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“Those are your favorite, right?” Joey’s voice echoes in the room from the doorway.
“How did you know?” I whisper, trying to hold back the tears threatening to fall from my eyes.
He shrugs nonchalantly with a smile. “Whenever you have flowers on your desk at school, they’re always orchids. I assumed they were your favorite.”
Grant and I were together for two years and he never once brought me flowers. I doubt he even knew what my favorite flower was.
“You assumed correctly.” I smile wholeheartedly, wondering if I’ve been wrong about Joey this whole time. “Do you do this for all of your friends?” I bait him with the question, hoping his answer will provide me with some kind of insight to his feelings.
He leans against the door frame and crosses his arms. His biceps bulge underneath his t-shirt and I find myself wanting to feel every single groove of his muscles. His chocolate brown eyes look deep in thought before he answers me. “Well, considering that you’re the only woman I’m friends with, I guess I’d have to say no. This is kind of uncharted territory for me.”
Well, that just makes things even more confusing — am I the only woman he’s friends with because that’s all he wants from me? Or has he stayed friends with me all this time because he hopes it becomes something more? I should just ask him, but after the sting of everything that happened with Grant tonight, I don’t know that I could handle the rejection if he says he doesn’t.
“I’d say you’re doing a pretty good job of cheering me up and making me feel comfortable.” I feel about as comfortable as I can be — living with the aftermath of one failed relationship and an unclear future in another.
Chapter 11
Comfortable — that’s the word she used to describe the situation here. I find myself internally arguing with myself about what she meant by that. Did she mean she’s comfortable here because we’re friends and she trusts me? Or was she saying she’s comfortable because the vibe surrounding us feels like pieces finally falling into place? I know I’m not going to get any answers about that tonight — she has enough on her plate right now.
“So, what kind of movie are you in the mood for?” I blurt out after too long of a silence.
“Oh, I’m not picky. My only request is nothing romantic — my sister makes me watch that crap all the time.” Her green eyes shine like emeralds as she laughs lightly. “Whatever you want to watch is fine with me.”
“You’re a breath of fresh air, you know that?” I chuckle, my gaze lingering on her as she lets her hair down. Over the years, I’ve watched Kelsey change from a skinny, awkward teenager to a gorgeous woman with curves in all the right places. I’m more interested in her now than I’ve ever been. “I’ll, uh, let you get changed,” I mutter before closing her door behind me.
As I head back toward the living room, I wrestle with what genre of movie to put on. I don’t want to put on anything that might make her cry, but most comedies I can think of are rom-coms. I decide to mindlessly scroll through Netflix until something catches my eye.
“Oooh, 22 Jump Street!” she says excitedly, scaring the shit out of me in the process.
“Jesus, I didn’t even hear you come out here!” My heart is racing a mile a minute, and not just because she startled me. She’s returned to the living room wearing a thin-strapped tank top and a pair of shorts that leave little to the imagination. “You do realize it’s like forty degrees outside, right?”
“Yeah… I get really warm while I sleep, so I wear as little as possible to bed,” she says sheepishly like she’s embarrassed to tell me this. I can’t help but wonder, if she wasn’t staying here, would she normally sleep naked?
“Fair enough.” I clear my throat and fight the urge to adjust myself from the sight of her. “So I take it that’s what you want to watch?” I point to the cover art of 22 Jump Street on the TV.
“Yeah, I could use a good laugh right now.” She sits on the other piece of my sectional as if she’s worried about invading my space. In any other instance, I would invite her to come sit with me. Tonight, though, I give her the room she needs to deal with everything.
Over the next hour, our laughter consumes us as we watch the movie. Then, all of a sudden, at a part where I expected her to laugh hysterically, I hear nothing. When I glance over to where she’s sitting, I see her fast asleep. She looks so peaceful that I don’t want to disturb her, but I also can’t bring myself to leave her there on the couch. I quickly tiptoe down the hall to the guest room and pull back the sheets and blanket before I pick her up and carry her to bed. She mildly stirs in my arms, but quickly settles in as I continue to move. Holding her in my arms feels so natural that I feel like I could do it forever. Once we reach the room, I lay her down in the bed and cover her up.
I can’t resist the urge any longer — before I leave the room, I lean down and lay a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Sweet dreams, Angel,” I whisper in her ear before I turn out the light and leave her to her slumber.
Chapter 12
The smell of bacon, pancakes, and coffee wakes me from a deep sleep. Grant never cooks breakfast…what the hell is he sucking up for? That’s when I sit up and look around, remembering suddenly that I’m at Joey’s. Wait, how did I get into bed? I don’t remember coming in here last night. Did Joey put me to bed?
I grab a sweatshirt out of my suitcase and throw it on over my tank top and shorts. I thought Joey’s eyes were going to pop out of his head last night when he saw me in my pajamas. I’d be lying if I said that his response didn’t excite me a little bit. I grab my phone off the nightstand, despite that I don’t remember leaving it there.
The incredible aroma of breakfast pulls me into the kitchen like a moth to a flame. I stop dead in my tracks when I see one shirtless, tattooed, sexy-as-sin Joey Brooks standing at the stove. The way his sweatpants hang low on his hips does unspeakable things to my body. Goddamn… I just want to go up and wrap my arms around him.
He must feel my eyes gawking at him because he turns around and flashes a bright smile. “Morning, Kels! How’d you sleep?”
“Uh, good. Although, I don’t remember going to bed last night…” I trail off, not knowing whether I should ask him what happened.
“Oh, yeah. You fell asleep on the couch during the movie, so I put you to bed.” He smiles at me before turning his attention back to the stove.
The way he said what he did so casually makes my heart swell. I’m normally a light sleeper, so the fact that I didn’t wake up when he carried me to bed speaks volumes.
“I’m sorry.” I grimace, slightly embarrassed. “I guess I was more tired than I thought.” As if to prove my point, I let out an exhausted yawn.
