Love in the Shadows (Book 2)

Chapter 18

"Let's Just Fall In Love Again" - Jason Castro

The blast of an alarm startles me, and my body flinches as it wakes up. I keep my eyes closed, whining as the sound continues.

"Shit." Steve says and I feel him climb over me. "I'm sorry," he whispers. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He turns off the alarm before letting out a deep sigh.

"Not the wake up call I was hoping for." I mumble, very much still in a sleepy state.

"I'm sorry," he says again. "It's my reminder for a phone meeting I have with Ross." I hear his drawer open and close and it sounds like he's putting clothes on. "With everything that was going on I completely forgot about it."

With my back turned to him I let out a soft chuckle. "Well then I guess it's a good thing you set a reminder."

"I'll take this outside so you can sleep," he says.

"It's okay. I think I've slept enough." I say, even though I refuse to fully wake up. I turn so that I can lay on my chest as I tuck my arms underneath the pillow. "As long as it's not any classified information, you can take it in here."

There's a silence and part of me wonders if he left and I didn't even notice. I open one eye, squinting against the soft light coming in and find Steve just standing against his dresser, only in his sweatpants.

Considering the blanket has slid and is now only covering me from the hips down, I kind of have an idea of what he's doing. "Are you staring at me?"

"Yes."

I can't help my smile. "Should I cover up? Will I be too distracting?"

I hear his soft steps coming towards me. "Yes you are very distracting but please..." He leans down, pressing his lips on my lower back, then trails kisses up my spine. "...don't cover up."

I decide to tease him a little more, turning to the side, showing him my breasts before bringing the blanket up.

"Fuck." he groans.

"Language." I say, before snuggling into the bed.

I hear him chuckle before his phone starts to ring. He takes the call, but I drown out most of it, trying to rest as much as I can before I inevitably have to get up. I hear fragments of the conversation as I drift in and out of sleep. He talks about yesterday's mission, the threat that's still out there, our current plan. This is all stuff Ross should be getting from Fury, but Fury doesn't like talking to Ross and Steve is too nice to say no, so he's pretty much become Ross' connection to what we're up to.

"I understand. I can call back later if you want." I hear Steve say, and I stretch out my body, hoping that he'll be done soon. "No sir, that isn't necessary." I open my eyes, hearing the annoyance in his tone. "I'd rather call you back later." His back is to me, but since he's still not wearing a shirt I can see his muscles in his arms tense up as he grips the back of his chair. "Sir please don't–"

Now his entire body tenses up and I hear him let out a deep breath. "Tell him I'll call him back." he says, obviously speaking to someone new. "No, I don't give a shit. I don't want to talk to you." It's not like Steve to speak to someone like that. Which means there's only one person who could possibly be on the other line. "Sharon just stop!" he shouts out, confirming my suspicions. "I can't believe I was ever stupid enough to ever believe your bullshit. But I'm done being an idiot. I'm done hurting the woman I love. And I'm fucking done with you. I should have been done with you a long time ago. Leave me alone, leave my friends alone. Stay the fuck out of my life!"

He throws his phone onto his desk, the sudden noise making me flinch and I let out a gasp. He suddenly turns around like he wasn't expecting me to even be awake. I'm sitting up now, holding the blanket over my chest with my legs over the edge of the bed. Once our eyes meet I see the anger on his face soften and the guilt is back in full effect.