“I can go get them for you if you want,” I said. “Or you can wear something of mine. They might be a bit big on you, but I’m sure you’d look adorable.”
“Do you have any sweatshirts?” she asked.
“Of course,” I said.
She bit her bottom lip and seemed to retreat into her shoulders, and I rolled my eyes. The old cliché about girls stealing guys’ hoodies was apparently true. Oh well. If it meant she had to come back to return it, that just meant I saw her again.
I slid out of the bed to the sound of her giggle and a brief glimpse of her naked body before she pulled the sheets over her tightly. I could feel her eyes on my own body and relished the attention as I walked casually over to my closet. I opened it up and found an old Marine’s hoodie that I must have bought when I first joined up. I pulled it out and tossed it to her and then went hunting for a pair of shorts she could borrow. I happened to have a drawstring pair of gym shorts and handed them over, laughing as she tied the knot extremely tight.
When we made it to the kitchen, Uncle Harry was already there with the fridge door open, bent at the waist as he peered inside.
“Oh, hello,” he said, his shoulder-length white hair in disarray. Usually, he had it pulled into a ponytail, but I guessed it was too early in the morning for that.
“Morning, Uncle Harry. I’d like you to meet Helen,” I said, motioning to her. She held out her hand and Harry stood quickly, wiping his hands on his shirt and then taking it to shake.
“I am so sorry if I embarrassed you last night,” he said.
“Don’t mention it,” she said.
“Seriously, don’t mention it,” I said.
Both of them laughed.
“How about I make you boys some breakfast?” she asked.
Uncle Harry exchanged a glance with me and raised his eyebrows.
“She’s a chef,” I said.
“By all means then,” he said.
The two of us sat down at the kitchen table and we all chatted while she made some of the best coffee and eggs I ever had. I didn’t know what she did, but like a kitchen witch, she made eggs that surpassed any others in my life.
We sat around and ate, taking our time until she looked at her phone and seemed alarmed by the time.
“Don’t you have to be at work at nine?” she asked.
“Somewhere around there,” I said.
“Then I should get going and let you get ready. It was very nice to meet you.”
“And it was very nice to meet you too,” Uncle Harry said after finishing his coffee in a slurp.
She was already standing, bringing her dish to the sink. I snuck up behind her and spun her around, pressing a kiss to her lips.
“I’ll give your clothes a run in the wash if you want to come pick them up sometime later,” I said.
“Is that so I bring your hoodie back?” she joked, our noses still touching and her lip just inches from mine.
“Among other things,” I said.
“The shorts too, then?”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “The shorts.”
“Deal,” she said, and we kissed again.
“One thing before you go,” I said.
“What’s that?” she nearly moaned in a heavy whisper.
“I need your damn phone number.”
22
HELEN
Leaving Everett was harder than I thought it would be. I wanted to drag him back to his bed and make him take his own clothes off of me with his teeth, but I didn’t want to cause him any trouble either. Whatever kind of relationship we were developing likely wouldn’t have a ton of good karma going for it if it began with me getting him ragged on by his uncle and then his coworkers all in the same day.
Plus, heading out early meant I could go to my own apartment, take a leisurely shower, and get ready for work while I watched some TV or something. I normally wasn’t up early unless I had to be, so it was kind of a novelty to be functioning while the clock still said a.m. if I had to be at work at one.
Once I was showered, I took my time getting dressed, preferring to lounge around in his sweatshirt and my panties for a bit. It was huge, coming down past my ass and halfway to my knees, but I liked it. I didn’t know if he thought I was serious about returning it, but as long as we were seeing each other, I had no intention of doing so. I would only exchange it for one that still smelled like him, as this one only smelled like fresh cotton.
When I finally decided I had sat around long enough, I got dressed and headed out to my car. The restaurant was only a few blocks away, and I could have walked it, but that would mean walking back at night. I knew Ashford was ridiculously safe, aside from the story I heard about a crazy ex breaking windows at the diner a while back, but I was still in Chicago mentality. Walking was dangerous at night.