Careful not to drop the Tupperware bowl full of leftovers, I walk up the stairs to my little apartment.
“Dear God,” I exclaim, putting a hand to my heart when I turn on the light and find Rip sitting on my couch like it’s the most normal thing in the world. I quickly close the door. “How did you get in here?”
“The same way I’ve always gotten in.” He stands, opens his arms, and after dropping the bowl on the coffee table, I walk into his embrace. He kisses the top of my head, and when I look up into his eyes, he smiles and kisses me. “How did it go?”
“Fine. They’re going to be there for me with a shoulder to cry on after you dump me. Sylvie was there running her fat mouth, but it turned out better than I thought.”
I straddle him when he sits on the couch. My mouth lands on his, and we kiss until we’re both breathless.
“You hungry?” I say against his lips.
“Starving. Let’s go home, and you can sit with me while I eat.”
I frown down at him. His big hands glide down my back until they cup my ass.
“Let me get you something.” I hop off his lap and warm the pasta for him.
He pulls me back, and with me straddling his lap, he eats. He offers me a few bites, and because he’s the first man other than my father to ever feed me, I take it.
“You’re sexy when you eat,” I say while I nibble the crook of his neck.
“You’re just sexy.” He quickly finishes his food and then unbuttons my shirt. He kisses my neck and inhales me.
“Let’s go to your place. I like your bed.”
He stands with me in his arms. “Pack a bunch of shit and leave it at my place,” he orders.
“I don’t have enough shit to leave some at your house.” I try to slide down his body so I can pack my scrubs for the next day.
“We’ll have to change that.” He puts me down and slaps my ass while I run to my room.
I poke my head out the front door. Sylvie’s van is gone, so I gesture for Rip to follow me. He’s unbothered, like always, but he lets me lead him down the stairs and through the woods until we get to his car.
He holds my hand for the duration of the short drive to his place. When we arrive, he leaves me to take a phone call. I watch as he goes down the stairs to his basement.
While he’s gone, I take out my phone to make a payment on my payday loan. I was able to get a six-month deferment on mystudent loans, so hopefully by the time I need to start making payments again, I will have paid off the loan.
Once I get in the app, I use my face to log in. Instead of making the minimum payment, I’ve been paying three times as much. When I notice that the balance due is zero, I log out and log back in.
I also check today’s date and note that the payment should be due in two days.
“What the fuck?” I mutter to myself. I scroll down and almost drop my phone, but when I see that the entire loan balance has been paid, I’m confused. I find the customer service number and call them.
I’m on hold for ten minutes before someone explains that the balance was paid one day ago. I end the call, confused. There’s no way my parents found out and paid it off; they can’t afford to hand off thousands of dollars. However, I know someone who can, and he’s downstairs. Out of curiosity, I check the balance of my student loan and note that it also has a zero balance.
I sit on the kitchen island and wait for him. I don’t have to wait long. He comes into the kitchen and hugs me from behind. He kisses my cheek, and I put my hand on his face.
“You want to go get some ice cream or something?”
My head whips around in shock at his question. He leaves my side and pulls out two cold bottles of water from the fridge.
“You want to go out for ice cream?”
“Hell no. I don’t eat that shit, but it’s probably something you like to do.” When I remain quiet, he says, “We can go to that ice cream stand that’s open in the summer.”
Instead of answering, I shove my phone in his face.
He pulls his head back. “Nice phone. Are you ready to go?”
