Page 61 of When You're Home
He casually walked over to his bedroom and pulled the door shut. Then he followed Chandler into the guest room, accepting his fate for the night. He left the door cracked open and claimed the side closest to it, confident he’d be able to hear anyone hit the squeaky step if they tried to come upstairs.
Chapter 35
Rhett
Hedidn’twakeupasmuchashedecidedtostoptryingtosleep.Hehadtossedandturnedallnightdespitetheutterexhaustionhehadcarriedtobed.Hefeltlikeaspongethathadbeenwrungoutoverandoveragain—hewasspentanduseless.
He grabbed his phone and checked the clock for the hundredth time. 6:30 a.m. He didn’t need to lie in bed next to Chandler any longer. He slinked out from beneath the covers and made his way out of the room. He shut the guest bedroom door behind him, then turned to confirm the door to his room was still closed, too.
He ventured downstairs in pursuit of coffee and painkillers. He hadn’t drank in excess last night, but between the lack of sleep and the stress of the last twenty-four hours, his head was killing him. He also knew Tori would need something to take the edge off this morning, if her stomach could handle the pills.
Rhett started to take inventory of who was where as he moved through the house. Jake was snoring on one of the couches in the living room. Dempsey was stretched out and half falling off the couch opposite of him. No one was in the sunroom, and a quick peek into the den confirmed it was empty as well.
He started the coffeemaker and quietly padded down the basement stairs. He only had to go about halfway down to get a good view of the oversized sectional across the room. He was surprised to see Teddy and Tiff in the middle section of the couch, Tiff’s body draped over Teddy’s under a blanket. Cole and Anwar had each claimed a side of the couch as well.
Rhett made his way back to the kitchen. He knew Cory and Lia wouldn’t still be around this morning, but he was pleasantly surprised to only find one Haas brother in his house.
He pulled down two travel mugs from the cabinet and pocketed the bottle of ibuprofen he found next to the sink. He grabbed the cream from the fridge as well as a water bottle. Once he had prepped Tori’s coffee the way she liked it, he carefully balanced the mugs and water and made his ascent up the stairs.
He slowly turned the knob of his bedroom door. The room was illuminated by soft morning light; he had forgotten to lower the blinds last night after Tori had climbed into his bed. He balanced everything in one hand before turning around and locking the door behind him.
He made his way over to her, unsure exactly how to proceed. He knew he had to do things differently today. He was committed to breaking up with Chandler as soon as she woke up. He was just as committed to proving to Tori that he was in this with her; they were in this together. He couldn’t defer to her completely, and he couldn’t try to control everything. They needed to work together as a team if they were going to move forward as a couple.
Still unsure how to proceed, Rhett decided to try the only thing he could think of to bring her back to him.
She was in the middle of the bed, per usual, so it was easy for him to fit his body under the covers without waking her. She subconsciously shifted in her sleep when he laid down.
Rhett savored the contentment that settled in his body from just lying beside her. When he finally reached out to touch her arm, he realized it was bare. She must have ditched the pool robe during the night. He pulled the duvet up higher to cover her as he felt her melt her body into the mold of his frame. She was right there. They were going to be okay.
“Hmmm,” he heard her hum quietly some time later. Rhett shook the fog from his head and yawned. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but he wasn’t surprised he had finally succumbed to closing his eyes now that he was with her.
Tori rolled back into him unexpectedly. He stilled as he felt her press against him. She was completely naked under the covers. He remained perfectly still as she continued to stir. The way she subconsciously rolled her ass back into his groin… he couldn’t wait for this fight to be over.
She finally let out a loud yawn, indicating she was awake.He felt her body freeze before she wordlessly shimmied away from him.
“Hey, it’s just me, V,” he whispered in her direction. “I brought you coffee.”
Tori didn’t say anything in response. Rhett pulled her back toward him, and when she didn’t push him away, he brought his head to rest behind hers on the pillow.
“How’s your head?” he asked softly as he ran his hand over her hair.
“How’s your girlfriend?” she shot back, her voice low and gravelly with sleep.
Rhett continued to caress her hair, trying not to let her words affect him. He had her alone right now, and he needed to make sure they were okay. After a few minutes of silence, he moved his hand to the nape of her neck, rubbing gently along her hairline, trying to massage away the tension between them. She sighed again but still said nothing.
“Do you want to talk?”
“I don’t want to talk,” she replied. She didn’t expand or give any reasoning. She was still in total shutdown mode.
“Okay. I’ll talk. You can listen.”
Tori made no objections, so he continued.
“Yesterday was the worst day of my life, V. It was worse than when you broke up with me before college. It was worse than the car crash. It was worse than driving you home from the clinic after you got your test results,” he confessed.
“I fucked up yesterday morning by not telling you about the Maddie and Chandler drama right away, and then I just kept messing up all day long. I’m so sorry for how everything went down. I panicked and I played my cards all wrong. I never meant to hurt you—I just didn’t want to hurt anyone. But somehow by trying not to hurt anyone, I think I hurt everyone,” he rambled on. He felt like he just couldn’t find the right words to explain how he was feeling, to make her understand what lengths he would go to never feel this way again.
“I’m not used to you being completely mine. Not yet, at least. I think all the years of keeping secrets and operating on a need-to-know basis has messed with my head. That’s not an excuse. I know I have to do better. Iwilldo better. I’ll be better for you,” he promised.
