* * *
“I shouldn’t be yawning,”I declare as my mouth stretches, with Lexi in my arms in my bed.
Lexi begins to mirror me. “Don’t say yawning. When you hear the word then you automatically yawn.” Lexi places her hand on my bare chest. “Old man.” She snickers.
“Watch it there.” I look at my clock. “Fair point, maybe. It’s not even nine and we’re drowsy in bed.”
“I think we know why.”
“Har, har. We were supposed to watch a movie or talk over a bottle of wine. Didn’t you have the idea of shots?” I list.
I could get used to the feeling of her lips kissing my pec. Always delicate but without thought. “We can always bring the bottle here, but I feel like that might ruin this sacred surrounding. Tomorrow, we have the whole day. Besides, I kind of like your bed. It’s comfortable, there are great pillows, a hot guy, high thread count sheets, and big windows over there.”
I tickle her, and she squeals. “Hot guy, huh?”
“Don’t get cocky on me. But seriously, I don’t need to leave this bed. I’m tired too. I mean, unless you want me to leave this bed.” She sounds unsure.
I laugh under my breath. “I’m not kicking you out,” I clarify.
“Okay, but I’m a cuddler.”
“Then I’ll spoon the hell out of you.”
“And I wake sometimes in the middle of the night,” she adds.
“I’ll slide into you and fuck you back to sleep.”
She hooks her leg across my body around my hips. “Do I have to sleep naked, or do I get one of your shirts?”
I grin. “You have a lot of questions.” Lexi looks up to give me a love-to-tease-me look. “But to answer. No scraps of clothing allowed in this bed.”
“Hmm, I was afraid of that.” She frowns, but then her entire body perks up. “I guess being at your service at all times will have to do.”
My arm sweeps her in closer to me. “Don’t say things like that to me.”
“Fine.” We both simmer in our joint embrace in silence until she breaks it. “Your jersey isn’t here.”
“Nah, I keep that on the wall in my home office. I kind of need a space with no reminders of the outside world.”
Her nails tap against my skin. “Huh… I don’t even see photos of Lori and Harry in here.”
“I love them, but this space needs to be a blank room so I can gather my thoughts.”
“That’s actually… a perfect thing to have.”
My eyes close because tiredness begins to take over, but I still listen and talk. “That means a lot coming from a professional designer.”
“No work talk. Tell me something new. Why don’t you have a dog? That makes children’s lives happy.”
I’m wide awake again and burst out a laugh. “Because we killed Pebbles the fish way back after two days at home. Doubt we can handle a dog.”
Our fingers entwine and move together, creating their own shapes. “I had Diamond growing up. A Dalmatian who was pretty cool. Used to sit on my bed when I would do homework or sneak out my bedroom window. She was even exactly where I left her when I returned home. I’m positive she only kept quiet because she wanted my bed to nap on.”
“That’s ridiculous. Do you ever want to have another dog?”
“I think so. I need to settle somewhere first. Before I was traveling all the time, so it wasn’t ideal. Now that life is less hectic with less travel, it seems that a dog is getting closer on the horizon.”
I begin to ponder in my thoughts. “Okay, focus on projects, no plans of traveling, less hectic, anything else?”
