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“It looks like ithurts.”
“It’s not that bad,” she replied, shaking her head. “Do you have a hoodie I could wear? It’s kind of cold in here.”
I figured she was trying to hide the bruise from Brody and Olive, but I gave her a hoodie anyway. Brody was a mother hen, and we both knew that he’d make a big deal about the bruise and I figured she didn’t want to deal with it. Bumping into the doorframe seemed unlikely, so maybe she’d done something embarrassing and she didn’t want to tell me.
So, I let it go. It was one of the biggest mistakes I ever made, but I had no idea until much later.
“You stayin’ the night tonight?” I asked, reaching out to run my finger down the crack of her ass as we walked toward the laundry room.
“You want me to?”
“Fuck yes.”
“Okay,” she replied, laughing.
“Get back in here and help,” Brody ordered as we reached them. “This ain’t even my house.”
“We’re almost done,” I said consolingly, patting him on the back.
“You can help me with the trim,” Olive told Nova as she sat down in the doorway.
“Oh, I’m not helping,” Nova replied cheerfully. “But I’ll watch you guys.”
“If you didn’t just get off work…” Brody muttered.
“Why the heck did you change then?” Olive asked, going back to her work.
“Because you guys are messy.”
We argued pretty much the entire time but eventually I had a nicely painted laundry room that was all ready for the washer and dryer I’d found used online. After me and Micky had replaced the sheetrock that had been torn out—the house had been repossessed before I bought it and the former owners hadn’t been happy—I’d had to make sure that the wiring and plumbing was all up to code before we’d been able to finish. It had been a pain in the ass and I was glad that it was finally finished. If I never again had to load up my rank ass laundry and take it somewhere else to wash I’d die a happy man.
“Rumi,” Nova yelled from the bathroom as we were cleaning out the brushes and rollers in the kitchen. “I thought you were caulking the bathrooms today!”
“Cocking.” Olive snickered.
“Are you twelve?” Brody asked dryly.
“If you already replaced it,” Nova said, coming into the kitchen. “I’ve got bad news.”
“I waited until you could help me,” I replied, my hands still in the sink.
“You couldn’t do it on your own?”
“I thought you’d like making sure it was smooth.” I shrugged like it was no big deal, but it kind of was. Nova had helped with so many things since I’d bought the house, cleaning it out so I could move in, helping me take loads of trash to the dump, shopping for lumber for the deck, scraping out whatever had been glued to the bottom of the oven, replacing the toilet—I’d saved the caulking because I knew she’d actually enjoy doing it.
Now that I thought about it, it was kind of stupid, but the work was precise if you did it right, and that was the kind of shit Nova was into. Making sure the lines were clean and there weren’t any bumps or bubbles was the kind of thing she got off on.
“You wanna do it tonight?” she asked, coming up beside me, her hip bumping mine.
I glanced at her but before I could say anything, Olive was talking.
“I’m not helping with that,” she announced. “I’ve been here for hours and my arms are sore from painting the ceiling. I’m out.”
“I just got here,” Nova protested.
“Sorry, babe,” Olive replied unapologetically. “It’s not my fault you’re always working.”
“Low blow,” Brody joked.
