Betrayed By You

Ch.38 - Back at Work

 Nothing felt better than being back at work. Being out of the house and really doing something that was useful to others. I didn't care what I was doing, but Duval had gotten me a job with him which, impossible as it seemed, was even better than just having a job.

I worked with Jeremiah more often than I didn't and while we weren't exactly friends, I felt like I could trust him as far as work went. Duval had made sure of that. Part of me wondered if he'd threatened Jeremiah at one point before I was really there. When Duval knew I had the job, but I didn't know. Jeremiah was a good guy at heart, but he said that ever since we'd been working together his animals weren't as at ease when he came home until he changed clothes. He thought maybe there was a change in the type of materials we worked with that the animals didn't like. I wondered if it was because he had a faint smell of me near him since we worked together for hours on end and the animals knew what I was.

Every night when I got to Duval's car I either came to him waiting for me or I leaned against the car and waited for him. The only thing I could wish for more was sleeping next to him at night instead of sleeping in a different room. On the nights where we didn't have work the next day I would lie in bed and debate sneaking into his room or just going in and talking to him about it, but I never did. Instead, I laid there in my bed and watched the door or the ceiling and couldn't help but wish and imagine. Wish that I was in the same bed as him. Imagine what it would be like to really sleep beside him. On purpose and for a solid eight hours or more or even less. It didn't matter how much time, just the idea of sleeping next to him, with his arms around me. It was the best thing I was ever able to imagine.

My mind was made up one night when it stormed heavily. That weekend, after family game night, when we were back to being alone, I was going to talk with him about sleeping together. It didn't matter what was happening with Devlin. I was going to bring it up with Duval one way or another. If he didn't want to talk about it or if I chickened out I would just force myself to walk into his room later on and sit there on his bed until it became an option while we talked.

That weekend was crazy, but I managed to ask him about it while we were cleaning dishes.

"Ange, there's something on your mind. You've been thinking about something or some things for a while now. Is there something you want to talk about?"

I had blushed when he asked me. "Yes. There actually is something I want to talk with you about. Something big. I've just been afraid to bring it up and lately I've been trying to figure out the best way to bring it up."

"Just asking sounds like a good idea. Or saying it if it's not something that needs to be asked." He shrugged.

I put the plate I was rinsing off into the empty side of the sink for him to pick up and put into the dishwasher. As I grabbed the next plate I went for it. "I was wondering what you thought about sleeping together."

He paused, turning to look at me as I worked on the next few dishes. "Sleep... Together... Are you talking about doing things or actually sleeping?"

I kept my pace of cleaning. "Just sleeping. There's plenty of time for whatever might come after that. Though I do have to say, in the summers I'm used to sleeping pantsless." I grinned while I told him and turned to see his reaction. It looked like the gears in his head had stopped and he was stuck staring at me, trying to imagine me without my pants. I couldn't help but laugh.