Days of Black and Gold

“Fuck,” he breathed, chest heaving as he looked over at me. “It’s a good thing my parents offered to take care of the girls for the week.”

“Please don’t talk about your parents immediately after we’ve had sex,” I groaned, nuzzling into his side, happily. “I love you, but that really kills the mood.”

Sidney chuckled and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll try to remember that for the future.”
I rolled my eyes, tilting my head up to stare into his deep hazel eyes. They always seemed darker, and more intriguing, after sex. “Since you’ve already killed any chance of a second round, we should talk about plans for the summer.”

“That’s never a good start to a conversation,” he muttered, reaching over for his phone as it buzzed.
I pretended not to notice Kristopher’s name before he tossed the phone to the end of the bed. “I was thinking, maybe we can invite some of the guys over. We have this second yard, and it’s huge, so why not put it to use?”

“Most of them have gone home for the summer.”

“There are a few who haven’t, like Kris and Cath. I know they haven’t left Pittsburgh, yet.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re usually all for having the team over for a barbeque, or whatever, and I’ve never seen you screen Kris’ calls.”

“Maybe I just want to spend time with you.”

“You have the whole summer to spend time with me.”

“About that…” his voice trailed off.

I sat up, pulling the sheets with me, and turned so I was facing Sidney. I glared at him, expectantly, trying to figure out exactly what he was thinking.

“I know the plan was to spend the whole summer here, help you get acquainted with the city and take care of the girls, but I really have to spend some time back in Cole Harbour.”

“Okay,” I drawled, hoping for him to continue before I processed the news and had an outburst.

“It’s just that Mom, Dad and Taylor would like to see me, and I have training to do.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but snapped it closed as Sidney went on.

“I know I can do training here, and I will, but I also like to train with Nathan.”

I drew in a deep, slow breath and nodded. “When are you leaving?”

“In a month?”

“Are you asking my permission?”

“No, well, yes. Sort of.” He scratched his head, trying to figure out what he meant. “I don’t want you to get angry. You and the girls can come with me to Cole Harbour, if you’d like.”

“I’ll give it some thought,” I grumbled. “Now, why are you screening Kris’ calls?”

“I’m not,” he lied, glancing over to his phone at the end of the bed.

“Bullshit,” I hissed. “I saw his name on the screen just now. I know you’ve been ignoring other calls throughout the week. I can only assume they were also from Kris.”

“It’s nothing, Margot.”

“It’s something, Sidney,” I argued, frowning. “Kris is a good friend, and I hang out with Cath a lot. Now, what’s going on?”

“I just don’t want to lose any more time with you.”

“Come on, Sid,” I huffed, raising from the bed and pulling his tee-shirt over my head. “Don’t bullshit me. I know you better than that.”

“Will you just let it go?” He growled, watching me move around the room.

“Fine!” I surrendered, shoving my legs into a pair of denim shorts and heading for the bedroom door. “Call me once you’ve decided to stop being a fucking asshole.”

His mouth opened to argue, but snapped shut when he saw the anger in my features.

Storming out of the room, I slammed the bedroom door and quickly made my way through the house. I knew that if I didn’t get out of there, I would have some kind of meltdown, or worse, would start some kind of fight that would tear us apart for good.

Hopping into the driver’s seat of my Rav4, I tore out of the driveway, heading in the direction of our downtown Pittsburgh home.