“Here,” I nudge it towards her.
“Thanks.” She mumbles, burying her nose in the cup, and taking a long, slow sip. Even without powers, I can sense her deep sigh.
“There’s breakfast warming in the kitchen. Just eggs and toast, nothing too fancy.”
“Mmmm.”
I smile to myself, picking my fork and book back up. No, some things never change if the one word answers are any indication. She’s never been one for mornings — or, really, the process of waking up, in general. I’m not going to take offense.
While I divide my attention between the book in my hand and my breakfast, I remain acutely aware of everything about her. The way her eyes clear and brighten by the time she finishes her first cup of coffee. When she gets up for her first refill, she brings her breakfast with her. Settling in, she forks up some eggs while scrollingfor something on her phone. She’s shown me a little of what can be found on the small device and it looks to be highly entertaining.
I finish up my breakfast and take my dishes to the sink. She is still picking at her breakfast, although it gratifies me to see she’s eaten more than half of what I served.
“I’m going to take Calida out for a while. Do you need anything before I go?”
She seems to start. How into her phone was she, exactly?
“No. I should shower, get ready for the day.”
I whistle and the pile of blankets on Ash’s bed begins to move. After a few seconds of struggle, Calida is able to untangle herself from the nest she and Ash had created. She scrambles down and over to the door, looking at me with impatience. She, also, does not wake up feeling overly friendly.
I brush a hand down Ash’s hair on my way by and my heart plummets when I feel her tense. Without a pause, I say, “Sounds great. We’ll be back in just a little while.”
I know enough about females and women in general to understand she won’t want to shower with an unknown male in the apartment while she’s vulnerable. I might as well make myself scarce and give her some time to herself. I lock the door behind me as Calida and I head down the stairs and out into the early morning air.
As Flint disappears out the door, I look back down at my phone. I was doing my normal morning scrolling, checking the news whilst waiting for the coffee to make its way to my brain.
I hope Flint didn’t think it was rude that I was ignoring him or not really engaging in conversation. I don’tthinkhe was under that impression since he wasn’t exactly talkative either. And I can’t deny that there’s a sense of relief that I’ll be able to shower and dress without my ingrained leeriness of all men psyching me out.
I smile as I take my dishes to the kitchen and pour another cup of coffee. There’s definitely something to be said for waking up to coffee that’s already been made and an actual breakfast. Although I will continue to argue that fruit loops or Little Debbies are perfectly fine as breakfast foods.
I check to be sure Flint locked the door before taking my coffee to the bathroom and starting the shower. I stifle a giggle thinking about Flint waking me up in the dark with his girly shriek. Remembering that no one is here, I stop trying to hold it in and let the laugh loose. I, obviously, won’t be making the same mistake. Although,it’s hard to be upset about disrupted sleep when it resulted in a middle of the night view of theverydelectable Flint.
I test the water, debating whether I have the spoons to wash my hair or not this morning. It sounds like a lot of work. Then again, I reason, today started a hell of a lot better than most mornings.
1. I have a hot new roommate.
2. I got a peep show of said hot roommate in the middle of the night.
3. Roommate makes a decent breakfast and has saved me the hassle of making my coffee.
4. I will be working with this man for the foreseeable future and, by all accounts, he does not find me disgusting, so I should probably keep it that way.
As a nod to the color that I definitely don’t have the spoons to re-do, I turn the water temp down to minimize fading and brace myself for a cooler shower than I’d planned.
Happily, I’m dressed and my hair is dry when Flint returns. He knocks softly on the apartment door and I almost miss it, having turned on music to keep mecompany while I finished getting ready. I really am going to need to get him a key and, I guess, get comfortable with him being around when I’m showering.
As I let him in, I realize it’s not really any different than him being there when I sleep. There’s just something about that extra layer of vulnerability that comes from being naked.
Flint comes in, one hand behind his back. When I raise my eyebrows at him, he closes the door and shows me a clutch of flowers in his hand. “For you.”
My heart stutters and seems to swell in my chest.Okay, sir. You’re really fucking the curve for the whole male class here.
I take the offered flowers and bring them to my nose. The smell is sweetly spring.
“Thank you! They’re gorgeous.”
“I noticed last night that the ones in the bathroom needed replacing.”
