Page 6 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

Dre stopped short when he came to my doorway. He had a pissy expression, but I didn’t know if that was there before or if it had just happened because of Stu.

“What’s going on here?” Dre asked with a stone face.

I rolled my eyes. Like there was a problem catching me with Stu. “We’re just hanging out.”

Stu swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I need to get going anyway. I’m meeting the guys for practice.”

“You sure? Already?”

“Yeah.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “We’ll talk soon.”

“Okay. Have fun.”

“Will do.” Stu flashed me his award-winning smile. Man, the guy wasgorgeous. Damn. “Later, Dre.”

“Later.”

They barely gave each other a glance when Stu left the room. Dre came over and flopped down beside me on the bed. He appeared a little more relaxed now that it was just the two of us.

“He still banging around in that garage band? Isn’t he getting a little too old for that shit?”

“It makes him happy, Dre. And he’s crazy talented. He’s going to hit it big someday. Mark my words.”

“Whatever you say, baby.” He reached over and gave me a kiss.

I knew he wasn’t patronizing me, but it sure as hell felt like it. I got that they weren’t each other’s fans, and most of the time I let things go, but…. I shook my head. I was just annoyed for some reason. My lighthearted mood was gone.

His lips started trailing up and down my neck, but I wasn’t feeling it. He pulled back. “What’s the matter with you?”

“I don’t know. Still out of it, I guess.” That was at least partly the truth.

“Are you mad because I didn’t show last night? I’m really sorry about that. There was this discrepancy in a membership invoice that needed to be resolved before—”

“No, I understand those things happen. I’m not mad.” I just remembered that I’d checked my phone when I got home, and there hadn’t been a message from him. “Although, it would’ve been nice if you’d called. Or at least sent a quick text.”

“I know, baby. Sorry about that too. By the time I realized how late it was, I didn’t want to bother you. I thought you’d probably make it an early night because you were so wiped out when I saw you that morning.”

“Yeah, I did make it any early night.”

The shamrock necklace flashed in my mind. It was still sitting in my purse. Thinking about it now, I wasn’t even sure why I went back for the stupid thing. It needed to go in the trash as soon as I thought of it again.

“Speaking of….” He grabbed my hips and straddled me over his lap. His hands went straight for my breasts with no preamble. If I wasn’t in the fucking mood before, I sure as hell wasn’t now. “Did you think any more about what we talked about?”

“Yes.” He was smacking my tits around like they were nothing more than lumps of Play-Doh and he was a three-year-old. “Stop that.” I batted his hands away. “That hurts.”

He started rubbing up my thighs instead. “You sensitive or something? On your period?” His hands instantly stilled.

God, Dre. “No, I’m not on my period.” He was the most squeamish man I’d ever met when it came to menstrual blood. It bordered on revulsion. One of these days, he was going to start refusing to evenbe in the same room as me during that time for fear of catching something. It’s not like I got the fucking plague every month.

“Good.” He resumed his kneading, and I let out a peeved sigh.Okay, what is the matter with me?“So, it’s just us from now on?” he asked.

It did make sense. It made all the sense in the world. What didn’t make sense was the ‘relationship’ we’d had for the past five years. The complete lack of jealousy when we saw other people. But it worked for us. He was my stability, and I needed that. I bounced from thing to thing, job to job, guy to guy, never knowing what to do with myself. I wanted to grow up already, have something real. Stop being so damn impulsive. Dre was a constant in my life, even when we were screwing other people.

“You should move in with me,” he said when I hadn’t responded to his question.

“What? Christa and I just moved in here.”

“So? The place is only in her name, right?”

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