But she invited him over for coffee. Not for anything more — at least she didn't say anything more. He wouldn't get his hopes up. After all, she left in the middle of the night. So anything above and beyond his expectations would be plenty for him today.
He finally pulled himself onto the dock, turning his back to the lake as he picked up his towel. Let the lake see his ass. He was facing the right way for Lucy to see what he wanted her to see. But he wasn't a voyeur. If she wanted to see something, it would be a quick look before he wrapped the towel around his waist and started walking up to the cabin.
He dripped his way from the living room to his suitcase in the bedroom. He learned early on to keep everything he was traveling with in a neat pile. It was easier to know where everything was and easier to pack up when he had to leave.
It just kind of sucked that he had to leave today.
He found a pair of shorts and a clean shirt on top of the suitcase pile along with some boxer shorts, then headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and get his hair looking somewhat normal again.
The dishes were still in the kitchen sink — he would get to those later — and Lucy's panties were still on the kitchen floor. He grabbed them and bunched up the fabric in his fist. This was just a courtesy and not because he wanted her underwear in his hands again. Ryan stopped and had to take a breath. There were things he liked about wearing athletic shorts. Their lack of support was not one of them. He needed to just take for a moment before heading over, maybe try to forget that he had blank lace panties that belonged to Lucy in his hand.
He slipped on his flip flops and finally headed over, smelling the coffee through the screen door before he finally knocked.
"It's open!"
The place was the same as it was when he was here yesterday, but it also felt different for some reason. There was something more inviting and familiar now. And yes, Lucy was definitely more familiar now to him, and he liked that.
"You left something behind at my place."
He held up the offending black lace underwear and watched as Lucy ducked her head. He thought he may have seen a look of embarrassment on her face.
"Thank you," she muttered before quickly grabbing them and shoving them behind a cushion on the couch.
"Do you just leave your underwear around for other people to find?"
"No!" She looked a little shocked by how loud she had responded. "No. I'll take care of them later. I want to drink coffee now."
She walked back into the kitchen and opened the cupboard full of ugly mugs, reaching around a few to get the Batman mug he had used the day before.
"You want room for cream?"
"No, I'm going to take it black today."
She gave him a small smile and started pouring from the coffee carafe. "Living adventurously?"
"Just trying something new."
Lucy reached over, her fingers grazing his as he grabbed the mug from her before following her out on the back porch. The sun was higher in the sky now and it was getting a little more humid, but still not as bad as he knew it would be by this afternoon — when he wouldn't be there.
He pulled a chair out for Lucy, then sat down in one next to it. They began drinking without saying a word, both looking out on the quiet Harbor Lake that didn't have anyone out on it yet. And it could've stayed that way if it wasn't for the nagging voice in Ryan's head. The one that was making him second guess things about what happened with Lucy that he never would've thought twice about if this was the day after with any other girl.
"Hey, can I ask you a question?"
She turned and gave him an apprehensive nod.
"When did you leave last night?"
Lucy shrugged and took another sip of coffee. "I don't know. Maybe midnight-ish?"
"Why?" he asked. "I mean, you fell asleep on me and then this morning, you were gone."
"That couch is not very comfortable, I don't know if you know that."
"I know that."
He knew it very well. He had fallen asleep on it quite a few times already. If this were during the season, the team's masseuse would be working on him daily to get the kinks out of his neck and the knots in his back. Another perk he missed now that it was the offseason.
"Anyway, I woke up and I couldn't go back to sleep and I didn't want to wake you with all my tossing and turning."
