Page 73 of Long Story Short

“I’ll survive,” she responds, shifting her weight on the mattress as she gives me a smile.

I nod and walk over to my dresser. I don’t have a ton of clothes here, but I manage to find a T-shirt and a pair of my boxer briefs, hoping those will even remotely fit her.

“How about these?” I ask, holding them up for her to see.

“Those will work,” she responds, her voice quiet.

I close the distance to her and hand them over. I don’t know if I should turn around and let her get changed or what the protocol is here. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable by standing here, but I don’t want to just throw the clothes at her and run either.

She stares at the shirt and briefs in her lap for a moment before looking back at me. There’s a timid smile on her lips as I realize we both might be thinking the same thing.

“How about I let you get dressed, and you can do anything you need while I get the kitchen cleaned up?”

She sets the clothes down on the mattress next to her. “I can help you clean up.”

I shake my head and stop her from getting up immediately. “No. I can do it. It won’t take me long at all. You can get dressed and brush your teeth and do whatever you need to get ready for bed, and I’ll be back in a few.”

“But I don’t have a toothbrush.”

I can’t help but smile. “My mouth was just on your pussy. I promise I don’t mind if you use my toothbrush.”

Josie’s eyes go wide for a moment before she rips them from my gaze.

A low rumble leaves my chest at her bashfulness. I wonder if I should offer for her to go back to her house to get ready for bed before coming back here. She’s my neighbor. It wouldn’t take her long at all, but I don’t like the idea. I’m scared that if she goes back home, she won’t come back, and something inside me desperately wants to spend the night lying next to her and wake up next to her in the morning.

Wanting to crawl into bed with her as soon as possible, I press a kiss to her forehead before backing away and heading to the kitchen.

I leave my room before I’m tempted to stay there. The moment I’m out of her view, I drag my hand over my face as I make my way to the kitchen.

This isn’t how I usually do things. I don’t really invite people into my space, let alone suggest that they spend the night. It’s always been at their place or hotels…anywhere but my own personal space.

But it’s different with Josie. It doesn’t feel like something I need to control. Instead, it feels like something I don’t want to mess up.

I hurry to clean the kitchen up, not wanting to miss out on spending time with her but also wanting to give her enough time to get ready for bed. The entire time, I try not to think too deeply about how effortless it was to invite her to stay the night. I didn’t think twice about it. The desperate need to have her sleep next to me, and to do just that—sleep—is completely new territory to me, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about that.

My steps are large and quick as I make my way back down the hallway to my bedroom. I’m wondering if I should knock on the door or just walk in, opting to softly knock once before pushing the door open.

I find Josie walking out of the bathroom at the same moment I step in.

And whatever I was worrying about before I stepped into my room is lost.

She’s wearing my clothes.

My shirt hangs loose on her. The hem goes all the way to her thighs, and the neckline slips slightly. My shirt’s so big on her that I can’t even see the boxer briefs underneath. The sight of her in my shirt does something to me that I don’t even want to begin to unpack right now. I force my gaze to meet hers before it lingers too long anywhere else.

“Do they fit?” I ask, just trying to make conversation.

“Barely,” she notes, tugging lightly at the fabric to show that she’s had to roll the waistband of the briefs a few times to get them to stay on her hips.

“I warned you,” I point out, my lips twitching with the hint of a smile.

She shrugs before walking toward the bed, her fingers running over the duvet cover as if she doesn’t know if she should get in bed or not. She thinks about it for a few moments before climbing in.

“Do you have a side?” she asks, her gaze meeting mine.

I shake my head, too struck by the sight of her in my bed to say anything else.

Taking my answer as enough, she climbs in and pulls the covers over her body like it’s the most natural thing in the world.