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DREW
Iate an entire pan of blueberry muffins. Two days of Sadie Davis in my life and I’d devolved to stress eating.
The interaction in my garage had left me baffled. I’d assumed she was gawking at my prosthetic. She was already out the door in a huff of anger before I pieced together that she was checking me out.
It had been longer than I could remember since someone checked me out. Or at least, checked me out the way she did. I was used to gawking from neighbors, worried about whether I was about to go off the rails again. Stares from people who thought I was messed up. Broken. Needed a helping hand.
I wasn’t used to someone looking at me like they wanted to climb me like a tree.
So, we’d gotten our signals crossed.
She’d been gone the majority of the day, and I wondered if we’d get a chance to talk again today. I needed to apologize for how I acted this morning.
I wondered where she could be and who she was with. There were plenty of single guys in town who would jump at the chance to show her around and talk her ear off. Guys who weren’t stupid enough to chase her away.
It wasn’t like I’d been celibate since I’d lost my leg. Everything worked fine. But I couldn’t stomach being with someone who knew me from before. Pity was a real boner-killer.
For a while after my accident, I would head out of town and meet women through a hookup app. The last time was over a year ago. I was always up front about what I had going on from the waist down, and that attracted a certain kind of…enthusiast. After the fact, they invariably wanted to get into details about how I’d lost my leg despite what we’d agreed upon ahead of time. Eventually it stopped being worth the effort.
I stared down at my phone. I couldn’t believe I was considering asking for advice from the idiots who had put Sadie in my path. But I didn’t have a lot of other options. My ability to handle people was rusty as hell.
Drew: Let’s say, hypothetically, that I pissed off my houseguest…
Ben: Two messages from you in the same year? **Peeks out window to see if it’s raining frogs**
Brody: What did you do?
Drew: Misread a situation and I was a little brusque with her.
Ben: We’ll assume that’s Drew-speak for railed at her like an asshole for something that wasn’t her fault.
Brody: Definitely a safe bet.
Will: Ask her how her day went. Then ask her how she’s feeling about whatever dumbass thing you did.
Drew: Should I offer to paint her toenails too?
Ben: Will’s right. Chicks love talking about their feelings. Just ask one question and let her fill in the silence for the next twenty minutes.
Brody: Or you could build her something. Women love it when you build them things.
Ben: What’s he gonna build her? Somewhere else to stay?
Drew: Thanks guys. You’ve given me a lot to think about here. I almost can’t remember why I’ve been ignoring you for so long.
A knock sounded at the front door, followed by Sadie’s voice. “Hello?”
She walked through the door, and I was struck by how natural it felt to have her in my house. If it was anyone else, I’d want to claw my eyes out. But with her, I found myself wondering what it would be like to have her come home like this every night.
I shook off that absurd thought. “You don’t have to knock,” I told her.
“Sorry.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what the protocol is.”
“I guess I should get you a key while you’re here, huh?”
“Might make things easier.”
Except for the part where I kind of want to keep tabs on exactly what you’re doing all day. “So…how was your day?”
