okay, stay with me on this. I promise it's not as bad as you think it is." I give him a quick nod and wait, "You passed out on the couch and when I came out you looked…really fucking uncomfortable so I tried to take you into your room, but I couldn't fit us both through the damned door."

I roll my lips to keep from laughing. That would have been hilarious to see.

"I took you to mine and barely got both of us through there. When I did you kept trying to roll but you couldn't in all the…stuff."

"Tulle. Satin's satin. Demon garland. Yeah, it…"

This time it's his lips that are fighting back a smile.

"Yeah, well I thought maybe I could take it off or undo it at the very least. I figured you pretty much had to have something on underneath all that. Then I realized I had a real fucking issue, so I got the biggest shirt I owned and put it on over the corset thingy and then reached up and unhooked it…after studying how it opens for like ten minutes or more."

I smother a peal of laughter.

"I saw nothing, I promise." He holds up his hand and puts the other one over his heart like he is making a solid pledge.

"Well, in that case, thank you."

I lean forward and give him a little kiss on the cheek. It seems to surprise him, but he finally gives me a low ‘you're welcome'.

"What you kids over there whispering about?" Spade looks back at us and raises an eyebrow.

"Nothing man. Just trying to figure out what to eat for dinner." He looks at me with an exasperated look on his face, "He thinks with his stomach. He'll totally be distracted in about three seconds if someone mentions food."

I give Whit a little smile before testing out the theory for myself, "I'm thinking pizza…and I think we should make Spade pay."

"Spade has no money. He's broke." Spade talks about himself in third person cracking both me and Whit up.

"That's bullshit. I happen to know exactly how much you make since you work for me."

"He works for you? What…exactly do you do, Whit?"

"I own a construction company that works with retail stores and other public places. We built an addition onto the courthouse downtown last month."

"You're a construction worker?"

"No!" Spade is the one who answers. "He owns it and makes all the decisions, I do the books and talk business, and we have a team that actually does the construction part. Not that both of us couldn't put up a place if we needed to."

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be living in a trendy loft or something downtown?"

"He's waiting on the guys to break ground on his brand-new house."

"You know what?" He looks at Spade, "You have a big mouth."

The way he is acting about Spade telling me makes me wonder if he was ever going to tell me. Was he just going to ghost me one month and move out without telling me? When he looks at me, I give him a tight smile and try to brush off the negative feeling of betrayal and hurt. I have no right to feel hurt over him not telling me what he plans to do and as long as he pays and gives me a couple of months' notice so I can find another roommate -yet again- I shouldn't feel betrayed.

"It's not…I don't know how long it's going to take them to build the house and didn't want to stay in a hotel all that time."

"You don't have to explain."

I hate the way everything about him has soured a little and I'm left fighting this stupid feeling. I keep telling myself it's not a betrayal and I should know better than to get too close in the first place. It's a reminder I apparently need. I should be thankful it came now - just in time to stop myself from getting attached.