Page 96 of Getting Over You

I’ve woken up in bed beside Marcus before. Many times, between the boathouse and the Cooper brothers’ guest bedroom.

But waking up in Cade Deans’ bed after spending a night with him?

God. Leaps and bounds better.

And he wasn’t even with me when I woke up this morning.Still better.

I stay in his T-shirt all morning, make myself a pot of coffee, light a candle to get myself in the mood to clean things up around the apartment. If I’m going to be staying here, I need to pull my weight.

I want to listen to music while I clean. I’m annoyed to find that Cade took his earbuds to work, so I opt for the next best thing: Taylor Swift blasting through my phone’s speaker as I scrape and scrub at the collection in the sink.

I’m deep into a rendition of You Belong With Me, using a bottle of dish soap as a microphone, when EJ walks out of his bedroom. I jump, startled, when he’s suddenly in front of me in the kitchen.

“I have underwear on!” I exclaim. “Shorts. Boxers?” I lift up Cade’s shirt, revealing the makeshift bottoms.

“That,” EJ says, shaking his head, “was not going to be my question.”

“Your brother is at work,” I supply as I pause my music. “And your girlfriend is, too?”

“Rory had to go to her place to grab a few things,” EJ replies. “I was going to ask—”

“Because it smells like him, alright?” I gasp. “That’s why I’m wearing your brother’s shirt.”

“I—What?”

“The shirt,” I say weakly, not looking at him. “It’s Cade’s.”

“I… Okay. Whatever. I don’t give a damn. I was going to ask why you’re cleaning our kitchen. And did you… Why does the stove look shiny?”

“Because I cleaned it?”

His forehead creases. “With what? How?”

“You know, they make cleaners for that kind of thing. It’s not supposed to be dingy yellow all the time.”

EJ blinks. “Gigi. How the fuck?”

I take my bottom lip between my teeth. “I may have bugged the front office to raid their cleaning supplies.” EJ’s eyes widen. “But that’s only because you guys had nothing! I just… I wanted to help.”

He’s looking at me the same way his brother does: bemused, beside himself. “You marched down there in that?” He gestures to Cade’s clothes hanging off my frame. “Really?”

I roll my eyes. “Like I had another choice.”

“My brother would argue that you did,” EJ offers. “You just make that coffee?” He nods toward the pot, still gurgling. I nod and hand him a mug, still warm from the sink. “Wow. I might have to convince Cade to keep you.”

“I don’t need your help with that,” I offer. I transition to drying dishes as EJ eyes me. “I know exactly how to handle it.”

EJ swallows. “Oh?”

I nod. “His birthday. It’s going to be the best birthday he’s ever had. Trust me.”

“Gigi,” EJ starts. “I think you should reconsider the birthday thing. Or at least reconsider whatever you’re thinking so it doesn’t happenonhis birthday.”

I turn to face him, eyes narrowed. “EJ, I might know a side of Cade that you don’t.”

“Maybe.” He shrugs, blowing out a breath. “Beats me.”

I convince EJ to drive me to Roy’s Grocery before he leaves for a shift at Beach Brew. I tell him I’m going in to grab things for dinner, but I don’t blame him for being skeptical. I walk out with bags full of cleaning supplies, plus new sheets for Cade’s bed. And the few things needed to make spaghetti for dinner, of course.

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