A Controller's Destiny (Unit Matched #3) (4 page)

Chapter 4

The Secret

My week actually flies by. I stay up late to make sure I am up-to-date on all the lesson plans. Graham has been working longer hours this week, too. He never mentions the night he fell asleep in the chair. I’m glad he doesn’t know I kissed him.

I am packing my bag, getting ready to head home when my phone buzzes with a text.

Graham:
I’ve got dinner.

That seems strange, but I don’t argue because I’m tired and I don’t want to do anything but take a hot bath and rest.

When I walk through the door I can smell pizza. Of course, Graham didn’t cook. He ordered out.

“Graham?”

I watch him jog down the stairs. “Hey, Shorty.”

“Hi.” I notice that he has already changed out of his work clothes and showered. His hair is still damp. I head toward the kitchen, but Graham stops me.

“Why don’t you go change and take a hot bath?”

I furrow my brows. “Um… okay.” I walk up the stairs to my bedroom.

I know the moment I walk in that something is different. On the bed is a pair of my favorite flannel pajamas and one of my white sleep shirts. In the bathroom, Graham has drawn me a bath. There are candles all over and rose petals in the bath. A tear drops from my eye at the sweet gesture.

I undress and slip into the hot, steamy water. I let out a long moan as my muscles tingle and relax. This is perfect and exactly what I needed right now.

Once I’m fully relaxed, I get out of the water before it grows cooler. I dry off and put on the pajamas that Graham laid out.

I head into the kitchen, and he’s setting the table.

“You enjoy the bath?”

“Graham,” I touch his shoulder and he turns around. “Thank you. I needed that.”

He smiles. “I was wondering if you would care to join me for a yummy slice of pizza and a romantic comedy.”

“You want to watch a rom-com?” I laugh.

“You didn’t get to celebrate your new job Friday night, so tonight we are going to.” He pulls the chair out for me, and I take a seat.

“You got a veggie pizza. You hate veggie pizza.”

“This is about you, Shorty.” He places a piece on my plate.

I bite down on my lip trying to hide my smile. “Thanks, Graham.”

“I hate to say it, but I can’t take all the credit for this.”

“Really?”

He hangs his head a little. “I asked Mom for some help.”

“Your mom?”

He nods. “She was working in the office today and I knew I had been working a lot this week. We haven’t spent much time together, and I asked her for some help.” His voice is low. “I didn’t want you to think I was neglecting you.”

“Graham,” my heart stops. That’s the sweetest thing he’s ever said to me. “I would never think that. I know that you were working on a big project. I wasn’t upset by that.”

“I know, but I wanted to say ‘thanks’, you know,” he says as he takes a bite of pizza.

“We’re Matched and we both work, there’s going to be tough weeks.” I reach across the table and squeeze his hand. “This means a lot to me.”

I didn’t realize I was this hungry until I almost polished off most of the pizza.

“I can’t eat another morsel.” I rub my belly.

“I agree.” He stands and takes my hand.

He leads me to the living room and guides me to the middle of the couch. He turns on the TV and flips on the Blu-Ray.

“
The Ugly Truth
.” I tease him.

“I know that you have a thing for Gerald Butler.” He sits next me. He’s never done that before. The few times we have watched TV together, he typically sits in his recliner.

“Is this okay?” he looks at me.

“It’s okay.” I give him an encouraging smile. Actually, it’s better than okay.

We turn back and watch the movie. My eyes were growing heavy. After the hot bath and the pizza, I can feel myself getting sleepy. I feel Graham’s arm around my shoulders and he softly tugs me close to his side. I’m not really conscious enough to understand what is happening, but I curl up into his side and close my eyes.

~~~

I’m burning up. I feel like I’m curled up in an electric blanket. I open my eyes and the sun is shining bright.

I move my head and realize that I’m staring at a red T-shirt.

Graham’s shirt.

I pop my eyes open. Graham has one arm wrapped around my shoulder, holding me tightly. His other hand is resting on my hip. Our legs are tangled together.

I look up at his face. He looks peaceful, just like a few nights ago. I want to kiss his lips again, but I hold still. Graham moans and pulls me closer to him, gripping my hip tighter. I gasp as I feel him.

All of him.

My body tingles as my hips shift against him. I clamp my mouth shut, holding back a moan. I don’t want to wake him. I want to enjoy this moment a little longer.

I touch his hard chest. I can feel his heart beating; it’s calming to me. I nuzzle into his chest, inhaling his scent.

He squeezes me again, and he moves. I knew that he was beginning to wake up. I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep. I feel him looking down at me.

“Shit,” he hisses through his teeth and stills.

I keep my eyes close and my breathing even.

Graham moves his hand from my hip and brushes the hair off my forehead. I feel his soft lips on forehead. The moan leaves me before I can stop it. Graham doesn’t move.

He tries to untangle our legs and gets up from couch, without moving me. My body instantly cools off, and I feel alone and empty.

I open my eyes when I hear him head upstairs. I can feel the smile on my face before I can even stop it. I slept with Graham. Well, nothing sexual happened, but we did sleep. He held me all night, too.

I roll off the couch and fix my bed-head hair. I go into the kitchen and start breakfast for us. I was putting the bacon in the oven when he came back downstairs.

“Morning.” I say a lot more chipper than I meant.

“Wow, you seem refreshed.” He fixes a glass of Pepsi.

“Yes, I am.” My cheeks burn. “I had a great night sleep. Did you?” I bite on my bottom lip.

“Sure.” He sits down at the table, flipping through his phone, acting as if nothing happened.

Okay, maybe he didn’t enjoy it as much as I had. Then again, should I really be surprised by that?

“What are your plans for today?”

“Um…” I don’t know because I assumed that we were going to hang out.

“I’m going to work out and then go work on the car. I’ll see you later.” Before I can say ‘okay’ or ‘goodbye’, he’s already out the front door.

Again, I’m all alone in the quiet house. I woke up happy this morning and, in the space of an hour, I’m back to feeling sad. I flip off the oven and head upstairs to shower and change. I figure that I should call Mom and see what she has to say.

She quickly answers the phone and I blurt out everything that happened.

“I remember when your dad and I had nights like that.” She sighs and I can hear the pain in her voice.

“What should I do?”

“Keep the faith; I’m sure something will happen soon.” I can hear her smile through her voice.

“Fine.”

“I hope it happens soon, before…”

“Yes, Mom.” I cut her off again. I didn’t want to think about
that
right now. I have enough going on. “I’ll call you later,” and I hang up and head toward the shower.

I tried to let the hot shower wash away everything I’m feeling, but it doesn’t do that god a job. When I step out, I still felt horrible, but I push it away.

I change into a pair of jeans and sweatshirt. No part of me wants to dress up. I grab my cell phone and text Xaviera.

Me:
Do you need me right now?

Xaviera:
No. You okay?

Me:
Not really. Going to the city to shop.

Xaviera:
Need some company? Thaddeus is with the boys.

Me:
Sure.

Xaviera:
I’ll let Amaya know.

About five minutes later, the girls walk through my front door. I know they can read me like a book, because, without saying a word, they both walk over to me, hugging me tightly.

“It’ll be okay.” Xaviera rubs my back.

“Let’s go get some retail therapy,” Amaya chimes in.

I nod and grab my purse. We all hop into my Ford and head off into the city.

Not much is said between us. Mainly Amaya talks about her classes. Since her punishment forced her to drop out of college for a semester, she didn’t graduate in December, as Xaviera and I did.

Xaviera told us that the she didn’t feel sick anymore when she woke up, but she hates all her maternity clothes. On top of that, her feet are too swollen for her heels. Xaviera loves her shoes more than life itself.

“Ikea?” Amaya looks at me confused when she realizes where I have parked.

“I’m turning the third bedroom into an office.” I inform her. “I need a desk and shelving.” I tell them as I hop out of the car.

The girls follow me in and we head over to the office section. I easily fall in love with a black corner desk and matching bookcase. It will be perfect. I also purchase some shelving for the walls to house my some of my pictures.

Once we get the salesman to take my order, we head over to the baby section. Xaviera hasn’t even made the first purchase for the baby.

“Look at all these cribs.” Xaviera touches each one. “I wonder what Thaddeus would like.”

“He’ll like whatever you pick.” Amaya is standing in from of a white crib rubbing her hands along the rails.

“Are you okay, Amaya?” I ask, walking over to her.

“I’m fine. It’s seems like it’s moving fast for us, don’t you think?”

“I agree with you completely,” Xaviera adds.

“I guess I feel differently. You both are in some great Matched relationship and I’m in the strangest one in Unit history,” I whine.

“Gia, tell us what’s going on. I mean really what you’re feeling.” Xaviera leans on the crib.

I told them everything that Graham did last night and this morning.

“So, he’s trying, but still scared?” Amaya asks confused.

“I don’t know anymore. I don’t know, maybe I should leave,” I sigh, knowing that’s not what’s going to happen.

“Have you actually thought about leaving your Matched?” Clearly shocked, Xaviera all but whispers her question.

“Gia, of everyone I know, you were the one who never wanted to leave your Matched or Unit, for that matter,” Amaya pales.

“I said I don’t know, but how can I stay with someone who doesn’t even like me.” I hear my voice crack and I quickly clear my throat.

“I think you’re wrong, Gia.” Amaya steps over to me. “He does care for you. He does. I can see it. I’m not Graham’s number one fan, but I really don’t think he would have gone through the ceremony if he didn’t care.”

“We all know that Graham has been extremely vocal about the Matched rules.” I remind them. “Obviously, he has another agenda.”

“Well, you can rule out sex.” Amaya says. “I mean if that’s all he wanted, he could have already gotten that. So, there is something else we’re missing.”

“I don’t know what it is.” I shake my head looking at the concrete floor.

“Mrs. Centers.” We all turn to the salesman who had been helping us. “Everything is ready for you up front.”

“I say that we have some lunch,” Xaviera says. “This baby is starving.”

We all agree and head toward the front to check out. When we get up there, I realize that it isn’t going to all fit in the Ford.

“Now, what.”

“Why don’t you call the boys? They’re at the gym and it isn’t that far from here,” Xaviera suggests.

I know that she’s right, and I know Graham had the truck. I fish for my cell phone in my purse and call Graham.

“Shorty.”

“Hey, are you still in the city?”

“Yep, getting ready to leave the gym now. What’s up?”

“I’m at Ikea with the girls and the stuff I purchased won’t fit in the Ford. Can you come get it?”

“Be there in ten.”

He hangs up before I can say thank you. I try not to over think it, and I push the tears away. We finish checking out and wait for the guys to come. Within a few moments, the boys appear.

“Hello, ladies.” Graham husky voice causes me to shiver. “What’s all this?”

“The stuff for my new office.”

“Okay.” He doesn’t question anything, and wheels the cart out toward the truck. All three of the guy load everything into the bed of the truck.

“We were heading to lunch.” Oliver puts his arm around Amaya’s waist. “Wanna join?”