Chapter 35

Callie

“Why can’t it be the weekend?” I grumbled, pulling the covers up over my shoulders.

Dallas held me close and chuckled in my ear. The bedsheets smelled like him and I didn’t want to get up. “Only two more days and it will be. At least, you don’t have to be at work until ten.”

“Which is a good thing, since you kept me up all night,” I teased, feeling his cock jump to attention against my backside.

He kissed the back of my ear, his voice deep and husky. “Who kept calling you last night? I was about to throw your phone out the window.”

The warmth of his breath on my skin made me giggle. “It was your sister.” I felt bad for ignoring her all weekend, but I didn’t want anything to take my time away from Dallas last night.

Dallas smacked my ass and slipped out of bed. “Call her back. I’m going to make us some breakfast before we both have to leave.”

My stomach growled. “I’ll be down in a minute.” I sat up and reached for my phone, very tempted to sneak a picture of Dallas’s backside while he stood naked in the room. He was so unbelievably sexy it should be a sin. Even though I was sore between my legs, my body still craved him. “Question,” I said, watching him throw on a pair of boxers.

He looked at me and smiled. “What is it?”

“Lacey’s middle name is Paige, right?”

His brows furrowed. “Yeah. Why do you ask?”

Halfheartedly, I shrugged, hoping he wouldn’t pursue my question. “Does anyone ever call her by that name? I could’ve sworn I heard Braeden do it before. Or maybe I’m just imagining things.” It was a lie, but I had to figure out the mystery between her and Maddox.

“Braeden doesn’t call her by that name, but I know others have.” He put on his shirt and rolled his eyes. “When she went away to college she had everyone call her that. I guess she wanted to be someone else. Hell, I don’t know. You women are a crazy bunch.”

“Hey,” I snapped, throwing a pillow at his head.

He burst out laughing and charged out into the hall. “I still love you.”

Once I heard him fumbling around in the kitchen, I called Lacey. “It’s about time you called me back,” she said.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have ignored you.”

She sighed. “It’s okay, I understand. But just so you know, I wasn’t calling you to defend my brother. I called to see how you were doing. You’re my friend.”

“Thanks, Lacey. I was in a bad place this past weekend.”

“I have no doubt. Judging by the show last night, I’m assuming you and Dallas made up? Neither one of you answered my calls last night.”

I cleared my throat. “We were kind of . . . busy.”

“So I figured.” She laughed.

“But yes, we made up. He’s making breakfast before we have to leave for the day.”

“Tell him to make banana pancakes. He’s an expert at those.”

“Speaking of cooking,” I said, slipping out of bed to grab my clothes off the floor. “Maddox is an expert at it, too. He cooked for me all weekend.” The line went silent. “He also told me about a trip he took to Vegas. Do you know anything about that?”

“What did he say?” she asked, her voice urgent.

I walked into the bathroom and shut the door. “That he spent five days with a beautiful woman, only to turn around and find her missing the morning he was supposed to leave. She left no phone number for him to contact her.”

“Like he would’ve called her anyway,” she snapped. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?”

“Is that why you told him your name was Paige?” She sucked in a breath. “I know it was you, Lacey. You don’t have to lie to me. What happened?”

I could feel her hesitation through the phone. “I don’t want to talk about it, Callie. It’s something I really wish I could forget. We were drunk, stupid, and caught up in the moment.”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” I said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood. “It’s not like you got married at one of those cheesy Elvis chapels.” The line went quiet again and my heart raced. Surely that wasn’t the case . . . was it? “You didn’t, did you?” I asked incredulously.

“I’m running late and I have to get to class. Can I call you back later?”

“Lacey, seriously, are you and Maddox married?”

“No, I have to go.” She hung up quickly and all I could do was stare at my phone, completely at a loss for words. I had a feeling in my gut that told me not to believe her. Could they really be married? If so, Maddox obviously didn’t remember.

“Callie!” Dallas shouted. “Breakfast is almost ready.”

I had no clue what to do. Maddox deserved to know if he was married or not, but with Lacey not being upfront about it, there was nothing I could say or do. The last thing I wanted was to get in between her and Maddox’s problems.

Throwing on my scrubs from last night, I hurried downstairs. I had to get home and get a fresh change of clothes before heading to the hospital. Last night I was more interested in getting alone time with him than stopping by my house to pick up my things.

Dallas was in the kitchen flipping pancakes when I walked in. “Almost done,” he said, stacking the cakes onto a plate.

I sat down at the bar, loving the way he moved around the stove. There was something sexy about a man who could cook. He handed me a plate full of eggs, bacon, and a banana pancake.

“Thank you,” I said, breathing in the food. “Lacey told me to get you to make banana pancakes.”

Chuckling, he fixed himself a plate and sat beside me. “They’re my specialty. I should’ve made them for her when she was in town.” He nudged me playfully in the side. “Was she happy you called her back?”

“Oh yeah,” I said. But she wasn’t happy when I brought up Maddox. “She had to get ready for class so I didn’t get to talk to her much.” I poured the syrup over my pancakes. “Do you think she’ll come down anytime for the playoffs or the championship?”

He shrugged. “Not sure. She’s been too busy the past couple of years.” My guess was that she didn’t want to take the chance of running into Maddox. It made me wonder why she even bothered during spring break. There were so many unanswered questions. “My parents will, though. You’ll finally get to meet them. Not unless, you want to fly to New York with me to watch Lacey graduate.”

Excitement bubbled in my chest. “I’d love to. Do you think you’ll be able to since it’s during playoffs?”

“I should. We might just have to fly up for the day.”

“I’m okay with that.” Maybe then I’d get some answers about her past with Maddox. “If you guys make it to the championship, you’ll get to meet my parents. Think you’re ready for that?”

He waved me off. “Parents love me.”

“How many have you met?”

A sheepish grin spread across his face. “None. Do you think they’ll like me?”

I kissed his cheek. “I have no doubt.”

Once I finished my food, I set my plate in the sink and helped Dallas clean the dishes. He rinsed off the last plate so I could put it in the dishwasher. “There’s something I want to talk to you about,” he murmured.

I closed the dishwasher and he grabbed my hands, turning me to face him. He opened his mouth to speak, but then his phone vibrated on the counter. Sighing, he glanced over at the screen, his gaze narrowed.

“Who is it?” I inquired.

“Don’t know. It could be the producers.” Leaning against the counter, he pulled me into his arms and pressed the speaker button. “Hello.”

“Dallas Easton?” It was a man, his voice smooth and deep.

Dallas’s brows furrowed. “Yes.”

“I’m Anthony Stone, one of the producers of Rich and Single. We met briefly at the meeting the other day.”

Recognition flashed across Dallas’s face. “I remember. I figured I’d be hearing from you guys today. What can I do for you?”

Anthony cleared his throat. “First of all, I want to say that last night was very entertaining. Our ratings skyrocketed because of it. The show is the number-one trend right now on the Internet.”

“You’re welcome,” Dallas replied. I elbowed him in the stomach and he sucked in a breath.

Anthony chuckled. “I heard about what happened with your agent. None of us had any idea you wanted to be taken off the show. With that being said, we’re happily releasing you from the contract. We hope there’s no ill will toward us.”

“Not anymore,” Dallas stated in all honesty. “Thank you for understanding.”

“In good news, though,” Anthony began, “we do have someone taking your place. He’s actually a teammate of yours.”

Eyes wide, I stared up at Dallas. “Who?” he asked.

“Justin Davis, your girlfriend’s brother. Apparently, our viewers took a great interest in him once they saw video of you two in the parking lot last night. We called him this morning and he agreed.”

Slapping a hand over my mouth, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “That’s good news,” Dallas added. “I think he’ll be perfect for the part.”

Anthony chuckled. “We hope so. I’m sure we’ll see you around soon.”

The call ended and I slid out of Dallas’s hold, squealing with joy. “You’re free now. They’re not going to bankrupt you.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank fucking God. Don’t get me wrong, I was all set to sell everything, but this does make life easier.”

Jumping into his arms, I kissed him as hard as I could. “I’m happy it worked out. We’ll have to celebrate tonight. Right now, I have to get home and then get to work.” I tried to let him go, but he held me to him, his eyes searching mine. “You okay?” I asked.

“I will be,” he murmured. “As long as you say you’ll move in with me.”

“What?” I gasped, taken by surprise. “Are you serious?”

“It just makes sense. Now that we’re back together, I don’t see the point in being separated. It’ll save you from having to run home every few days to get more clothes.”

“Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?” I asked.

He brought his hands up to my face and nodded. “If you don’t want to, it’s fine. I just know that playoffs are starting next week and I won’t be home much. It’d be nice to know you’ll be here as soon as I get back.”

“Is that the only reason?”

Rubbing his thumbs along my cheeks, he smiled. “You know it’s not, angel. I just want to spend as much time with you as I can.” His words made my stomach flutter.

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I want the same with you.”

He kissed me long and hard. “Good. You’re moving in this weekend.”