Chapter 36

**Blue**


Artemis leaves me again to make a few work calls and I decide to get ready for bed early. I shower and climb into our bed before eight. At some point I feel the bed dip but I ignore it and go back to sleep. My mind works over time while I sleep sending me nightmares of a different kind. Instead of reminders of my past they are glimpses of my future with Artemis. None of them end well. I haven’t been someone who believes dreams are glimpses into the future but these dreams are so posable that could easily be premonitions.

When I finally wake up I wait to see if I can feel Artemis cuddling up against me again, but there’s no warmth. I roll onto my other side and see the other side of the bed empty. Did he even go to bed last night? I roll onto my back and sigh loudly. I don’t know how long I lay like that but the sound of my phone going off gets my attention. It’s sitting on the table next to me, so I roll over again to grab it. The screen lights up again and I see it’s a text from Artemis.

Artemis: Good morning. I had to head to the office early. Bryant and Dane are on call. Do not go anywhere without them Blue. I mean it.

I roll my eyes at his tone and lock my phone again. My plan is still to go to Monica’s to meet Liam, but with Artemis gone and the guys not here either maybe I can ask Liam to come here. I know Artemis doesn’t want anyone else to know about this place but I trust Liam and I won’t be out in public. Satisfied with my plan I unlock my phone again and pull up my recent call list.

Let me tell you…that was a hard one to find. Don’t judge me. I’m new to the smartphone experience!

Anyway, I click on the number and wait for someone to answer. He doesn’t take long to answer.

“Liam!”

“Hey babe! What’s going on? Aren’t we meeting in a couple of hours?”

“Well, Artemis went to work already and surprisingly didn’t send the guard dogs. So, I was wondering if you wanted to meet where I’m staying.”

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t tell me where that is?”

“I know but I don’t want to go out alone to meet you, and I trust you.”

There’s a moment of silence and I wonder if he’ll turn me down.

“Okay, tell me where you are.”

I don’t actually know the address, so I scour the house for a piece of paper or something that has it written down. There’s a dresser in the hallway leading to the front door and when I open it, I see a few envelopes with the address. I read it out to Liam and we end the call with him promising to be here in an hour. With that done I decide to sit down and write out my own ideas for the contract. If Artemis can lay down rules then so can I, and Liam made sure to tell me to be specific.

For the next hour I sit cross-legged on my bed and scribble down a long list of things on a pad of paper I found. Some of them are ridiculous and I just add them to mess with Artemis, but the rest are things I want to be sure is clear. Last night he admitted that he wants things to be more than a contract between us, but he also made it seem like things would be casual between us. I have never dated but I don’t think I could be a casual thing for him. We’re going to be married and if he decides he’s done with casual and doesn’t want me more than a roommate I don’t think my heart could take it.

It took time for me to trust men again and even now it’s hard. The only reason I trusted Bucky was because he didn’t look at me with that hunger in his eyes that I would see in other men I was around. Diego and Liam are a couple and even though they teased about me being with them they never made me feel uncomfortable. These men never asked for something I wouldn’t give but won’t that be what will happen with Artemis if I agree to what he wants? My choice wouldn’t be considered if I don’t set my boundaries and expectations in writing.

He seems to thrive on order so I will have to come down to his level to make him understand what I want from this arrangement. He might assume I’ll be all for the contract married couple with benefits, but I’m not on board with that. If he wants to be something more than he needs to not only say it but show me. Actions speak louder than words and all that.

When Liam finally arrives, I feel a sense of relief. I didn’t realize how a short time away from my people would hurt. How would I have delt with that feeling if I had left? I think it would have hurt too much and I would have come running back.

“Hey babe!” Liam says with a big smile on his face when I open the door.

I jump into his arms making him laugh and he gives me a good squeeze.

“What a lovely greeting.” He sets me down and I smile up at his handsome face.

Maybe I should have considered joining a poly relationship with him after all. He’s a stud.

“Come on in.” I step aside to let him in and glance around for anyone hiding just to be safe.

Liam’s standing in the living room when I go looking for him.

“This place is…homey. Not exactly the kind of place I expected someone like Artemis Rhodes to live.”

“It’s his family home.” I tell him as I move past him to sit on one of the comfy-looking couches.

“I see. Well, he’s still an asshole.”

I snort at his words but don’t bother contradicting him. The man has a point. He sits down next to me and sets his shoulder bag between us before he starts pulling papers out of it.

“Okay so I looked over the entire contact and even though it was clearly drawn up by his lawyer. It’s clear he didn’t bother reminding Artemis that some of these conditions are illegal. We need to write our own contract with the few items that you are willing to agree with and that aren’t outside the realm of law. Then we can add the things you have considered and present the new contract to Artemis and his lawyer. We also need to arrange for a sit-down with them. We won’t just hand it over like Artemis did. We need witnesses to the whole process, so we have a record of everything said in down. This will prevent any claims of breech of contract later on down the road.” He explains and I nod along.
“Sounds good. Here’s what I came up with.” I hand him the papers with my list, and he gets to work looking through them.

While he does that, I check my phone to see if Artemis has sent me another message. He hasn’t but there is one from Abigail saying that he came to the office looking like he was ready to kill someone. I asked how that was any different from how he normally looks but she replied saying it was a lot worse. She even manages to get a photo of him telling someone off. It’s clear from that one photo that he’s pretty upset. How do I know? Because you can see his anger. I noticed a lot of the time he tries to keep his emotions locked down, but not so much with me. He doesn’t smile much around others, but he does with me. So, seeing the anger clear on his face is proof that he’ seriously pissed.

What happened to put him in that mood?

I thought after his admission that he would be…happy? So, what happened? Maybe he sensed I wasn’t in full agreement with what he wants.

For a second I consider texting him to see if he’ll tell me what’s wrong, but I doubt he’ll confide in me. He’s been there for a couple of my moments, but I have yet to do the same for him.

What would I even say?

A lot of stuff that comes out of my mouth is a rambling mess. It turns out that I don’t have to make the decision at all because my phone rings and Artemis’s name appears. I hesitate for a second, but I decide not to overthink and answer it.

“Hello?”

“Blue.” His voice sounds tired.

“Hey. Did you sleep last night? You sound tired.” I say without bothering with small talk.

“No, I thought I had a break through with my program but it ended up being nothing so I worked on it all night.”
“Oh.” I don’t know what else to say.

“Blue?”

“Yeah?”

“I need you to come to the office.”

“Why?”

“Bryant and Dane are coming to pick you up.”

He ends the call before I can ask him what’s going on, but I have a bigger problem. How to get Liam out of here unseen…