by Emma Nichole
I’ve never been with a man like this before.
And I’ll never be able to do it again. The realization hurts me in a way I don’t expect.
This was a one-time thing, Nora. To get him out of your system. Now you can focus on you.
He moves a bit in his sleep and emits a little groan. Much like the groans he breathed into my ears last night when he came. I squeeze my thighs together at the memory.
A one-time thing my ass. My body even knows I’m kidding myself.
I lean forward, craving the heat he is giving off and curl against him.
I don’t even have a chance to get settled because he instantly bursts awake, thrashing violently.
“Fuck! No!” he shouts.
I react immediately, scurrying back away from him, clutching the sheet over my chest, hiding my nakedness, suddenly feeling way overexposed and terrified.
“Case...” I whisper.
He’s struggling to catch his breath and he sits up, throwing the blanket off of him and stands, not minding he’s as nude as I am.
“Christ, Nora.” He runs his hands through his hair.
“Are you okay? Did I...?” Did I what? I don’t even know what I’m asking, but I touched him and he freaked out. That’s all I know.
“No, no you didn’t do anything.” He takes another breath, like he can’t get enough oxygen.
“What happened? Are you okay?” I pull the sheet up to my neck now, too vulnerable under his gaze.
“Just a nightmare. It’s nothing.” He sits back down on the bed, facing away from me with his head in his hands. “What time is it?”
I glance at the alarm clock. “Eight fifteen.”
“Fuck being awake right now. Let’s go back to bed.”
“Case, you can’t just ignore what just happened. You were clearly having a very intense nightmare and...”
“Nora. It was a nightmare. Nothing more. Please...come here.” He reaches his hand out to me and I take it, letting him pull me back into him.
“Any regrets?” he asks.
“I wish I could say yes,” I tell him.
“Why?”
“It would be easier to resist you that way.”
“So you’re saying I’m irresistible?” He smirks.
“Very.” I’m leaning in for another kiss when a knock on the door echoes off the walls.
“Wake the fuck up, you lazy asses.” Grayson says through the door.
I sit up quickly. “Oh shit. Oh no.”
“What? Relax. It’s just Grayson.”
“Exactly. I don’t want to hear their comments on this. Give me a chance to get into the bathroom before you let him in.” I scramble from the bed, kicking around my clothes that were shed last night.
“You’re cute when you’re embarrassed.” He is propping his head up on his hands behind it.
“Why aren’t you more concerned?”
Grayson knocks again.
“Why should I be? We are adults. Consenting at that.”
I stop and take a breath. “You’re right. I know that. I just don’t want to have to explain it, you know?”
Grayson knocks again so Case calls out. “Let a man get dressed, will ya?”
He climbs from the bed, stands in front of me, and takes my face in his hands.
“I won’t say a thing to him. This is our secret. I promise.”
I relax a little and smile. “Okay. I should go shower so he doesn’t think of anything happened.” I step to move away.
“Hey. One last thing.”
I turn to face him. “What?”
He crosses toward me and tips my face up with his finger under my chin. “Just wanted one last taste.” He leans in and captures my lips in a kiss.
Case
Once Nora is in the bathroom behind closed doors, I pull on a shirt and jeans, then give the room one last look to make sure nothing is suspicious.
Once I’m certain, I pull open the door to find Grayson still standing there.
“You’re so fucking slow,” he says.
“I was sleeping. It’s early.” I step aside so he can come in.
“Where’s Nora? Shower?” he asks.
“Yep.” I walk in behind him. “Where’s Amelia?”
“Still sleeping. She was exhausted last night.”
“I’m sure. We may have heard a thing or two on our way in last night.” I smirk.
“Take notes?”
“Why would I take notes when I’m the master? Besides, she sounded like she was faking it. I prefer real orgasms from my women,” I joke.
He flips me the bird and plops down onto the sofa.
“What did you and Nora get into last night?”
Memories of the night flow back and I have to smile.
“We just had dinner and talked. That’s all.”
“So you’re still being denied, huh? Firmly placed in the friend zone?”
I crack open a bottle of water to hide my smirk. “Yeah. Friend zone for me. Maybe she’s into girls.”
“Who’s into girls?”
I turn around and see Nora has opened the bathroom door and is standing there in a blue sundress with wild, wet hair.
Grayson chimes in before I can, “Case was just telling me how you’re wise to his bullshit and are keeping him at arm’s length. He said it’s probably because you’re into girls.”
She waltzes out with a certain sway of her ass that I have to actively ignore.
“You know, there was one time in college that was incredibly hot. I should try that again. Might answer some lingering questions I have.”
She’s teasing me.
“I need to hear about this time in college,” I say.
She faces me, her back completely to Grayson. “In your dreams, buddy.” She smiles and gives me a wink then turns back around. “You boys have the football game tonight, right?”
“We do. We’ll be taking off right before dinner,” Grayson says.
“I’m sure Amelia and I can get into something fun. Speaking of, I’m going down to see her. I want to see how her meeting went.”
Grayson speaks up, “Here, you can take my room key, and spoiler alert, the meeting went perfectly.”
She takes the card from him. “I can’t wait to hear all about it. Bye, boys.”
She disappears out the door and I lean against the wall. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
“Ready to talk?” Grayson asks.
I stalk over to the couch and sit, scrubbing my hand over my face. “I had another nightmare.”
He understands immediately. “The same one?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t breathe. The pool cover was above me. It was so dark. I woke up screaming and thrashing. Nora saw.”
“Did she say anything or just roll over and go back to sleep?”
“Do you know who you’re talking about? Of course she said something. She wanted to make sure I was okay. She told me I couldn’t ignore a nightmare like that. Thank God you knocked when you did.”
“Why are you so worried about her knowing?” he asks.
“Who wants to admit they are scared of fucking water, Grayson? I don’t like talking about it. Don’t like being grilled about it.”
“Nora’s a decent sounding board. She helped both Mills and me through the Jaxon shit, and you two are clearly getting close so...”
“I just want to go to the game today and forget it happened. Can we do that?”
“Fine, but you know I’m right.”
Chapter 14
Nora
I slide the keycard through the door and push it open.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” I whisper.
Walking farther into the room, I see the bed is a rumpled mess with just a tuft of red hair poking up from under the blanket.
“Wake up.” I slide under the blanket with her and poke her arm. “Psssst.”
“Ugh.” Amelia groans from the pillow.
I laugh. “I’m sure you’re exhausted, what with a
ll the wild sex you had last night, but I need a girl talk.”
“Who says I had wild sex?” she asks, face still buried in the pillow.
“Well, your sex hair, for one. For two, your clothes are tossed about all over the room. For three, we could hear you in the hallway.”
“Shut. Up. Are you kidding me?” she says, now facing me but covering her face in mortification.
“I was impressed actually. Good job, Grayson.”
“I wasn’t even thinking. I shouldn’t have been so loud.”
“If you weren’t thinking, that means the sex was good.”
“You have no idea.” She rolls to her back, stretching.
Oh, but I do. I have the soreness to prove it.
“The boys are next door in my room, so I came down to talk.”
“You okay?” she asks.
“I am, but first, I want to know how your meeting went.”
“Oh my God, Nora, it was perfect! They are giving me the contract!” she says, with a smile bigger than I’ve ever seen.
“Amelia! That’s great! Congratulations! I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you. I’ll be writing for their website and putting together recipes for the printed publication. It’s a dream, Nor. I’m so excited.”
“You should be. Seriously. You earned it. After everything you’ve been through, your life is finally what you deserve.”
She leans over to give me a hug. “You’re the best friend I could ever ask for.”
“Ditto, babe.”
“Now, what did you need to talk to me about?”
“Well, it’s about Case...”
“Oh my God! Did you finally give in? The poor guy is so smitten with you!”
“What? No. Not that.” The lie falls too easily from my lips. I don’t know why I can’t just tell her, because deep down, I want to. I want to gush about how incredible it was, but a bigger part of me wants to keep it private. Something just for him and me.
“Then...?”
“He woke up this morning, pretty violently. Like he was having the worst nightmare of his life. He even screamed. It was, well, it was terrifying.” I sigh, my shoulders rising a falling. “He wouldn’t even acknowledge it.”
“Really? Well, give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was embarrassed he reacted that way.”
“Maybe, but he was pale and terrified. I could see it in his eyes.”
“Ask him again?”
“I don’t want to push. It could be a one-off thing. I don’t want to make him mad for no reason.”
“Honey, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Case mad, ever. I doubt he’s ever been mad a day in his life.” She giggles. “He’s so laid back.”
“But to be a cop, there has to be some kind of toughness in there, you know? I prefer staying on his soft side.”
“Maybe you should try out his hard side.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
“Oh, God, you sound like me.” I cover my face and laugh with her.
A few minutes later, I finally push Amelia from bed to get ready for the day. We have most of the day to ourselves and I want to make the most of it.
I want to get my mind off of all things Case Carmichael and the confusion he brings.
Case
“Stadium beer is the best beer,” I say, tossing my cup into the trash can as we make our way out of the stadium and back toward the hotel, which is within walking distance. I miss Nora and I’m eager to get back to her, so we can truly talk about what happened last night. The sex. Not the nightmare. Never the nightmare.
“That’s because it’s mostly water, and you like it because you hate strong beer,” Grayson adds.
He’s not wrong. I’ve never been a strong beer person. Strong beer tastes like piss. I’ll stick with light beer and liquor because once you get drunk on dark beer and vomit it everywhere in college, then taste it in your mouth for two days after, it loses its appeal.
We are packed into the stadium hallways like sardines as everyone is trying to file back out onto the streets. The smells of popcorn, sweat, and beer swirl in the air and it reminds me of Savannah over the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. For some reason, our city becomes flooded with tourists sporting green, barhopping, and making my job entertaining and fucking awful all at once.
The crowd around us is rowdy, as the home team just scored a big win, and with alcohol involved my cop hat immediately goes on.
I scan the crowd as we walk, making sure everything is calm and nothing is too crazy.
There’s chanting, hooting, hollering, and insults tossed between fans of both teams. It’s a recipe for disaster. Sports make people act a fool.
“So ready to cough up how last night went?” Grayson says, having to basically yell to be heard over the crowd.
“There’s nothing to say. Fuck. Why does everyone assume something happened?” I keep my eyes trained ahead, so he can’t see any tell on my face.
Because it did—you fucking idiot— and for some reason, she wants to keep it a secret.
“I call bullshit. I know you. I’ve seen you with her. You’re persistent and she has a soft spot for you, whether she admits it or not.”
“It doesn’t matter what you—” I’m interrupted when a large, very drunk man in front of us grabs a woman by the arm and yanks her away from the wall she was leaning against. I can’t make out everything he says to her, but I can make out just enough to act.
“Bitch. You fucking know better. Cunt. Regret.”
“Hey!” I shout through the crowd and push my way past the many bodies to get to the man and the clearly terrified woman.
“Case! What the fuck?” I hear Grayson call after me, but when he sees the scene ahead of me, he joins me at my side. I can always count on him.
I ignore the man and ask the lady directly, “Ma’am, are you all right?”
She doesn’t get the chance to answer before fuckface does. “She’s fine. Let’s go.” He tightens his grip on her arm and pulls her again.
He’s big, very big. Not fat, just muscular with a full black beard and a ball cap on. I can smell the beer on his breath. He’s probably my age. She’s definitely younger.
“I asked her, not you.” I turn my eyes back to her. “Are you okay?”
She’s shaking like a leaf and her eyes are watering. She’s absolutely not okay.
“Why don’t you mind your goddamn business, pretty boy? Back the fuck off.” He places a hand on my chest and shoves me backward, sending me colliding with others as they have begun to form a crowd around us.
“Hey! Keep your fucking hands to yourself!” Grayson shouts, before he shoves the very angry giant in retaliation.
“Greg!” the young woman shouts. “Please, just stop. Let’s go, okay? We can go. I’m so sorry,” she says to us.
The man, now named Greg, grabs her by the face and sneers something I can’t hear, but all I see are her tears.
“Get your hands off of her. I’ll ask you once,” I say, stepping forward.
“What the fuck are you going to do, pretty boy?” he says, spitting when he talks.
I look to Grayson. “Should I ask him again?”
“Nah. Take him down.”
“That’s what I thought.”
I reach out quickly, grabbing his wrist and pulling it toward me, spinning it around his back and pressing my knee into the backs of his thighs, sending him buckling to the ground, just as I would any suspect.
He tries to fight, but when his face presses into the concrete, and my knee goes on the small of his back, he stops resisting.
“You’re drunk, disorderly, and openly threatening physical harm.” I look up, hoping someone has alerted security, so I can actually follow through on that threat—and lucky me—I see two armed police officers approaching as people applaud all around us.
“Let this be a lesson, fucker,” I say to him. “Don’t be a fucking drunk asshole, and respect women.”
“Fuck you,” he slurs from his mouth, which is n
icely pressed into the concrete.
After speaking with the officers about what happened, and our drunk friend putting up more of a fight, he’s arrested for public intoxication and disturbing the peace.
Karma, asshole.
“Can you ever go anywhere without being a hero?” Grayson asks.
“What can I say? It's in my blood.” We go to leave when a hand grabs my arm.
“Excuse me?” a small voice says.
I turn around to see the woman who was involved with Greg.
“I want to say thank you,” she explains.
“It’s not needed. Do you have a way home?” I ask her, not knowing her situation.
“Yes, the police officers are helping me. I don’t know what tomorrow brings, but I’ve never had a man do that for me before. Most people just stare when my husband gets like that.” She looks down.
Her husband? This poor woman.
“Well, I hope you are able to stay safe. The police department in this area is a good one. If you ever need any help, call the downtown precinct and ask for Rodgers. He’s my friend. Tell him Case Carmichael said he could help.”
She seems to relax a little, for the first time since I saw her. She’s never had anyone in her corner.
This. This is exactly why I became a cop.
To be the help people need in the scariest times.
***
Grayson and I part ways in the hallway. He goes into his room and I walk over to the mine.
When I enter, the television is off, but the bathroom light is on and the room is quiet.
She’s not in here.
I walk over and sit on the edge of the bed, lifting the hotel phone to my ear and dialing over to Grayson’s room. Amelia picks up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Case. Is Nora over there with you? She’s not in the room.”
“Hey there, Mister Hero. She went for a swim in the pool downstairs.”
I can only assume Grayson told her what happened when he was texting her on the way back.
“Thanks. We’ll see you all in the morning.”
“Hey, Case,” she says before I can hang up.
“Yeah?”
“Nora’s worried about you, after this morning. Ease her mind. She overthinks things.”
This morning?
