8
A couple of days later, Tessa woke up with a headache and the sudden urge to work out. There had to be something wrong with her if a run sounded like the best thing ever, but considering that she hadn’t slept much for the past week or so, she wasn’t sure where she’d find the energy. She figured endorphins could give her a boost. Or maybe she’d just collapse in a heap afterward and finally get some sleep.
And why couldn’t she sleep?
Not because she was stressed about her job because she wasn’t any more stressed than usual. Not because she had dinner with her family soon, because she actually loved her family and wanted to see them. Not even because she’d been dumped by Brent and had seen her ex on the same day.
No, it was all because of him.
Murphy Gallagher.
Her roommate.
Now the subject of every sex dream her subconscious could possibly think up.
She’d ridden him, lain under him, had him slide into her from behind. He’d licked up every inch of her pussy, devouring her in her dreams until she woke up coming with her hand between her legs and her panties dangling off one ankle. And just when she thought she’d had enough, she’d fantasized sucking him until he shouted her name, his voice hoarse, and his hands tangled in her hair.
Murphy Gallagher was going to kill her, and he didn’t even know it.
She needed to get out of the house. Now.
So, she put on her sports bra and tried not to accidentally choke herself with it, found a pair of workout leggings that had an inspirational quote on the side, and pulled on a tank with a matching quote. She might not work out as much as she should, but she had kickass activewear for motivation. After sticking her ear buds into her ears and setting her jogging playlist to repeat since she sadly didn’t have enough songs on it, she stretched and started her run.
Her lungs were going to kill her. She just knew they were inside her rib cage, holding on for dear life and screaming about how she was murdering them. But Tessa continued, telling herself that after half a mile or so, she might be able to catch her breath and not feel like she was dying with each step. At least that’s what she vaguely remembered from her last time running.
Tessa wasn’t the skinniest woman in the world, and she was just fine with that, but she still figured she should probably exercise more than once a week if she wanted to stay healthy. She just wished she could keep her weight steady by eating ice cream.
After the first mile, she could finally breathe again and started to remember why she liked running. It let her focus on what was around her at the same time it let her mind wander. And since she vehemently did not want to think of her roommate, she went through her checklist of things that should have been on her mind.
Roger Sanders, her co-worker and general pain in her behind, was starting to annoy her more every day, but she could usually tune him and his complaints out. As with any hospital in this economy, things were tightening up and getting more stressful by the month. Tessa had more patients than ever. And she had to wade through them all to ensure that they were not only paying but also not being scalped by the insurance companies. The latter was an ongoing, uphill battle, but Tessa refused to quit fighting for people’s health.
She huffed out a breath as she climbed another hill and cursed herself for living in Denver instead of a completely flat place and at a lower elevation like Nebraska. At least she wasn’t running on an actual mountain.
Her phone buzzed on her armband, and she looked down at the screen and smiled before answering.
“Hey, Liz.” She panted between the words, and her friend laughed.
“Running? Really? It’s super early, Tessa,” her friend teased, but Liz was not wrong that running at this time of day was out of character for her. Hell, running outside was out of character for her these days.
“If it’s so early, why are you calling? Is everything okay?” Tessa turned the corner and started down a new block so she would end up going downhill for the end of the run. She was already sweaty, and her joints ached, so hopefully she’d be able to sleep eventually.
Liz sighed, and Tessa went on alert. “I’m fine. I almost just walked the few feet that separates our houses to see if you wanted coffee or something, but then I remembered Murphy was there, and I didn’t want to wake you. Hence the call. But I honestly didn’t expect you to be running right now. How can you talk and run at the same time? I’d run out of breath.”
She was not wrong. “You do most of the talking.”
Liz laughed before letting out another sigh. “I have no idea how we’re going to plan a wedding, Tessa. I mean, I just want to be married. I don’t need tulle and lace.”
“You might not need all of that, and honestly, I don’t think Owen needs any of that either.” Tessa coughed, out of breath but needing to reassure her friend. “Make it small. Intimate. Casual.” Apparently, she only had enough energy for one-word sentences. Why had she decided to run so far?
“I want to tell him I love him and that I want him to be mine forever just like I’ll be his. I hope he already knows that but…”
“You want it to be a ceremony.” Tessa panted and wiped sweat from her brow. She was officially a hot mess, and her legs were going numb. Almost there, she thought. She could see her house and would be able to shower before passing out soon.
Thank God.
“I want to tell him I love him and make those promises in front of our friends, but I don’t want it to be a big deal.” Liz sighed into Tessa’s ear, and Tessa almost passed her house to get to her friend and give her a hug, but she was honestly so sweaty, she’d just make Liz feel ill. She promised herself she’d go over after she showered.
Tessa paced around her front lawn and started her cool down so she wouldn’t end up hurting herself. “Then make it casual. You’ll be fine, babe. Do it in our backyard and only have some family show up like you wanted. Wear jeans if you are feeling frisky.”
Liz laughed, and Tessa felt a little better. “Owen’s already planned for that, and I need to stop freaking out. It’s just weird that he’s a better planner than I am.”
Tessa grinned as she opened her front door and walked inside, toeing off her shoes since they were still a little damp from the morning dew. “He’s Owen. It’s what he does. Okay, I’m home and need a shower. After I’m all clean since…oh, my God, I’m sweaty right now, I can come over and have coffee with you. Sound good?”
“I need to head in to the clinic for a bit, or I would. I’m trying to get everything organized there for when I have the baby. I can’t believe I’m going on maternity leave right after starting a new job.”
“You’re the best at what you do, Liz. Not even taking the legalities into consideration, they’re lucky to have you. And I might come by the clinic anyway with some coffee just to see how you are. Even though it’s my day off, I need to stop by the hospital later to look up a few things.”
“And you called me a workaholic,” her best friend teased.
“That’s still true, and I never said I wasn’t one. Okay, I’m off to shower. Now, go find your fiancé and make out with him a bit before you leave.”
“As Owen just walked in wearing nothing but boxers and bed head, I can make that happen.”
Tessa groaned and said her goodbyes, but she knew they fell on deaf ears as Liz let out a squeal at something Owen must have done as the call disconnected. The two of them were so in love it was sickening—in the best way possible. However, Tessa really didn’t need to hear them having sex. Again. The walls in her house weren’t all that thick, so she’d heard enough of Liz’s begging, and Owen’s deep voice in the throes of passion for a lifetime.
“Eek,” Tessa mumbled and rolled her shoulders as she closed her bedroom door behind her. She hadn’t seen Murphy up and about, but he could still be sleeping since it was a bit early. Since Liz had hung up, Tessa’s music was now blaring again in her ears, but she kept it on since she enjoyed the song. Wiggling her hips to the beat of the music, she stripped out of her sweaty clothes and stuck them in the hamper near her bathroom door. Naked, she closed her eyes and danced her way into the room, that endorphin burst hitting her just right. Maybe after her shower, she’d use her newfound energy and work on another project around the house after she stopped by the clinic to visit Liz. She still had a few things she wanted to upgrade since she’d really only just bought the house.
Her eyes still closed, she turned and smacked into a wall. Only, it wasn’t a wall. It was a wet, hard, very male body.
Mortified, Tessa let out a scream, opened her eyes, and pulled out her ear buds. “Oh. My. God.”
Murphy looked down at her, his wet hair dripping down over his eyes as he blinked, his mouth gaping. He’d gripped her upper arms when she’d slammed into him, so now he held her close, her breasts against his chest, her nipples pebbling into hard points and pressing into his wet skin. His cock hardened quickly between them, and Tessa felt the distinct coldness of the metal piercing on the tip pressing into her stomach. Somehow, her thighs had spread just enough when she ran into him for his thigh to press between her legs and right against her pussy. And since he was wet, hard, and oh so damn sexy, she could feel herself growing more aroused and knew she was just as wet as he was.
Holy. Fuck.
This was mortifying.
“Shit, shit,” Murphy mumbled, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts. He stepped back quickly, almost jarring her in the process, and reached for a towel. Since she only had the one extra large towel near them, he held that out to her and grabbed a freaking hand towel to cover himself with. Since the towel wasn’t that large, and Murphy seemed to be growing by the second, nothing seemed to help.
Tessa pulled her gaze from his deliciously thick penis and looked right into his eyes as she wrapped the towel around her.
“What the hell? Why are you in my bathroom? Why are you naked and wet in my bathroom? Boundaries, Murphy! Boundaries!” She was rambling, and she didn’t care. She’d just run five freaking miles to get him and his pretty dick out of her mind, and now she had a real image of said dick in her brain, and she’d never be able to think straight again.
Why did the Gallaghers have to be so sexy? Why did this particular Gallagher have to press all her buttons just right and happen to be naked and wet in her bathroom while she was sweaty and naked right in front of him?
The horror, Tessa thought. The horror.
Murphy winced and waved over at the sink where another towel lay. She recognized this as one of Murphy’s, so she threw it at him.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to put it on the floor or on top of your towel so I left it over there.”
“Still doesn’t explain anything, Murphy Gallagher.” She would never be able to get the sight or feel of him out of her head now.
“The showerhead in the guest bath broke off. I wasn’t even touching it. When I went to turn on the water, it fell off and sprayed me in the face. The damn thing hit me on the hip on its way down.” He pointed to a growing bruise on his side, and Tessa’s eyes widened, panic leaping into her throat.
Without thinking, she reached forward and slid her fingers down his hip right above his towel. “Oh God, Murphy. Are you okay? You’re bruising so quickly.” She held back tears, annoyed with herself for showing weakness in front of the man who was actually going through this whole ordeal instead of just witnessing it.
He put his hand over hers, and she stilled, aware of what she was doing. Blushing once again, she pulled back and tightened her towel around her chest.
“I’ll be fine. I’m headed into the clinic later anyway for my scheduled blood transfusion. That’s why I needed to jump in your shower. I’m going to be late, and I didn’t have the parts to fix the other one anyway. Since part of the showerhead is still on the wall, at least it’s not spraying water everywhere unless I actually turn on the faucet, but I’ll have to shut off the water to the whole house once I start working on the plumbing. It won’t be a hard job.” Murphy blew out a breath and rubbed his face with his hand, keeping his other hand firmly on the towel around his waist. “I’m sorry for using your shower without asking, but you weren’t here, and I figured I’d clean it before you got back. I didn’t imagine you’d literally dance in naked and bump into me.” He winced, but she saw something in his eyes that looked like interest.
God, this was all just a mess, and she didn’t know what to do about it.
“It’s okay,” Tessa said slowly, trying to get images of Murphy and his pierced dick out of her brain. It wasn’t easy since he was still naked and wet in front of her. “Really. We’ll just forget this ever happened and go about our day. Why don’t you, uh, go to your room and get dressed or something, and I’ll shower and put this whole thing out of my mind.” She spoke quickly and hoped he would agree to forget it all as she’d said. Not that she’d actually forget, but she could lie with the best of them. “Do you need me to, uh, go to the hardware store or something and pick up a new showerhead?”
Murphy shook his head. “I can do it. We have a few on-site that could work, and I can get them at cost to save money. I can even bring a couple home with me if you want so you can pick it out. It’s your house, after all.”
Right. It was her house, and he was her roommate. Her naked roommate. She really needed to stop thinking about that.
“I don’t know what I want for that bathroom yet, I haven’t decided on anything. Liz was the one with the plans for the house.”
His gaze softened. “No problem. I’ll bring a couple by, and you can choose. If you don’t like any, then we’ll go to the store together to find one that you like that will also work in the space you have. Again, sorry for using your shower without asking, and for…” He waved between them.
“For slapping your naked body against mine so close I know exactly what your piecing feels like?” Tessa slapped her free hand against her mouth, her eyes going wide.
Murphy let out a rough chuckle that went straight between her legs. “Yes. That. Though we aren’t thinking about that, right?”
Tessa nodded, her hand still over her mouth lest she make things worse.
“Right,” he mumbled. “I’ll just…I’ll go.” He fled the bathroom, careful not to accidentally brush her on his way by, and Tessa lowered her hand, closing her eyes so she could hide from the world and what had just happened.
This was what happened when you roomed with the guy from your sex dreams.
Bad things.
Bad, sweaty, naked, pierced things.