She makes it impossible to keep my cool.
“I’m going to work on homework,” she says, and disappears into her room.
It’s almost as if she too senses that we need space right now. If I’m too close to her then we might combust again and there’s no chance I’d let her leave until we’ve fucked on every available surface.
There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow when neither of us have to work.
I grin, thinking of all the things I want to do to her tonight and tomorrow.
It’s going to be fun.
Nova
I organize the stack of records while my mind is on repeat of this morning’s actions.
I had sex with Jace.
I’m in a state of disbelief that it actually happened. A part of me is convinced that it was a very vivid dream.
Twenty-four hours ago, I was still mad and ignoring him, and now?
Now I don’t know how I feel.
The anger is gone, but in its place is lust and confusion. I’m not naïve enough to believe that because we had sex it means we’re going to ride off into the sunset and everything is going to be smooth sailing. I know that, realistically, it’s only going to get more complicated. I can’t bring myself to care about that, though. I’m too happy, and I refuse to dampen my good mood by dwelling on it. I figure we’ll take it day by day and see where it goes from there. Does that make us friends with benefits? I don’t know. Maybe. But I’d rather not put a label on it.
“You’ve been going through that stack for thirty minutes. Is everything okay?” my boss, Brenda, asks as she breezes into the main room from the back.
Brenda is an older lady, in her sixties, with wild curly gray hair and kind brown eyes. She’s always dressed in a long skirt and breezy top with boots. A row of bracelets clang on every wrist, jingling every time she moves. She and her husband, Paul, own the record store. He’s currently giving music lessons in the building they own next door.
“I’m sorry. Just lost in thought,” I explain.
She gives me a perplexed look. “You’re not normally spacey. Is something happening?”
I shake my head. “Strange morning.”
She assesses me and then nods. “After you finish with that I need your help in the back. I’m old and not strong enough to lift these heavy boxes onto the shelves.”
I laugh. “You’re not old, Brenda.”
She snorts. “You won’t be saying that when you’re my age.”
She breezes away, leaving a waft of flowery smelling perfume in her wake.
I finish organizing and head in the back to help her. It doesn’t take me long to stack the boxes on shelves and then I’m back out front.
A few customers come in, but it’s a relatively quiet day, which turns out to be a good thing since I’m having trouble functioning.
The place is small so there
isn’t much to do except tend to customers and keep it tidy.
Sometimes teenagers from the local high school a few blocks over come over after school on the week days, and while some of them are nice, most of them are little assholes and only like to wreak havoc.
“Why don’t you go on home?” Brenda suggests. “It’s dead today and Paul and I want to close early.”
“Are you sure? I’m happy to stay.”
“Positive.” She smiles, patting me on the arm.