SWNOVELS The Red Zone: Chapter 15
“DO you always take up the entire bed like that?” A horse version of October’s unsolicited voice filled my headspace.
What kind of nightmare was this?
“Get out of my dream,” I grumbled with my face squished against my pillow.
“This isn’t your dream.”
I made a weak attempt to pry my eyelids open, but they refused to budge as the siren song of sleep frantically attempted to pull me back in for a few more minutes of blissful rest. Maybe if I tried to focus on something else hard enough his voice would go away.
“Get out of my room then, October.”
“This isn’t your room either, March baby.”
My eyes shot open. The light green walls were a dead giveaway I wasn’t in my bedroom. Shit. More importantly, that meant I was in the pool house. Double shit. And if I was in the pool house that meant… I slept with October.
And no, I don’t mean the horizontal shuffle kind of slept with… I mean slept with, slept with. Naked under the sheets, nasty morning breath, post-slumber bed head, and all.
Oh my god.
He didn’t seem at all phased by my being here, but maybe he was just as good as hiding his emotions as I was. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands before glancing at him again—hoping that maybe, somehow, someway my vision was still blurry from waking up and the giant figure next to me was some kind of giant stuffed animal instead.
Sadly, for me, that wasn’t the case.
“Unfortunate to see you’re still breathing,” I rasped, pulling the covers up to my neck and snuggling into them further. There was no point in scrambling away since he already knew I was here, so I might as well make myself comfortable.
“Were you planning to strangle me in my sleep?”
“I considered it.”
“Nice to know I’ve been pardoned.” He wore a smug smile as he lifted a coffee mug to his mouth and took a long sip.
“For now,” I mumbled sleepily, turning on my side to face away from him.
“You’re acting shy for someone who was cuddled up against my back with her hands wrapped around my waist and legs intertwined with mine all night.”
Twisting my head over my shoulder, I shot him a scowl. “I didn’t—’
“Oh, you most certainly did.” A small laugh expelled from his lips as he placed his coffee on the nightstand and slipped out from under the sheets.
Peeking over the covers, I watched tentatively as he threw on a pair of navy-blue sweatpants with the Matrix logo on the upper right thigh. I surveyed the tattoos on his upper body that I hadn’t paid attention to before—an assortment of crows across his pecs and the comedy and tragedy masks on the left side of his torso. A small part of me was afraid that if I kept staring I might out myself for gawking at him by drooling on the top sheet.
“You going to wipe up the drool on your bottom lip, or should I?”
My eyes rolled instinctively. “Oh, suck my dick, balls included.”
“Let me grab a pen if you’re going to start listing off all the things you plan on doing to me later.”
“There won’t be a later. This was a one-time thing, remember?” I pinched my brows together and gave him a nasty look before shrugging it off. “Nice to know you enjoyed it enough to want a second round though.”
“If you say so.” October lifted a shoulder. “But based off the way you were screaming my name last night; I’d place good money on you crawling back to my bed in no time.”
“Doubtful,” I scoffed. “You might’ve been a decent lay, but I can assure you it was nothing to write home about.”
He crossed over to my side of the bed, placing his hands on the mattress on both sides of me. “Then tell me why I have this overwhelming feeling that less than two weeks from today, you’ll be pounding at my door, begging to jump back into this bed so you can ride my cock again.”
“Maybe you should tell me why I have a theory that less than two weeks from today, you’ll be the one begging me to jump back into bed with you.”
“Let’s bet on it, then.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling a rush of heat crawl up my neck. “A hundred bucks.”
“Come on, that’s chump change to people like us, March baby. Scared you’ll lose if we up the stakes?”
Squinting, he leaned in as if to challenge me. I maintained eye contact while pushing away the fluttery feeling that was forming in my stomach
“Fine, a thousand.”
“Fifty thousand and you’ve got a deal.” His gaze dropped to my lips as he spoke.
Was this man out of his fucking mind? Betting some peoples entire yearly salary on whether or not we’d fuck again? This was insane.
But why did I kind of like it?
“Ten thousand. Final offer.”
Dragging his gaze back up to my eyes, he smirked and my heart dropped to my stomach. “Great doing business with you.”
“I don’t like you,” I grumbled as he turned away from me, revealing the bright red scratch marks on his back from last night.
It took everything in me not to gasp.
“Like? We’ve taken a step up from hatred, haven’t we?” October walked over to the dresser across from the bed and picked out a light gray shirt from the top drawer and threw it over his head. “In that case… likewise.” He grabbed his bag from the ground—no doubt heading out for morning practice—but paused in the doorway before leaving to peer over his shoulder with a smug grin. “Twenty years.”
I squished my eyebrows together.
“That’s how long it took to get you to admit you don’t hate me.” The corners of his lips twitched. “Twenty more and you might actually admit you like me.”
My eyes grew wide for only a second before I schooled my expression. I might’ve given him a nonresponse in return, but my lack of a reply said a lot more than any words could have.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Looking forward to seeing how they play out.” He shot me a wink before ambling out into the hallway and I listened as he let the front door of the pool house slam behind him as he left.
I laid there in disbelief for an extended moment, trying to gather my thoughts. My brain was simultaneously rushing with flashbacks from last night while also being completely and utterly blank.
With a sigh, I glanced around Scarlett’s old room, taking in the minor changes October had made since moving in until I peered over to the nightstand closest to me. Sitting there, on a beige marble coaster, was a steaming hot cup of ginger tea waiting for me.
What the hell had I just gotten myself into?