It's Monday again, and I'm here with a new update! Yay!

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Aaaand to throw you a bone - the next chapter will be dirty. Very, very, very dirty ... Happy waiting! ;)

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I still don't hear anything from Braden on Sunday. Me and Brooke go to my parents' for a lunch and the tension from the night before completely disappeared, thankfully. And the lunch goes amazing, my both parents love Brooke instantly, as I thought they would. But I'm just not that focused on everyone around me as I want to be. I have my phone clutched tightly in my hand the whole lunch, just in case I hear from Braden. I worry something happened to him, but I guess Brooke would already know if it did.

''Rory.''

I turn around and see my mum's worried look on me. I'm in the kitchen, washing the dishes and Brooke's probably watching a TV with my father.

''Is everything alright with you?'' My mum, ever an observer, asks me, her tone worried and her eyes showing that she knows something's up with me so I better not lie to her.

I shrug and turn back to the dishes. ''I guess,'' I murmur half-heartedly.

I feel my mum's hand on my shoulder. ''Leave the dishes and look at me.'' I sigh and slowly do as she said. ''Now talk to me. What's bothering you?''

How do you really tell your mum you're having a sexual relationship with a man who you're falling for, but he doesn't even want to hear a word 'relationship' or 'love'? Exactly – you don't. I don't want my father to go search for his gun.

''I'm seeing someone.'' I bite my lip and suddenly become very nervous, because I don't know what my mum will think about me being with someone else so soon after my break up.

She looks puzzled and it makes me nervous even more. ''A man?'' she asks and leans further back from me.

I nod.

She looks at a loss for words. ''But ... is it serious?'' It's obvious she can't wrap her mind around the thought.

I slowly shake my head. ''No. It's not serious. Not really.'' I carefully watch her expression.

Her lips are in a straight line and her face looks a bit paler. ''But you want it to be serious,'' she says and it's not a question.

I lower my eyes because I suddenly have tears in them. ''Yeah,'' I murmur and my voice cracks.

My mum's arms are suddenly around me, squeezing me in a tight hug I desperately need. ''Ah, baby girl. Have you tried to talk to him about this?'' My mum brushes my hair softly, as she did when I was a little girl when I cried and she tried to comfort me. And her touch now brings me all the comfort I need.

''No. It's really complicated between us.''

Mum breaks from the hug and looks at me – really looks at me. ''It's only complicated if you make it that way, sweetheart. If you want this to work, you have to talk to him. Tell him how you feel, because he can't know how you feel if you don't tell him.''

Maybe my mum's right. And maybe she's wrong. She doesn't know Braden. She doesn't know the man he is. I fear he's going to leave me if I tell him how I feel about him. ''But the thing is, he doesn't want a relationship. Not with me, not with anyone else, and he told me that many, many times.''

Mum drops her hands down from my body. ''Talk to him. Maybe he feels the same way,'' mum tries to comfort me, but her words don't help very much. I know he won't ever change his mind. I know he will never feel the same way about me. It's only a wishful thinking. But I still nod to reassure her so she won't worry about me. ''And if things go right, I'd like to meet this mysterious man.''

I suddenly have a lump in my throat. Braden meeting my parents? What would he think of it? Would he be up for it? ''Okay,'' I answer my mum, but my brain wants to explode how much thinking they're doing now. It's a dangerous territory to meet the man I'm fucking with my parents.

I turn back to washing the dishes when mum goes back out of the kitchen with drinks for everyone. When I'm finished, I go back to the living room where I find everyone enjoying a small conversation – mostly Brooke answering questions. Brooke casts me a secret gaze, filled with worry that I don't quite understand, so I look confusedly at her, but she averts her eyes back to my father who asked her another question.

I sit down to enjoy the afternoon with my parents, whom I haven't seen in a long time now, but I just can't bring my head to be fully in this. I check my phone manually to see if I missed any call or received any messages, but I didn't. I sigh and ask myself one too many times if I did anything wrong.

Brooke casts me some worried glances, but I make sure I keep a poker face, not showing any emotions, staring ahead with a blank expression or laugh when necessary.

When it's time to go home, I both say warm goodbyes to my parents. My mum squeezes me in a big hug and rubs my back. I appreciate her thought and I'm happy she's not judgmental towards my new 'relationship'. Mum and dad both tell us that Brooke should come visit with me some more times if she has time and Brooke's eyes light up. She says she'd be delightful.

As soon as we're sitting in the car, Brooke turns to me, her happy face now replaced with a frown. ''I hope you won't be mad, but I hear what you and your mum talked about in the kitchen.''

My whole body becomes tense and my eyes widen. I exhale, slowly and quietly to get rid of the shakiness. ''What exactly did you hear?''

''Everything.'' Brooke at least looks apologetically.

''Okay, so you've heard. Can you promise me you're not telling Braden a word about that conversation?'' I ask, now my voice is becoming uncertain.

''I'm not telling him anything because you are,'' she says calmly.

I turn my head in her direction and shake it. ''No. I'm not telling him anything, Brooke,'' I deny with great effort. I feel how panicked I'm becoming.

Brooke crosses her arms in front of her chest. ''Rory, seriously? It won't kill you if you tell him your feelings, Jesus.'' She sighs exasperatedly.

''It might,'' I murmur when a wave of sadness rushes across me. ''What me and Braden have is our thing and it's no one's business, so please, let me deal this by my own.''

Brooke groans out. ''Fine! But you're going to be sorry one day, Rory.''

That's where you think you're wrong, Brooke. I might be just thankful one day that I didn't destroy the only thing that makes me happy with my stupid feelings.

***

This day couldn't go worse even if I planned it to be a disaster. I get my period in the evening. If that's not enough, I have cramps. It's the worst feeling on the planet, truly, and I hate the whole male population in this exact moment for not having these problems.

Nothing helps with my cramps, they're only getting worse and I don't know what to do with myself. Brooke can't help me much, she just keeps some conversation going to keep my mind off, but it's even hard to talk.

When they reach the highest point, my body gives up and I have to run to the toilet to vomit everything I've eaten today. I actually feel a lot better after that and I try to enjoy the movie with Brooke.

Braden still hasn't called. I don't know whether he'll come by tonight that I'm not working. I know he knows I'm off today. He's my boss after all. And if he doesn't come by tonight, I ask myself where will be the next time I actually see him. That thought brings a bad feeling in me.

Soon, exhaustion takes over me and I give in. Today's events have made me tired and I fall asleep on the couch where I wake up in the morning.

There are no traces of Braden. I check my phone that's lying on my stomach, but there are no new notifications. I turn on the side and want to curl up in a fetal position and cry. But, of course, I don't. I promised myself that Braden's not worth my tears, at least not for a stupid thing like this.

Maybe he's just busy with his business. We don't have the kind of a relationship when we call each other to tell what are we up to and where we are. It would be nice to know, though.

I went through yesterday's day we spent together in my head a million times already, but I just can't see where I went wrong. Maybe when I asked him about the cursing? Or when I got mad when he wanted to buy me a dress? Or maybe in Victoria's Secret? Did I say anything like that to him during the lunch? Have I gone too far with the question about love?

Damn. So many questions but not enough answers.

In a moment of desperation, I dial Braden's number and almost chew my lip off while impatiently waiting for him to pick up. But it goes straight to the voice mail and I can feel my heart drop in disappointment.

***

The following week goes on too slow for my taste. I'm restless. The nights at the bar are going well. Aaron was there three nights, the other two there was Gloria. Aaron's mood picked up slightly, but he still looked distressed on occasions. And he became distant again, barely even speaking six words to me this week, and they were all to say hello or wish me a goodnight. It sucks to see him in such a foul mood, but I'm not better myself.

Braden hasn't come by this week. He hasn't called. He hasn't texted. Every time I try to give him a call, either he doesn't pick up, or I get his voice mail.

And I know he's alive because I heard Brooke talking with him previous afternoon, even though she tried to deny it, saying it was an old friend. Yeah, okay. I'm not that stupid.

So he's avoiding me. The only question that's bothering me – why would he do that? And what's even worse, I can't give him a surprise visit because I have no idea where he lives. I don't want to ask Brooke because I fear what her answer would be. I bet she doesn't know Braden doesn't tell his lovers where he lives. I wonder if that's the reason – so the girls can't bother him when he decides to go on a silent mode for days. Or when he dumps them.

I'm frowning while having these thoughts. It's Saturday, exactly one week after me and Braden spent a wonderful day together. He raised my hopes up on that day – hopes that maybe, just maybe there lies a chance between us, that he wants to spend more time with me and have a normal relationship.

I scoff. The joke's on me, I guess. Again. It hits me for the hundredth time how stupid I am and how easy I fall for his tricks.

Brooke casts me another look of pity, which she's doing this whole week and I'm getting sick of seeing the pitiful glances on her face already. It makes me remember I'm basically no one to her brother.

It doesn't help her face looks so alike Braden's.

''He'll call, Rory, don't worry. I know him,'' Brooke tries to reassure, but it seems like even she doesn't believe her own words. It doesn't help my mood.

I curl even tighter into a blanket I have over my body on my couch, not looking at Brooke's face. ''I guess I have to get used to him disappearing without a single call,'' I mutter and force the tear to dry before it falls from my eye.

Brooke lifts her eyebrow up but doesn't question me. She offers me the chocolate she's eating, but I shake my head, declining her offer. Yeah, my mood is that bad that I don't even want a chocolate. Who ever says no to a chocolate? Exactly.

I slowly stand up from the couch and start walking towards my room, feeling drained of energy, to prepare for work. Truthfully, I'd rather call in sick tonight, because I don't feel like working tonight, at all. But I need money, so skipping work is not an option.

I get ready fast. I don't put much effort in my looks, even though I look worse than previous nights. I haven't been sleeping well and my face shows it with dark circles and tired eyes. My hair is messy, so I put it up in a bun. I just apply some foundation on my face and add some lighter concealer under my eyes to hide the circles under them. Then I put on two coats of mascara. I'm not aiming to look sexy or beautiful tonight. I'm just not in the mood to fake my mood like I've been doing this whole week.

***

It's super crowded tonight because the live band (that I haven't heard about in my life) is playing and it gets people crazy. It's more crowded at the stage, though, not so much at the bar, unless the band takes a pause. That's when me and Gloria work over the top to make everyone happy.

When the band plays their last song and people are already starting to leave, I sigh in relief, already picturing someone massaging my sore muscles. Damn, that would feel nice right now.

Gloria tells me I can go ahead and go home when she notices how tired I am and how pitiful I carry myself. My muscles are hurting and I can feel the start of a headache already. I nod thankfully at her and go into the back rooms.

I near the changing room, but I'm suddenly stopped in my tracks when a strong hand wraps around my mid-section and harshly pulls me back. I want to scream, but the attacker is already ahead of me, putting their hand over my mouth. My eyes are wide and my legs are kicking out. I don't fully register what's really going on until I'm dragged into a dark corner in a hallway. I'm almost afraid to breathe, but I feel there's not enough air in my body.

The hands on me are large, so they belong to a man. And he's wearing ... a suit?

''Ouch! Rory, dammit, it's just me!'' the familiar voice hisses close to my ear, removing the hand I just bit from my mouth.

I get out of Braden's grip and push him away from me, then walk a few steps back just to be sure. I'm breathing hard and my whole body is shaking. ''What the hell, Braden?!'' I cry out, my voice shaking. ''You scared the crap out of me, Jesus Christ!'' I put a hand over my heart and feel it thumping hard against my ribcage. I take some deep breaths and Braden stays where I pushed him, thankfully.

But it doesn't take him long before he's in front of me, having my face in his hands. I stare at his chest, still in aftershock. ''I'm sorry, I didn't really mean to scare you,'' he says softly.

''Well what did you expect, grabbing me like that and dragging me away?'' I finally lift my face, only to glare at him.

Braden cringes. He puts his hand on my back and pushes me towards his body, softly rubbing my back to calm me down. ''I'm sorry, baby. I won't do it again, I didn't think. I was too excited to see you,'' he says against my hair.

His words sink in and I push him back away from me again. I read the confusion on his face and when he tries to step toward me again, I put my hands out and step back. ''Don't, Braden. Just don't, okay?''

He cocks his head to the side, trying to gauge my reaction to him. He frowns. ''What's wrong?''

And he actually has the decency to ask this! The nerve of this man ... I take a deep, long breath, which I exhale slowly, calming myself down. ''You disappear for a week, Braden, then come at the bar, nearly giving me a heart attack for thinking I'm being kidnapped, and then you give yourself the right to ask what's wrong. Maybe I should ask you that – what's wrong, Braden? What was wrong this whole week? Is your phone broken that you haven't been taking my calls or calling me back?'' I throw in sarcastically, watching how his eyes widen at my last accusation.

Braden crosses his arms and looks slightly pissed. At me! ''You're not my mother, nor my wife, so I don't have to explain where I am and what I'm doing,'' he bites out hurtfully.

I sneer. ''Of course. I'm the girl only good for fucking. Darn, how could I forget?'' I tap my head and watch how his eyes narrow at my words. ''But for the record, this girl would like to know what's going on in your life and why you suddenly vanish for days. You can't say we're friends, but then treat me like a dirt. What if something happened to you, Braden?''

Braden's mouth slowly lifts up in a small smile. ''You worried about me?'' he asks, his voice small and shy and he looks so vulnerable I could hug him. I wrap my arms around myself so I resist throwing my arms around him.

''Of course I did, you jerk,'' I growl out.

His body suddenly becomes rigid and his face darkens. I realise my mistake a little bit too late. I squeeze my mouth together and push the nails in my biceps. Stupid, stupid, Rory ... He tells you about his past – about his aunt being violative with the words, and you throw it in his face ...

''I'm sorry,'' I apologise meaningfully.

Braden nods stiffly in acknowledgement. He pushes his hands in his pockets and we both stare at each other.

I didn't mean to hurt him, but me and my big mouth just tend to get us in trouble. I sigh. ''Look, I'm really tired and I just want to go home,'' I murmur.

''You're really impulsive, you know that?'' Braden surprises me by saying, totally catching me off guard.

''I—what?''

''You react quickly to things. It's easy to piss you off. And you usually don't check your facts before you attack.'' Once again, that wasn't what I expected to hear from him. At all.

I stare confusedly at him, his words replaying in my head. I furrow my eyebrows. ''Do I really?'' I ask, still thinking about his words. I see he expected me to argue with him again, so his expression turns surprised for a moment before he expertly masks it.

He nods. ''And you usually don't let me explain things first before you start accusing me of something you created in your mind,'' he comments.

I frown and twist my hand. I'm getting awkward because I don't know what to say. His words are actually true, I'm not going to blind myself and deny them. But they don't hurt – it's refreshing to hear them because now I know what I have to work on from now. I purse my lips. ''I never really thought about my actions. You know what, let's make a deal,'' I suggest, an idea coming to my mind.

''A deal,'' Braden drawls out carefully, repeating after me. His eyebrows are raised.

I nod, a smile forming on my face. ''I promise I will always listen to you explain first and not jump to conclusions and attack you with them. But you have to promise that you'll call or text me before you disappear somewhere again.''

Braden's face becomes serious and I hold my breath, already thinking that he won't agree to this. It's reasonable enough, right? We both get something out of it. When he draws his eyebrows together, my smile freezes. Oh, no, he doesn't like it. But then he grins so wide, it makes me forget to breathe. ''Do we seal it with a kiss?'' he asks flirtatiously.

I start breathing normally again and smile back at him. His eyes shine when he sees me smile and I suddenly feel shy around him. He comes toward me with a purpose and I steel my feet on the ground and watch the face of a predator, coming for his prey.

He closes the distance in seconds and we both stare at each other's eyes meaningfully. His gaze is tender with traces of lust on it. I slow my breathing when he lifts his hand and puts it on my neck, his thumb caressing the skin on my cheek and I subconsciously turn my head to his touch. His eyes blaze with appreciation and he slowly, oh, so slowly brings his head down.

He doesn't kiss me immediately like I thought he would. Oh, no. He holds the anticipation between me. I have my eyes half closed in need and I'm moments away from jumping on him and kissing him madly.

I feel his hot breath on my lips and I part them in need. I could swear my lips are tingling just from Braden staring at them. Kiss me, Braden, dammit! I shout in my head, but I don't even whisper a word out loud. My lips seem to not work until a certain man makes them alive again.

''Please,'' I mouth, because I'm not capable of doing anything more, but it's enough. He slowly brings our mouth together and I can't swallow back the moan at the first touch. God, I could probably live without the oxygen, but, please, don't take away those lips from me, because I wouldn't be able to live without them.

He kisses me sensually and gently at first, but then our kiss turns into a hunger and our hands start to have a mind on their own, and they vary on their own.

Braden ends the kiss all too soon, putting his forehead against mine, keeping his eyes closed and breathing hard, holding my face in both of his hands. ''Fuck, how much I missed you,'' he murmurs against my still hot from the kiss lips.

His words make my already hot body even hotter if that's even possible. A tingling sensation – in a good way sinks itself in my stomach. Braden opens his eyes slowly and judging by his look, he didn't mean to say those words out loud.

He suddenly backs away from me, showing me his back. My mind is a mess. He said he missed me, but why would he regret confessing that to me? I missed him, too, only that I know he knows that, so I don't embarrass myself by saying it out loud. If this is his reaction to him saying those words, I can't imagine how would he react if I said them.

''Let's go home.'' He's already walking away with my purse in his hands, not giving me a chance to object.

Let's go home. Home. With Braden. I would never object to that.

***

''When will you obey and stop walking to work?''

Not this again. I sigh tiredly. ''It seems like a waste of an afternoon if I spend it driving to work when I can walk,'' I mutter unconvincingly.

Braden scoffs. ''I can just imagine how peachy it must be, walking home at half past two in the morning.''

He's right. When I'm tired, like today perhaps, I curse myself for not bringing my car. But on the other nights, I'm still full of energy, still pumped up from the night at the bar and the cold, fresh air helps me to clear my mind and it makes me calm. Tonight, I'm just thanking Braden in my mind that he's taking me home, although I don't say anything to give him another reason to prove his point to me.

I shrug. ''Some nights it's fine, other not so. Depends on how tired I am, really,'' I mutter, tiredness washing over me already.

Braden looks at me briefly. ''I'm serious, Rory,'' he says in a tight, stern voice. ''It's dangerous.'' He makes sure to point out the dangerous part. ''And if you can't do a simple thing like driving your car to work, for your own safeness, may I add, then I'll have to do something about it. And it might not be pretty,'' he adds.

This perks up my attention and I sit up straighter now, not even tired anymore. He has all my attention. ''Oh?'' I reply stupidly. ''What would you do about it? Lock me in my car so I don't have a choice but to drive with it?'' I joke.

Braden looks like he's thinking about that idea in his head. ''That's one way to put it,'' he says, smiling to himself.

I roll my eyes. ''I believe I'm old enough to know what's best for me, Braden,'' I say with a tone that doesn't allow objections. But, of course, Braden has to object.

''Listen, Rory,'' he says more sternly now, his face serious. ''When you're with me, I'm responsible for your safety. I have to make sure you're okay at all costs. It's my responsibility to make sure my girl stays safe.''

I love how he says my girl. It sounds like a praise from his lips and if I could, I would record it and set it as my ringtone so I could listen to him say it all the time. Because, yes, I'm his. He owns me. And just weeks ago, I would argue if anyone said I'm theirs. But now? I belong to Braden. He has me whole, and I'm not afraid to admit it to myself anymore.

''Does the big Braden Campbell worry about me?'' I joke, bringing our previous conversation up.

Braden furrows his eyebrows. ''More than I should, to be honest.''

His words bring a smile on my lips that doesn't disappear until we're in my bedroom. There, with Braden's big form, his eyes like a hawk, and a mouth lifted up in a sinful smile – it doesn't feel like it's properly for me to be smiling anymore.

''I'm tired,'' I blurt out.

Braden's smile grows even bigger. ''So am I.''

O-kay. That didn't go as planned. As he steps closer to me, already making his tie loose around his neck, I put my hands out in front of me. ''Wait. Wait. We need to talk first.''

Braden sighs. ''I'm not in a mood for talking right now, baby,'' he says, licking his lips as his eyes travel up and down my body.

My face looks like shit tonight, I know. I'm not blind and I have mirrors, but the way he's looking at me – it's like like a model from the magazine cover is standing in front of him. Naked. I swallow thickly. ''But I am. Where were you this week?''

Braden stops in med-step, his face changing from playful to irritating. ''Why is it so important for you?''

I release the air out through my teeth. ''It just is. Or is it a secret?'' I playfully ask, but he doesn't laugh. He doesn't even crack a smile. His face stays dark, his eyes stay on my face. I become serious again.

''I'm currently working on something. It's about the bar,'' he throws in casually.

My lips part. ''You're not closing it, are you?'' I ask panicky.

Braden furrows his eyebrows. ''What? No. Of course not. Why would I?''

I shrug, quietly sighing in relief. ''I was just wondering ...''

He cocks his head to the side. ''You're afraid you'll lose your job.'' A statement.

I laugh dryly. ''Who isn't nowadays?'' My voice is too tight.

Braden steps closer to me. ''Baby.'' One word and it changes my body to liquid. ''Even if I closed the bar, you wouldn't be jobless.''

I narrow my eyes. ''I'm pretty sure staying without your job means you're jobless.'' When his mouth forms a straight line, I lean back.

''We would figure it out,'' he says. We. I like the sound of that.

''You'd offer me a job, wouldn't you?'' I mutter, trying to wrap the fact around my head. Technically, I am working for him already, but that's different. I was working there before he bought the bar. But him offering me a job? That's a big step.

He doesn't say anything, but it's all the answer I need. I laugh again, without any humour. ''You would hire me as a what – your sex slave?''

Braden snorts. ''Maybe I should.'' He traces his bottom lip with his thumb, distracting me for a moment and making me completely lose my head. I'm sure that was his intention.

''Yeah, okay. First of all, you don't have enough money to ever buy me. And second, I'm not on sale,'' I joke.

Braden laughs. ''Don't I know it,'' he mutters. He sneaks his hand behind me and places it directly on my butt. ''Now, are we finished talking or do you want to know anything more?'' he asks distractingly while hiking my shirt up with his other hand.

I shake my head, completely lost in his touch. In his look. In his warmth. His closeness. His breath across my face. I'm completely lost in him. And I totally lose myself when his mouth searches for mine in a toe-curling kiss that has a promise of something more. Of a lot more.

Talking can wait, I guess.