25. Cleo

25

CLEO

Waking up next to my ex wasn't on my bingo card. But when my eyes peeled open and saw Cat's gentle, sleeping face, it all made sense. Laying on her back, I rested my head against her chest all night.

My nerves wouldn't let me fall asleep as the morning sun streamed into my bedroom, a slight orange hue to the light as it passed through the changing leaves.

Delicately, I lifted my head off of the warm skin and peeled myself out of the bed. Our clothes were strewn across the floor from the night before. I grabbed mine and tossed them into the hamper before grabbing a fresh pair of panties from the drawer.

Looking over the selection, I was tempted to pick a simple pair of boxers – hoping it would stop me from caving to Cat's temptation again. But I knew it was naive. So instead, I took out a g-string and pulled it up my legs and over my ass.

Despite the morning being chilly, my apartment was too warm to wear any pants. So I settled for a loose t-shirt that just barely covered my ass.

Before I left the bedroom, I stopped in the doorway and watched Cat sleep for a moment. Taking it in, I realized it was a sight I'd accepted that I'd never see again. But I was wrong. Here she was, small breaths leaving her lungs as she slept.

I still remembered the last morning we spent together before I broke everything off. Standing at the threshold, I tried to take her in the same way. I tried to memorize every little hair on her head, every sound of her sleeping form.

Just in case.

Shaking the thought, I walked to the living room where Finn was already on the counter begging for food.

I started a pot of coffee before getting out the can of cat food and dishing it for my sweet tabby. "Good boy," I gave him a few pets before setting the wide bowl on the ground.

With coffee in hand, I headed to my desk. If I knew anything about Catherine Collins, it was that she didn't make threats lightly. So I didn't have much of a choice but to start writing… something… anything.

I threw open my laptop to a few texts from Bri.

Where did she take you?

How did it go?

Did she murder you?

K, checked your location and your home. Gonna assume your phone died or something. But text me in the morning.

They spanned nearly six hours. Oops. Bringing my fingers to the keyboard, I wrote out a brief response.

I'm alive, just a late night. Lots to talk about later. But wondering if the league would be down for Cat to come play in a game or two?

I sent the text without much more thought. At some point, Cat needed to get back on a field with real players. And the women in the rec league had a variety of experiences. Some of them had even gone pro like Cat.

Checking the clock, I knew it was unlikely that I'd hear from Bri for a few hours. I opened a new document on my laptop and stared at the blank page.

Groaning, I sighed. This was silly. I hadn't plotted a single word. Hell, all I really had was a vague idea. What good was that?

If I don't write, Cat won't practice. Then she'll be stuck here. A part of my brain didn't hate that idea, not after the night we'd had. But I knew she was still here on a mission: get back to the pro league.

One night with me was not going to change that. And I needed to make sure I was being honest about that. Otherwise, my heart might get ripped through the shredder… again.

I hovered my fingers over the keyboard, waiting for the words to come to my mind. After a deep breath, my skin met the plastic of my keys. Like a starting gun fired, I typed like a mad person.

Interrupting my first paragraph, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Bri:

YES. I need to grill her. Saturday? Also… what happened last night?! Need a debrief.

A blush rose in my cheeks at the thought of explaining what happened between Cat and me. But before I could get too in my head about it, the floorboards creaked near the kitchen.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." Cat smiled, her eyes heavy with sleep. Walking closer, she wrapped her arms around my neck. Her eyes widened when she saw my laptop. "You actually took me seriously?"

I shrugged. "For now. You didn't say how much I had to write."

Rolling her eyes, Cat kissed my cheek. "I won't bother you." She walked away toward the kitchen and found herself some coffee.

Trying not to get distracted by her gorgeous body in the slightly buttoned dress shirt from the night before, I turned back to my laptop. This was dangerous. Cat already had my heart back in her palm and I had no idea what she planned to do with it this time.