The Humdrum Life of a Hero

Chapter 17

I wake with a start, and I sit up so fast the comforter around my chest falls, reminding me of the events that took place late last night.

I hike the bedspread back up and around my bare chest, and I begin to locate things such as my panties, my bra, and Jay, who removed those articles of clothing and might have an idea as to where they are. I find Jay first. His head in my lap and the rest of him sprawled atop the comforter, and thankfully not naked from the waist down.

Though that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he was.

I smooth out the tangles in his hair when he begins to stir. His eyes flutter open, and a smile creeps upon his lips when he spots me. And I must say, being the first thing he sees in the morning is quite the ego-boost, but I'm obviously not letting it go to my head. "Morning, sweetheart."

Yeah, definitely not going to my head.

"I must say I am enjoying the nicknames," I lean down and kiss his forehead. He reaches up and tucks a lock of my unkempt hair behind my ear. I sigh and let my head sink into his hand. His thumb grazes my cheek and I close my eyes.

"I've got a few more up my sleeve," he says, his voice still groggy with sleep, which is out of this world sexy.

"Wouldn't happen to have my panties up that sleeve would you?" I lay on a hand on his chest and he places his hand over mine. "Or possibly my bra?"

"Personally, I think you're one hell of a lot more beautiful than you already are without either of those things," he beams. "And I like to think of myself as being a bare-naked beauty activist."

"That's not even a thing." I roll my eyes at him and fall back onto the pillows. Jay crawls up to pillows, and I roll over onto my side. He meets me halfway when we crash into each other. Mouths and limbs tangling together, essentially a rerun of last night. This time he climbs under the covers and on top of me, supporting himself on his elbows. I grab his wallet from the knightstand and rummage through it for another condom.

"Jay Sister-Fucking Keely, get your ass down here now!"

I shove Jay off and jump to my feet. He does the same while attempting to find some of his clothes. I throw on a robe I find hanging on the back of my desk chair, and I go to my closet to find the other bathrobe I keep in there. I toss it to Jay, who catches it and glances from it and back to me a few times before finally just tieing it around himself.

We meet at the door, but he grabs me by the elbow when I try to walk out first. I've never seen him so serious. "I'll go down there, and sort things out man to man."

Something within me snaps when he suggests I can't talk things out as well as he can, that a man-to-man conversation would go smoother without the added estrogen.

I shake off his hand and glare at him, "He's my brother, and while I appreciate the sentiment, I can handle him just as well as you can."

He joins in on my one-sided glaring contest, making it now two-sided. His jaw clenches and his breath becomes heavy, and if someone can breath angrily, he's currently doing that as well. "Why won't you let me help you?" he fumes, which, by the way, is hilarious because he's wearing a fuzzy, heart-patterned robe.

"This may come as a shock to you, but I've been handling not only myself but three other boys for the last 15 months," I spit my words angrily, hoping he backs off. "I think I've got this under control."

"Fine. Whatever," he raises his hands in surrender. Then he gestures towards the door and the subsequent stairs, "Let's go and get this over with."

I give him one last look, and a rather harsh one at that, and walk out of the door across the hall to the top of the stairs. Tony stands at the bottom, gripping the banister and looking rather pissed. A shadow of a beard is beginning to flourish along his jaw, and that's what makes me realize I haven't seen him since yesterday morning, which was almost 24 hours ago. A whole twenty-four hours of which I had no clue of his whereabouts. Twenty-four hours of which he could've ended up dead in a gutter, impregnating his girlfriend, or in a jail cell; instead he's here, ruining my peaceful morning with his presence.