Greg glanced over his shoulder to where Easton was curled up on the sofa, surfing through the TV channels. He was trying to concentrate on getting ready for another night of work, but for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off her. They'd been dating for over 3 years and engaged for 1 and he didn't think he'd ever seen her so spaced out. She stared at the TV blankly, almost unaware of her surroundings, seemingly lost in her own world. He also couldn't help but notice how hot she looked in one of his old button down's and pretty much nothing else. He loved it when she wore his clothes, pulling her hair back into the same messy bun she always wore when she was hanging around the house. Her model-like legs lay gracefully draped over one another, their olive tone standing out against the beige colour of the sofa and she rested her head on one of the overstuffed brown throw pillows. He was actually jealous of her dachshund, Oscar, who sat curled up in the crook of Easton's legs.
"East!" Greg called.
She acted as though she hadn't heard him, her concentration still focused on the flickering TV screen.
"Easton…" Greg called again, this time dragging her name out a bit. She finally looked up, although her eyes seemed to be void of any life.
"Yeah?" She sat herself up, the carpet soft and warm beneath her feet. She hit the mute button on the talk show she was watching.
Greg motioned for her to come over to him, and she did, although she stopped awkwardly in the door to the kitchen that overlooked the rest of the apartment. She wrapped her arms around herself.
"There's another guy, isn't there?" he asked, somewhat joking. He bent down and grabbed an apple from the crisper at the bottom of the fridge.
His statement almost seemed to make her twitch unnaturally. "Greg, that's not funny. You know I love you."
He stood up to his full height. "Nah, I know that. But what's up? You seem distracted."
"Nothing's up, I'm just tired that all. I have a lot on my mind right now." She couldn't meet his gaze. What she had just said had to be the biggest understatement. Even though she'd known being with Nick last night was a mistake, she couldn't get him out of her head.
"Oh." Greg knew she was lying, but he wasn't going to push it. He knew she'd tell him in her own time, she always did. He enveloped her into his arms, feeling how baggy his shirt was on her slim frame. "As long as you're OK." He bent his head to her, kissing her slowly and sweetly, loving the taste of her mango lip-gloss the lingered on her lips. He let his hand trail up the back of her shirt and around to the front, his finger tracing a trail from the underside of her breast, down her taut belly to the hemline of her panties. She seemed to turn to jelly in his arms, pushing her mouth and her body deeper into him. They slowly took a few steps back together and he could feel the counter pressed against his tail bone. Greg felt her hand on his chest beneath his shirt, the other teasing him beneath his jeans.
He was just about to pull her panties off for round two that day when she suddenly almost seemed to jump back, her cheeks flushed. "Sorry," she muttered.
Greg watched her for a second and then grabbed her wrist, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Baby, what are you saying sorry for? What's the matter?"
He swore he saw a tear drip down her face, but as soon as it was there, it was gone with the swipe of her hand. "Look, I'm jut stressed, OK?" Her voice cracked and her bottom lip trembled. Easton was a normally confident, vivacious woman, but right now she felt like a crumbling mess.
He'd known her to be stressed before choreographing a new tour or routine, but he'd never seen her like this. If he really thought about it, the only other time he'd seen her cry was when he'd been in the hospital after being severely beaten in the "fanny smacking" case. She was normally capable of holding herself together. She huddled back against him and he willing brought her to him, stroking a stray strand that had come loose from her ponytail off her face. He wasn't sure what to say.
"I'll be OK." His shirt muffled her voice and Easton knew that was the biggest lie she'd ever heard in her life.
