"Thanks," I say softly.
"That wasn't so bad, was it, baby?" Dax asks.
"No…it wasn't bad."
Dax wraps his other arm around my back, pulling me into him and pressing his lips to my forehead. "Oh, shit," he says, looking up at the television. "They're fighting, and we missed it; I'm going to rewind it."
I fall asleep at some point, and when I wake later, only Dax is in the bed with me. I get up, crawling out from under his leg, and use the bathroom. When I'm finished washing my hands, I stare at Nolan's bedroom door.
I know it's an invasion of his privacy, but I turn the knob, opening it just a crack, and look inside. The light from his fish tank, its water still murky, is just enough for me to make out his figure in the dark.
And Nolan is asleep on his side atop the covers, fully clothed. Even his socks are still on.
I would have thought only a sociopath slept with their socks on. But until recently, I would have thought that about Nolan, too.
I'm tempted to step inside, just to run my fingers through his hair. Would that be so bad?
It kind of would be, and I know that. So I close the door, go back to Dax's room, and crawl into bed next to him, instead.
17
it's always raining in my head
Saige
I'm never going to get used to waking up this early. I don't understand how they do it.
I reach for my phone on the nightstand, turning off the alarm before climbing out of bed. It's cold in the room, and I run my hands up and down my bare arms, attempting to generate warmth. Dax cracked the window last night, saying the room smelled too much like tacos and sex, and while he liked both, it would get stale after a while, but we're into the part of the year where it's too cold to do that now. I close it, the windowsill wet from last night's storm.
Shivering, I grab Dax's sweatshirt from the back of his chair and pull it on before heading downstairs.
Nolan and Dax are already up—Dax is in the living room watching weekend highlights on TSN while Nolan stands in the kitchen with his laptop under one arm and a coffee in the other. He's wearing black joggers and a white, blue, and silver university hoodie.
I think it's the most color I've ever seen him wear.
Before I can start a coffee, Nolan stops me and hands me his. "I just made it," he says. "You can have it. Splash of almond milk, no sugar, right?"
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, I'm sure. I'll make another one."
"Thank you."
He turns back to grab another mug from the cabinet, and I notice how hard he is. I'm sure Dax did something or said something, and I wish I could have been around to know what it was.
I like the thought of it more than I should when I'm still this sore.
"Saige, baby, what's for breakfast?"
"Um…" I look around the kitchen. If I'm going to have to do this, I should really just make a set menu for the week. I spot a bag of avocados on the counter. "Avocado toast."
That'll be easy. And I have a class at nine, so I need to get ready.
I make their food, set the plates on the table, and then eat with Nolan and Dax. Nolan sits in front of his computer, working on an assignment. I watch him take a sip of his coffee and then lick his lips, losing myself a little in his mouth and what it might feel like against my skin. Typically, he's clean-shaven like Dax, but it doesn't look like he shaved over the weekend, and he's got a really nice five o'clock shadow going.
I think of his mouth, moving from mine onto my neck, and how it would tickle.
He catches me staring and smiles—a real smile…one with teeth.
