AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Me too,” Oliver said. “We are a match made in heaven.” Stretching over the dog, he grabbed her hand and gave it a shake.
For the next two hours after they ate and cleaned up, they watched, napped, and didn’t talk about anything relevant. The movie was over and Sadie perked up, sniffing the air.
“Oops, she needs to, you know,” Wendy said, yawning.
“I’ll take her,” Oliver said.
“We can go together. I need to get some fresh air, or I’m going to lose the use of my limbs if I don’t get up.”
“I feel like a slug.”
Tugging on boots, they teased each other about being bad influences. “I can be a slug without getting involved with a slug,” Wendy replied, laughing.
“Slugs are hermaphrodites,” Oliver said, roaring laughing. “We are definitely not slugs.”
“Okay, I’ll think of some other sleepy animal.”
“How about sloths? They sleep up to twenty hours a day. And they’re cute.”
“How do you know so much about animals?”
“I watch Animal Planet,” he said.
They bundled up with hats and mittens and got Sadie into her coat. It was snowy out, the sun starting to set and the streetlights flicking on. The snow glistened as it fell.
“Spend the night,” Oliver said as they trudged through the snow. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“What about your roommate?”
“He’s not coming back until after Christmas. Until then, I’m all alone.”
“Do you want to walk over to my apartment? I’ll get a bag.”
“Do you have your key?”
“I do,” she said, pulling her car keys out of her pocket.
Her apartment was in the neighborhood, the top floor of a two-family flat. When she opened the door, he could see into the lower-floor apartment. A fire burned in the fireplace, the warm light streaming out into the hall through lace curtains at French doors.
Following her and Sadie up the staircase, Oliver knew he was in love with Wendy. He’d never felt so comfortable, not even with Joanne.
Unlocking her door, a clean, piney smell greeted them, and he sniffed the air. “Uh-oh, a neatnik.”
“Yes, unfortunately. I can be miserable in a dirty place, so I try to keep up with housework. I can’t justify a cleaning lady with just me living here.”
“This is really nice. It feels like a home. My place is a hotel room. I even took the pictures off the fridge when I left for Thanksgiving.”
“I like it here. When I came to Detroit, I wanted to live in a family neighborhood. Everyone tried to get me to move into one of the new developments that are mostly inhabited by Generation Zs.”
“Ugh. That be me,” Oliver replied.
“I’m older than you, you know that, right?”
“No. How old are you? Or is that rude?”
“Oliver, it’s not rude at all. I brought it up. You’re twenty-three, right? You’ve been here for a year and a half, and you left college in your junior year. Did I figure that right?”
“You did, but you can’t be much older than that.”
