And So I Ran - Complete

Chapter 24

"I don't want Kate to know just how bad it was. Can you just get one of your contacts to install an alarm? I want top of the line. Window sensors, motion detectors. The best there is."

"So you said your ex-girlfriend broke in," Elliot asked, much more interested in the fact I was admitting to a previous relationship than the fact the woman in question had broken into Ana and Kate's apartment and trashed Ana's room. "Was she your first?"

I scoffed.

"Elliot – just because I haven't chosen to flaunt it through all Seattle, I'm not celibate, nor am I gay. I've had a number of... long-term female partners... over the years. Not really girlfriends. More like fuck-buddies."

"So this Leila? Was she a fuck-buddy? For how long?"

"Yes, and for about nine months. I stopped seeing her because she wanted more."

"More?"

"A relationship."

"And is Ana also a fuck-buddy? Because dude, from what Kate said, she really doesn't seem that type of girl..."

"She isn't!" I snapped. "I love her, El. I think she's it."

"It? Do you mean marriage?!" he gaped.

Did I mean marriage? I think I probably did. I was in love with Ana, and I didn't want to contemplate a life without her in it.

"I know it's early days, but I'm thinking about it. Ana gets me in a way no one else ever has," I said, aware of the fact I sounded like a fucking tacky Hallmark greeting card.

"I'm really happy for you, man. She seems nice."

Elliot and I both took a swig of beer. It was just after four on Monday afternoon, and he'd stopped by my office after arriving back in town with Kate. While I didn't usually drink at work, it had been a few weeks since I'd seen Elliot, and I felt the need for a DMC with my brother.

"If your ex is a stalker, and Ana is staying with you for safety, is it ok for Kate to stay at the unit?" Elliot asked. "Maybe I should go stay there with her. Just for safety's sake..."

"And you expect me to believe that's the only reason?"

Elliot almost deflated in front of my eyes.

"A whole fucking beach of women in bikinis, and I just wasn't interested," he lamented. "Not even a partial stiffy or for a quick blow job. I think Kate Kavanagh's ruined me."

"That bad?" I smirked in understanding. Ana had done much the same for me. I doubt a parade of gorgeous, sexy submissives would warrant even a twitch of my cock, these days.

"Worse," he groaned. "She's funny and full of energy and knows exactly what she wants. And she doesn't put up with anything; she calls me out on my bullshit."

"Sounds like hell," I joked.

"It is!" Elliot grumbled. "And she's a fucking freak between the sheets. I mean – that girl can get me zero to one-hundred in about thirty seconds."

"We're two very lucky guys," I said, holding my beer up to Elliot.

"I know," he replied, apparently shocked to be looking down the barrel of monogamy and a committed relationship, and for the first time not running in terror.