When the water turns off a few minutes later-Violet takes quick showers when I'm not in there with her-I lean my forehead against the door and tap on it. Incessantly.
"There are five other bathrooms in this house, Alex. If you need to pee, go use one of them!"
I don't say anything; I just keep knocking.
"For fuck's sake," she grumbles from the other side of the door. I hear the lock turn so I step back. She throws it open. "What?"
She's covered by a towel. But there's cleavage. "Why are you mad at me?" I say to her boobs.
She snaps her fingers in my face. I look up. Her cheeks are red and her eyes on fire, though not with lust, even though my hard-on is pointing at her, waiting for her to use it as a handle.
"Why?" she asks, incredulous.
"Yeah. What did I do?"
She throws her hands up in the air. "What did you do?"
"I don't know what I did to make you this angry, but I'm sorry, whatever it was."
"That you don't even know is a problem." She turns away, but at least she doesn't shut the door on me. I'm taking this as progress.
I review the events since we woke up. Maybe my rolling on top of her was the problem, but I do that all the time. "Is it because my dick was near your ass again? I promise I'm not going to try to get in there."
She huffs, opening the vanity. "It's not about anal, Alex."
I scratch the back of my neck. "Is it because I asked you to stay home with me today?"
"No." She grabs her brush and yanks it roughly through her hair, cringing when it gets caught on a bunch of knots.
Shit. I know what I did wrong. "It's because I said you should quit your job. I wasn't serious, Violet."
I'm lying again, but I don't want her to be angry. And I'm still mostly hard, so if I can get back in her good graces, I might be able to get some action before she leaves for work. I'm really horny.
Violet spins around, her wet hair slapping me in the chest. The head of my cock rubs her hip and pokes her stomach through her towel. She uses the end of her brush to push me back so my excited parts aren't touching her anymore. "You do realize this is the fifth time in the past two months you've told me I should quit my job, right?"
I know I've said something about it before, but I didn't realize it was that many times. "You had to work a lot over the holidays."
"I was off the whole week between Christmas and New Year's."
"But my family was here, so I didn't get as much alone time with you as I wanted. And you've been working late a lot since then. We're always playing catch-up after I get back from away games, and then I'm gone again. I don't like it. And you're mad at me."
Violet sighs, her expression softening. "I'm just frustrated. My mom and Sidney put all that money toward my education. I don't want it to go to waste. And I like my job. A lot. I'm good at it."
"What about when we have kids? You won't want to work then, will you?" I cringe at the way I've worded this and the resulting change in Violet's posture. She goes stiff, and not in a good way.
"Whoa. We're not even married yet; why are we talking about kids? And what's with the plural? There's nothing wrong with being an only child."
"We can talk about that later." I can only imagine how big her boobs are going to be when she's pregnant. I'm so fucking excited for that: her boobs, us getting married, her having my babies. I bring her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles. "It's not a bad thing that I want to be with you as much as I can, is it?"
"Wanting to spend time with me is different than wanting me to quit my job."
"But if you don't have to worry about a job, we'll see more of each other. It's not like I can't afford to take care of you. Besides, you put in all those hours, and for what? Less than a hundred grand a year."
She snatches her hand away, her lips pressing into a thin line. "I get that you make way more money than me, but it doesn't negate my need to have a purpose beyond being your fiancée. If you weren't raking in the millions, my salary would actually be really good. Great even."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way." I drag a palm over my face. "I just-I'm home for less than a week, and then I'm away again, and you're going to be working for the next four days. It doesn't leave me with much."
Violet adjusts her towel and rests her hand over my heart. "What would I do with all my free time if I quit my job, Alex?"
"Come to the away games."
"On the bus with you and the team? Am I going to fly everywhere? What about practices and training sessions? Will I go to those, too, or am I going to sit in a hotel room? No wait, I'll spend every day at a spa, getting treatments so I look twenty-three forever."
"Some of the other wives-"
"I can't spend my time waiting for you to come back from games or practices. Be reasonable. That's not a life."
She has a point. Violet isn't the kind of woman who would enjoy the endless pampering. She'll do it on occasion, but it's not something I can see her wanting to get used to. She struggles enough with the few grand I put in her account every month.
This conversation isn't going the way I want. I take the brush she's still holding and tuck it under my arm. Then I take her hand and play with her engagement ring. The one I gave her back in August.
We still haven't set a date. Weddings stress Violet out. She's started getting hives whenever we talk about it. Apparently she had a terrible experience with her mom's wedding-she was just a teenager-and she hasn't gotten over it. I've asked about it, but she's vague with her explanation.
"I don't like being away from you," I tell her. "The away games are hard. I miss you."
"I miss you, too, but that doesn't mean I should quit my job any more than you should quit yours." She raises a brow, like she's waiting for me to stick my foot in my mouth again.
The difference between our annual salaries is astronomical, but I keep that to myself since I don't want to shovel my own grave. And I do understand, and appreciate, her need for a purpose, even if I'm being a self-centered dick about it. "I feel like I don't get enough time with you."
"We'll get used to it. It'll be off-season before we know it, and then you'll be home all the time, and I'll be driving you crazy."
"You won't drive me crazy."
"We haven't been living together that long, Alex. Just you wait."
"Maybe when my games are in Chicago you could see about working from home once in a while? Do you think your boss would go for something like that?" I peek up at her.
"I can talk to him," she says after a moment.
"Okay." I run my nose along her shoulder to her neck, then follow with my lips.
"I need to get ready for work," she says softly.
"I'll give you one quick orgasm."
"It's already seven-thirty."
"I'll be superfast." I mash my hard-on against her stomach. "I don't want to wait all day to get rid of this."
"I'm going to be late as it is, Alex."
I kiss her bare shoulder, nipping. "So be a few minutes later."
She stops me before I can tug her towel free. "I have a client meeting first thing this morning. I can't be later."
"They'll wait."
"They shouldn't have to. It's unprofessional." She's snappy again. "Can we wait until I get home tonight? I'm not really in the mood anyway."
"Okay." I back off. "We can wait."
I leave her alone in the bathroom and pull on a pair of jogging pants and a T-shirt. It doesn't take long for my hard-on to fizzle, considering I just got turned down by my fiancée. Violet never turns down sex. Ever. I must have really pushed her buttons this morning.
I try to redeem myself by making a pot of coffee. And I toast a bagel for her, slathering it in lactose-free cream cheese so she doesn't have to leave for work hungry.
This morning is definitely not going as planned.
Violet rushes down the stairs at five after eight. I meet her at the door with her travel mug and bagel.
"What's this?"
"Breakfast. It's that mocha coffee you like and one of those French toast bagels with extra lactose-free cream cheese."
She wraps her arms around me and lays her cheek on my chest. I return the hug as best I can with my hands full.
"Thank you. I'm sorry I got so upset with you this morning. It's just that my job is important to me. You already take care of me on so many levels. I don't even have to do my own laundry anymore. Beyond needing a purpose, I don't want to waste the skill set I've acquired, because God knows I'm seriously lacking in the housekeeping department. Plus we already have someone who comes in and does all that stuff I'm not good at. We don't have any children, and we're not making any anytime soon. I don't think I could spend all day updating my Facebook profile and using entire cans of Aquanet on my hair."