Page 24 of Shattered Dreams

“Wow, I haven’t seen this in years,” Paul says.

“Me either.”

The movie starts, and as time goes on, we both end up curling up a little and laying down more than we’re sitting. It’s been a long day in the sun and the pool. We ate and drank a lot. It makes sense our bodies are finally starting to succumb to it all.

I don’t say anything about the fact that I’m falling asleep. I just let it happen.

The morning sunlight streams across my face. I stretch out, pausing when my foot hits something warm. I jerk my head up and find Paul at the other end of the couch, my foot against his thigh.

I chuckle. “Shit, sorry.”

He groans, burying his face against the throw pillow he is laying his head on. I shift to stretch without hitting him, and that’s when I notice my dick.

Hard.

It’s not unusual first thing in the morning, but it has been a while. And of course, it has to happen now, when Paul is just a foot away.

I ignore it and close my eyes, soaking up the quiet of the morning. I have to get up soon because I have things to do, but right now… I can enjoy this.

I can ignore my aching dick and enjoy the quiet of my house. I only get one morning like this, and it’s not that I’m complaining, but I am appreciating it. Soon enough, Rylee will be off to college or living her own life, and my house will be always empty. So yeah, I’m enjoying it while I can.

“You want breakfast?” I ask.

Paul makes a sound of agreement. I laugh as I get up, grateful my dick is back to normal and won’t scare my friend away.

I shuffle to the kitchen and make scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, and coffee. Simple enough.

“You up?” I call out.

“No!” he responds.

I laugh, shaking my head as I grab the two plates and head into the living room. Paul is just getting up.

“Can you grab the coffee?”

He nods as he walks by me. I set the plates down on the coffee table and turn on ESPN.

Paul sets the coffees down and we eat as we catch up on baseball highlights and whatever is going on with the NHL draft. A bunch of rumors right now, but we’ll see what happens soon enough.

When our plates are cleared, and our mugs are empty, we sit back on the couch. Neither one of us seems to care that we’re just sitting here doing nothing.

“This is nice,” I say.

“Yeah,” he agrees.

“We should do it more often.”

I don’t know why those words have my chest fluttering. It’s just me wanting to hang out with my best friend.

“Definitely.” He yawns, stretching his arms above his head. “I should get going, though.”

“You got plans?” I tease.

“Maybe,” he says defensively, but playfully.

I roll my eyes. “Plans to go home and do nothing.”

“I have a million plans today,” he says sarcastically.