Page 28 of Fall Apart

He chuckles. He fucking chuckles at me. “I have a master key.”

I put my hands on my hips, glaring at him. “Why the fuck would you have a master key?”

He looks side to side with a puzzled look and shrugs his shoulders. “For exactly this reason? It’s a job site. Things happen.”

I tilt my head back and I just want to scream but instead a muffled groan comes out. I watch as he scans the room, taking inventory of the damage.

“Lizzy, I’m so sorry.” He shakes his head, gripping the back of his neck beneath the brim of his hat that’s flipped around backwards. He keeps scanning the room until his eyes stop on something. I turn to see what has his attention and that’s when I see it.

Ok.

Really. Fuck my life.

I watch as the corner of his lips quirk up into a wide shit eating grin.

“Is that a werewolf…?” He points at the toy still sitting on my nightstand and gives me the most knowing grin but he still looks like it’s taking every ounce of self-control he has to not burst out laughing.

I didn’t think my cheeks could get any redder between how flustered and angry I am, but I can feel the blood rushing to them.

“Shut up, Clay. Not a word. You’re the one that just destroyed my ceiling.” I step towards him, jabbing him in the chest with a finger. “But also, how the hell do you even know what a werewolf dick looks like?”

His knowing grin only grows when he shrugs, looking down at me. “I read a lot of smut. Utah has shitty porn laws. Bold choice though.” He looks back at the toy and then back at me slowly. “I like the sparkly purple.”

That is not the answer I was expecting. My mouth opens and shuts and opens again like a gasping fish because I don’t know how to respond to that. Before I can say or do anything with that unexpected tidbit, he walks beneath the gaping hole in the ceiling and pulls out his phone. He paces around the room, like only men do, waiting for someone on the other end to answer.

“Luke. Get down here. Right now. Bring Marco and the cleaning supplies,” he shouts into the phone. I watch as he rolls his eyes andnods. He presses his hand to his face, groaning. “It’s Unit 601. The fucking unit you can see through the goddamn hole in the floor, you fuck stick.”

He hangs up, looking back at the ceiling. If I wasn’t so furious at him and frazzled right now, I would almost think the way he’s in control and taking charge is hot. Ok. Who am I kidding? It is hot.

Clay is leaningon his elbows with his face buried in his hands as we sit at the island in the kitchen. His crew left after getting the water shut off and the debris cleaned. Now it’s just us sitting in awkward silence processing this shit show of a Friday morning.

“I’m sorry, Lizzy. I’m so fucking sorry.” He doesn’t lift his head or his eyes and there’s no sign of the brash, cocky man I’ve seen almost everyday for the last month.

“Yeah, you’ve said that a bunch.” I look around the condo. With all the debris gone and the water shut off, I can see just how much of a mess this place is. There are gaping holes in both bedrooms, in the hallway, and main bathroom.

“We’ll get this fixed, but it might take a while.” He sighs and looks up at me and I’m almost shocked by his eyes. There’s remorse and the normally piercing, green eyes are soft and shy. “But this place is going to be almost uninhabitable for a few weeks while we dry it out, fix the ceiling, and floors.”

“I’ll call Grace. Maybe I can stay with her.” He frowns and shakes his head side to side.

“She doesn’t have a room. She literally lives in a studio apartment with a pullout sofa.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll start looking at hotels or an airbnb or something. Don’t worry. I’ll send JSC a bill.”

He rolls his eyes at me, but then cocks his head to the side like an idea just hit him. “Or you could stay with me. I have a spare guest suite.”

Ok. He did just have an idea. A completely laughable one. Is he insane? Did he even hear what he just said? I burst out laughing, covering my mouth.

“Are you crazy, Clay? That’s a terrible idea. You must be some kind of sadomasochistic psycho to think we could exist under the same roof.” I glare back at him but he just grins and his gaze hardens.

“Are you into that?” Yep. There’s the Clay I know.

I palm my face. “Seriously, I’ll find a place.”

He looks back at me, but his eyes are pleading.

“Look. First, this is my fault. I should fix this for you.” He looks down at his hands for a second before looking back at me. “Second, my place is in Kimball Junction. It’s closer to your office in Salt Lake City. I know you won’t complain about the extra sleep.”

Oh my god. He’s serious about this.

---