“Coffee?”
I accept the mug she offers me and take a long gulp. I’m still fucking shaken. Sex has always been good for me, but this… this is different. Better than awesome.
And it’s not just the sex. It’s every moment spent with her.
It’s missing her when she’s away, wanting her like a lost part of me, and it’s like a fist is squeezing around my heart.
What the hell does it mean?
I’m distracted from trying to figure it out by the arrival of kitty cat. She jumps on my thighs and starts filing her nails in my flesh.
“Ow, dammit.” I lift her up by the scruff of her neck and dangle her in front of me. “Whatcha do that for, huh?”
“What did she do?”
“Left me bloodied.” I blink away the image of blood spreading like a lake—and put the kitten down on the floor, and my mug on the table. “She’s a savage.”
“You poor baby,” Cos is saying, and now she’s only wearing her boyshorts and transparent blouse, sans bra.
“Kiss it better?” I say and stare at her nipples winking at me through the blouse. “So pretty…”
“You’re talking to my tits.”
“They’re pretty tits. They like me.”
She laughs.
“Come here.” I get up, grab her around the waist and pull her to sit on my lap. Yeah, again. No problem for me. “Cos… Come with me on Sunday?”
“Come where?”
“On my dick, on my mouth…” I grin, and she snickers. “No, I mean to family lunch.”
Her smile fades. “No, Merc, I… I can’t.”
My chest tightens briefly. “They’d love to meet you.”
I knew it was too soon. I knew it was too damn soon to push for this…
“You don’t understand.” Her fingertips skim over my cheekbone, cradle my cheek. “I’d love to meet your family. And I bet they’re nice, if they’re anything like you. But I have to go to Memphis. My sister needs me.”
“When?” I frown as realization dawns. “You got news. Is she okay?”
“Nothing new, really. Or she won’t tell me. She certainly isn’t giving me any details, but she needs support, that much is clear, and I’m the only she’s got.”
Of course. With their parents out of the picture…
“And me,” I say. “You got me. Want me to go with you?”
She stares at me, eyes round like dark pools. “I couldn’t… ask you that. You have your classes, and work, your family…”
“You’re family. I’d make time for you, Cos.” I put my hand over hers, pressing it to my cheek. “Just say you want me along, and I’ll be there.”
“I couldn’t…”
“You have my phone number now. Use it, whatever you need. Call me. You’re not alone, CosieCat. We’re in this together.”
Chapter Eighteen