Verbally.
He pulled out, lifted me from the table, and carried me to his couch.
He set me in it and threw an afghan over my naked body before he strolled from the room.
I tucked it around me and watched him disappear down the hall.
I held it around me as I stared at the mouth of that hall until he came back.
My head and body moved to keep my eyes on him as he went to the dining room table, gathered my clothes, and brought them to me.
He dumped them in the couch before he grabbed me again and sat in it, hauling me and his afghan into his lap.
He lifted his hands to my head, using both at either side to slide my hair back before he used both to press my face into the side of his neck.
Only when he got me there did he take one hand away to wrap his arm around me.
"I said some d.i.c.k s.h.i.t to you tonight, Cher."
I pushed closer. "That"s okay."
"It isn"t," he returned. "It isn"t, baby. You can give me a lot, but do not let me be a d.i.c.k to you no matter what we both get is happening."
This was good advice, so I nodded.
"Gonna apologize to your mom."
"I think she gets it, Merry."
"Gonna do it anyway."
I drew in breath.
Then I nodded again.
"You wanna take a shower here?" he offered. "Or are you good and you wanna get back to Ethan?"
I pushed against his hand on me so I could catch his eyes.
"As long as I know one of my guys is good, I gotta get back to my other one."
He didn"t break contact. "I"m good, Cherie."
I studied him.
He looked like Merry. That was it. Maybe a little s.e.xier since he"d come. Maybe a little tired because it was late (and he"d come). And definitely a little bit of cute-Merry was leaking in because he was tired.
Other than that, he was just Merry.
So he was good.
"Then I better get home."
He nodded, then dipped in to give me a light, sweet kiss.
After that, he lifted me up as he got out of the couch and put me on my feet.
He stood close as I dressed, and when I was done, he took me into his arms to give me a harder, longer, just as sweet kiss.
He also held my jacket for me to put it on.
And last, he walked me all the way down to my car and stood in the spot I"d backed out of as he watched me drive away.
I texted him that I was safe and sound after I"d walked Tilly home and I was behind closed, locked doors, sitting on my bed, ready to get in my pajamas, brush my teeth, and go to sleep.
Good, he texted back.
I put my phone to the nightstand, got in my pajamas, and went to the bathroom to take off my makeup and brush my teeth.
I was in bed and tossing my earrings to the nightstand when my hand hit my phone, the screen illuminated, and I saw I"d missed a text when I was in the bathroom.
I grabbed the phone and read it.
You mean the world to me too.
Moist hit my eyes again.
Good, I texted back.
I"d just turned the light out when I got more from Merry.
Don"t forget that. But more, baby, don"t let me forget it.
I closed my eyes tight.
Then I texted, I won"t.
Now get some sleep, he ordered.
I would if my guy would stop texting me.
He took that to heart, obviously, because I didn"t get a return text.
For some reason, this b.u.mmed me out.
I lay in the dark thinking that, which meant sleep eluded me.
Ten minutes later, I heard my phone sound.
I s.n.a.t.c.hed it up.
The world, baby.
I closed my eyes tight again, sucking in a deep breath.
I opened them, reminding myself I was not that woman. She was not me. That s.h.i.t just wasn"t the way it was.
Then again, I had also not been the kind of woman who felt warm and squishy.
But I couldn"t help it. I couldn"t stop it.
I had to do it.
So I did it.
I typed f.u.c.king xoxoxoxoxoxo and ended that s.h.i.t with a kissy-face emoji.
I hit send.
Merry didn"t respond.
Regardless, he"d said what he"d said.
So I fell straight to sleep.
It wasn"t until the next morning when I was home from taking Ethan to school that I got the texts.
The first, Ethan get to school okay?
That came from Merry every day.
If he checked in about my kid that he wasn"t around to make sure got to school okay every day, he was so going to make babies.
I just hoped like crazy he"d make them with me.
Merry"s babies: awesomeness.
Giving Ethan brothers and/or sisters: nirvana.
Yep. All good, I replied.
Right, Cherie. And just saying That stopped right there and I thought he"d hit send early.
I"d find he didn"t when he finished in his next text.
You give me any of that softa.s.s xo s.h.i.t and smiley c.r.a.p again, I"ll know I lost my bad girl and this won"t make me happy.
I stood there staring at his text, torn between giving in to a shiver and busting a gut laughing.
I picked door number two.
Then I texted, Message received. Have a good day! and I finished that filling his screen with smiley faces, hearts, and a few rainbows.
My phone rang seconds later, and I answered it because it was Merry.
When I did, I found he was a lot more generous than me.
Because when I put my phone to my ear, what poured into it was Merry laughing.
Therefore, happy.
A happy I gave him.
Which made me happy.
And even more determined not ever to let go.
Chapter Sixteen.
Already There Garrett "You alive in there?"
At Mike"s question, Garrett started and turned his gaze from the computer screen he was staring at across the expanse of their desks to his partner.
"What?"
"Haven"t moved in ten minutes, man," Mike told him, studying him closely. His head tipped slightly to the side. "You okay?"
Garrett shifted in his chair to fully face his friend.
"Nearly f.u.c.ked things up with Cher last night," he told Mike bluntly. "Family dinner at her mom"s, I closed down. Serious. Blanked Cher almost entirely, mostly blanked Grace. Only gave attention to Ethan."
"s.h.i.t," Mike muttered, continuing to study him.
"Cher came over to my place after, snapped me out of it."
"Well, that"s good," Mike said carefully.
Garrett shook his head. "Been seein" her a week, s.h.i.t"s already happening."