10 Years (Time for Love 5)

I hit send and changed course toward Craig’s apartment. When I was a few feet away, I realized that I was still wearing the clothes I’d put on to work in… yoga pants and a boyfriend tee, with my hair in a loose ponytail and no makeup on.

I stopped in my tracks, wondering if I should risk going back to my place to change, or if I should just keep going as I was.

It’s not like Craig hasn’t seen me like this a million times, I assured myself.

But I was supposed to be going over as his date, not as his friend, I argued.

I debated with myself for a few minutes, then decided to just go to his house and explain the situation; if anyone would understand, it was Craig. And, maybe he could shed some light on the Liam and Aliyah situation.

When I reached the house, I went to the back and walked up the stairs leading to the guys’ apartment. I’d been outside, but I had yet to actually go inside Craig’s house. I frowned as I thought about how much my stubbornness had cost me over the years, and hoped that I had the strength to be more forthcoming with my feelings from now on.

I knocked three times, then waited, looking around at the rows of similar houses down the street.

“Hey,” Craig said as he opened the door.

My breath caught as I dropped my chin and allowed my gaze to travel up slowly.

Craig must have just gotten home from baseball when he texted me, probably not expecting me to be just a few short blocks away. He was holding a dark blue towel at his waist and water still dripped from his wet hair, down his slick, tight body.

I tried to say hey back, but had apparently lost the power of speech, because all that came out was a croak.

Craig chuckled and moved to let me go past him inside. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to lick one of those mesmerizing drops.

My face flushed as I realized not only the train of my thoughts, but the fact that Craig could obviously read me like an open book.

How embarrassing.

“Um, make yourself at home,” Craig said as he backed out of the room with a grin. “I’ll just be a minute.”

I watched as he turned, thanking the gods for baseball and the gym, as the muscles in his back rippled with movement.

“Damn,” I whispered, placing my bag down on the nearest chair as I looked around the living room.

It definitely looked like a bachelor pad, with sparse furniture, a big TV and stacks of video games, but it was much neater than I’d expected.

A few minutes later, Craig was back. Unfortunately he was wearing running shorts and a T-shirt, rather than the towel, but I smiled at his choice of clothing and was grateful that he’d caught on to the way I was dressed and went with it.

Craig always knew how to put me at ease.

“Sorry, you were quicker than I’d expected,” he said as he took the chair next to mine.

“Yeah, I was actually on my way to the coffee shop when I got your text, so I came here instead. Sorry that I didn’t give you enough time,” I added. “Liam came over to my place and attacked Aliyah, so I thought it best for me to get out of there.”

Craig laughed at that. “He what?”

“It was the strangest thing,” I replied, remembering the look of anticipation on Aliyah’s face before she opened the door. “She must have known he was coming over, but didn’t say anything to me… She opened the door and they just started going at it. Right there in the living room, as if I wasn’t even there. Did he say anything to you?”

“Well, he did seem pretty excited when I told him that you and I had worked through stuff, and that I was making you dinner tonight, but he didn’t mention anything about Aliyah, or going to your place.” Craig shrugged. “We only talked about it for a few minutes though, then we practiced. He was gone by the time I got home.”

“Hmmmm,” I replied, even more curious. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“What do you have there?” he asked, pointing at my bag.

“Oh, proofs of the photos I’m thinking of using for my showcase. That’s what I was working on when things got weird at my place,” I answered with a laugh. “I was just passing time though, I don’t have to do any more work today.”

“I’d like to see them, if you don’t mind.”

“Okay,” I replied, pleased that he wanted to see them, but nervous at the same time.