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That earned her a laugh.
I think I love this woman.
My shoulders shake as I try and fail to get my guffaws under control. She returns my laughter and we stand in the doorway, both half-dressed, laughing idiots.
“I actually bribed her to switch rooms.”
My laughter disappears, replaced by irrational hopefulness. “Bribed her with what?”
“I agreed to host a party.”
“Oh lord.”
Wren winks at me. “Joke’s on her though. I don’t have a sofa. Or chairs, really. Basically a mattress on the floor and two bean bag chairs.”
I shake my head and smile, my desire to laugh outweighed by my instinct to move her out of whatever hovel she’s living in and into my house. She deserves real grown-up furniture.
“Now can I come in?”
My resolve weakened, I let her in and close the doors.
Wren sits down on the bed.
“D’jeet dinner?”
She nods. “They took us to Chili’s again. How about you? Why do you keep disappearing at dinner? Don’t you like my company?”
The opposite of that, darlin’. I have to get away from you as fast as possible at the end of the day to clear my head. And I had to make a run to the drug store for supplies. It felt presumptuous, buying condoms, but it also seemed prudent. I’ve always been a little bit of a prepper for all scenarios. You just never know.
“I’m not used to being cooped up with people. If I can’t be outside, then I just gotta get away.” A peek at my shirtless body in the mirror tells me I should probably get away from steak and potatoes soon, too.
“I think you’re just a crabby-pants.”
“That’s me.”
“So what do you wanna do now?”
“Sleep.” My reply comes with a grunt as I saunter over to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I leave the door open and she follows, leaning against the doorframe, watching me.
“Come on, man. It’s 8:30. You’re in the prime of your life. You must want to do something.”
My mouth runs away with me, even as I’m brushing. “Little girl, the things I want to do would send you running for the hills.”
“I ain’t a little girl. I’m plenty old enough to hear about grown up things. Whether you like me or not, we’re friends now. You can be honest.”
Rinsing, spitting and cleaning up buy me an extra few seconds to think carefully about what I want to say next. Wren’s forwardness must be rubbing off on me. “You’re right. I’ll probably jerk off and then go to sleep.”
Now it’s her turn to laugh in shock. The pleasant sound of her husky laugh is a balm to my prickly soul, and it sinks down under my skin. I use the convenient excuse of needing to condition my facial hair to stay bent over the sink and not make eye contact with her.
“The way I see it, we need to keep an eye on each other. Each of us needs to make sure the other one is eating and sleeping and staying entertained,” she says.
When finished in the bathroom, I lean my backside against the counter and gaze down at her. She’s so wide open with me. Wren brings out every protective urge in me, but the thing I need to protect her from most is me. I have nothing to offer her but my simple, old, grumpy ass.
The undeniable pull, though. That’s the problem. I feel it like a tangible piece of rope between us. I can’t stay away from her no matter how hard I try, and she sure as hell seems to want to be close to me. I want so bad
ly to touch her, pull her into me, feel those soft lips on mine.
“I’ve been doing my best to scare you away. Why aren’t you scared?”
