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“What?” she asks.
“Not usually my experience when a woman says she’s getting comfortable.”
She smirks. “I’m not a usual woman.”
No, she is not.
Handing me one of the cups, she scooches closer to me and asks what we’re watching.
“Evil Lives Here,” I reply.
“Oh, that’s a good series. It’s amazing how many people have dangerous individuals living under their roofs and they don’t realize it.”
“Is that right?” I ask.
She nods. “You’d be surprised. If you grow up in a house like that and it’s all you know, you have no clue that the same thing doesn’t happen in everyone’s house. You just assume that the kid who sits next to you in school has to go home to the exact same situation.”
“Even if the kid never says it out loud?”
She shrugs. “Sure. You aren’t allowed to talk about it, so you figure they aren’t allowed to either.”
“You sound like you’re talking from experience,” I note.
“I’m just speculating.”
I let her have that and watch as she gently blows over the rim of her mug and takes a sip.
“Yum, so good,” she says.
“You know chocolate has caffeine in it,” I tell her.
“So?”
“So, that kinda overrides the calming effects of the warm milk, don’t you think?”
She sits up and turns to me. “Don’t ruin it, Tuttle. Just let the cocoa work its relaxing magic.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I agree.
She snatches the remote from beside me and clicks play.
I awaken to the television on the saved screen. Maxi is snuggled into my side, fast asleep.
The clock above the fireplace shows it’s three in the morning.
I consider rousing her so that she can go to bed and I can head home, but my limbs are too heavy from the day’s work, so I gently lift her so that I can stretch out on the sofa, and then I settle her on my chest.
It’s nice. I spend many nights on my own couch when I have a hard time falling asleep, but Susanna never joined me. She found the thought of sleeping on living room furniture ridiculous when we spent so much money on the mattress in the bedroom.
I didn’t mind. I was the one with the insomnia issue, not her, but damn, it feels good to have Maxi’s weight cuddled into me.
I wrap an arm around her hip and pull her in tighter.
Her chin comes up and rests on my chest, and she opens her sleepy eyes and grins.
“You’re picturing me naked, aren’t you?” she asks.
I laugh. “Nope. I’m just lying here, thinking I’d better sleep with one eye open so you don’t attack me with a knife.”
