AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You are my favorite, I hope you know that,” I whisper into his ear.
“And you’re my favorite too.” He feathers kisses over each knuckle, and I’ve never been happier.
22
Noah
“You’re fuckingsexy in my space.”
Ash jumps and whips around in my closet, clean clothes in hand.
“Do you make it your life’s mission to scare the fuck out of me every chance you get?”
He’s in a towel after showering, something we both thought we should do separately. We’re already running late thanks to our morning delight, which wasn’t food.
“Sorry. I love seeing you pull clothes out of my closet, and your toothbrush next to mine is lonely on days you’re not here. I smell your body wash you use when you stay the night. I legit take a long whiff of it in the morning, and miss you.”
He drops the towel, pulling up a pair of light orange dress shorts, something he felt he needed to wear to meet my mom and dad.
“Must I go on?” I’ve hinted around to moving in together. I know his hang ups. We see each other four to five nights a week. On the days I volunteer at the boys and girls clubs, I stay with him. He’d joked the first night that it would be tight with us in his full-sized bed,and it hadn’t been a joke. He has a job that helps supplement the money he’s pulling in from his sales, and when he’s got an early shift he doesn’t think it makes sense to spend the night together. He also fears we’ll get tired of one another.
“What did I say?” Ash asks, grabbing a beige T-shirt from a section of hanging clothes. His own section I cleared out for him.
“Okay, but you’ll see what a success your show is going to be, and then you won’t have an excuse.”
He pulls the shirt over his head, and I take a step back, admiring him. The shorts are trendy, sitting mid-thigh. I love his thighs. The outfit makes him look hot. “Maybe we should spend some time in my childhood room later, Ash.”
“We’re not going to gloss over what you just said, that I won’t have an excuse. I don’t have the money to move, without a steady job. It’s not an excuse. Sure, I could get a barista job near you, but when I quit, I want to quit for good, and contribute to our life we’re building together.”
He pulls me by my hips, my black jeans hugging me tight, a simple white T-shirt and a beige jean jacket and black shoes to complete the look. “Won’t you be hot?” he asks.
“Oh,I amhot.”
“You’re ridiculous, you know that? Give me five minutes to find my lonely toothbrush and make my teeth pearly white. And then we can go.”
“Hey Ash?” I call as he heads to the door leading from the closet to the bathroom.
“Yeah?” he asks.
“I like when you talk about the life we’re building together.”
“You should, because it’s the truth.”
I hear the electric tooth brush, and before I know it he has his bright white Nikes on, and a dessert in his hands. Fuck, I love this man.
* * *
The streets arefull of cars, everyone coming to my mom’s annual celebration of summer.
“How many people come? I mean...” He’s nervous but this was all part of the plan, in order to meet my mother where she’s not overbearing, with others in the house.
“Believe me, this is the best way to meet my mom. She’ll be too busy to bug the shit out of you.”
“Okay, you know your mom the best. Let’s go. I can’t wait to see what your childhood room looks like.”
I shake my head, and we cross the street leading to my parent’s large house. By Seattle standards, it’s a good size, over three thousand square feet.
“Wow. This is nice.” The two-story craftsman is older than my parents, but they’ve maintained it well over the sixteen years they’ve lived here.
