Wolf, page 19
“It’s not an act. And trust me, I’ve never been like this for any other woman. It’s just you. You’re special.”
Crap. Why couldn’t this man just shut up? I wouldn’t be able to walk away if he kept up with this shit. Men were supposed to be rude, disgusting pigs. I was supposed to love the man I married, but secretly want to kill him in his sleep. I just couldn’t see me ever wanting to kill Craig. He was too sweet, too pretty. And even his stalking wasn’t enough to make me want to take shooting lessons.
“Well….then just pretend that I’m someone else.”
He took another step back, leaning heavily on his crutch as he bent over and picked up the bag. “So, does this mean that I should get rid of this?”
“What is it?”
“Soup. I told Jackson’s mom that you were sick and she made a pot of chicken noodle soup for you. But hey, if you don’t want it, I’ll just throw it in the trash.”
He made for the kitchen and had the trash can open before I came to my senses.
“Just stop! I’ll eat the soup.”
“Are you sure? Because, I don’t want to force you to eat something that will make you feel better.”
I walked over and snatched the bag out of his hand. I opened it on the counter and pulled out a warm tupperware bowl of soup. God, I could already smell just a little bit of it and my mouth was watering. I poured myself a bowl and sat down at the table, taking my first taste. It was heaven. Craig sat down at the table with me and watched me eat, almost like he was afraid I was going to run away.
“Are you feeling better?”
I shrugged, but nodded when I realized what a bitch I was being.
“That’s good. I was hoping it wouldn’t last long.”
“What about you? How’s your leg?”
“It’s good. Cap bitched at me for being at work today, but I had to fill out paperwork from the job.”
“I’m sure he would have let someone bring it to you.”
“Yeah, but two days of lying around were enough. I can’t stand to just sit around all day. And I’m pretty sure that you would have killed me if I had stayed home with you again.”
“Look,” I set my spoon down and leaned back in my chair. It was better to get this out now instead of dragging it on. “This has been…interesting, but we weren’t supposed to be married. That never should have happened. And then you went and sold my house without my permission….I think we need to be smart here and admit what this really is.”
He smiled at me and slid his hand across the table, resting it on top of mine. “I think you’re right. We need to admit that this was fate throwing us together and telling us that we shouldn’t fight this.”
I blinked and then shook my head in disbelief. “Fate? This…this had nothing to do with fate. This is you trying to force me into having a relationship with you. And it’s not going to work. I want an annulment.”
“Remember, we can’t do that. You can’t take the time off. Especially after just being sick.”
“Then I want a divorce. I don’t care if it looks bad or not. I want out of this marriage!”
“Baby, you’re just saying that because this is all a bit overwhelming. You’ll come around. You’ll see.”
“You’re delusional.”
“I’m right. Trust me on this.”
“Trust me on this point, if you don’t give me my divorce, I will make your life a living hell. I don’t want to be married to you and I don’t want you being sweet to try and win me over. It’s not going to work no matter how many times you try.”
“Alright, I respect your decision.”
“So, you’ll give me my divorce?”
“Not a chance in hell, my little pixie.”
💕💕💕💕💕
I was completely irritated when I got out of bed the next morning. Despite trying my best to make Craig not want to sleep with me, nothing worked. I shoved my cold feet against his legs and he wrapped my feet between his legs to keep them warm. When he started snoring in the middle of the night and I couldn’t get back to sleep, I smothered him with a pillow. Of course, he’s stronger than me, so he gently pushed me back to my side of the bed and rolled over to his side. And he didn’t even snore the rest of the night. And then when he snuggled up to me in the morning and I slammed my fist back into his erection that was prodding me in the ass, he just chuckled and told me he liked a feisty woman.
So, here I was, showering in a new house, and I didn’t even have all my stuff in the shower that I needed. But then I saw Craig’s razor and I got an idea. Lathering up, I shaved every single inch of hair from my legs, armpits, and even my nether regions. I whistled cheerily as I got out of the shower and dried off quickly. Craig knocked and walked into the bathroom on his crutches, kissing me hard before setting his crutches aside and stepping into the shower. I was temporarily shocked into complete submission before I pulled it together and got the hell out of there.
I dressed quickly and then walked back into the bathroom. Peeking into the shower, I saw Craig was shaving his face. “Oh, sweetie? I’m sorry, but I couldn’t find my razor, so I used yours. Everywhere.”
He slid the door open and grinned at me. “So, what you’re saying is that it’s like your pussy is on my face right now. I like it.”
I screamed in frustration as he laughed at me. Eyeing the toilet, I walked over to it and slammed the handle down, laughing as I imagined the water going cold.
“Just so you know, my little pixie, when you flush the toilet, the water in the shower gets warmer.”
I stomped my feet as I left the bathroom. “Can’t something go my way!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Craig
The new building was open now and I was excited to check it out and see where I would be working from now on. It was impressive. We had the same security measures as before, but there were a few more added. There were cameras mounted everywhere, and from what I understood, there was facial recognition that was immediately sent through a system check. If you weren’t on the approved list to get in, the elevator shut down immediately and you were stuck until someone got you out.
There were also three other elevators that had been put in at each side of the building that were only used as escape elevators. With the right code and hand print, any of us could get on the elevator and it would take us immediately underground to our old escape route. We had SUVs loaded down there and ready to go at a moment’s notice. And that was only the beginning of our new security measures.
“Hey!” Sinner said, jogging around the corner and into the lobby. “It’s the WolfMan. Ahooo!”
“Shut it,” I grumbled as I made my way further into the office.
“What crawled up your ass? Things not working out with the little misses?”
“I’m working on it.”
“Ooh, working on it? That’s like saying you’re trying to save a sinking ship.”
I made it into the conference room and plopped down in a chair.
“What are you doing here anyway? Aren’t you off until your ‘gunshot wounds’ heal?”
He grinned at me. Fuck, he knew. What was the point in putting on that big act if everyone was going to find out anyway?
“There was nothing to do at home, and unfortunately, the school won’t let me sit in with Reese’s class.”
“You asked?”
“What? I love my wife and I wanted to spend time with her.”
He shook his head at me. “That’s not the way to do it.”
“Well, I need to do something. She’s trying to get rid of me. Last night, she actually tried to smother me with a pillow.”
“No shit?”
“Yeah, if I hadn’t been so in tune with her body, I might not have woken up and you would have never seen me again.”
“Can’t say that’s a big loss.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“You know, what you really need is to get focused. Right now, you’re just trying to do anything you can to win her back, but you’re not centered with yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
“You need to be in tune with your own body so that you can make the right decisions. You need yoga.”
“Stretching. Your answer to getting my woman to love me is that I need to stretch more?”
He chuckled, “No, yoga is about being in a better state of mind for you and your body. Listen, Cara does yoga all the time now. She started it a few years back to help her deal with her anxiety. It’s done amazing things for her.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it really heals your soul.”
I grimaced. “Can we not talk about shit like ‘healing your soul’? It makes me wiggly.”
“What makes you wiggly?” Alec asked as he walked into the room with Chris.
“Sinner wants me to do yoga to get in touch with myself and heal my soul.”
“So?” Chris said, shrugging his shoulders. “Ali works with a yoga instructor for some of the patients at the clinic.”
“For what?”
“What do you mean ‘for what’? To work shit out.”
“But it works?”
“Yeah. I can get the number. Hell, I wouldn’t mind trying it myself.”
I looked to Alec, who was shaking his head furiously.
“I’m in,” Sinner grinned. “I’ve seen Cara do it, and she’s always such a nicer person after she’s done yoga.”
“I guess…” I cleared my throat and sat up straighter. “Yeah, I guess I could do that.”
“That’s the spirit,” Sinner grinned.
“But, if I’m doing it, so are you,” I said to Alec.
He shook his head again. “No. There’s no way in hell I’m getting down on some mat and doing all that stretchy shit.”
“You owe me,” I said fiercely.
“For what?”
“For telling everyone about my gunshot wound.”
He laughed uncomfortably. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you telling everyone that there was no goat. You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you? You just had to tell everyone that you shot me so I could win my woman back.”
It was deadly quiet. I turned back to Sinner who was trying to hold in his laughter. “You had Alec shoot you?”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Alec cleared his throat. “I didn’t tell them, but I’m sure everyone will know in about an hour.”
💕💕💕💕💕
I tossed my crutches on the ground in the training center. Chris had gotten on the phone right away with Ali and got the number for the yoga instructor. As I looked at her, preparing for our class, I had to wonder why I hadn’t done yoga when I was younger. The woman was sexy as hell, not that I cared. I only had eyes for Reese, but when I was younger, it would have been great.
“You ready to do this?”
I turned and choked on my own spit. Sinner was standing in front of me in a wife beater and running shorts, with leg warmers and a sweat band.
“What the fuck are you wearing?”
“Yoga’s tough. I wanted to be prepared.”
“For what? You look like you belong in the 80’s.”
“Hey, this outfit is amazing, and I brought some for you too.”
“I’m not wearing that.”
“Come on,” he whined. “Get in the spirit of it all. If you’re not going to do it right, then you shouldn’t even be here.”
“Fine.” I snatched the bag out of his hand and pulled out a sweatband of my own and some leg warmers. “Don’t chicks usually wear this?”
“I suppose you’re too good for leg warmers now,” he grumbled.
“No, I just don’t want to look like a woman. Besides, I’m wearing sweatpants.”
“Then take those off.”
“What? No. I only have on my boxers.”
“Just take them off,” he said, reaching for my waistband.
I slapped his hand away. “Knock it off. Stop trying to pull my clothes off.”
“Just take off your pants!”
“No!”
“Then get the fuck out of here. You’re ruining it for everyone else.”
“There’s no one else here!”
“Take them off,” he said sternly, reaching for my waistband again. I shuffled backwards, but my foot gave out and I fell to the ground with him on top of me. He started yanking my pants off and I struggled to get them back up.
“Stop it! Leave my pants alone!”
“No! You’re doing this the right way.”
He had my pants down around my ankles, yanking at the material. “Stop!”
“No!” He yanked hard, his fist slamming into my foot. I yelled out in pain and punched him in the face. “Get the fuck off me!”
He fell backwards, ripping my pants the rest of the way off as he fell backwards. I struggled to my feet and glared down at him.
“What’s going on here? Why are you in your underwear?” Chris asked.
“He was pulling my pants off, telling me I had to do yoga in my underwear.”
He looked down at Sinner in question. “Really?”
“You’re supposed to be in a relaxed state.”
“I’m pretty sure he was relaxed in his sweatpants.”
“Whatever, when Cara does yoga, she’s in as little clothes as possible. Something about feeling at peace with her natural self.”
“Why the fuck are you in your boxers?” Ice asked as he walked in with Jules.
“Hey,” Jules pointed a finger at Chris. “You didn’t say anything about doing this shit in our underwear.”
“He pulled them off me.”
“Alright,” Sinner stood, holding up my pants. “Let’s just all calm down. I was just explaining that when you do yoga, you should feel as close to nature as possible.”
“Aw, shit. Not this crap again.” Burg walked in with Cazzo, shaking his head in disbelief. “Seriously, I didn’t come here to get naked with a bunch of guys. You said yoga.”
“I also said not to bring Cazzo,” Sinner grumbled.
“Why? What’s wrong with me being here?”
“Let’s just say that you don’t exactly have an open mind.”
“Can we just get on with this?” I asked. “It’s already six o’clock and I was hoping to be home for dinner tonight.”
“Is everyone ready?” a perky blonde asked. We all walked closer to her. Her smile faltered when she saw all of us. She probably wasn’t used to dealing with men. “Okay, well, this is an interesting group. Alright, so let me start by telling you a little about what we’re doing here today. First of all, yoga, when practiced properly, helps you to thrive, prosper, and to bring the spiritual world and the material world into one. I’ll show you techniques that will help you attain spiritual and material prosperity.”
I couldn’t really say that any of us were particularly gleeful at the thought of doing yoga. Well, except for Sinner. He was bouncing around like he was about to get in the ring with Evander Holyfield.
“Okay, the first thing I want you to do is shed those clothes. Let’s just be one with nature.”
“See?” Sinner shouted. “I told you.”
“Whatever.”
“Is that really necessary?” Cazzo asked. “I mean, I’m wearing workout gear.”
“Yes,” the woman smiled, “but we’re not working out. We’re digging deep down to find out what is blocking us, both mentally and physically.”
“I told you not to bring Cazzo,” Sinner snapped at Burg. “He’s messing up our aura or some shit.”
“I am not,” Cazzo growled. “You want my pants off, fine.” He shoved his pants down, but he wasn’t wearing underwear like me. “Hey, you wanted to be one with nature. Doesn’t get more natural than this.” He yanked off his shirt for good measure and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Right,” the woman cleared her throat. “Mr. Cazzo has the right idea. And this is a perfectly natural way to do yoga. Now, I’m Chastity. Why don’t we go around the room and introduce ourselves? Get to know each other a little better.”
“How about we just get to it,” Cazzo snapped. “I’m kind of blowing in the wind here.”
“Perfect,” Chastity said a bit too cheerily. “Okay, I want you all to spread out, leaving enough room for you and your partner to move, and we’ll get started.”
I raised my hand. “Partners?”
She nodded and motioned for me to do as she said. I sighed and turned to Alec. “Hey, you want to partner up?”
“That just sounds wrong.”
“Well, I didn’t make up the rules. And if I have to be in my boxers, so do you.”
“Bullshit.”
“Bullshit, everyone else is doing it. Hell, Cazzo’s buck ass naked.”
“Fine.” He shoved his pants down and took off his shirt, standing in front of me in his underwear. “Happy?”
“Are you asking me if I’m happy standing in front of my teammate in my boxers as we’re about to get in touch with nature?”
“Point taken.”
Sinner was paired up with Cazzo. Jules was with Chris, and Ice was with Burg. It was a little weird, but if it got my girl back, I would do anything.
“Alright, now, we’re going to do the boat pose. This will help strengthen and stretch, and when done with your partner, will help you connect.”
“What?” I asked Alec, but he just shrugged.
“Now, sit on the floor facing each other, and with your arms outside your legs, reach for your partner's hands. Starting with your knees bent, lift your legs to place the soles of your feet against your partner's feet. Work towards straightening your legs as you lift your feet towards the sky.”
I sat with my knees bent like she said and held out my hands for Alec. He glowered at me, but did the same. “Alright, can you put your feet against mine?” I was barely able to reach his arms as it was, let alone trying to position my feet against his. I was a big guy and I just wasn’t that flexible. He gripped my hands and together, we worked to get the soles of our feet touching.
