The Pretend Boyfriend novel Chapter 88

"I was worried about you," she begins.

"So was my PE teacher when I tried to jerk myself off during detention."

He wishes his hard-on would subside against the cushion. He practically has to exert to hold the damn thing down.

"Where were you?" she says accusingly.

He contemplates lying, and then settles for a half-truth. "Settling a few debts."

She bites her lip. He knows she's upset. But he can't tell her about what he has been doing with Delilah. He really can't. She wouldn't understand. She would try to make him stop. She would tell him that he's in over his head and that Delilah is dangerous and all that crap. But she would never understand that he was doing it for her.

She opens her mouth to say something, and then seems to think the better of it. She bites down on her lower lip again. Hard. His heart skips a beat. It usually means that she knows or suspects something, and she's refraining from saying it because she doesn't want to cramp his style.

"Brian," she says meaningfully, although that is not the foremost thing in her mind, "please, please don't do anything ... stupid."

Define stupid.

"I'm not doing anything stupid," he replies.

"I mean with that woman. You never know what she's going to do to you."

He wants to deny he was with 'that woman'. But his heart won't let him lie even though his brain tells him it's the rational thing to do.

He says, "I'm not doing anything stupid, or foolhardy, or insane, or anything Republicans do. Happy?"

She gives him a look to suggest that she doesn't believe him.

"How's Thor?" he says lightly.

"I left him in charge of the gym."

He raises an eyebrow. "Oh, he can now get to deploy his management skills on a larger people group. Fancy that."

"He's not as stupid as you think he is, Brian."

"I didn't say he was stupid. I'm certain he has an I.Q. well into the low hundreds. He must be smart if he thinks you're hot."

She sighs. "Sarcasm isn't going to get you anywhere, Brian."

"I wasn't being sarcastic. I was trying to flatter you."

She gets up. "I'm going to fix you something to eat. You've got to be hungry."

He hasn't eaten anything all day. He will need energy for what must come tonight. Which he isn't looking forward to, even though his cock will be up for the task, as it always is. It's a force of nature unto itself.

"Just so you'd know."

"Are you trying to make yourself feel better about what you're doing, Brian?" she says sharply.

He stops chewing. "What am I doing?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

He waves his fork. "I'm eating your calorie-laden carbs."

She gives him a funny look that says, 'Just like you to fob off a wisecrack as pain management'.

After a while, their talk veers off to other things. Like how the gym is doing. He feels guilty for not having been to the gym for three days, but he can't bear to face anyone until he has worked this thing out.

Later, they just sit on the couch, watching TV. He has his arm around her, and she leans in to him and lays her head on his shoulder. They sit there quietly with so many words unsaid, each thinking their own turbulent thoughts.

It's crafty, but Sam believes she can pull it off.

All she needs is several items which she will pay for in cash, and a whole lot of guts. What's one more felony to be added to her list? She has already been charged for breaking and entering. If she's going to jail, she might as well go in style.

She doesn't say anything about her plan to Brian. She doesn't want him to stop her.