AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Easier said than done.
8
JESSE
The pain meds I took at the clinic made me drowsy, so we picked up breakfast burritos, and then Harris took me back to his house. I don’t know what I was expecting to find, but the well-manicured row house in the middle of Bucktown was not it.
When we pulled up in front of it, I was shocked. “Wow, this is your place?”
“Yeah.” He put the truck in park and killed the engine. “Got it a few years ago at auction and have been fixing it up ever since.”
“It’s really nice.” I’d always lived in shitty apartments or trailers, so what he probably considered to be a modest home looked like a damn mansion to me, but I tried to keep my cool as we walked up to the porch. “You’ve done a good job with it.”
Harris shrugged and mumbled his thanks before unlocking the front door and waving me and Luna inside.
The inside was tidy with comfortable-looking furniture and just the right amount of stuff to make it look lived in. There were no empty beer bottles or pizza boxes strewn around, and the leather sofa was worn in all the right places. It was the perfect home. “Do you live here alone?”
“Yep. You’re my first guest. So…” He pulled a treat out of the bag for Luna and then looked around the room. “Kitchen is straight ahead. To the left is a bathroom and the staircase, obviously.” He grinned. “To the right is the official guest bedroom. It should be pretty comfortable, but I’ve never actually slept on that bed, so let me know if it’s hard or lumpy or whatever.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Thank you.” I wasn’t picky. I’d slept in some pretty shitty places, so his guest room would be like the Taj Mahal to me.
“My room, another bathroom, and the other spare room-slash-office is at the top of the stairs. Feel free to make yourself comfortable. Take a nap, take a shower, watch TV. I’m gonna take Luna out back to do her business and then probably head upstairs to get a few hours of sleep myself.”
“Oh, okay.” I really didn’t know what to do with myself, and I felt weird just wandering around in his house while he slept. “I can mostly just stay in the room.”
He looked at me like I was crazy and shook his head. “No. If you’re gonna stay here, consider this your home too.” He held up a finger as he seemed to remember something. “Actually, one sec.”
I watched him as he moved with a confidence and strength I didn’t often see in men like him. He seemed like a regular guy who drove a regular truck and had a regular dog…but then he seemed like so much more than that too.
Like everything about him was…better.
He went to the kitchen and opened a drawer, then pulled out a key ring. “This is a key to the front and back door. Feel free to come and go as you please. Just make sure Luna is inside and lock the doors when you go out.” He looked around again, as if making sure he’d covered all the basics. “Is there anything else you need right now?”
I reached for the key and winced. “No, I think I’m going to shower and nap too.”
He winced too as if he could feel my pain or felt guilt for momentarily forgetting about it. “I’ve got some codeine from when I had a wisdom tooth pulled. I’ll get that for you, and then we’ll pick up the rest of the stuff Tony suggested later this afternoon.”
He turned to walk toward the back of the house with Luna, seeming to trust me in his home, as if I were a life-long friend.
I just stood there, still in a bit of shock over what was happening. “Harris,” I called out to him.
He stopped at the door and held it open for Luna to run outside. “Yes.”
I held his gaze, almost breathless from the intensity of it. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
He just nodded and then followed the dog outside.
* * *
The bed was like floating on a cloud.
My body still ached, and there was a dull throbbing in my head, but it was easy to ignore it all because I’d never been so comfortable in my life. I was wearing an old sweatshirt and my boxers, but the heavy down comforter held in enough heat to make me consider poking a few toes out from beneath it.
But I didn’t do it. There wasn’t any permanent frostbite damage, but I did have a few blisters that I needed to be careful with. Eventually, I opened my eyes and stretched my arms above my head.
Everything hurt.
As if placed there by an angel, a bottle of water and two high-dosage codeine tablets were on the nightstand.
