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“Do you want some coffee?” I asked. “It’s just brewing right now.”
Lark nodded. Guess she wasn’t a talker in the morning. I could respect that.
“There’s quiche too,” I said, pointing. “Want some?”
“Sure,” Lark said, her voice rough with exhaustion.
I threw two pieces on one plate and stuck it in the microwave to heat. Lark seemed to just be staring at the countertop.
I wanted to give her space to wake up if she needed it, but I also could not deal with the silence.
“Is, uh, is there anything else you needed to get? We could go shopping if you needed to,” I said.
Lark shook her head and the coffee finished filling the pot. She got up and pulled open a few cabinets before finding the coffee mugs. Most of them were rejects that my mom had made.
“There’s creamer in the fridge,” I said, and she grabbed it, adding just a splash to her cup before sipping it and closing her eyes, as if she’d really needed that.
I heard a phone go off and looked down at mine, but it was silent. Lark walked back to her room to grab her phone and came back out with her thumb typing a response to the message.
I got the quiche out of the microwave and poured my own coffee before I slid Lark her own plate of quiche, along with a fork, all while biting my tongue so I didn’t ask her who she was talking to.
“Thanks,” she said, still busy on her phone.
She started to eat, and I pretended I was doing something on my phone so I’d stop staring at her. Even without a lot of sleep, she was gorgeous. Seeing her this morning reminded me of that other morning, when I’d woken up before her. Her hair had been spread out on my pillow, her scent had saturated my sheets. Unlike every single other hookup I’d ever had, I had waited to wash them until the day after she’d left and her smell had faded.
“Honor and Layne are just checking in,” she finally said, setting her phone down. “They’re being extra about it.”
“Layne likes to fix everyone’s problems,” I said.
Lark rolled her eyes. “I wish she’d get another problem to work on.” She sighed and picked at the quiche. “I’m fine,” she said, as if she was trying to convince someone.
“Okay,” I said.
“I am,” she said, as if I’d argued with her.
“Got it,” I said, sipping my coffee. I should just go and sit next to her like a normal person, but I ate my quiche standing up with the counter between us.
My original plan for today was to sit on the couch with a pile of books and demolish them and eat a bunch of snacks, but I didn’t know if I could do that with Lark around. At least until I got used to her presence and wasn’t startled by how pretty she was every time I saw her.
She hadn’t even been here for a day and I was already needing a break so I could forget about her, forget about that night, forget about sitting on her face.
“What are you doing today?” Lark asked, pushing her hair out of her face.
“I’m not sure,” I said, wondering if she’d just read my mind.
“Do you want to get out of here?” she asked.
I opened my mouth to tell her that I was going to be busy, but the word that came out wasn’t what I’d planned. “Sure.”
* * *
After we finished breakfast,we each got dressed, shoved our feet into boots, and went downstairs to Lark’s car. It wasn’t much, even older and rustier than mine, but she assured me it would get us where we needed to go.
“Where are we going?” I asked, wondering how in the hell I’d ended up alone with Lark in her car and knowing it was an extremely bad idea.
“To the movies,” she said. “It’s warm inside and they have popcorn.”
I couldn’t argue with that logic.
