Changing the Rules by Katie O'Sullivan

Author:Katie O'Sullivan [O'Sullivan, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Windmill Point Publishing
Published: 2019-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

10

Friday morning, June 8 - Oyster Hill Condos, Hitching Post Road, Chatham

Laying on the couch, a fleece throw blanket covering his midsection, he tried to remember the last time he’d crashed on a friend’s couch. New Year’s Eve at Ed and Laura’s house, the year before her cancer diagnosis. Oh, he’d had plenty of sleepovers since then, but none so…platonic. Frustrating was another word for it, and yet he’d actually enjoyed the last few late nights he’d spent here with Caroline. He enjoyed spending time with her. Talking with her. Arguing with her.

Even without the kissing part.

They’d been working on the business plan for the last three nights, going through variables and different sets of numbers until Brian thought his head might explode. Last night they’d kept at it until two in the morning, which was how he found himself waking up on Caroline’s couch a little after dawn. His head pounded with less than four hours of sleep, but it was worth it. They’d hammered out the last of the details and Brian felt confident Dylan would be on board with their business plan.

Well, Caroline’s business plan. It might have been his idea originally, but without Caroline it would’ve stayed just that – an idea. She was the one turning it into something concrete. Real.

They hadn’t repeated Tuesday night’s kisses, and if it bothered Caroline at all she kept it to herself. For his part, Brian locked his feelings down tight, working hard to ignore the attraction he felt each and every time she smiled at him. Or laughed at one of his jokes. Or argued with him about some little detail. Or… just about anything she did, actually.

He pushed his legs off the couch and sat upright, trying hard not to think about the fact Caroline was asleep in the next room. In her bed. All alone. Wearing those silly SpongeBob pajama pants. Fuck. Thinking about her all sleepy and warm got his dick hard. Even with the yellow cartoon character on her pjs.

Careful to not wake her, he used the bathroom and gathered his things. He had time to head home, change, and hit the gym before he needed to be at work. Nora scheduled him to work doubles today through Sunday, since they were still missing one bartender, although she promised to remedy the situation soon. The meeting with Dylan was set for Monday afternoon before his evening shift at the bar, thus the push last night to get the damn business plan all finished and ready to go.

He let himself out the door, making sure it closed and latched before heading to his car in the parking lot. A big guy stood next to the driver’s side door of his Cherokee, wearing a black leather jacket and smoking a cigarette.

Brian slowed as he approached. “Can I help you? You’re leaning against my car.”

The guy didn’t crack a smile. “Are you sleeping with her?”

Brian stopped in his tracks, taking a minute to assess the situation. The guy was even bigger up close, and with an accent that screamed New Jersey.

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