I’ve touched her legs before. She’s brushed my hair away from my face a dozen times. But none of those times ever made me feel harder than steel. If it did, it didn’t matter because Herc was always in the room.
“Fine. Awesome. I’m feeling so good,” I answer.
Cass looks me over skeptically. “Are you sure? You seem uncomfortable.”
I shake my head a little too vigorously. “Nah, I’m so, so, so good.”
She arches a perfect honey-colored eyebrow at me, stares at the ceiling, and sighs lazily. “What do you wanna do now?”
What do I want to do now? I want to tear off her pajamas and do terrible things to her. Scoundrel things, she might say.
“I…I really should study.”
“Hmm. Me too. Do you want to study together?”
Absolutely. Right after I pull you onto my dick, then slowly make out with your pussy in the shower. And then forget about studying because we’re going to do that all over again for a week straight. And then we’ll both promptly flunk out of school.
I reach over and cover her hand that rests on her tummy. She smiles and returns her gaze to me.
After pressing a soft kiss to the back of her hand, I tell her the truth. “Squeaks, I would love to study with you, but I’ll be too distracted after everything we talked about last night.”
“You mean how I’m your girlfriend now? Go on, say it,” she says with a teasing smile.
“Girlfriend” seems inadequate for what Cass means to me. What I feel for her is an ache that’s so down deep in the marrow of my bones that I might die if we are not physically connected at all times.
I nod. “Yeah. That.”
Her phone rings, and she grabs it and looks at the screen; all the sunshine leaves her face. I read the words on the screen, and it’s a call from the state penitentiary. With all of Dex Treadway’s properties, connections, and the nature of his alleged crimes, the judge has decided that he’s a flight risk. So until he pleads or the case goes to trial, he’s to spend that time behind bars, unfortunately. I know it wears on Cass to think about it. She answers, looking ashen and scared.
“Daddy?”
I slip out of bed and shower, giving father and daughter a private moment to talk.
When I return to her moments later, the conversation is finished, and Cass is back to her usual, bubbly self. Or seems to be.
“Do you want to talk about us some more?” Cass asks.
I sit down on the bed next to her. “Do you want to talk about the conversation with your dad?”
“Nope,” she answers, smiling bravely.
“Cass.”
“Not right now. You’ve been through enough, Titus.”
I try another tack. “Do you…want me to go with you to pay him a visit in jail?”
Her bright smile wavers. “I don’t want to talk about that right now.”
We hold each other’s gazes for a few long seconds, and I can see she won’t open up about this. Not yet.
And there’s the part of Cass that’s not ready for a relationship. And that’s fine, for now. We’ll take the physical stuff — and the emotional stuff — slowly, for now.
I hate myself for this, but it’s time for her to go before I tackle her on the bed again. “I do need to study.”
She nods slowly. “Oh. Okay. Is something wrong? Did I come on too strong?”
Too strong? She did almost nothing. I’m the one who grabs the boobs of sleeping women.