I heard the clacking of Trip’s nails on the hardwood behind me, but no Kash. Turning to look proved Kash wasn’t there, but I heard the sound of heavy footsteps just as I turned back around. I screamed as Kash came barreling toward me from the opposite direction, and I tried to turn back to go the way I’d been coming from but ran into Trip seconds before Kash did, and we both went crashing down onto the hardwood floor.
Kash’s arm came up with the can, but before he could spray more, I smacked the can away and tried to crawl away from him and closer to it. And yes, okay I’ll admit I may have cheated by accidentally kicking him in the stomach as I crawled away. A half-laugh, half-shout of victory left me when I reached the can and turned it on Kash, but nothing came out.
“Are you shitting me?”
He laughed and ripped the can from my hand, and after a shake, more fluffiness was spraying out at my face.
“What the hell? That’s not fair!”
“What can I say? The can hates you,” he boasted proudly as the sounds of an empty can filled the otherwise quiet hall. “Don’t pout. You look amazing.”
I couldn’t help it. I was pouting like a four-year-old and I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to, which I totally didn’t. “I’m covered. You just wasted nearly an entire can of whipped cream on my face, and it’s in my hair!”
A look of shock covered his handsome face. “Oh God no, not the hair!” he smirked, and a small laugh left him when my pout increased. “Come here, beautiful.” Kissing my lips softly through the whipped cream, he licked off what had transferred onto his face and kissed me again. “See? Beautiful and delicious. Really, you should be thanking me right now.”
“Hate is a strong word and it’s coming to mind when I look at you.”
“Aw, I love you too, snookems.”
“I will murder you.”
“I know.” He smiled and let his hands trail down my waist to my barely there sleep shorts. I moaned unattractively when his hand trailed over where I wanted him most. “What if I promised to help clean it off you?”
Yes. Please. “Much less likely to murder you.”
He barked out a laugh that cut off quickly when his cell started blaring the tone he set for anyone at the police department. “Damn it.”
Not happening. I need sexy time with my man while he cleans whip cream off me!
“Ryan,” he answered and gave me an apologetic look a few silent moments later. “Yeah—yeah, I’m on my way.”
“Gotta go?”
“Yeah.” He grimaced and helped me stand up. “I’m sorry, Rach. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Double homicide, looks like it’s gang related.”
“Don’t be sorry, go do what you do best.” He and Mase weren’t even on call for over twenty-four more hours. I wanted to ask why they couldn’t have called someone else, but I kept my mouth shut and smiled through my disappointment. He looked like he was beating himself up enough; he didn’t need me making it worse.
“Thank you.”
He took off for the bedroom, and I walked into the kitchen to wet a paper towel so I could wipe all the gross-ness off my face. By the time I was walking back into the hallway with a wet washcloth to clean anything else that had been sprayed, Kash was jogging back down the hall in a clean shirt while putting his gun in the holster, his badge hanging around his neck.
Grabbing my chin, he pulled me close and kissed me hard. “Be back soon, love you, Rach.”
“Love you too.”
After he was gone, I finished cleaning and called Candice back as I dumped the banana splits Kash had made.
“Did you hurt him?” she asked in way of greeting.
“Ha. No, he got called in.”
“Bummer.”
“Tell me about it, it was just about to get good too. He told me he was going to clean all the whipped cream off me, I was picturing us in the shower . . . yeah, no. Didn’t happen.”
“That sucks. He should have told them to give him half an hour.”
I laughed out loud and hung my head. “I’m just saying, whipped cream wars are not as fun as they portray them in books or movies. They’re usually all sexy and whatnot. Ours? Not so much. I got whipped cream up my nose, I was running away from him and fell over Trip and hit the hardwood really hard. Like, I think my hip and elbow are going to bruise from it because Kash was on top of me when I went down. When I knocked the can out of his hand it somehow hurt me more than anything, my hand is throbbing. Then when I’m about to get one good hit in, nothing comes out of the can! I’m all sticky and gross, it was just one massive fail.”
Candice was laughing so hard she was snorting, and I couldn’t help but laugh with her. “I would have paid to see that!”
“I’m pretty sure I looked like the abominable snowman on crack. You didn’t miss anything too thrilling.”
“Uh-huh, sure sounds like it.”
“I miss you, Candi. I can’t wait to see you.”
“I know!” I could hear her happy clap through the phone and smiled. “Just a couple weeks and then it’s me and Rachie time!”
“You’re such a nerd.”
A few days after the big blowup Kash and I’d had after the family dinner, he’d surprised me with tickets to Texas for Candice’s graduation, and then to California for the two weeks after. He could only get two weeks of vacation blocked off, so after we spent the remainder of the time with Candice’s family, he was flying Candice back here for the month leading up to the wedding. I’d tackle-hugged him when he told me about everything. He was always doing whatever he could to make sure I was happy, and though I hated that I knew a big part was still because of guilt for what had happened last summer in Austin, I was so in love with him for the gift of time with my pseudo-family.
“I know, I— Oh, hey! Mike just got here, I gotta go.”
“Have fun,” I said in a singsong voice. “Be safe!”
“Always!”
I looked down at Trip licking my ankle after setting my phone on the counter. “Yeah, I bet I taste real good right now.”
Grabbing one of Trip’s treats, I headed toward the bathroom to clean myself from the dessert war. After he was all settled with a toy and treat on the bathroom mat, I stripped out of my clothes and turned the water on as hot as it would go. I washed my hair and body twice to get any lingering stickiness off, and tried not to frown at how differently I’d seen this shower going.
Once I was done and dried off, I let Trip out before going around the house and locking up. From experience over the last few months, I doubted Kash would be home anytime soon. It was close to midnight, so there was no way I could wait up for him. Placing Trip on the bed, I crawled in after him before grabbing my phone.
Just so you know . . . cleaning up from a whipped cream war without you isn’t nearly as fun. See you when you get home. Love you.
I knew better than to wait for a response, he probably wouldn’t get the text until they were done. But I couldn’t help but sit there and stare until my screen went black, wishing for anything from him.
I was proud of him, and I knew he loved what he was doing. But nights when he was gone were really lonely. With a sigh, I turned off my lamp and plugged my phone in to charge before pulling an already snoring Trip close and closing my eyes.
MY EYES FLEW OPEN and my body stilled. I didn’t know if I’d been dreaming or if Kash was home and I’d heard him, but my arms were covered in goose bumps and I held my breath as I waited for another sign of what had woken me. I started to think it was a dream when I didn’t hear anything else, but my body locked up again when I noticed Trip standing at the foot of the bed growling low and as fiercely as a puppy could. Sunlight from the windows was filtering into the bedroom, and I quietly reached behind me for my phone. Kash always texted me when he was on his way home for this exact reason . . . he didn’t want me to freak out if I was asleep.