Page 6 of My Date With A Rubber Duckie

“Um, sorry,” I say, feeling sheepish. I didn’t even get up and help her look, still shaking from the adrenaline. “It must have been a dream.”

She grunts and heads out of the room. I can’t sleep after that. Instead, to calm down, I spend the rest of the night talking to my Duckie. I tell him about the nightmares I used to have as a child and how my mom used to always make me a blanket fort whenever it rained. I tell him about my first job and my first kiss and my secret fear of cats.

The sun comes up, but I havenowhere to be today, so I stay in bed with my little yellow friend. Haley clanks around in the kitchen for a while, but then the front door slams, and I know she’s left for work.

“Well, Duckie, I guess I should try to sleep.” I yawn, finally feeling tired, too tired to keep my eyes open. My body feels heavy, like it’s sinking. I close my eyes. My breathing evens out.

“Sleep well, bubble,” a man’s voice whispers, achingly soft.

“Mmhmm.” I roll over, happy to do just that, and then it registers with my brain. A man. In my apartment.

I shoot straight up. There, standing at the foot of the bed, staring at me, is a naked man. He’s holding one of my little throw pillows over his groin. It covers his important bits, but doesn’t cover the thickness of his thighs, the way his hip bone juts out, the V that lifts from his groin to his defined abs. He clears his throat, drawing my attention up. He’s got the most beautiful yellow-blonde hair I’ve ever seen. It’s swept to one side in a way that makes me want torun my fingers through it. He’s gorgeous.

No. Not gorgeous. He’s naked in my bedroom! What. The. Actual. Fuck?!

Instinctively, I reach for Duckie, the closest thing I have to throw at him. But Duckie isn’t there. “Did you steal it?”

He frowns. I pick up the lamp, ready to throw it at him. “Did you steal my Rubber Duckie?!”

That probably isn’t the question I should be asking right now, but it’s all I can think about.

The man holds up his hands. “Woah, wait, it’s okay. I didn’t steal anything, and I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“What the hell are you doing in here?!”

“Um… you… kind of brought me here.”

“No. I didn’t.”

He smirks, then vanishes. I tentatively creep forward, head turning every which way until I’m close enough to the edge of the bed to look down. There, on the floor, right where the man was standing, is my little yellow Rubber Duckie.

Just as I’m about to pick itup, the duckie is gone, and the man springs up in its place, grabbing the pillow as he rises and holding it over his goods.

I tumble backwards, barely catching myself on my forearms. “You? How? What just happened?”

He rubs the back of his neck with one hand while keeping the pillow in place with the other. “Yeah, so, you see, you kind of did bring me here.”

“You'remy Rubber Duckie?” I blink and shake my head in disbelief. “My Rubber Duckie… isyou?”

“Yeah.” He laughs, almost like he’s nervous. “Look, I didn’t want to be a creeper, I tried not to look, but I couldn’t exactly—”

It takes me a solid couple of seconds to figure out what he’s talking about. “The bath!”

“Um, yeah. I really am sorry.”

“You… watched me?”

“Couldn’t look away.” There’s something almost shy in his tone that’s kind of endearing.

This is a lot to take in. But I find I’mnot at all repulsed by the idea of this man watching me. I mean, it’s like my ridiculous fantasy just became a reality. The laugh I let out borders on manic.

He fidgets with the pillow and a little half smile toys at his lips. “You said you liked being watched.”

Composing myself, I bite my lip and give him an appreciative appraisal. This is strange, fucking bizarre even, but… “Did you enjoy watching me?”

His head rolls back, and he puffs out a breath of air as he looks up at the ceiling. “You have no idea how much.”

“Tell me,” I ask, nervous in a different way than I should be right now. I should call the cops, chase him out of my apartment with a broom or something, but instead I’m moving closer.

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