I'm sorry these updated aren't coming as quickly as they were before...life has just been kind of crazy for me! But here is an update for you! Happy Monday and happy reading!

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Chapter 14: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Ren was already half awake and she could hear Seth moving around in the living room. He had gotten up to let Kevin outside. She had no idea what time it was, she couldn't quite muster the energy to roll over and retrieve her phone from the night stand. She could barely open her eyes. She was so warm and so comfortable and she just wanted to soak it in.

She could hear Kevin's tags as he trotted through the house and a few seconds later she felt the bed shift under Seth's weight as he got back in to bed. She stirred a little more from her slumber knowing he was next to her.

It only took a few seconds before she felt his hand on her back. She could feel his fingers lightly running up her spine through the thin material of his t-shirt she had managed to hunt down in the dark, lost in the crumpled sheets of the bed, and slip on before she fell asleep the night before. He made it to her neck and he trailed his thumb across the small arrow tattoo that was just below her hair line before he tangled his hand in her hair and kissed her shoulder gently.

"Are you awake?" he asked quietly.

"No," she mumbled.

He chuckled and then she felt him kiss her shoulder again and bite it gently. She turned her head towards him, opening her eyes and letting them focus on him in the dim, morning light of his bedroom. He still looked tired himself, his dark chocolate eyes were heavy with tiredness, and she figured it must be relatively early. Or maybe it was after effects of the short amount of sleep both of them had managed to get.

She smiled softly at him and scooted closer to him, moving onto her side, and he wrapped his arms around her to pull her close to him.

"Good morning," he said and brushed her hair away from her face.

"Good morning."

They kissed softly, Ren tried to move closer to him. There was no place else she would rather be in that moment than sharing sweet morning kisses with him and she wanted to relish every moment of it. She settled her head against his chest, snuggling into him, after they ended their kisses.

"This is what I needed," she sighed.

"You're just using me for my exquisite kissing skills, aren't you?" he teased her.

Ren snorted, "If that's all I wanted I would've found someone that was a little bit closer to my home."

"It is one hell of a booty call," he countered.

"I don't think I've ever had a booty call before," she mused, racking her brain. "I was never into that kind of thing."

"You're an all or nothing kind of girl," he said, trailing his fingers through her hair. "I knew that from the beginning."

"How?"

"You didn't try to take me back to your hotel room."

"Have you had a lot of girls try that?"

"Do you really want to talk about that right now?"

"Well you kind of started it," she said and lifted her head to look at him.

"I wouldn't say a lot of girls but it happens. It happens more through Instagram and twitter and stuff. I did have a front desk girl come up to my room after she got off work one time…"

"Did you let her in?"

"No, I had a girl friend at the time. I passed her off to Dean; it was pre-Renee. Don't you look at me like that, either. You have your fair share of boys drooling over you. I know how to read Instagram comments, too."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she gave him a haughty look and settled her head back down on her chest. "You're making things up."

"Mhmm, ok…"

She laughed lightly at the squeeze he gave her and the light pinch he gave her side. "When are you going to the gym today?"

"Probably whenever I manage to actually get out of bed and moving around so I can just get it out of the way and have the rest of the day for you. You and Kev can hang out and sleep some more."

"Can I go with you?"

"To the gym?"

"Yeah."

"You want to work out with me?"

"Yeah, why not?" she raised her head to look at him again, getting greeted by a slightly wide eyed, questioning look.

"You want to do Crossfit?"

"Yeah, I've done it a few times before. Ew, don't look at me like that!" she scolded him. "I'm in shape and I'm fit…I know what I'm asking…"

"You are but you're like…distance runner, Namaste in shape…" he argued.

"See, this is why I don't date athletes," she scowled at him, her green eyes dancing with entertainment and teasing.

"Well I happen to think that I'm a good catch but go on…" He gave her a cheeky, teasing grin. He was amused by her ire over him questioning her.

"You make us normal folks feel inferior," she responded, "and feel shame for our love of stuffing our faces with nachos and pizza. I work hard even if I don't have six pack abs that you can bounce a quarter off of."

"Do you think you could really bounce a quarter off of my abs?"

"Don't think I won't get out of this bed and go get one just so I can find out."

"You wouldn't."

She cocked an eyebrow at him and scoffed and started to move to crawl her way out of the bed. He started laughing and grabbed her hand before she could get very far and pulled her back to him. She ended up straddling him and they exchanged laughing, amused looks.

"You're a fucking nut," he said.

"Don't tell me I won't, or can't, do something," she replied.

"I definitely won't be making that mistake. Also, I would never, ever shame anyone for stuffing their face with pizza or nachos because I love pizza and nachos just as much as the next person. I really just love food."

She grinned down at him "I know I've seen you eat."

"And you are not inferior, in any way, you have a phenomenal body and I love everything about it. I wouldn't change a thing."

"I do have some little chicken wing arms…" she replied, frowning.

"Well then you can come work out with me and we'll fix that," he laughed. "We probably also shouldn't talk about stuffing things when you're straddling my lap wearing my t-shirt I had on last night and a few pieces of string you girls call underwear. What the fuck is the point of a thong anyways?"

"You know how happy you were to discover it last night? That's the point of it."

"Fair enough, come here," he reached for her, running his hand up her neck before pulling her down so he could kiss her.

She melted in to him, her hair falling around them, and she cupped his face as he slipped his hands under her shirt. He moved to her neck, biting it softly and trailed kisses down to the bottom of her throat. She ran her hand down his bare chest, across his abs, and she let out a soft sigh at the feeling of his mouth on her neck.

"I can't get enough of you, Ren…" he muttered against her skin. "I'm so happy you're here."

She jumped, lifting her head abruptly and then sitting up, giving him a wide eyed look. "Your pocket is vibrating," she laughed.

"I know, I'm ignoring it," he motioned for her again.

"Answer your phone, Colby, it might be important."

He glared at her scolding tone and fished his phone from the pocket of his shorts. He glanced at the screen, "it's my mom…"

"See!"

"Hi, mom," he said as he answered the phone and put her on speaker phone.

"Good morning. Did I wake you up?"

"No, we're awake."

"Good I was worried it might be too early. I know you probably had a late night. Katherine got in okay? Did you actually clean your apartment? Do you have food?"

"She did, she got here fine. I made her dinner, my apartment is clean, and she even helped with my laundry…"

"Wow, you made dinner? I guess I did actually put a few good attributes in you. Is she enjoying herself?"

Seth smirked, looking up at his girlfriend who was still straddling him. She gave him a haughty look at his smirk. "She's been harassing me for the last twenty or so minutes so she's just perfect."

"Well, you probably deserved it," Holly countered. Seth frowned and Ren grinned. "What did you have planned for today?"

"Nothing, really, we're going to go work out and I'll probably take her to lunch and show her around. We're playing it by ear." Seth had been resting his hand on Ren's thigh and he had slowly been letting it drift upwards to slip under her shirt. She swatted his hand away and gave him a stern look.

"That is your mom!" she exclaimed in a hushed whisper.

"Well would you two want to come to the house for dinner tonight?" Holly asked.

"Let me confer with the…never mind, she's shaking her head yes at me. Yeah we would like to do that."

"Colby Daniel, I've told you I hate it when you put me on speaker phone. What if I said something embarrassing and crazy? You never have been able to listen. Katherine, he doesn't listen ever so be firm with him."

"Yes ma'am," Katherine laughed.

"Ok, I'm hanging up now, mom…"

"Six o'clock, tell your brother. Love you."

"I love you too."

He tossed his phone across the bed when she hung up and leveled a look at Ren. She smiled brightly at him. "What's that look for?"

"I have a feeling you and my mom are going to run all over me tonight."

"It's going to be so much fun," she grinned. "I can't wait to see scrawny, nerdy, emo kid Colby pictures from when you were in high school, and hear all the stories about you from your brother. Does your mom have videos of young you backyard wrestling? I want to see those too…"

He tightened his grip on her waist and easily rolled them over, supporting himself over her, his arms on each side of her head and he gave her a serious, stern, almost cocky look. She smiled, slightly laughing, and reached up to brush his hair back with both hands.

"Are you trying to intimidate me?"

"Is it working?"

"Not at all. I kind of enjoy this. You have very pretty eye lashes by the way…."

He shifted and slid his knee between her legs and parted them. She instinctively hooked a leg around his and shifted underneath him. He dropped one his hands to her leg and lightly ran his fingers up it to her thigh and across before he slipped his hand in between them and brushed his fingers lightly across the thin material of her thong.

She let out a soft, short breath and her eye lids fluttered lightly.

"That's working…" he said, smiling smugly.

"A little bit," she replied.

He leaned down and kissed her and then he abruptly pulled away and sat up on his knees and grinned at her. "Good, let's go work out then."

Ren's mouth dropped and she scoffed in protest, "seriously?"

"Yep. Come on little bird; let's put your money where your mouth is."

"Colby," she protested again as he moved to climb off the bed. "Fucking seriously?"

"Remember that the next time you decide to go to war with me, darlin," he said over his shoulder as he started through the door. "I'm making coffee, get dressed."

"You okay over there?" Seth smirked, glancing over at Katherine in the passenger's seat of his car. They were midway to his mom's house. Their hands were linked together and resting in her lap and he had just felt her squeeze his quickly and tightly.

"Peachy," she replied with a grimace.

He chuckled. She was sore from their workout that morning and he was more than aware of it, but he was going to goad her about it anyways. They had stopped briefly to get a few bottles of wine and flowers on Katherine's insistence and watching her squat to grab a bottle had given him more amusement than it should have as a caring boyfriend.

"What is it?" He asked.

She sighed, "Every single bump this car makes hurts, ok?"

"Legs?"

"My legs, my ass, my pride: it's just a little cocktail of pain, thank you."

He grinned at her.

"And you can just stop that, too," she added, trying to bite back the small, amused smile that was forming on her lips. "You were right; you don't need to say it."

"You kicked ass, though. I was impressed and I'm quite proud."

"Are you?"

"Yeah, you went for it and you went all in. You…you're tough, babe. I love it."

"Thank you."

"You're going to start going to the gym by your house now aren't you?"

"Fuck no!" He laughed at her adamant response. "I may work out with you; may. It was kind of satisfying. I'll stick to my running for now, though."

"You good otherwise? Are you nervous?"

"No, parents don't make me nervous. They love me; fact."

He smirked and licked his lips, "really?"

"Absolutely, babe. I'm the girl friend that if we were to break up, your mom would still ask about me ten years down the road. 'Oh yeah your wife is nice son but whatever happened to that Katherine? I really loved her…' Besides I've kind of already met Holly; that's one down."

"Face Time doesn't count as meeting."

"Are you nervous?"

"I'm slightly nervous."

"Why?" she exclaimed. "I'll make a good impression, I promise."

"Oh it's not you; I would introduce you to the president and not even think twice about it. It's my family, specifically Brandon. I haven't introduced a girl to them in a good year-ish…I just don't know what they'll do or say."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, baby. It's not going to affect how I feel, either. I'm not going anywhere."

"I know I just…want it to be good."

"It will," she smiled and lifted their hands to kiss his. "I'm really the first girl they've met since you-"

"Yes you are," he flipped his blinker and pulled in to the driveway and let go of her hand to put the car in park.

She leaned up to look at the house and then turned a smile on him. She leaned over the arm rest and rested a hand on his face and kissed him. "Thank you for bringing me to meet them. I mean it."

"You're welcome," he replied quietly. "I'm just glad you're so excited about it. It means a lot to me."

She smiled and kissed him again, a few short kisses and ran her fingers down his beard. "Let's go do this."

Seth took her hand when she met him at the front of the car; she was gripping the bottle of wine and flowers in her other hand. He kissed her cheek gently and then quietly led her up the driveway to the house. He didn't bother knocking, which was understandable since it was his mom's house, and he pushed the front door open, leading Katherine behind him.

They had been greeted with smiles and hugs and warm welcomes. Katherine's immediate thought was that Seth was a little crazy to be nervous about the impression his family would make on her. They reminded her of her family back in Tennessee; close, warm and welcoming, and not afraid to give each other a little bit of hell.

When they were leaving almost four hours later, Ren just felt warm and happy. It had been a good night, a great night, really, and even Brandon had kept his brotherly teasing to a minimum. They're drive back to his place was quiet but it was comfortable. He had his hand linked with hers again and resting in her lap and she had spent most of the short drive back to his apartment unconsciously running her fingers up and down his forearm near his wrist.

She had headed straight to the bed room to change once they got home and he had taken Kevin outside. She was snuggled on his couch when he came back in, snuggled under a blanket and checking her phone. Kevin jumped up on the couch with her and she smiled as he made himself comfortable at her feet.

"Missing anything exciting from home?" Seth asked her.

"No, not really, things have actually been pretty quiet. I think everyone is leaving me along since I'm up here with you. I don't hate it."

He leaned down and braced himself with the couch to kiss her lightly, "did you have fun tonight?"

"I did," she smiled, caressing his face gently. "Your family is great; they remind me a lot of my family. I love Holly. It was a really good night."

"They loved you."

"I told you I'm good with parents," she shrugged. He chuckled lightly and kissed her again before standing up to his full height.

"Judging by how comfortable you've already made yourself I'm guessing we're heading towards a movie on the couch kind of night?"

She nodded in response. "I have a whole bottle of wine and a whole tin of tea, I'm all set."

"Let me change."

Ren managed to get herself out from under the blanket without disturbing Kevin and she crossed over to the kitchen while he disappeared down the hallway to his room. She was torn between the wine and the tea. She did have one more night with him, so she didn't mind saving the wine, and she was cold so the tea was calling to her, but the wine buzz was also calling. She finally decided on the wine and searched his drawers for a cork screw.

She finally called to him and he appeared within a few seconds.

"Do you have a cork screw?"

"I honestly don't know," he replied, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought. "If I do you know where it is just as much as I do."

She frowned at him and shook her head while mumbling, "How does any man ever plan to entertain a lady friend without a cork screw?"

"I don't entertain lady friends at my home; you're the exception."

"What you just always went to their place? Actually don't answer that…" she waved her hands at him, shooing him away, "go do fancy technology things and set up your illegal movies on the TV. I'll find the cork screw; I'll sniff it out."

He laughed at her and headed to the couch. He was quiet for a few minutes as she continued to search his kitchen. She finally stumbled upon one, buried in the back of a drawer.

"Fuck yes, I am a queen!" she exclaimed to herself.

"Did you find one?"

"You bet your ass I did. Do you want some? I know you don't really do vino…"

"Yeah, why not?" she could hear him clear his throat lightly before he spoke again. "Hey, can I um…I needed to tell you something, well run something by you not really tell you…"

Ren paused for a moment in the kitchen, letting his words settle over her. Did he just give her a 'we need to talk' prompt? She shifted over to where she could see him over the bar top and raised her eyebrows at him. "Yes?"

"The night before I leave for shows, Leigh usually stops by here to get Kevin, so she's supposed to be coming by tomorrow night. I just…I guess I didn't want you to be caught off guard or anything and if you feel awkward about it, I can make other plans…"

Ren was quiet for a moment, focusing her main attention on getting the cork out of the wine bottle. She tugged on it, hearing the soft 'pop' of the cork coming out and then looked up over at him. He was studying her quietly.

"If she wants to come over here and get him, it's fine. I told you I didn't want you to rearrange anything for me…if that's what you do, that's what you do. Does she know I'm here?"

"I text her and told her this morning."

She nodded and responded with a muted, "ok."

She turned her back to him to retrieve two wine glasses from the cabinet his coffee mugs were in. Luckily, she had spotted those the night before. Slowly but surely she was learning her way around his space.

"Ren?"

When he spoke it came from behind her and she turned quickly to find him standing in the kitchen, right where the tile turned to carpet.

"It's fine," she said again. "You'd already told me that you two were friendly and that you shared Kevin. You aren't standing here telling me you want me to have a girl's night with her and do our nails together. She's gonna get the dog, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she smiled softly at him. "I am unequivocally sure."

She handed him his glass of wine and smiled again when he slipped a hand around her waist and pulled her close to him. He dipped his head to kiss her. "Thank you for being cool about that."

She shrugged, "I don't have anything to not be cool about."

He ran his thumb across her lips and then they both headed back towards the couch. It took some rearranging of Kevin and Ren getting snuggled back under the blanket before they were both comfortably settled. She had propped her legs across his lap and she couldn't help but smirk to herself at his hands slipping under the throw blanket to lightly graze her legs. Truthfully, she was still sore, and she absolutely wouldn't mind him rubbing her legs in that moment.

She inhaled deeply and studied him for a moment before she settled back and tried to focus on the TV. So she was going to meet Leighla tomorrow, the ex he was still friends with, the ex he shared custody of a dog with. She had a small, sinking feeling, that despite the fact she was going to fight it and try to ignore it, was still lingering. She knew he cared about her, she felt like she could trust him, she knew that he had displayed actions with her- going to his show, being in his home, meeting his family- that weren't normal, fleeting relationship actions. Was the other shoe she had been waiting to drop since all of this began about to drop, though?

There was a part of her that wanted to have a bitter taste in her mouth about it but at the same time she knew she didn't really have any room to complain. She was absolutely right in telling him it was fine, because it was fine. Leighla was picking up the dog and would be in and out and that was it. Ren also knew that Seth had dealt with Jonathan being a first class asshole with absolute grace and maturity and if he could do that for her, she owed him for it.