Too damn long, she decided as she grabbed one of his old shirts and a pair of his boxers that she’d helped herself to the other day and headed for her bathroom. He followed her, but didn’t say anything as she turned the water on. He reached over her and adjusted the water before he grabbed the shower nozzle and rinsed the tub out as she stepped back so that she could kneel in front of the small ornate cabinet that he’d built for her when they were fourteen and searched through the bath salts that he’d given her over the years until she found her favorite, black raspberry and vanilla.
Without a word, she handed the small bottle of scented salts to Darrin. While he sprinkled the salts in the bathtub, she took off her clothes and tossed them in the hamper. When she saw him doing the same, she considered telling him that she needed space, but the look he sent her told her that he wasn’t letting her push him away, not tonight.
But soon, she wouldn’t have a choice.
Chapter 10
“Marybeth?” he called as the front door clicked shut behind him.
There was no response. Not that he actually expected one. He considered sending her a text message to see how much longer she was going to keep this up, but he already knew the answer.
Oh, he knew…
For the past two hours she’d been sending him pictures to drive him out of his fucking mind. More than once he’d found himself sneaking off to the bathroom at the station, pulling out his phone and scrolling through all the pictures she’d sent him. God, she was such a fucking tease, he thought with a groan as he opened his apartment door and walked inside, not bothering to shut the door behind him.
A chime alerted him to a new text message. He pulled his cellphone out, licking his lips in anticipation and swiped his finger across the screen. The image that popped up on the small screen forced him to grab hold of the back of the couch when his legs threatened to give out.
“Goddamn,” he growled, licking his lips hungrily as he stared at the picture of the juicy, succulent breast.
He would give anything to sink his teeth into it. A new picture popped up accompanied by a small chime, showing him a picture of a beautiful leg that had his breaths coming a little faster.
Damn her!
He could happily wring her fucking neck for this!
“Oh, shit,” he groaned when another picture popped up and then another.
He couldn’t take much more of this, not without losing his fucking mind and doing something that he was going to regret. It took all his willpower, but somehow he forced himself to look away from the picture of the large plate of lasagna that he knew was going to go to waste. She’d never be able to eat all of it and she knew that was going to piss him off more than anything.
She would pay for this…
Unfortunately it would have to wait until later because right now he was fucking exhausted. Late last night after working a twelve-hour shift he’d decided to pick up some overtime and now he was paying for it. He put his cellphone in his back pocket and forced his feet to carry him up the stairs and into his room and somehow managed to make it into his bathroom.
He stripped out of his uniform and took a quick shower, knowing that he only had a few hours before he was expected at his parent’s house for dinner. His mother would understand if he was too tired to make it, but he wanted a chance to catch up with his brother Danny tonight and see how he was doing.
A few hours and he should be good, he bullshitted himself as he set his alarm clock. Yawning, he dropped his towel, pulled on a pair of boxers and crawled into bed. By the time his head hit the pillow he was already dreaming of sweet revenge.
*-*-*-*
“Do you think he’s going to sleep all day?”
“Probably,” the painfully familiar voice said before adding, “inconsiderate bastard.”
Without opening his eyes, he said, “I have a gun.”
“You’d be lost without us,” Jason said, sighing heavily just as Darrin registered someone sitting on the bed next to him on his right.
“Get the fuck out,” he groaned, too exhausted to put in the effort that it would take to beat the shit out of his cousins and drag their lifeless bodies out back.
But of course the annoying bastards from hell ignored him.
“Pass the remote?” Trevor asked as he felt the bed dip on his left, letting him know that the two most annoying bastards on earth now had him trapped. A few seconds later he heard what sounded like the game playing in the background.
“I’m trying to sleep here,” he muttered against the pillow.
“Shh, we’re watching the game.”
“Get. Out,” he bit out, praying that this was all just a horrible dream.
“The game just started,” Jason said around what sounded like a mouthful of food, letting him know that his cousins had most likely cleaned him out before they came up here to bug the shit out of him.
“Besides, it’s not time to leave yet.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked around a heavy sigh as he rolled over onto his back just in time to see his cousins finish off the last of his potato chips.
“You need to go shopping,” Trevor pointed out as he tossed the empty chip bag aside and grabbed a bag of cookies off the nightstand.
“You really do,” Jason murmured in agreement as he tossed his empty bag aside and grabbed a box of Lucky Charms.
“Why exactly are you here?” he asked, rubbing his hands down his face as he sat up.
“It’s Sunday. Where else would we be?” Trevor asked with a snort of disgust as he tossed the empty cookie package aside and grabbed the bag of peanut butter M&Ms that Darrin kept for Marybeth.
“Anywhere but here,” he said, sitting up against the headboard as he struggled to stay awake.
“We came to give you a ride,” Trevor said around a handful of M&Ms.
“I don’t need a ride,” he said, yawning even though he’d already decided to call one of his brothers for a ride tonight before he added, “And you weren’t invited.”
“We don’t need an invitation,” Jason reminded him, because his parents, much like the rest of their aunts and uncles, never turned family away.
“Then why are you here?” he asked, giving up and closing his eyes.
“Besides giving you a ride?” Trevor asked before saying, “To help you.”
“I don’t need help,” he mumbled around a yawn, wondering what it would take to make them leave.
“You really do,” Jason said with a long-suffering sigh.