AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I do. Sometimes. There’s a box of Pop-Tarts in the cabinet,” I inform him.
He shuts the door and turns to me. “Pop-Tarts? I’m a two-hundred-ten-pound adult male. I can’t eat Pop-Tarts for breakfast, and neither should you. Go get dressed,” he commands.
I fold my arms over my chest and stare at him. “You’re awfully bossy for a man who whipped out a string of condoms but only ended up using one last night.”
He stalks over to me. “Someone was so thoroughly satisfied that she fell asleep on me.”
“Excuses,” I tease.
“Woman, let me take you to breakfast and refuel, and I’ll use every single one of them today,” he promises.
“Okay,” I agree before leaving him standing there and going to dress.
Once we are in his truck, he asks me about my work schedule for next weekend.
“I don’t usually know the week’s schedule until Monday afternoon. Why?”
“The firehouse puts on this event every year for friends and family. It’s basically a roadside fair with games, concession stands, and a few sketchy rides. I was wondering if you’d like to go with me.”
“Sketchy, you say?” I ask.
“Some guy named Wilbur with a dirty shirt and bloodshot eyes and his team of drifters put them together,” he says.
“How can I refuse an invitation like that? I’ll ask Reed to make sure I’m off that day. It’ll be good for your coworkers to see us together. Especially if their wives are friends with your ex,” I say, and something passes over his face. “What?” I ask.
“Nothing. You’re right. It’ll be good for the facade.”
“Are you okay?” I press.
“Not really. I heard you talked my mom into getting a tattoo,” he says.
I laugh.
“Actually, I talked Leona into getting one because she’d stated she always wanted one, and your mother jumped right in and said she’d like to get one too,” I correct.
He grins. “You’re a bad influence.”
I kick my feet up onto his dashboard.
“I never claimed to be a good one,” I declare.
After eating, we decide to skip working today, and instead, I drag him down to The Soap Box Laundromat, so I can do a few loads.
“Don’t Mom and Pop furnish the cabins with a washer and dryer?” he asks as we make our way inside.
“Yeah, but it’s a small, stackable set. You can barely fit a couple of tees and a pair of socks in that thing.”
“I have a perfectly good, full-sized washer and dryer at my house,” he says.
“That would take forever. I can get three washers going at the same time in here,” I tell him.
I load the machines, add the detergent, and stick the quarters in the slots. Once they’re full of water and spinning, I join him in the hard plastic chairs that are bolted to the concrete floor.
“What happens now?” he asks.
“Now, we put money in the vending machine so we can snack on candy bars and Coca-Cola while watching the news channel on the television up there as we wait,” I tell him while pointing toward the television mounted above the change machine.
He sighs, and I pat his shoulder.
