Song for the chapter: Stay A Little Longer ~ Brothers Osborne
SAGE
Stretching my arms overhead, I groan. My stomach muscles are sore, but at least I'm not nauseous. Brushing hair out of my eyes, I roll over expecting to find Joanna next to me, but she's not. Sitting up slowly, I scratch my head looking around. Her clothes are still neatly stacked on the nightstand; she's still here. The thought of seeing her brings a lazy smile to my face, but first things first.
After a quick shower, I walk out of the bedroom and the smell of food hits my senses immediately as well as the Latin music coming from the kitchen.
I step out of the hallway but then quickly retreat so Joanna can't see me yet. She's wearing a pair of my sweats now, her hair up in a messy bun, loose strands frame her face and then she turns singing and dancing along to the music playing from her phone.
Her hips sway to the rhythm, arms moving in sync as she dances toward the stove. She sets a spatula down and lifts her hands up, circling her hips as she turns, continuing the mesmerizing movements.
There's a smile on her face as she dances her way to the fridge and pulls out a carton of O.J. pouring herself a glass, and I can longer stand back and watch and make my way to her. She bends down to put the carton away.
Unable to keep away, I quietly walk up behind her as she sways her gorgeous ass in the air.
She gasps when she feels my hands on her hips and straightens looking over her shoulder. Her smile is contagious as we begin to dance together, using the space of the kitchen.
I love the way she feels against me, soft and warm and she always smells so damn good. With her back to me, I dip my head down, running my nose against the column of her throat as her ass rubs against me with her dancing.
"Don't do that," I say next to her ear.
"I'm just dancing."
"You know what you're doing, Joanna." She chuckles when I spin her around.
"This is probably my new favorite way to wake up. You dancing in my kitchen, wearing my clothes. I don't think there's anything sexier." And then my smile widens. "Scratch that. I just remembered you standing outside of the steam room."
Her face reddens and lowers her gaze, her long lashes cast down. I lift her chin and her soft brown eyes look back at me. She pulls in her lips, moistening them. I might be out of the dating game, but that's gotta be a sign she wants me to kiss her.
My eyes shift to hers before they land on her tempting lips again. I'm going for it. But the door opens and Oli walks in with a drink carrier in her hand, full of coffee cups.
"I'm back—oh shit, sorry, Coach! Didn't mean to interrupt." Oli's eyes are wide with a huge grin.
Joanna moves away, one of her hands cupping her face and then her neck, the way she does when she's flustered.
"Looks like you're feeling better. You look better too." Oli sets the coffee down on the counter and then hands a bag to Joanna. "Here, I got your makeup bag too."
Joanna glances at me. "I wanted to get ready here, hope that's okay?"
I nod not bothering to hide my smile.
She sets the bag down and then busies herself, grabbing a few plates and dishes out the food she had on the stove. She slides some scrambled egg whites onto my plate and grabs the toast that pops up, setting the plain bread down with a teasing smile.
"You need to ease back into eating." She opens the microwave and slides a cup of oatmeal over to me and then a spoon.
"Dang JoJo, this potato hash is almost as good as your mom's," Oli says through a mouthful while I stare at my plain food. Picking up my fork, I skewer a few of the potatoes on Joanna's plate and sample what she made.
"Hey!"
"Damn, that's good." I reach for more, but she moves her plate away from me.
"It's too soon, Sage. I'll make some for you another day."
I lean back, smiling like an idiot. "Are you saying you want to spend the night again?"
She laughs, shaking her head. "I hope you don't plan on getting sick again."
"You know that's not what I meant."
Oli clears her throat. "Don't mind me over here." She wiggles her eyebrows. "Everyone noticed you both weren't at the gym today." Joanna peers at me before she continues eating her food, but I don't think too much about it. My staff knows I've been out sick.
I turn to Oli. "You still went?"
"You bet your gorgeous face I did, Coach." She says, with a proud grin. "Got a PR on the bench press too."
"I'm impressed, Oli. Good for you."
"I did it more for bragging rights over JoJo since she never not follows through on anything in her life and I can finally say I beat her at something," Oli says, winking at Joanna as she walks to the sink to rinse her dish.
"Alright, well I'm off. I'm going to take a nap before I head to work." She slips her jacket back on. "Unless you want me to wait for you, JoJo? I can take you to work."
"I'll take her." I stand taking my plate to the sink.
"Yeah, you will." Oli smirks while Joanna mouths at her to stop. "Glad you don't look like the walking dead anymore, Coach. I'll see you tomorrow. Jojo see you later tonight." She takes Maverick and Goose with her this time when she leaves.
Looking across the way into Obie's room, the unusual tidiness and the fact his bed is made catches my attention. Turning back to Joanna, she's busy washing the dishes and cleaning up what she used to make breakfast.
"I'll take care of this, Joanna. Go and get ready. I don't want you to be late for work."
"I don't mind and you should still take it easy," she tells me as she continues washing the dishes. I come up behind her and turn on the water to rinse the soap off her hands and then grab a dish towel to dry them.
I turn her around and keep her in place by resting my hands on either side of the counter. "Thank you for coming over and taking care of me. Although, I'm going to have a talk with Obie about bothering people."
"He didn't bother anyone. We wanted to help." She shrugs. "I met Mei this morning. She's lovely."
I smile and brush some of her hair back not realizing I'm doing it until her eyes follow my movements. "She is. She's been a lifesaver for me over the years. Obie loves her too, but he's getting to that age where he thinks he doesn't need to be watched."
"I can see that. He seems very mature for a twelve year old." She swallows with her eyes focused on my mouth.
I smile. "He's always been a bit of an old soul...maybe we can test out his theory on being ready to be on his own—for a few hours, anyway."
She pushes her glasses back in the adorable way she does. "What do you mean?"
"Let me take you out tonight."
The panic in her face is so obvious as her eyes flicker between mine and a line forms in between her brows. "Sage...I know we have this...flirty vibe thing going on. And I appreciate you sharing your feelings with me last night. But...I'm not ready to date anyone yet. I'm sorry if I'm sending you mixed signals. I just want to be your friend."
Fucking ouch.
After swallowing the massive lump of rejection, my jaw muscles twitch in agitation, remembering her failed second date with that douchebag.
"Anyone or just me?" I straighten and fold my arms across my chest.
Her eyes snap to mine. "What?"
"You were going to go out with Rick if he hadn't canceled, right?"
She mirrors my stance and folds her arms. "It's not the same. And before you let your male ego get hurt, it's not you, it's me."
I scoff, my gaze sweeping up to the ceiling. "How? How exactly is it different? Besides, that dickhead only wants to get in your pants, Joanna."
"And you don't?"
My eyes shoot back to hers. It's insane how quickly I imagine picking her up and having my way with her on the counter, right here and now. Inhaling a few times to calm down, she backs up against the counter when I step forward.
"You're right. I would be lying if I told you I haven't thought about what it would feel like to have you under me as I sink into you balls deep." Her lips part with a gasp, arms uncrossing as she reaches behind her to steady herself, gripping the edge of the sink.
"I've jerked off to the image of you naked outside the steam room, more times than I think is normal. I don't want to be just your friend, Joanna. But..." With great effort I take a couple steps back to give her space. "I know you're still healing and don't trust easily after what your fucking ex did to you. Or...maybe it is just me..."
It dawns on me that she may not see me more than that, regardless of her reservations.
Well, shit. I feel like a complete asshole.
My gaze falls to the floor as clarity takes over, not being able to face the fucking pity I'm sure is on her face. "I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't be pressuring you like that. You've made it clear where you stand more than once, please forgive me. I'll finish cleaning up here, go ahead and get ready. I've taken up enough of your time as it is."
My eyes lift to hers, there's definitely pity in them, but also something else before she masks her emotions. She sidesteps me, picking up the bag Oli brought her, rushing back to my room without saying another word.
After I'm done setting the dishwasher, I walk back to my room to grab my phone that was charging. Checking my phone for messages, I respond to a few texts from my sister, Tanner and Obie. Throwing on a hoodie, I walk out of the closet but stop when a sound comes from the bathroom.
The shower is still running, and the image of a naked Joanna pops into my head. Stop torturing yourself.
I take a step away but freeze when the unmistakable sound of Joanna moaning within reaches my ears. Looking back at the door, I wait for a second. In my lust filled mind, I'm sure I conjured it. But then I hear it again. A low, quiet sensual moan; the sound hits its target, straight to my dick.
It doesn't take long for her moans—and imagining her pleasuring herself—to make my cock rock hard.
Realizing I don't want to be caught standing here, I walk in circles before I remember how to leave my own room, but not before my name reaches my burning ears with another sensual moan.
By the time I'm in my home office I have a sheen of sweat on my forehead and collapse into my chair, leaning back into it.
Okay, calm down. She is into you, she's just scared. Understandably so, but the good news is she's into you.
My phone chimes. It's my sister letting me know they've made it home after extending her stay after our bout with food poisoning and she tells me she's leaving a detailed review on the restaurant's page. I send her a quick text and then focus on what I can do to convince Joanna to give me a chance.
I admit I'm fucking whipped, searching and reading articles on how to build trust and how to get out of the friend zone. On the bright side, it looks like I am and have been doing most of the things already that are listed.
Tell them how you feel. Check. I've made that pretty damn clear.
Be patient. That's not one of my strongest qualities, but I'm willing to try for her. After twenty minutes of reading, my head snaps up when there's a knock on the open door.
"Ready?" Joanna is in a black pantsuit, with white shirt that gives a small peek of her ample cleavage, paired in shiny heels.
She's so beautiful.
I nod my head, snapping my laptop closed.
Following her out of the apartment, my eyes find her hands full with the bag full of her clothes and I notice my clothes are in there as well.
"I'm going to wash your shirt and pants before I give them back to you." She tells me, noticing I was looking inside the bag.
"You don't have to do that."
"I want to." She shifts her purse on her shoulder.
"Did you forget your glasses?" Noticing she's not wearing them and take the other bag from her hand after I lock the door behind us.
"I wear contacts at work. I've lost too many pairs when I take them off to rub my eyes, so contacts are the safer choice. Even though I actually hate touching my eyes. It freaks me out."
"Hmm." I love learning new things about her. "Did you clean up Obie's room and do a load of laundry?" The blush painting her face is a dead giveaway. She's so damn cute.
"Just wanted to help."
Yep, she definitely likes you.
"What's with the cheesy smile, Coach?" She asks when we step into the elevator.
"Huh? Oh, I'm just happy to get back to the office. I love going to work." I keep the foolish grin on my face, choosing to ignore the quizzical look she's giving me.