Again, I was glad to be heading to the river.
He was still groggy and puffy-eyed as he reached for his glasses, which sat on the end table beside him.
“I survived another night,” he said weakly, repeating the stupid thing he’d said almost every day of my life.
“Yeah, and that one was a rougher one than most. What were you doing at Sally’s last night?”
He slumped forward holding his head, noticing his shoes were still on from yesterday.
“Oh hell, I don’t know. I guess I got bored or something.”
I was right. He was going to be a bear.
“Want some coffee?” That always helped me and it reminded me I’d need to grab some for the cabin. I mentally added it to my list.
“Do you mind? I’m going to wash the stink off,” he answered.
He stood on fresh legs and didn’t wobble like I’d expected, taking his time getting reacquainted with gravity.
“I almost feel sorry for you,” I teased as he passed me on the way to his room.
When my cup was full, I slid one under the maker for him, making sure to change the setting to strong. He was going to need the caffeine more than I did.
I was bright-eyed and downright bushy tailed.
I was spending the day, not only on the water—which was normally reason enough—but I was going to be with Vaughn.
Maybe he’d kiss me again.
Maybe I’d kiss him first.
I grinned into the sink waiting for his cup to fill, and when it was done I doctored it up real nice. Just the way he drank it. Although he said he hated so much shit in his coffee, he made it the same way for himself. I’d watched him do it a thousand times.
“So what did you do last night?” he asked when he came back fresh from the shower and looking eighty percent better.
“I went out on a date.”
“With who? Astro?” He stood stock-still in front of me and watched my expression.
I kept my mouth closed despite the smile that was crawling around on my face.
“Maybe?”
“Maybe?” He kicked my foot. “You got a thing for that tooth yanker?”
“I don’t know.” It wasn’t like I was ashamed of it—it was just so new. Or weird. Or awkward to talk about with him. We’d never talked about anyone we were seeing. Mostly because neither of us ever saw anyone.
“You don’t know? Looks like you know. What did you do on your big, fancy date?”
I sat down at the two-person table in our little kitchen and drank my coffee, thinking of what I wanted to tell and what I wanted to keep for myself.
“He made me dinner, and then we took a drive.” I smiled thinking about it. “Then Sally called and said you were shit-hammered and you needed a ride home. He was going to help me, but Dean got there first.”
“Yeah, I suppose I need to go get my truck. You headed into town any time soon?”
“Yeah, in a bit when the store opens.”
“What did he make you?” he asked, sipping carefully so he wouldn’t burn his mouth.
“Steak.”
His eyebrows shot up and he challenged, “Better than mine?”
“It was pretty damn good. I bet he’d give you a few pointers. If you were nice to him.”
He laughed and sipped his hot coffee.
“You’re a real turd, you know that, kid?”
“I get it from my dad.”
“I think someone needs to warn Astro about you. Poor feller.”
I didn’t sleep that well. Thoughts of our night together kept replaying. Don’t get me wrong, it was no hardship.
The way she tasted.
The sounds she made.
The way she looked, and hearing her confess her name to me. It was so much more than just telling me her name. It was a gift. Something about it was almost pure because she’d never given it to anyone else.
I was still smiling when I woke up. Because I knew she was giving me part of herself no one had ever even seen. It was all mine.
After a quick shower, I walked outside to grab the paper that showed up on my sidewalk every day, even though I wasn’t sure how I’d subscribed to it.
The sun was out and it would be nice and warm.
As I was standing up, paper in hand, a rabbit ran past me, followed by a dog running full speed.
“I’m gonna kick your ass, Smokie. You little shit,” yelled a guy chasing behind them.
The Dalmatian, Smokie, abandoned the chase when he came across me and instead rolled over for me to pet his belly.
“You mind holding him there for a minute?” the guy asked from about half a block away.
“No problem.”
I bent down and gave the runaway a scratch. “You’re a troublemaker, aren’t you?” His leg ferociously kicked when I found a special spot on his white and black coat.
“Sorry about that,” the guy said. “He’s a good dog, but he’s still very much a puppy.”
I stood and he clipped a leash onto the red collar around Smokie’s neck.
“That’s okay.”
“You’re the new dentist? This is your place, right?”
He was about my age, I guessed. He wore a Wynne Fire Department shirt with the sleeves cut off and basketball shorts.