I was exhausted by the time I got home. After putting up with my boss for so long, he’d finally let me check out of work. I didn’t even know if I was going to get paid a bonus for winning the case, seeing as I'd be working with one of the partner’s.I’d done it once and it didn’t work out well with the senior partner. Because, he ended up taking all the credit, while I did the scraps in their eyes, but really I did the bulk of the work, but going against one of the senior partner’s was like fucking law suicide. No one would hire you after your current firm fired you, because you wouldn’t be deemed as a team player.Once, I got home, the lights were on, but the apartment was silent, was the first thing I noticed upon entering. I looked around the living room, a bit scared to move past the door. It was ridiculous, because I was worried about how he would react, but this was still my place.If he had something to complain about…well, it wasn’t like I could kick him out, either. I wasn’t
“Ugh,” I groaned, trying to roll over, only to flinch when I almost rolled right off the couch. “Shit.”I’d been out all night and didn’t get back till morning, and Claire had already gone to work when I got back. Which was just as well, because I didn’t want to hear her nagging at me. It was stupid for me to get drunk, even I knew that, but it was either that, or I would have screamed at her. Or held her down in her bed and made her beg.That last thought made me sigh, and I squinted my eyes open.I’d been drinking for too fucking long, and the joint I went to, didn’t close till around eight this morning, and I was drinking up to that time, so I was technically still drunk and not hung over just yet. I didn’t know how long I’d been home for, but I’d dropped to the couch to shut my eyes for a moment because I was feeling tired and fucking exhausted.I dragged my body off the couch and headed for the kitchen to get some water to drink. Then I’d sleep and wake up whenever I started to f
“These are the sections we’re going to be focusing on, so read the whole thing, but you need to memorize this part, do you understand?”I nodded along to what Simon was saying, looking at the documents in my hands. I wondered if I’d received the full document or if he was keeping parts of it away from me. I’d skimmed several pages before stopping where he’d highlighted, and a lot of the info seemed strange. Or maybe he just didn’t want to reveal all his cards to me, yet. I was a little surprised that he was treating me as an actual partner and not just a lowly assistant. If he were just treating me as an assistant, he’d get me to do all the research and do the more important parts himself, but he was including me in everything.It didn’t stop me from being suspicious, but it did lower my guard a little bit.“We have a while until the next meeting, so read up. There’s some research material at the end of the document that you should also look into. I’ll be doing my homework, and when w
It felt as if as quick as I’d closed my eyes to sleep then I’d opened them just as quickly. I squinted my eyes in the light flowing into the room. I’d be tempted to go into Claire’s room and sleep there, but I found the guestroom just as comfortable as her bed. The light in this room wasn’t as much as hers, and instead of her white deco, this room was more sensible in dark brown and blue colors.My eyes were a bit sensitive because I was hung over, but I got over it quickly and pushed myself up.“Ugh,” I groaned as I slipped out of bed carefully, my stomach swaying, feeling a bit dizzy.Dammit, I’d made a mistake. I’d drunk so much, and I’d missed breakfast, too. I felt a bit nauseous, so I didn’t think I could handle eating, either, and I needed a quick way to get the alcohol out of my system. Shit, there was only that, and it was the most disgusting thing ever, but I would need it.“First, shower,” I muttered to myself, my nose wrinkling as I became aware of my stink.I tossed my cl
I parked the car and paused to take a breath, running a hand through my hair. I’d driven home, but it felt ridiculous like I’d run all the way there. Because my heart beat just wouldn’t fucking slow down at the thought of trying to talk sense into Rogue.I started to regret fucking him at all, now. I still didn’t know the reason for his attitude yesterday. All I needed to know was that it was a problem and I might have contributed to it somehow. The entire thought seemed impossible to me, but it would be bad if he suddenly got the wrong idea about that night.I needed to explain things to him, and then we could settle down into a somewhat normal housing relationship.Thinking that, I jumped out of the car with determination. My heart didn’t calm down, but I knew how things had to be, especially after that visit from his parole officer. If we weren’t careful, he really would be going back in the slammer soon.What happened last night, him leaving because he was mad at me for whatever r
I held Claire against the door and kissed her until my softened cock slipped out of her, making us both sigh and shudder. Then I buried my face into her neck and just breathed her in for a sec.“Aren’t you getting tired?” she murmured against my ear, hugging me back.I smiled squeezing my arms around her once. “Maybe, but don’t worry. I won’t drop you, okay?”“Don’t stop. You’re not going to drop me.”I hummed, pressing kisses to her throat, then taking her skin between my lips and sucked, biting down lightly with my teeth. I wanted to make a mark against her neck, but I thought it would make her mad, so it was only a light nibble.Neither of us was properly dressed. She had her boobs out, and my cock was hanging out of my pants. They were still hanging onto my hips, and I imagined the strange sight we made. But I didn’t want to put her down. Instead, I held her properly, pulling away from the door.I just chuckled. Her groans had gone a pitch higher, either in surprise or fear, but
I was laying my head on Rogue’s chest, eyes closed and breathing calmed down. I could think, but in all honesty, I didn’t want to.“Claire?”I sighed because obviously, Rogue had different ideas.It would have been fine if we’d just let things go as they were. I’d do my best to make sure it didn’t happen again, but that would just be an awkward thing to ask for when we were still naked and entwined together on my bed.“Are you pretending to be asleep?” he asked after I didn’t answer for a long time.“I’m not pretending or anything,” I murmured. “What is it?”Guilt had already started to settle in for me. I had come home, early at that, with a clear objective. And yet, it was so simply thrown out the window so easily that I felt a bit ashamed of myself. Maybe it was because we’d already been together before, and it was only a day or two ago, so my mind and body still remembered his touch and how good it felt. But I had no self-control around him.So then, didn’t that mean, no matter wh
When I woke up, I found myself alone in bed, and I buried my face in the pillow as I held back a groan. Did Claire run off again?“Fuck!”I hadn't paid much attention to what she’d said last night in my post orgasm haze, but that didn’t mean I forgot, either.We had to stop doing this…It wasn’t like I didn’t understand her reasoning. Only, when I slept with Claire, I wasn’t exactly thinking of a reason. I could just imagine my dad if he found out, how disappointed he would be in me. And I didn’t want that, but he didn’t have to know. I didn’t know how Hannah would react, I didn’t think it would be nice, either, but did we have to tell people at all?I sighed and pushed myself up, then slid out of bed. She’d said we needed to talk. If she’d run off again, maybe we’d get to talk after she came off work or something, but I needed to go to the hospital. I’d been scared yesterday, and being with Claire had been enough to distract me from my going yesterday. But I couldn’t keep hiding behi
I lay on the bed, on my side, with pillows stacked around me. It was close to the baby’s due date, so I’d taken my maternity leave. The strain on my body was a lot greater than what I had imagined it would be, even with it being baby number two. The closer to the due date I arrived, the heavier my body felt. Rogue had pretty much confined me to bed rest until our daughter arrived. He took on the role of care giver, when he wasn’t at work, taking care of both Richard and me. When he was away at the Old Blue Tavern, Mom would be here helping me when I felt like I needed to move around to alleviate some pressure.I was being pampered, and even though it got annoying at times, I loved it.“How are you doing?” Rogue asked, walking into the room.We’d had breakfast a while ago, and he’d left to wash the dishes and do some other chores around the apartment while I rested on the bed. He’d put Richard in his playpen in our room so he could see me. I had my eyes closed, though I wasn’t sleeping
“Wake up, Claire,” Rogue murmured in my ear, shaking me awake. “If you don’t get up now you’re going to be late, you know? You’re starting your new job today!”I groaned as I struggled out of my drowsiness. We’d gotten married over the weekend and today was my first day as the new Assistant District Attorney. Rogue had even been considerate enough not to keep me up late last night and he’d done everything with Richard, our nearly two-year-old who we named after his father, including getting up with him at one a.m. This second pregnancy was only a bit less than a couple of months along, so I wasn’t showing yet, and it hadn’t gotten in my way, though I’d still had to report it when I went in for my interview for the ADA position. I had been told it wasn’t an issue, though, and seeing as I had gotten the job, it clearly hadn’t been.Funny how I had been pregnant when I started working as a public defender and now, I’m pregnant again starting as the ADA. I was determined though, to do my
The first day of my new job was coming up. I was so fucking scared. I was going to be a fucking chef at the Old Blue Tavern. Dad and I used to eat there when I was a kid. It was under new ownership now, after it had gone downhill, but I wanted to bring it back to its glory. Make it into a place where I would want my family to come and enjoy. I smiled. My family. Me, Claire, our little Richard, named after my dad, and the new little one on the way. Now, all I had to do was make it perfect.For the first time in my life, I had a purpose and I didn’t feel like the bad apple anymore. If anything the complete opposite. As if for once I could look in the mirror and feel proud about who I was and what I was going to do with my life. This was all new to me, but it filled me up with this crazy warm feeling and I knew that it had everything to do with Claire. Whoever said that love was made for fools, had obviously never been in love. “You coming in here, big boy, or are you going to make me w
“Say what?”I was still a bit dazed from Claire’s confession. “I told you to sit down. But you insisted on standing,” she said as we stood in the living room. I came home and thought that I’ll bring her something that I made this afternoon. It was the best Bouillabaisse that I'd ever made and she was a fan of French cuisine, so I brought it home in between class.“I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”It was as if she’d rehearsed the speech as she said it, over and over again.We were going to be parents.I was going to be a dad.Shit!“Great,” I said as I lifted her up and hugged her. Fuck, I wish that I was taking acting classes and not culinary, because I was fucking panicking, but I didn’t want her to worry. I wasn’t going to run away from this, but it was a little much to take in. I never thought of becoming a dad, so something like this being sprung at me out of nowhere would obviously be a shock.It was definitely my responsibility, and I really wanted to be with Claire,
I woke up late in the morning. It was something I was growing used to, now that I didn’t have a job to go to. It was a pretty dangerous habit for me to have, since I would end it soon.Especially since I’d finally hit gold. There was no confirmation yet, but I thought I had a pretty good chance. It had been a while since I’d actually worked, though. Not that I stayed idle while I was unemployed, I did some freelance work that brought in a bit of cash every month, since I had nothing to do at home the days Rogue had to go to school, it kept me from being bored, too.We had lasted a longer while than I’d initially thought we would, and I didn’t even have to sell the apartment and move into a smaller one for it. though a part of me felt really guilty, using cash from Richard’s will and life insurance that he’d left to my name to keep us afloat, but I liked to think of it as him looking after us from beyond the grave.The money hadn't run out, because I’d been extra careful with it, but I
A week after Dad passed away, we started preparing for the funeral. Hannah was so distraught over the whole thing that all three of us had to get involved with burying Dad.There was a part of me that felt like, since I was doing this, in a way, I was making up to my dad for being a disappointment. We didn’t get to talk much since I got out of prison, even though I’d gotten to visit him a few times. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but either Hannah was talking with him, or he couldn’t speak, even when he was awake.I’d gotten him to look at me, and he didn’t look at me with the disappointment from before, but because he didn’t say it out loud that he forgave me, I couldn’t take it as if he did.At least, he’d looked at peace the last time I saw him, and he seemed to be glad that Claire and I were getting along well when we showed up at his room together.Still, I hadn't done enough for him. Hell, I hadn't done a single fucking thing for him.It was too late to make things up to him.
We woke up in the middle of the night or it could have been the early hours of the morning. Who knew? Claire had nothing in her apartment to tell the time, or even to make it comforting. So, I was at a complete loss, with an aching cock and feeling nauseous from not eating. The thumping on the door that woke us up became louder. It scared me so fucking much. Maybe Kathleen had found out where Claire lived and decided to send some goons over. Shit, why the fuck I hooked up with her at times was beyond my comprehension. She was nothing like the women I normally hooked up with. At least they were a bit polished. Kathleen could easily have passed for a badly dressed drag queen.I shook my head at the idea of her knowing where Claire lived or sending guys to beat me up. Then, I thought that maybe something I had done in the past had come back to haunt me and that I had put Claire in danger.Shit, Claire.The stepsister that I had always thought was so uptight was completely different to wh
I let out a groan of frustration as I threw myself back into the couch. I was at home in my living room, with my laptop open in front of me on the low coffee table. I’d been looking online for jobs, and a while back I found a good lead, and applied. I just got back a reply.It was a bit soon to be getting a reply. If it took a couple weeks to a month, I would feel better about my chances of getting the job. When I saw I’d gotten a reply already, I knew it was bad before I opened it, and sure enough, it was a rejection.“Fuck,” I muttered to myself. “What am I going to do?”It was a bit early to be getting too panicked over this, but I couldn’t not worry about it, either. I’d gotten my paycheck for my last month of work at the company. I didn’t miss how I didn’t get any commission out of the job I had been working on with Simon, even though I’d done considerable work on it. I at least got paid for all the overtime I’d pulled. I couldn’t go back there and complain or they’d just slap me
We sat there for a long time after Hannah had left, and Claire didn’t look like she wanted to move. She didn’t even try her drink, just holding it between her palms, warming it up. After a long moment, when I couldn’t stand seeing the lost look on her face anymore, I sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.“Did something happen between you two that I should know about?” I asked. “What were you two talking about before I came back here? Is something wrong that I should know about?”Claire sighed and looked at me, a tiredness in her eyes that hadn't been there before.“It doesn’t matter.”I frowned. “What are you talking about? Of course it matters! Does it have something to do with Dad?”She bit her lip, looking unsure. My heart suddenly felt cold, thinking it might actually have something to do with Dad.He had been getting better recently. He was awake more often, he looked more alert. His face looked fuller, though his color only looked a little better. I wasn’t naïve enough