“Alden? Is everything okay?” she asked, her voice still hoarse from sleep.
“Everything’s fine. I wanted to see if you’d be up to going somewhere with me today? Get out of the house for a bit.”
She took a moment to process my request before smiling and nodding. “Okay. That sounds like fun.”
“Good. Need help getting up?”
She nodded again so I stood as she swept the blankets off of her. I swallowed hard, noticing she slept in nothing but a large, black shirt, which had risen up to show off the tops of her tanned thighs and teal colored underwear that barely covered her.
Jesus fucking Christ. She’s stunning…
I quickly averted my eyes before she saw me staring at her. When she sat up and reached toward me, I scooped her into my arms, doing my best to keep my hands in respectable places. Which was torture in and of itself. The need to touch her had become ten times stronger after last night. Though I wasn’t sure if I’d just been unconsciously suppressing it because of Misty, or if my feelings had grown for her now that I was allowed to feel some type of way for her.
Either way, carrying her now felt a lot more intimate than before.
After settling her into the bathroom and getting her a bath started, I grabbed the clothes she would need and a towel, handing them to her while she did her thing. I wasn’t sure how she was managing to finagle her way around the bathroom or even take a bath without assistance, but Porter had said she figured out all that pretty quickly to the point we just had to get her there and hand her the things she needed for after.
I decided to start the day by making us both some breakfast. Porter and Darren were on shift today, having left early while we were sleeping, so it was much easier making breakfast for two.
I’d just finished with the bacon and eggs when the text from Sophia that she was done upstairs came through. I rushed up and found her waiting patiently on the toilet, dressed and appearing fully awake for the day.
“I made breakfast,” I told her, lifting her up and carrying her down the stairs.
“Oh, thank you. A bowl of cereal would’ve been fine though,” she replied sweetly.
I laughed, loving that she kept things simple in the morning like me. I think it had become one of my favorite pastimes with her; waking up and demolishing a bowl or two of sugary cereal while we watched something on tv. But I wanted today to be different.
“We can do cereal tomorrow. Today, you need your protein, cause we’ll be out for a while.”
“Oh really?” she asked coyly as I set her down at the table in front of her plate. “What exactly are we doing?”
I laughed and shook my head. “You’ll just have to wait and see. Now eat before it gets cold.”
She grinned and shook her head at me, but did as I said anyway. The whole breakfast she tried guessing, but I knew she wouldn’t get it. It was futile really. I was the master at keeping surprises secret, though Darren and Porter would probably disagree. Then again, it was only my secrets that I was good at keeping, not anyone else’s—so that was probably why.
After breakfast, I quickly helped her change her bandaging, then loaded her into the passenger’s seat of my car. Maneuvering her wheelchair in the back seat was a bit of a bitch considering my back seat was so damn small. I should’ve asked Porter to borrow his truck, but this was such a last minute thing I had no time.
When I finally got into the driver’s seat, Sophia was running her hands along the dash, glancing around the vehicle with appreciation.
“What kind of car is this?” she asked with her green eyes full of curiosity.
“A Subaru WRX. Why? You like it?”
“I do. It’s very…you,” she laughed.
I grinned with pride, glad she saw my personality in this car. It was exactly why I bought it.
“I think so too,” I told her. “So, you ready?”
She shrugged. “I guess. I still have no idea where we’re going.” The excitement at not knowing made this worth it even more.
“And you’re still not gonna. Just relax and enjoy the ride, pretty lady.” I started the engine and peeled out of the driveway, loving how hard she laughed as I did. I had been kind of worried that would’ve scared her, but it turns out Sophia was a bit more of an adrenaline junkie than I thought.
This was going to be a good day, which was exactly what we both needed.
“The aquarium?” Sophia inquired with wide eyes as we drove into the parking lot.
“Yep! It just opened a couple months ago and I’ve been wanting to check it out. Figured you might like to join me.”
