Beautiful Mistake

“Ouch.”

“It wasn’t so bad. It healed fast. How about you? Do you have any scars?”

“No visible ones,” Caine said. “Although the invisible scars are the hardest to heal.”

I understood that sentiment more than he knew. I placed a soft kiss on his chest, right above his heart. After that, we were both quiet for a while, and I wondered if he was thinking about his scars.

“Do you mind if I stay tonight?” Caine broke our silence. “I think you sucked the strength out of me. Literally on that last round.”

I giggled. When was the last time I giggled? “Of course not. I want you to stay.”

He squeezed my shoulder in response.

A few minutes passed, and I thought he might have drifted off, so I whispered, “Are you sleeping?”

“No.”

“Can I ask you something, then?”

I wasn’t looking at him, but knew he was smiling when he spoke. “Would it stop you if I said no?”

“Don’t you miss this?”

“What?”

“This…snuggling with a warm body and companionship.”

Caine was quiet for a moment. “That’s not an easy question to answer, Rachel.”

“How come? Isn’t it just yes or no?”

“Very few things in life are that simple.”

“I think you make things more difficult than they need to be.”

He sighed. “I spent a year on academic probation for giving in to wanting a warm body. You’re my TA, and I’m your thesis advisor. I’ve never had a relationship that didn’t end badly. There is no simple yes or no.”

It hurt to be reminded that I wasn’t the first dip Caine had taken in the academic pool. I was quiet, and he must have sensed that I was feeling needy.

He kissed the top of my head. “I’ve never spent the night with anyone from the college.” He paused. “And before you jump to any incorrect conclusions, I’m never too tired to get up and go home. Even now.”

I took that as a victory, however small. “Okay… When was the last time you—”

Caine interrupted, snuggling me closer in his arms. “And this warm body feels really good. Now get some sleep. You can interrogate me more while you make me breakfast in the morning.”

A few minutes later, Caine’s breathing slowed as he drifted off to sleep. I kissed his chest and shut my eyes to follow him to dreamland. I smiled and thought to myself, I can’t wait for breakfast.

My eyes fluttered open, and I immediately reached over to the other side of the bed. Instead of finding Caine, I was met with only a cold sheet. My stomach sank. Stretching for my phone on the nightstand, I squinted at the time and was shocked to find I’d slept until almost eleven-thirty. The last time I’d slept that late…well, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept that late. No wonder Caine was gone.

Yawning, I dragged myself to the bathroom to wash up and brush my teeth. I was still completely naked, and when I looked in the mirror and saw my wild hair and the faint red marks on my neck from Caine’s incessant sucking, I couldn’t help but smile. God, did I have memories. And not just etched into my brain—muscles I hadn’t even realized I had ached, and between my legs was swollen and sore. Yet I felt better than I had in a long time. I actually liked the crazy way I looked, and I didn’t bother to fix it, feeling some sort of odd connection to Caine through my disheveled appearance.

Grabbing the first thing I reached in my drawer filled with lazy wear, I slipped on a vintage Rolling Stones T-shirt and headed to the kitchen for some much-needed coffee. I halted in place upon finding Caine at my stove. His back was to me, and he didn’t seem to have heard me, so I stood in the doorway watching him, half stunned at what I was seeing and half shocked at finding he was even still here.

Caine was…dancing? Well, not technically dancing, I guess. But he was definitely swaying to the beat of something as he flipped pancakes in one pan and rolled the sausage around in the other. Yum. And the food smelled pretty good, too.

I continued watching quietly, utterly amused at seeing Caine so disarmed.

“You want some coffee while you stand there?” he asked without turning around.

I jumped and then smiled. “I didn’t think you knew I was here.”

“I know.” He went to the cabinet, pulled down a mug, and poured me a cup of coffee. It seemed Caine and my kitchen had gotten acquainted while I slept. “Do you take cream and sugar?”

“One Equal and half and half.”

Caine finished making my coffee, and for some reason, I stayed in the doorway of the kitchen. He brought me the mug and kissed the tip of my nose before handing it to me. “Morning, sleepyhead.”

“How long have you been up?”

“About an hour.”

“I didn’t know you were still here. Why didn’t you wake me?”

Caine returned to the stove. “Figured you were tired after last night.”

I smiled and brought the coffee to my lips. “I am. I feel like I got beat up.”

Plating pancakes and a few sausages, he set breakfast on the table. “Sit.”

“You’re really bossy, you know? Borderline rude. I’m not a dog. Sit. Stand.”

Caine walked back to where I was still leaning against the doorway and put one hand on either side of my head on the wall.

“You didn’t seem to mind it last night.”

“That’s different.”

“No, it’s not.”

He dropped his head, chuckling. “How about we have breakfast without a fight?”

“Fine. I’ll sit. But only because it smells really good and not because you barked at me.”

He shook his head. “Whatever it takes, Feisty.”

As soon as the fork hit my mouth, I realized I was starving. I woofed an entire pancake in a few bites.

“Hungry?” Caine raised a brow.

“Shut up. So what did you do while I was sleeping?”

“Listened to music on my phone, checked out the pictures on your wall some more.”

I pointed my fork at him. “You were snooping? Wouldn’t have taken you for a snooper.”

“I didn’t go through your drawers. I looked at pictures hung on the wall. I don’t think that’s the same as snooping.”