Page 74 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“Really, Dre. It’s okay. We can just drop it and move on.”

“I’m going to make it up to you, baby. Whatever it takes. And I’ll explain everything as soon as I see you. I feel like a new man, Perry.”

Hmm, okay. I was under the impression that he was slaving away all week at the gym. When exactly did he get the time to find himself?

“How’s tomorrow sound?” he asked. “Regg’ll be back, and I got the whole day, baby, just for you.”

“I promised Sam that I’d watch Emily tomorrow at my place. She’ll be over until late afternoon.” He made some grunting sound. “I know. How about you come over and help me babysit? Then when she leaves, we’ll have the rest of the night to ourselves.”

“Hmm. You know I’m not good with that shit, Perry. How about I just come over after?”

“Yeah, okay.” I sighed. Obviously, ‘whatever it takes’ didn’t apply when kids were involved.

“See you tomorrow, babe. Can’t wait.”

“Bye, Dre.”

I leaned back and let the sun heat my face. It was on the chilly side, but the clear skies made it bearable. After however long, I picked up my phone to check the time when a text came in from Christa.

Hey, girl! I’m leaving early so I’ll be able to pick you up from work. Movie tonight? Been missing my girltime xoxo.

For more time than was appropriate, I considered telling her not to pick me up. That I already had a lift.With Stephen. If I was getting my car back this weekend, this would’ve been our last ride together, and that made me a little… depressed. I hadn’t even spent a full week with him, but I’d really enjoyed getting to know him better on our drives. We’d upheld our truce well.

Ugh.Fucking Band-Aid, Perry.Rip that fucker off and move on.

Sounds great! See you then. Miss you too xoxo.

I took one more bite of my sandwich before wrapping it up. I finished off the tea, getting ready to head back inside when I gotanother text.

Forgot to ask—is there another exit you can leave from? I’d rather not run into Adam again so soon.

I shook my head. Too bad it didn’t work out.

You don’t need to worry about it. I talked to him today and you’re both on the same page.

She didn’t text back, so I put my phone away and returned to the room, feeling slight satisfaction when I saw that Stephen was back in his office. But I guess that didn’t mean anything. A blowjob took, what, ten minutes max? As long as your goal wasn’t to prolong it, you could get that sucker spurting in no time with enough attention.

My mouth soured. I did not need to be thinking about someone else’s lips on my boss, and I absolutely, positively didn’t need to be thinking aboutmylips on my boss.

He glanced up and I realized I’d been zoning. I finally got my smile, though. I leaned in the doorway. “Can I talk to you a sec?”

“Of course.”

I came in, shutting the door behind me. It’d been a week since I’d been in his office bitching at him.Really? Only a week? Wow.

“Christa’s picking me up from work today, so I won’t need a ride home. It also looks like I’ll have my car back for Monday. And… I just wanted to say that I really appreciate you helping me out.” I smiled. “I’m pretty sure taxi service isn’t one of your listed duties here.”

His mouth remained flat. I wished I could read what was going on behind those blue eyes. As much as I’d acknowledged that I didn’t have the right many times over, part of me still wanted him to feel a bit of sadness because we’d no longer be together as often. I wanted him to feel something I had no business wanting. For him or myself.

“I thought I made it very clear that….” He paused, rubbing his jaw. “You’re welcome, Perry. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

“I will. Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

I stood, figuring I’d stayed long enough. All I’d planned to do was tell him I no longer needed rides. I was at the door when he called out.

“Perry.” I looked back. He didn’t speak right away. “Have a good weekend.”

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