“I play hockey. You liked my little brother and how I cared for him. Long story short, I have many incredible traits and you love them all.”
That brought a small smile to her face.
“Would you like me to tell you how it happened?”
She tilts her head at me and nods.
So I start at the beginning. How we were paired together for an English project and how the verbal abuse from her mother had left her in a bad state. I told her how she hit it off with my brother and then began babysitting him.
At night when she couldn't sleep, she ran. I told her that she stopped by my house one night and how it soon became routine. I stopped once I got to Valentine's Day.
“Sounds like we were good together.”
“We are.”
“I can definitely see why I was interested. You're hot and seem nice enough.”
Chuckling, “Thank you.”
“I think I'm going to go to sleep now.”
“Sweet dreams.”
I leave her to fall asleep. I'm not too far behind her.
***
In the morning, Emily is nestled against me. Vaguely, I recall going to the bathroom during the night. I must have crawled into bed with her. The need to use the restroom is strong, but I don't want to wake Sweetness. She's going to freak out when she finds me in bed with her.
The strawberry scent of her shampoo fills my senses and I can't resist the urge to play with her hair. Slowly, my fingers wrap around a strand and twirls. I lose myself in the softness of her messy brown hair. Sweetness looks up at me with those beautiful sleepy eyes and smiles.
“That feels good.” She returns to her position before popping back up. “What are you doing in here?” She holds the covers up to her neck even though she is well dressed.
“I got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and must have come to bed instead of back to the couch.”
She leans back down and turns away from me.
“Please leave.”
“What is it?”
She whispers, “I thought I remembered something, but it went away.”
Without thinking, I ask, “Want to go ice skating today?”
“I don't know...” she trails off. Then, just like that, she changes her mind. “Yeah. Why not?”
“Great. Go get ready and I'll fix breakfast.”
I toss the covers aside. Shuffling my feet, I head to th
e kitchen. Sizzling pops of grease sound as bacon is laid on top of the skillet. I turn another burner on high to start eggs as biscuits bake in the oven. Scooping the cooked eggs onto their respective plates along with the bacon, I walk over to the oven and pull out the biscuits.
Turning around, I find Emily leaning against the wall watching me.
“You look extremely good cooking. Do you fix meals often?”
She takes a seat at the bar and I place a plate in front of her before rounding the island to sit beside her.