“You seem really into your current job, though,” I say, remembering the way he lit up when he talked about it at the coffee shop.
“I am into it,” he says with assurance, voice earnest again. “But it’s something I discovered, didn’t pursue. Anyway, I’m the baby in a family full of very type A people.”
“Does that bother you?”
He looks thoughtful. “No. Sometimes the role you play is a burden, but mine is pretty true to me. Life is short—I’m okay with the unexpected. I think the unexpected brings some of the most meaningful experiences.”
My mouth hitches up in a smile as our eyes catch. The subtext isn’t lost on me.
When we get back to my house, suddenly I see it: his sweatshirt thrown on the floor. The way he kind of kicks his shoes into the general vicinity of my shoe rack. This guy does go where the wind takes him, and I feel his youth like it’s a palpable thing I can hold in my hands. There’s a little warning bell there.
But that’s a problem for Tomorrow Cassia. My clothes end up next to his, leaving a trail to the bedroom.
10
My birthday begins with realizing that Ellis is curled into an angle that has his head at my hip level. My fingers graze the silk of his hair. It is whisper soft—his entire face is soft, relaxed in its easy sleep.
I slither each limb out from under him and then silently walk to my bathroom. When I close the door with the gentlest ofsnicks, Betty starts her devil’s cry. Damn it.
When I’m done with the bathroom, I step out to see Ellis is sitting up, my crisp linen duvet bunched around his waist. His face cracks into a smile that makes me want to jump back in bed with him. But I resist. It’s Monday. Birthday road trip day. Enough is enough. Time to end this cold turkey.
“Hi.” His voice is scratchy with sleep, heavy with intimacy.
I lean against the doorway, in a scalloped cami and boy briefs set. “Hi. Would you like some coffee?” I ask, heading to the kitchen. But his hand reaches out and rests on my hip. A little tug.
“Hey, come here.” His head is tilted back ever so slightly. It’s so cute I cannot resist and walk over to him until both his hands are onmy hips, his thumbs lightly stroking the skin above my bottoms. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” I run my hand through his hair then, and I feel the softest of sighs against me as he closes his eyes.
“Black coffee?” I ask.
He nods and presses a kiss into my palm and I’m surprised by my reaction to it—the surge of pure affection. My heart does that squeezy skip thing again.
I give his silver chain a little tug, then pull away and pad into the kitchen.
A few minutes later he joins me, having put on his sweatshirt, but still in his boxers on the bottom. We take our coffee on the deck again, enjoying actual morning today.
After a few peaceful moments, the sun starts to feel hot, and I take that as a sign. “Hey. Let’s get you dressed for work. I have to head out for my road trip soon.”
“Wait. Yourbirthdayroad trip?”
“Yup.” I stretch my arms, and he glances at the stretch of skin exposed above my shorts for a second before his eyes slide back up to mine.
“Does that mean today’s your birthday?”
I touch the tip of my nose. “Ding-ding.”
We get inside and put Betty back in her cage. “I feel like we need to celebrate somehow,” Ellis says putting his mug in the dishwasher. So comfortable and easy like he’s lived here his whole life.
“We did.”
Ellis grins—dimples appearing along with an adorable pink on his cheeks—but quickly shakes his head. “No, I mean, that was a mutually beneficial—argh. You know what I mean. I would have made us breakfast, or gone out and bought some flowers—”
I stop him. “Hey. This is fine. You’re not my boyfriend, I don’t have any expectations from you, okay? You’re good.”
Something flickers in his expression, a flash of hurt. I have to ignore it. “Thank you, though. You’re very sweet.”
He must feel the door close on this discussion because he goes to change without any more resistance.
