"You could just stay here tonight. If you want."
"I probably shouldn't," he replied. "I'm not in the best shape to, you know, stay with you."
She smiled coyly. "I promise I'll keep my hands to myself," she said. "Plus, you know how comfortable my bed is and you need some rest."
"I do."
"Then go to bed, captain. You've had a long day."
He raised a questioning eyebrow in her direction. "You're not coming?"
"I'll be right there. I just need to lock up and turn off the lights."
He nodded and kissed the back of her hand before gingerly heading to her bedroom. She could tell he was trying to hide how much pain he really was in, but she didn't feel like calling him out on it. Instead, she checked the locks and started flipping light switches off. There was also a quick trip to the kitchen to make sure she had an ice pack in her freezer for him.
The light was still on in her bedroom with Jordan's clothes and his new fedora neatly piled on her chair in the corner. The man himself was fast asleep in her bed, passed out on his back in only his boxer briefs and an ace bandage wrapped tightly around his chest. Charlotte quietly walked over and pulled up the blankets to cover him, trying to be as gentle as possible so she wouldn't wake him or hurt him. Instead, he only let out an exhaustive snore in appreciation. Turning out the light, she gently lay down in the bed and turned to look at Jordan slumbering next to her.
Jordan once again looked like he was comfortable in her bed, like he belonged there. Because despite their fight and despite their secrets, Charlotte knew there was at least one truth: Jordan King belonged with her.
The smell of coffee in the morning.
She missed quite a few things about Jordan during their time apart, some more salacious than others, but waking up to the smell of coffee from her kitchen was one of the more innocent things she had looked forward to. It was the little things that really made her feel secure and cared for in a relationship. With Jordan, that meant a coffee mug on the counter.
But while the mug was waiting for her in the kitchen, Jordan wasn't. Then Charlotte heard a newspaper rustling in the living room. He was still there after all. She poured herself some coffee and walked quietly over to see him sitting on her sofa staring intently at the crossword puzzle lying on his lap, writing another answer in with his pen.
"I hope you didn't touch my sports section."
He looked up and smiled warmly as she walked towards him. "Why's that?"
"I want my chili cheese fries."
The Lafayette Coney Island was known for giving out free chili cheese fries to anyone who cut out a copy of the box score from the newspaper when a Pirate scored a hat trick. After Jordan's stellar performance the night before, she was determined to get her fries.
"Who told you about that?" Jordan asked.
"Aiden."
He laughed. "Of course it was Aiden. Should I be worried about how much time the two of you are spending together?"
"Aiden has made it clear many times that he's not friends with girls because they have cooties."
"But you're the exception?" he replied skeptically.
She smiled. "I have an extra seat for him so he ignores mine."
Jordan gave her a wordless "Ah," along with a nod and went back to his crossword puzzle as Charlotte made her way to a spot next to him on the sofa. She gently snuggled herself into his side, letting his left arm pull her close as he put the paper on the arm of her sofa to fill out another answer.
But she could tell he was thinking about something because his pen had stilled over the paper. She noticed when he got really focused, it would be dancing above the page, ghosting his answers into the boxes before he finalized them. But he was distracted this morning.
"Something's bothering you," she said.
He took a deep breath and leaned forward, pulling his arm away as he set the puzzle and pen on her coffee table. Leaning his elbows on his knees, Jordan looked back at her with a more solemn face than what she was expecting.
"I just..." He turned to stare at his hands clasped in front of him. "Can you tell me about Declan?"
Charlotte inhaled deeply and set her coffee down next to his crossword. "What would you like to know?"
He looked up and gave her a crooked smile. "Was he always an asshole or is this some recent development?"
