Page 2 of Stay With Me

“Oh my god!” Pulling my shirt away from my body helps, but the busy dock will still get an eye full.

“Here.” Young Jae pulls his shirt over his head, sticking his arm out without looking. The muscles of his back are prominent as he holds his shirt, waiting for me.

Taking it, I pull it over my head. It smells like him. I inhale deeply before I can stop myself. The fabric is warm from his body heat, warming me as the shirt drapes loosely around me. “Thank you. You can turn around again.”

It’s a good thing I’m not prone to blushing because I’m positive I would be scarlet as his gaze locks on mine. The silence pulses between us.

Glancing away, I move to stand, careful so I don’t go plunging into the lake again. “We better go. I need to shower now.”

He looks at his watch, nodding. A muscle in his cheek twitches, but when he looks at me again, his face is relaxed, an easy grin on his lips. “And I need to go pick something up. Something you will love but need to wait to see.”

Shaking my head, I mutter, “Tease.”

We paddle back to the dock without another incident, the weirdness passing as we load our paddleboards.

“Have fun tonight.” Young Jae smiles as he opens his car door. “I will talk to you later.”

“I will.” Waving as he drives away, I wring my hair out before getting into my car and heading to Jake’s house. We’ve been together for over five years, and despite moving into his home three years ago, it’s never quite felt like ours. Maybe it’s because that’s when our issues seemed to start.

Parking next to Jake’s truck, I hop out and glance at the time. Jake promised he would be ready for when I got home, so even with a quick shower we can leave as planned.

Opening the door, I call out, “I’m home.” The words cut off abruptly as I trip on Jake’s shoes, laying in the middle of the floor. Again.

Closing my eyes, I inhale slowly through my nose, holding the breath and then releasing slowly. It’s fine. It’s not a big deal.

I put his shoes away and then mine. It’s an argument we’ve had countless times, but I’m not going to fight with him about it today. It’s date night.

Hanging up my stuff, I wander through the house to the kitchen, stopping dead in my tracks. It looks like a bomb went off when it was spotless this morning. Jake had the day off and I knew he would make himself food, but he didn’t bother to clean up after himself in the slightest. Pressing my lips together, I turn around and head to the living room.

Jake is laying on the couch, scrolling his phone, wearing sweats and a ratty T-shirt. The coffee table has more dishes and wrappers from other food.

“Hey,” I greet him, leaning against the wall. He doesn’t respond, scrolling away. “Jake!”

He finally glances away from his phone, brows pinched. “Oh, hi.” Jake barely glances at me, missing the fact I’m soaked and wearing an oversized T-shirt. His eyes are automatically back to his phone. “You’re home early.”

Planting my hands on my hips, I bite out, “I’m home right on time. We’re supposed to be going out for date night. You told me you’d make reservations.”

Jake sits up, finally turning his attention from his phone to me. “Oh yeah. I forgot. Let’s just go to Cliff’s.”

My chest tightens. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to shower, and I guess clean up the house.”

He stands up, groaning. “I said I’m sorry.”

“Yep. And?”

“Why are you being like this?” Jake rolls his eyes, returning his attention to the stupid device he is constantly attached to.

The anger simmering boils over at that question. “Because you’re constantly disregarding me and anything that’s important to me. You barely look at me. Barely spend time with me. You basically treat me like a live-in maid that you get to have sex with.”

His eyes widen, jaw set as he scowls. “That’s a load of crap.”

“Don’t gaslight me. How many times have I asked you to put your shoes away? How many times have I requested that you do something to help keep this house clean?” Gesturing around me and the mess that wasn’t present when I left for work this morning, I practically growl, “You’ve been home all day and somehow didn’t have time to clean up after yourself. So not only did you forget you promised me you’d be ready for date night, but also left a mess for me to come home to after I stayed up late last night cleaning the house.”

“It will take me ten minutes to get ready. Why are you bitching when you also need to get ready? And I will get around to cleaning.” His voice is exasperated, and it grinds on my last nerve.

“You’ve got to be fucking joking. No, you would leave the mess for me to take care of because I always do.” Gesturing to myself, I pull at the shirt. “And yeah, I need to get ready, but with both of us needing the bathroom, it clogs it up.”

He stands, knocking a chip bag onto the floor, which he ignores. “Wow. You just have impossibly high standards. Are we going to go to Cliff’s or not?”

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