Sweet Dandelion

“I love you.”

He’s quiet on the other end for a moment before he returns the sentiment.

I end the call and head back to Lachlan’s bathroom.

After relieving myself, I wash my hands and steal some of his toothpaste. I swipe it on my finger and brush my teeth as best I can. My hair is a wild mess from Lachlan’s fingers. As much as I don’t want to brush away the evidence I know if I don’t my hair will be impossible to deal with later.

Finally feeling a little more human, I leave the bathroom as Lachlan comes back.

I lean against his bedroom doorway as he pauses in the hallway, the two of us staring at each other through the narrow space.

My heart beats with reckless abandon. With every surge it’s saying I belong to you.

Zeppelin runs up to me, forcing me to look down and break eye contact with his owner.

“Hey, buddy.” I bend down, hugging the lovable bear of a dog.

Lachlan clears

his throat. “Did you get ahold of your brother?”

I look up from my crouched position. “Yeah. He’s still stuck at his work. The roads aren’t safe.”

“It’s bad out there.” He scratches his jaw. “I’ll try to figure out something for breakfast.”

“I can help.” He arches a brow and I laugh. “Well, I mean, there’s no power. It’s not like I can burn the place down.” I give a small shrug as I stand up straight.

He cracks a grin. “I’d love your help.”

With one last scratch on Zeppelin’s head I follow Lachlan into the kitchen. He starts pulling things out of the refrigerator, piling them on the counter.

“Do you like avocado toast?” He holds up the fruit … vegetable … whatever it is. “I mean, it’ll be more like avocado on bread since I can’t exactly toast it, but it shouldn’t be too bad.”

I laugh, stealing the avocado from him. My blue nails are bright against the skin of it. “Tell me what to do.”

Lachlan tells me how to cut it and remove the giant seed in the middle. I scoop out the middle of it into a bowl, all while he watches with an amused smile because I’m convinced I’m somehow going to mess up something as simple as this.

We each spread the avocado over the bread, and Lachlan adds some grape tomatoes he cut in half. With a touch of pepper it’s done.

I pick up the non-toasted avocado toast and bite into it. “Not bad,” I compliment, holding a hand in front of my mouth to hide my chewing.

He smiles back, holding out his “toast” for me to cheers mine against.

“We probably should’ve done that before we bit into it, but better late than never.” His eyes sparkle with humor.

I like seeing this relaxed side of him, where he lets his guard down with me.

“Are you visiting your family this Christmas?”

School will be shutting down in less than two weeks for break. It would make sense for him to head back to Arkansas for an extended stay.

He shakes his head. “They’re coming here, actually.”

I look around, like I’m trying to mentally picture his family in his apartment. “That’ll be nice.”

“Mhmm.” He wipes a crumb from his bottom lip.

“You need a tree.”