Page 110 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“Really?”

I smiled. “Really. Now eat before it gets cold.”

We sat in silence for a bit while she ate and I drank. I knew she was saving up to get her own place, and she’d be leaving one of these days, but fuck if I wouldn’t miss her.

“Has Dre tried to contact you since that night?”

She looked up. “No, why?”

“I was just wondering. Do you think you’d ever go back with him?”

I had to admit, I felt better seeing that my question shocked her. “No. Doyouthink I would after what happened?”

“I’d hope not considering what he did to you, but you did say that your whole relationship in the past was based on breaking up and getting back together.”

“Totally different situations. I’m sure you can see that. Honestly, he probably did me a favor in the long run. I wanted to give him a fair chance, but over time I think we would’ve been too different to last long as a couple. I just wish I didn’t have to go through the pain in the short term.”

I should’ve kicked that fucker’s ass when I had the chance.“I’m sorry he hurt you, Perry.”

She shook her head. “I’m over him. Sure, he could’ve picked another girl to fuck, but it’s Christa I feel the most betrayed by. That’s the pain I’m trying to deal with.”

“If you’re over him, maybe that means you’re ready to date again.”

She laughed. “Dateagain? I never started.”

“You’ve never had a date?”

“Nope. Just a series of clusterfucks.” I finished my beer, deciding how to proceed when she said, “That night you fought with Dre? You know, Iwasdefending you. Not that I thought Matt should be talking shit about anyone, but I don’t know the others. All I could do was think of you, and how torn up you were about it. It made me go off on him because he doesn’t know you like I do.”

“I know, Perry. I was there. I heard everything. Thank you.” I smiled. She had a bit of sauce on her lip. “And it meant even more that you said it all when you didn’t even know I was listening.”

I knew I was falling in love with her before then, but that moment had cinched it for me. I’d seen her show her loyalty to others, but that was the first time she’d given it to me.

“You’re welcome,” she said softly, swirling a noodle around her plate.

“Hey, Perry?” She glanced up and I tossed a napkin at her. “You’ve got sauce on your lip.”Please remove it before I suck it off. Fuck, everything this woman did turned me on.

She wiped it away and pushed her remaining food aside. She’d almost polished off everything. Impressive.

“God, I’m stuffed. Do you know what I’m in the mood for now? Just kicking back on the couch and watching a movie. Wanna watch one with me?”

“Love to.”

The shriek had me bolting out of bed and running to her room.This time I was fully dressed. I’d been sitting in the family room for the past couple hours doing nothing but thinking since she’d gone up to bed.

“Perry?” She was standing at the side of the bed, whacking the hell out of a pillow. “What are you doing?”

“Ohmigod, Stephen.” She peeled up a corner of the sheet and peeked underneath. “There’s a spider in here.”

“A spider.” I covered my mouth to hide the grin. Then I noticed her nipples poking out of her tank top.

“Dammit, it’s not funny. It was one of those big ones that look like a tarantula.”

“Wolf spider?” Fuck, I was getting hard.

“Yes, that’s it. I was lying here and couldn’t sleep, and then I saw something crawling across the pillow. I jumped up and it scampered somewhere, and now I can’t frickin’ find it!” She peered under the bed.

I steeled myself and went over, knowing for a fact that I’d be beating off again later, that time with a new visual in mind. It was getting ridiculous. I checked her pillows and sheets. Nothing. When I finished, I noticed that she’d slipped another shirt on.

---