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“What’s in that other room, down the hall?” I asked.
“It’s just another guest room,” he replied.
“Why do you keep the door locked?” I couldn’t help it; I had to ask.
“There’s some private things I keep in there.”
“What kind of private things?”
“Nothing you need to worry about, Rory.”
“Really, because I’ve seen you take women into that room.”
“Is that so?” he asked. “Do you want to start an argument, Rory? Because I can guarantee you’ll lose.”
A nerve inside my body went ballistic when he said that. I sat up and looked at him in disbelief. I turned away and climbed out of bed, grabbing my workout clothes from the drawer.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“Avoiding an argument that you can guarantee I’ll lose and to do what I should’ve done instead of letting you f**k me: work out.”
“Too late, Rory. The argument already started,” he yelled as I walked out the door.
“Fuck you, Ian,” I screamed from the hallway.
I headed downstairs to the gym. I finished putting on my clothes and wrapped my hands. I put on the boxing gloves and stood in front of the punching bag. Jab. Jab. Punch. My mind went back to the days when my aunt’s drug dealer taught me how to punch the bag properly.
“Focus all your energy into your hands. Let it build and then focus on the bag.”
Jab. Cross punch. Punch. Punch. Round kick.
“How long do you plan on staying down here?” Ian asked.
I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to come down and talk to me after what he said. “I don’t know.” Punch. Punch.
“Suit yourself. I’m not playing games,” he said as he turned and walked away.
“I’m not either,” I yelled.
About an hour later, I finished my workout and went up to my room. Ian wasn’t in there. I looked down the hall at his bedroom. His door was shut, but I could see the light shining from underneath the door. I took a shower to wash off the sweat I built up from the workout, and when I was finished, I climbed into bed. I didn’t want to sleep alone. I had gotten used to Ian holding me at night. When I was with him, I didn’t have the nightmare. I took my phone from the nightstand and sent him a text message.
“You suck.”
“So do you.”
“I’m sorry,” I wrote.
“Apology accepted.”
Seriously? Was he not going to apologize to me for what he said?
“You’re not going to apologize to me?”
“For what? I said nothing wrong.”
“I take my apology back.”
“You can’t.”
“I just did. Goodnight.”
He didn’t reply back. I turned off the light and rolled on my side. I tucked my hands underneath my pillow and closed my eyes. Later that night, I awoke and felt his arm around me. I looked at the clock and it was four a.m. I didn’t hear him come in the room or climb into bed, but I was happy he was there. I slowly rolled over and cuddled into him. He kissed the top of my head and I drifted back to sleep.
****
The morning air was cold when Ian and I stepped outside for our run. We didn’t talk about last night. I guess we both kind of silently called it a truce and moved on.
“I’m surprised you wanted to run this morning after your vigorous workout last night,” Ian said.
“There’s nothing like a good run in the fresh open air.”
“True.” He smiled.
I couldn’t let it go. I needed to tell him that I saw the room and I knew what was in there. “I was in the room, Ian. The door was unlocked. I was looking for you the night you left. I thought it was your bedroom, so I turned the knob and walked in. I’m sorry, but I just had to tell you.”
Ian stared straight ahead as we ran and cleared his throat before he began to speak. “What did you think when you saw it?”
“I don’t know. At first, I was freaked out a bit, but it’s your business, not mine. The only problem I have is wondering why you never took me in there.”
He turned his head and looked at me. “Do you want me to take you in there? Do you want me to do those things to you?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“I don’t want you in that room. If I did, I would’ve taken you there. I can’t and don’t want to explain to you about that room. I have no desire to do those kinds of things with you.”
That’s nice. Was that supposed to be a compliment? I couldn’t help but wonder.
“I like what we have, Rory.”
“What do we have, Ian?” my big mouth spit out.
“A close friendship,” he replied.
“Like you and Adalynn?”
“Sure, you could say that.”
“Nothing else?”
He stopped in the sand and I stopped with him. He looked at me and put his hands on each side of my face. “I told you there would be nothing else, remember? We talked about this.”
“I remember,” I said as I looked down.
He lifted my chin with his finger. “Let’s not make this complicated.”
I couldn’t do anything but agree with him because I wasn’t going to fight with him again. This was what Adalynn had warned me of, and I knew full well what I was getting myself into. My name is Rory Sinclair, and I’m Ian Braxton’s friend with benefits.
“No complication here,” I said as I began running.
My feelings were hurt and I just wanted to collapse on the sand and cry. I felt like a call girl. Ian Braxton’s own personal call girl. Is that what I’ve resorted to now? Is that what I’ve let myself become?
Chapter 20
I walked down to the kitchen, grabbed a cup of coffee, and headed straight to Ian’s study to start the day. I hadn’t seen him since we had sex last night and, when I woke up this morning, he was gone. I was still bothered by the fact that he hadn’t taken me to his bed, but that was another argument I was saving for later. When I walked into the study, I noticed a yellow post-it on the computer screen.
“I had to go to the office early for a meeting. I’ll be back later. Revise the contracts I left and then I need you to drop them off to Adalynn at Prim. Talk soon ~ xo Ian.”
My phone beeped, reminding me that I had an appointment with Dr. Neil this evening. I dismissed the alert and began working on the contract revisions. Mandy was kind enough to bring me in a fruit cup and a chocolate chip muffin.
