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He shakes his head but has a smile on his face that makes me smile right back at him. He tucks a flyaway hair behind my ear, then kisses my forehead. “I’ll take a quick shower and get dressed, then we will go get you some clothes and things.”
My smile falters at the reminder of having to replace my stuff, but I recover it quickly and nod. “Sounds good.”
I finish the dishes quickly, then make my way back to his bedroom where my elf costume is. I hate that I have to put it back on and wear it in public. It’s bad enough that I have to wear it at Lush, but having to wear it elsewhere is embarrassing. I grab the costume and go in search of another bathroom so I can get dressed. I find the guest bathroom, and even though it’s smaller than the other one, it’s still luxurious.
I change clothes and fold up Jude’s t-shirt. I head back to his bedroom to return the shirt and get my shoes. I stop dead in my tracks when I see Jude in nothing but a towel. Rivulets of water trail down the well-defined muscles of his chest in the most distracting way ever. I can’t stop staring even though I know I’m making this awkward.
“I—I was just… um… your shirt,” I stutter out, still unable to tear my gaze away.
My brain says, ‘Set the shirt down and leave the room like a normal, polite human would.’ It makes sense. I should totally do that. That’s not what I do. No, I toss the shirt in his direction and run out of the room like it’s on fire to the soundtrack of him laughing.
If it’s possible to die of embarrassment, I would be six feet under right now. It seems my current goal in life is to see exactly how much mortification I can take before I perish. I have to be getting close to my limit. To distract myself, I decide to explore a little. The living room is nice and homey. It’s separated into two areas. One has a large cream-colored sectional that faces the biggest TV I’ve ever seen. I can see myself snuggling against Jude on that couch while we watch movies. I shake that dangerous thought away.
The other part of the room centers around a beautiful fireplace. There are two comfy-looking chairs that would be perfect to curl up in with a good book while the fire blazes warmly. On either side of the fireplace, there is floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. My book-loving heart immediately wants to search for a book to read. I take a moment to look at the photographs on the mantel.
There are several pictures of Jude and a beautiful woman who has the same piercing blue eyes as him. Probably his mother. In every picture, they both have happy smiles. It’s clear that there is a deep affection between them. I hate it, but I feel jealous of what he has with his mother. They are lucky to have each other.
There’s a picture of a much younger Jude with a man who looks just like him standing in front of a rusted-out car. It looks almost as bad as my Nova. Beside that photo is one of Jude sitting in the driver’s side of what looks like the same car, only it’s completely restored. In another picture, Jude stands in front of a rundown mechanic’s garage. There’s a newly painted sign that says Phoenix above the door. I’m guessing this is the original garage where it all started for him.
I’m so engrossed in looking at the pictures I don’t hear Jude walk up behind me until he speaks. “My mom is big on taking pictures. She likes to document all the important milestones and anything she might deem picture-worthy.”
“It’s nice,” I say with a smile. “I don’t really have anything like this.”
Maude and Gerald took several pictures over the years. When they died, Maude’s sister wouldn’t let me take anything that wasn’t in my bedroom. The only picture I had in there was us at my high school graduation. I tried to take a few other pictures, but her sister threw a fit. She ranted about how now that they were dead, she could finally erase me from her family like I never existed. I’m thankful she didn’t find the graduation picture in my room because she would’ve destroyed it, too.
I’m incredibly grateful now since it’s the only thing I have left of them. My desk is ruined. It hurts my heart because I had big plans once I got a good job and could afford a nicer place. I was going to have my dream office, and that desk would be the centerpiece. That dream is gone now. Just one more loss to add to the list of my many losses.
“We’ll have to change that,” Jude says with a smile.
He wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close. It takes me a second to realize he has his phone facing us in selfie mode. “Smile.”
I do reflexively. He snaps the picture and then shows it to me. He looks effortlessly handsome, and I look like a deer caught in the headlights. Even so, I look happy. Probably because I am happy whenever Jude is around. I watch in surprise as he sets the picture of us as his home screen image.
“Perfect,” he says. “You ready to go shopping?”
I scrunch up my nose in distaste. I hate shopping and not just because I don’t have money to spend frivolously. I’m the kind of person that goes in knowing exactly what I want so I can get it and get out fast. Shopping for clothes is always a fresh level of Hell. I hate trying things on almost as much as I hate having to return items that don’t fit.
“I guess…”
“You don’t like shopping?”
“Not even a little.”
“It’ll be okay, babygirl. We’ll have fun. Promise,” he says.
I’m not sure how he could ever consider shopping fun, but spending time with him will make the experience more palatable.
“Let’s get this over with,” I say with a frown.
I begrudgingly put on my heels. Not only do I have to go shopping but I have to do it wearing heels that kill my feet. Nothing fun about this outing at all. Jude helps me into my coat, frowning as he buttons the front.
“This isn’t warm enough…”
“It’s fine,” I say with a smile, hating that I’m the reason he’s frowning.
“We’ll get you a warmer one today.”
“That’s not necessary. I need other clothes more.”
