Page 70 of Picture Us

Bringing their hand around her back, Drew squeezed her ass. “No such thing as too thick.” Rose began to rock her hips as Drew guided her with their strong hands.

With their spare hand, Drew fumbled for the lever on the side of the Driver’s seat to push the set back. It wasn’t normally this difficult to find but Rose was sure her lips on their neck wasn’t very helpful for their focus. Eventually, they found it and sent themself flying backward. “A-ha!”

Rose giggled as she leaned down with them, keeping their lips pressed together.

Her body still ached halfway through the drive as sleep started to take over. Slowing after they touched each other, the rain was more of a light patter on the windshield as Drew careened down the highway.

Rose had spent most of the drive watching Drew’s arms flex as they handled the wheel. But even then, Rose was exhausted and as the car rumbled she couldn’t stop her eyes from drifting closed.

Every time she opened her eyes, they were closer to the city. She wasn’t sure when exactly but at some point Drew’s Carhart had ended up on her shoulders. It was a warm jacket. Its best feature was Drew’s scent drifting into Rose’s nose as she slept.

She was startled awake by Drew’s parallel parking.

“Are we back already?” Lifting her head, Rose blinked the sleep from her eyes. Sure enough, they were parking on her block in Brooklyn.

With a nod, Drew finished their parking job and rubbed her knee. “Ready to go upstairs?”

Rose smiled and grabbed the jacket over her shoulders, trying to pass it back to Drew. But they shook their head and nodded for her to put it on.

Doing so, Rose felt like she could fall back to sleep right there. But Drew opened the Driver’s door and headed to the bed of the truck. They started pulling gear from the trunk and loading it onto their body.

Sleepily walking to the back of the truck, Rose smiled as she squinted. The street lights had come on and the sun was still hidden by clouds as it set. Not able to take much, Rose grabbed what she could and left the rest. Drew left their own gear in the truck with the exception of their film canisters.

By this point, Rose knew enough about film photography to know that leaving a bunch of film in the bed of a truck in mid-Summer probably would end with a bunch of unusable negatives.

Rose fumbled with her keys as they headed upstairs, dumping their stuff right inside her apartment. But from behind her, Rose heard the crinkling of a takeout bag.

She whipped around and her mouth fell open. “When did you do that?”

Laughing, Drew set the heavy bag of Chinese food down on the kitchen counter. “While you were sleeping. I just stopped at the place we tried last week.”

“I have no idea how the car door didn’t wake me up.” Rose shook her head.

Flashing their charming smile, Drew winked. “I was very quiet about it.”

They gestured to the couch for Rose to sit down and relax as they grabbed plates from Rose’s cabinets. The smell of the Chinese food filled Rose’s apartment fast, making her stomach growl.

As Drew plated their food and popped it into the microwave, they started to hand wash the dishes scattered around the kitchen.

“You do not need to do that.” Rose groaned, hiding her shame. “I was going to do them before you came up but I didn’t know when that would be…”

Drew shushed her as they scrubbed a pan. “I know I don’t have to. But I’m here and I want to help you.”

Who was she to say no to help? She tried to settle into the couch, letting the day wash away as she watched Drew clean up as she put When Harry Met Sally on the TV. It had been longer than she could remember since she dated someone who would do something like this, take care of her.

And it felt really nice to let them.

Once the microwave beeped, Drew carried the plates over and set them down in front of Rose. Her mouth watered at the sight of food. Drew had piled each plate with a few different dishes, a couple they had tried the week before and one or two that Rose had mentioned wanting to try.

“Thank you.” She smiled up at them.

With their own goofy grin, Drew plopped down on the couch next to her and dug in. They looked up at the TV and smiled. “A classic.”

Rose nodded. “It’s my favorite.” As she watched, she made her way around the plate, sampling each of the meals one by one. Each bite felt like heaven after such a long day.

“That’s a good choice.” Drew smiled at her before turning their attention back to the TV.

They only got to the Kat’s Delicatessen scene before Rose’s eyelids were too heavy to hold open. Drew stood from the couch and leaned over her, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

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