She huffs. “It’s Taylor Swift.”
I nod once. “Explains a lot.”
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t start please.”
She turns back to the stove, switching off the heat, but I don’t move right away, still too aware of the space between us, of how easily I stepped into it.
“Smells good,” I say, stepping closer, leaning slightly over her shoulder to look at the pan.
Eggs and bacon.
But what hits me isn’t the food.
It’s her.
Orange blossom shampoo. Warm skin. Something softer underneath that I don’t want to think too much about, don’t want to name because that would mean acknowledging it’s there.
My focus slips for half a second, just enough that I notice it.
That I feel it.
And that’s enough.
What the hell are you doing, Dex?
I step back, putting space between us before I forget myself.
“I made some for you too…” she says, her voice quieter now. “You like scrambled eggs and bacon?”
“Yeah,” I say, clearing my throat. “Thanks.”
We sit across from each other at the kitchen island, the storm still pressing faintly against the windows, a reminder that there’s nowhere else to be.
Silence settles in, unfamiliar in a way that keeps pulling at my attention.
I don’t do this. Breakfast is usually at the bar, quick and practical, or at my parents’ place, loud and crowded, or grabbed on the go without a second thought. Sitting here across from her, sharing a quiet morning like this, feels different in a way I don’t quite know how to handle.
“Any plans today?” I ask.
She gives me a look like I just asked something stupid. “Uh… no,” she says slowly. “Kind of stuck in a snowstorm.”
A hint of attitude slips into her voice.
I almost smile.
“You?”
I shrug. “Couch day.”
She nods, taking a bite, then pauses, something shifting in her expression.
“What if…” she starts, then stops, shaking her head. “Never mind.”
I reach out before I think about it, my hand closing lightly around her arm.
The second I touch her, she stills, her attention snapping to the place where our skin meets, like the contact carries more weight than it should.
And then I feel it too.
