Chapter 10

Rose collapsed on her couch when she got home on Monday evening. Her second Monday had been worse than her first. Although, she did get informed that she would be second chair on her first case, so that was something good. Not much seemed to be going right for her, and Rose was certain that she was making constant mistakes in all that she was doing.

It was already almost ten o’clock, and Rose had plans to shower and then sleep. There wasn’t much else she could do on weeknights since she had been working so late. But the truth was, she liked staying busy so she didn’t have to think about the rest of her life.

Staying busy was just one more way she distracted herself from her emotions. She knew it was a distraction and was perfectly fine with it. Emotions were overrated, and people who told Rose that she needed to show her emotions more often didn’t know what they were talking about.

Rose didn’t have the sweet kind emotions anymore, and all she felt was sadness and anger. No one needed to hear about that sadness and anger. Sure, they told her they wanted her to share what she was feeling, but Rose knew that none of them meant that. Emotions weren’t that easy for people to deal with. Especially when those emotions revolved around death and grief.

No, Rose knew better. She had to keep herself busy with work and life so that none of her time or energy could seep back into thinking about what she had lost. Her husband and the life she had hoped for were gone, and no amount of sharing her emotions was ever going to bring him back. Rose wanted to numb out her emotions as much as possible so she could move forward with her life. It wasn’t how the therapists would have told her to move forward, but it was what was working for Rose, and that was all that mattered.

When there was a knock at the door, Rose couldn’t imagine who it could be. Her friends all worked just as much as she did, so there was no possible way they would just be stopping by. It could be Noah, they had both been caught hugging in his office by Elaine, but nothing seemed to come of that since Elaine thought it was because Rose was distraught over the other people in the office thinking she was a bitch.

She reluctantly got up and looked through the peephole before opening the door. She always looked out the peephole before opening it, partly out of curiosity of who was there, but partly to take more time before opening the door. Usually, she wasn’t all that excited to have visitors, and if she didn’t want to see someone, she would just slide away from the door and pretend that she wasn’t home.

“Bronx, what are you doing here?” she said before she had even opened the door.

When she finally got the locks off and swung the door open, Bronx didn’t wait for her to invite him in; instead, he just walked in. Rose laughed at his cockiness. He was young and handsome, and that was a natural trait found in those men.

Rose had had her fair share of young, handsome, cocky men over the last few years. She enjoyed them for what they were. A great lay. Typically, they didn’t offer much in the form of conversation, and certainly not many were worth even giving her real phone number to, but Bronx was different. He knew where she lived and where she worked, and he was a little interesting to talk to at least.

“I’ve got a proposition for you,” Bronx said as he sat down on her couch.

His eyes gleamed with this proposition that he couldn’t wait to share with Rose. She smiled as she sat down next to him and prepared to listen to whatever it was that he was so excited to tell her about.

“Well, tell me all about it,” she joked.

“You need me, and I need you. I think we could be great partners.”

Rose had no idea what he was talking about. She didn’t need anyone in her life, and she certainly didn’t need Bronx. She couldn’t think of anything that he could do for her that would be categorized as a need for her. But she wasn’t angry with him; it was all that damn testosterone that flowed through those hot guys. They often thought they were saying something brilliant when, in fact, they were hardly putting together a sentence.

“Would you like to enlighten me on this plan of yours?”

“Sex. Let’s have lots of it.”

Rose broke out into laughter so hard that spit came flying out of her mouth. Of course, young, hot Bronx had come over to her house to discuss having sex. That was what men of his age and appearance enjoyed doing most. That was also why Rose enjoyed picking them up the most when she was out on weekends. But it did seem a little out of place that Bronx had just shown up randomly at her house with this proposition.

“You want me to have sex with you? That is your proposition?”

“Hear me out. You’re picking up new guys each weekend and like to keep things chill, I get that. But why not just keep them chill with me. We don’t have to be a couple if that’s what you want. Just some animal sex to reduce our stress. No strings attached.”

“I don’t see how that really benefits me,” Rose said sarcastically.

Although she very much knew how animal sex on the weekends benefited her. It was her vice, the way she released all her anxiety and stress from the week and moved on with each new week. She needed it and wanted her orgasms each weekend just like a drug addict wanted their drug. But she wasn’t about to admit that to Bronx.

“We can just have fun. Play and enjoy each other. None of that lovey-dovey romance stuff. We can just fuck each other and get back to work.”

Rose had to admit she was actually intrigued a little by Bronx’s suggestion. It would save her a ton of time and energy if she didn’t have to find a new guy to screw each weekend as her distraction from life. On the other hand, it was much more fun to experience different men than it was to be stuck with the same one all the time. She wasn’t really sold on Bronx’s plan just yet.

“Would we be exclusive?” Rose questioned him.

“No. If you wanted to date someone, then date them. Same goes for me—if I want to bring a hot blonde home for the night, I’ll do that.”

“No emotions? No commitment?” Rose asked.

“I know, you don’t think I can do that because I wanted to date you, but the truth is that I was just following the societal norm. I now know that you don’t live by societal norms, and I’m cool with that. I think this plan could work out very well for us. We could both work ourselves to death at the firm and then screw our brains out for stress relief. It’s the perfect solution.”

“What if you fall in love with me?”

Bronx laughed, but it was a realistic question. Rose wasn’t in a spot in her life that she could give emotions to anyone, she could hardly figure out her own emotions and deal with them for herself. She had to make sure that Bronx understood there would be absolutely no emotional involvement. That was her primary criteria.

“I’m already in love with you,” he winked at her.

Rose slapped him on the arm and pushed him down on the couch, but Bronx pulled her on top of him as he fell over. His arms stayed wrapped around her, and he held her on him and wouldn’t let her go.

Bronx knew what Rose wanted, and if that was the only way he could have her, then he was going to have her that way. He wasn’t interested in having other women, Bronx had been mesmerized by Rose from the moment he laid eyes on her. She was unique, exciting, and different. The fact that she didn’t play by society rules just further intrigued him and drew him to her more.

“You are not,” Rose said sternly. “Say you’re not in love with me.”

“Maybe love is too strong a word. I like you, though. I think you’re smart and funny, and I like hanging around you. I really am cool with us just staying friends, though, and I think this plan is perfect. We don’t have to be the traditional relationship people. It can be on our terms.”

Rose was still lying on top of Bronx as she contemplated his proposition. It did sound appealing to have someone in her bed every weekend that she knew. They could even have a quickie after work during the week if they were having a particularly stressful week.

“No one in the office can know!” Rose said sternly. “Absolutely no one.”

“You can still hate me with a passion at work, how about that?”

Rose didn’t hate Bronx at all. She had just been mean to him in the office because she didn’t want the other guys to think she was soft. Her intention at Wolfe and Conley was to eventually make partner, and Rose knew she would never do that if people in the office liked her.

Likable people didn’t climb the corporate ladder very fast. Admired people, they were the ones who got what they wanted. Rose was going to make sure everyone admired her winning streak in the courtroom, and that included Elaine Wolfe, Bronx’s aunt. It was Elaine who would hold the key to an eventual partner position, so it was Elaine who Rose was going to make happy. And the only thing that made Elaine happy was when associates brought in billable hours and won cases.

“Yes,” Rose said.

Bronx looked stunned as he registered what she had just said. Did he hear what he thought he’d heard?

“Yes?”

“Let’s try it. But at the first sign it’s not working out, we are stopping everything, and we won’t be jerks to each other. Promise?”

“Scouts honor,” Bronx said as he held his Boy Scout fingers up in the air.

Bronx reached his hand up and intertwined it in Rose’s hair, pulling her down to kiss him roughly. Rose loved it; the take charge attitude was just what she wanted that night. She was too tired to be the one in charge and was happy to let Bronx take the lead.

They feverishly removed each other’s clothes as Bronx flipped Rose over onto the couch and spread her knees. His hips thrust hard into Rose and she moaned out with the delight of his body thrusting with hers. Their bodies moved together perfectly in sync, and soon Rose felt herself exploding as her body gave in to the delicious sensation that had flooded it so quickly. Bronx released himself quickly after, and they both lay on the couch in sweaty exhaustion.

“You should probably leave some clothes here so you can go to work in the mornings if we have a night together,” Rose said as she got up to take her shower.

Bronx smiled from ear to ear at her invitation. He couldn’t get her to invite him to spend the night when he wanted to date her, but when he just wanted to be her fuck buddy, Rose was alright with him, spending the night. She was a complex creature, but he was excited to have his foot in the door, so to speak.

“Come shower before you go,” Rose said as she stood naked in the doorway and waited for Bronx to come to her.

She still wasn’t sure this whole plan was a good idea, but she was going to give it a try and see how things went. It was entirely possible that Bronx was the solution to her problems, though. Having a fuck buddy at her beck and call would really make life easier as she tried to impress Elaine at the office and worked all hours of the day; while also avoiding all the emotions that were coming up now that she was around Noah constantly.