Page 55 of Just Enough

This strong, however, was definitely going to kill me.

“Hey, where’re your things?” she asked me.

“Still need to unload it from the truck,” I replied. “Have you been doing squats?”

She actually blushed. “Please, leave my butt alone. Why is that the first thing you wanna bring up every time we see each other after months apart!?”

I flashed my teeth. “I’m just saying.” She felt her forehead quickly in a way that was strange but cute. “Are you getting sick on me?”

Her eyes widened, and she squawked, “No, I’m not. At least I don’t think so.”

“You’re red in the face and you just cupped your forehead,” I pointed out.

“Oh.” She turned away from me and shrugged her hand to the side. “You’re not wearing your glasses.”

“Thought it’d be easier to move with my contacts instead of my glasses falling off my nose.”

“Let me get my shoes on and I’ll help.” She ran behind me and slipped on some flip-flops by the front door.

I smiled. “All right but we’re heading out once we bring everything up. I can unpack once we get back.”

Her nose wrinkled. I grinned.

Needless to say, it was a challenge getting my mattress up two flights of stairs with Emily as my only help. The rails I let her carry one at a time while I carried up the headboard. She was useless if I were honest, but her huffing and complaining had me grinning, nonetheless.

Okay, nothing was truly a chore when I had Emily around to look at and talk to.

_____

“Peanut butter and jelly, really Emily?” I drove my truck, and she sat in the passenger side next to me. Our windows were down, and her smile was contagious.

“What? I like PB&J sandwiches.” She straightened her back out and gazed over at me.

“Me too, but we’re not living off them. We’re gonna have to stop at the grocery store on the way home.”

There was a malevolent twitch in her eyes every time we had a conversation that revolved around money. “Okay there, Benjamin, not all of us receive handouts from our parents, and we have to make do with what we can afford.” She let her eyes roam over me completely and literally snubbed her nose at me. “Spoiled ass.” Then she turned her head toward the window.

I was smirking as I said, “Jesus, woman, can’t I want to feed us good food without you getting offended by my parent’s money?”

She was being petty. “No.”

“I’ll have you know, this spoiled ass goes to work Monday.” I glanced back and forth between her and the road to see if she’d turn around to look at me. “I already promised Dad I would. Not that it mattered. It doesn’t sound bad at all when I think about settling down in the future.”

When she didn’t respond, I added, “Imagine all that food money I’ll be making for us.”

Although I couldn’t see her smile, something told me she was. “Where are you taking us, anyway?” She finally looked at me again.

“You’ll see.” If I told her, she wouldn’t have come.

We were quiet for a minute.

“So, we can eat twenty dollar steaks every night?” There was humor in her voice.

I laughed. “Don’t get too crazy now, we gotta put a taco night in there somewhere.”

She groaned. “This conversation is making me hungry.”

I pulled into one of Dad’s dealerships and she frowned. “What are we doing here, Benjamin? I told you no already.”

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