Because of Low (Sea Breeze #2)(15)

I reached over and took a long swig of Dewayne’s beer. Trisha was right. How did I compete with that? And did I even want to?





Willow





Cage closed the door behind us and threw his keys on the table.

“I picked up some more of your Jarrito’s today. Go get you one while I get a shower.”

I’d made Cage paranoid about the smell of perfume, sex and whiskey that always clung to him after his dates. I wanted to tell him not to worry about it. I was fine but I wanted alone time. So I nodded and headed for the fridge.

Cage kissed the top of my head on his way to the bathroom.

“I’ll scrub up good. I promise,” he called out as he closed the door.

I laughed quietly to myself and started to go to his bedroom when the couch caught my attention. Memories of curling up against Marcus and waking up in his lap had me walking over to sit down on it instead. I liked it here. He sat here for hours letting me sleep in his lap. No one other than Cage had ever done something like that for me. Smiling I took a sip of my drink. He was a good guy. A sexy guy. A fun guy to fantasize about.

My cheeks flushed at the thought that Dewayne may have told Marcus what he suspected. He suspected right. I was jealous. I liked Marcus way more than I should. But Marcus knowing was just embarrassing. My phone dinged alerting me of a text message.

It was from Trisha

“U make it home okay?”

I quickly typed

“yes. Thank you =)”

“U r missed,” she replied.

Missed by who? Marcus? Or just her? Surely Dewayne hadn’t discussed with everyone those unspoken words before I left. God, I hoped not.

I tucked my phone back inside my pocket and stood up. The shower had stopped and I wanted to get one next. Dewayne’s cigarette smoke clung to my hair and clothes. I was exhausted and ready to put this night behind me.

*

I woke up before anyone else and collected Cage’s and my dirty laundry and headed to the washroom downstairs to get started on it. Cage had crawled in bed beside me last night and we’d gone to sleep without many words. He didn’t get up and leave all night which meant he was resting up for a reason. Today had to be a game day. And his uniform was dirty as were all my clothes and most of his jeans. I added bleach to the water and threw his filthy dirt stained uniform in by itself. Luckily, there were three washers and dryers down here and all three were empty. Many of the apartments had their own so rarely did I come down here and find someone else using them. It made laundry time go so much quicker. Once I got all three machines going, my phone rang. Pulling it out of my pocket, I glanced down to see it was Tawny. She never called me and when she did it was never good.

“Hello.”

“Where are you?”

“At Cage’s.”

“Figures. Listen I need a sitter for tonight. I have a date. Larissa is asking for you. If you keep her then you can stay the night. I probably won’t be home until the morning anyway.”

“I’ve got work Tawny.”

“Shit. Fine. If I have to pay a sitter then don’t come back here this week.”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“What you’ve finally shacked up with Cage? Just like our Mama.”

“No Tawny, YOU are just like our Mama. I’m still a virgin and you have a kid and no husband. Do the math sister.”

“Whatever. Bye.”

The call ended. I felt sick at my stomach at the thought of Larissa being left overnight with some sitter. There was no telling who Tawny would get. I dialed her number back.

“What?”

“After work I’ll come over and keep her overnight. Don’t get a sitter for all night.”

There was a brief pause.

“Okay, fine. What time do I tell the sitter you’ll be here?”

“I work a double but I’ll get someone to switch with me so I can leave by eleven. So tell her eleven thirty. I may have to walk.”

“Fine.”

She hung up again.

If it wasn’t for my niece I doubt I’d even talk to my sister. There was no love between us and I wasn’t sure why. When we were little, I tried so hard to gain her approval, but nothing I did pleased her. It was as if my being born ruined her life. Who was I kidding. My mother acted the same way. My birth had not been cause for celebration for anyone in my family. Some days I imagined getting on a bus and leaving this town behind. The memories weren’t good. At least most of them weren’t. I could fit my life into one suitcase. The only person who would miss me would be Cage. Well and Larissa until she forgot I existed. Just starting over anywhere else was so tempting. Eventually Cage would see the wisdom behind my leaving. He’d be free of his need to protect me. I’d make new friends. Maybe find a decent job and finish my education.

“Deep thoughts?” Marcus’s voice startled me and I jerked my gaze up from the cement floor to stare up into sleepy green eyes.

“Hey, what’re you doing down here so early?”

He shrugged and sat down a basket of laundry on the ground beside him.

“Well I thought I’d get some laundry done before I fixed breakfast. But it appears all the machines are in use,” his tone was teasing.

“Oops. Sorry about that. I didn’t think anyone would need them so early.”