Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76334 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 305(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“Aside from Charity? No. And I know she never said a word either. She wouldn’t.”
“I figured.” I kicked my feet up on the coffee table and stretched out. “They had a lot of questions, though. Pertinent ones, so I guess we need to figure some things out.” I ran a hand through my hair and tried to organize my thoughts. They’d been all over the place lately, another thing I wasn’t used to. “What I did was impulsive. I’m not good at impulsive, so I’m not exactly sure how this plays out.”
“Lucky for you, I’m great at impulsive.” Cullen chuckled.
“We’re going to need some sort of ground rules.”
“I agree.” Cullen adjusted the ice pack on his hip and waved off my concern when my eyes darted in that direction. I couldn’t help it. I still had some sort of PTSD response over potential injuries. I did it with my brother and Rams, too. “First, you’re gonna have to stop spying on me while I take a shower. You want a peek, just walk right in and take a look.”
I barked out a laugh. “Fuck off.” If anything, I gave Cullen a wide berth when he was walking around half-naked. Watching him while he showered would be pure masochism, even if it did make my balls throb to think about. The man had a killer body, what could I say? “Okay, then while we’re at it, quit giving fuck-me eyes every time I do so much as hand you something out of the freezer,” I tossed back. That was an exaggeration, too, but it made Cullen’s eyes dance with humor.
“It’s not every day I get to see Houston McRae bent over.”
“Alright, Jesus.” I waved a hand.
“Fine. I’m done.” Cullen rolled his shoulders in a way that said he was just getting started, so I shifted topics.
“I thought about all of this on the way back here.”
“Oh, this is gonna be good.”
“Shhh. Listen. If you think about it, nothing really has to change except…I guess you’ll be staying here for the season, which means your ass needs to pay me rent.”
Cullen laughed. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. It’s a business arrangement. Rent helps reinforce that. Besides, you’d be paying rent here even if we were together. I’m not your sugar daddy. Shit, if anything, you should be mine. You’re the one who still has a career.”
Cullen glanced pointedly around. “You’re not exactly suffering, McRae. But fair point. I can pay rent. Continue.”
“It’s not like we have to go in public and maul each other. No matter what we do, if anyone spots us out together, they’re going to run with the whole ‘they’re together’ narrative. So we just keep doing that. Go out to dinner or grocery shopping or whatever the hell it is normal couples do every once in a while, and we’re good.”
Cullen squinted at me. “Have you ever been in a relationship before?”
“I’ve dated people before.”
“Weirdly evasive answer. Elaborate. How long?”
“A few weeks.” I shrugged. I didn’t need this man psychoanalyzing my love life or lack thereof. I was picky. Or emotionally closed off. Or both. Whatever. “Moving on. Since this obviously isn’t going to go anywhere, but since it would probably be best to ‘break up’ off-season, I’ve got a solution for that, too. You know I’ve been looking at job opportunities all over the US. Well, there are two that are sounding pretty good. One in California. One in Dallas. I take one of those, move away, we ‘break up’ due to the distance factor. Tale as old as time.” I glanced up at the prolonged silence. Cullen was never this quiet, and his eyes were hooded and unreadable. “What? I guess we could do it another way; that just seemed the most obvious answer. Off-season’s less than six months away. That seems like a doable time frame.”
He shrugged, then cleared his throat. “I guess I just thought you might be sticking closer to home. That that was why you hadn’t taken any of the offers that have come before. I know there’ve been plenty. Garrett told me.”
“They weren’t the right fit,” I countered, an invisible band tightening across my chest. Why was I getting defensive over this? I had turned down everything, and I wasn’t sure why, but I knew there was some reluctance to leave everything I’d known for years behind. And yet, at the same time, my life had changed, my career path had changed, I had changed. For a long while after I’d been injured, it felt like that was all I was: an injured former football player. I wanted to be more, so shouldn’t I meet that head-on? Start over somewhere else? Maybe this farce with Cullen was just the push I needed to finally make the leap.
“Did you ever consider the right fit was doing what you’re already doing? Volunteering at that high school? Being near your family?”