"You're blushing," Greg noted with barely concealed glee. Me being uncomfortable always makes him smile, whether it's him making me squirm or not. He'll take it any way it's presented. "Am I making you nervous?"
"A little," I answered truthfully, though he didn't really care what my answer turned out to be. The man can switch his indifference on and off like a cheap lamp.
"A little..." he repeated, his amusement becoming more obvious by the second. He tugged at the knot in my tie without an ounce of finesse. "That's why you're ready to explode all over my living room, because you're a little nervous. That's why you're all but panting at my feet, because you're a little nervous." The tie slid off and he threw it aside. Dark blue silk puddled on the floor. "That's why you can't wait for me to drag you out of here and throw you on the bed–"
"How about I drag you to the bed first," I snapped. He always chose the oddest times to push my buttons and test my limits. On purpose. "Would that shut you up for once?"
That stopped him, if only for a few seconds. "Hmmm...it appears that I've hit a nerve. Poor little Jimmy," Greg smirked as he began to unbutton my shirt with deliberate and maddening slowness. "You're not trying to escape out the window, therefore, you must really want Cuddy to watch."
"You want Cuddy to watch," I told him. "I'm just going along for the ride."
His fingers brushed my chest and I flinched. Of course, Greg saw it and the smugness washed over him like a heavy downpour in Seattle.
"Still here, still nervous," he said.
"I'm not nervous."
"You just said you were."
"Not anymore," I said as he finally pulled the last button free.
"Well Jimmy, you're either lying through your pearly white teeth or you're so fucking turned-on that you can't leave the apartment without being arrested for indecent exposure. Which is it?"
"Neither." I peeled off my shirt and tossed it at that damned smug smile. "I'm still here because I'm going to make you shut up one way or another." I snatched his collar and yanked him into the longest, hardest, deepest kiss I had ever given anyone, making damn well sure he felt every last second of it.
Greg may have been appreciative, but he still had my number. "You kiss like a girl," he sneered.
"You're still a bastard," I shot back.
"Tell me something I don't know."
"You just love driving me crazy, don't you?"
"Only because you love it more than I do. I don't just lay there and go through the motions, unlike your little Stepford wives, you're little dainty by-the-book creampuffs," he said, somehow managing to make that sentence sound positively obscene, the way only Greg House can. "Are you just going to sit there or are you going to make me shut up? You think you can handle that or do I have to draw you a map?"
No more patience, I tore at his shirt. Several buttons popped off and clattered under the table.
"Jimmy," Greg smiled. "I'm impressed."
Staring past the ceiling, not looking at anything. Didn't want to think and failed at that. The night was sticky and humid. It muddled my thought a little, but not enough. A faint rumble of thunder, brief blue flash of lightning.
For a moment I wondered if any of my ex-wives knew about my current relationship and living arrangements. Then I remembered that as long as the alimony checks cleared I could be living a broom closet for all they cared. Maybe that's a little harsh, but not much. They always got the house in the divorce, only because they thought I would fight them to the death over it. I may have no regrets about marrying them, but I'm sure they may have one or two. One good thing about divorcing and moving on is that I don't have to give a damn anymore. Every cloud has a silver lining. Sometimes you just have to hunt for it, look under the couch, that kind of thing. It's always worth the effort to find it.
The wind was picking up, drowning out the sound of Greg's quiet snoring. The storm would wake him up soon and I might as well join him. I enjoy his company and it's not like I have anywhere else to go at the moment. Another silver lining. I didn't have to look real hard for that one.
