Page 63 of Last Chance Love

We both used my shower, but again, there was that unspoken understanding not to tempt fate. We always timed our showers apart and gave the other space. We never came out in anything other than our clean clothes, which felt oddly prim after being used to dealing with male nudity in prison and the shared quarters of the previous cabins I’d been in.

Now, though, I was content to soak and groan as the hot water took the edge off my aching body. Everyone knew I’d been hurt. It wasn’t easy to keep a secret in this place, let alone a public display of disaster. That didn’t mean I had to make a complete spectacle of myself, and it was nice to let loose and be a little fragile in this slice of aloneness.

However, good things were not meant to last, and I knew I had to detach myself from the shower eventually. With a beleaguered sigh, I turned the water off and stepped out to dry off. I paused halfway through when I heard shuffling on the other side of the door.

“Reed?” I called through the thin wood.

“That’s who I am,” came the reply.

“Give me a second,” I said unnecessarily. It wasn’t like I was going anywhere or sitting in the bathroom all night.

I finished drying and grabbed the loose pants and shirt I’d been sleeping in since Reed had started staying with me. I briefly considered the underwear before leaving it on the sink. It wasn’t like I needed it, even if going commando was usually a bad idea for me if I had company over. Little Leon wasn’t all that little and could make a spectacle of himself, but I’d be okay if I didn’t pull out the dance moves I didn’t have or start jumping around. Plus, it was more comfortable when you were just lounging around.

I walked out and stopped when I saw the small table beside the window was covered with containers. “What…is all this?”

Reed set down a closed pitcher on the table and smiled. “I told Rip we were going to celebrate the fact that you’re no longer a cripple. So he decided to customize the food a bit, pretty sure he overdid it. There’s no way we’re eating all this.”

“I’ll say,” I said, looking through the containers. “A burger with the works, including bacon and Swiss. Green beans the way he makes them, cheddar biscuits, and is this his herb butter?”

“Seems that way.”

“Mac n’ cheese, mashed potatoes with containers of all the shit to slather on it, ribs, three different slices of pie…is that strawberry rhubarb?”

“Yeah, he asked your favorite, and I threw that out because I remembered, and lo and behold, he had one ready.”

“He just happened to have one of the pies he only makes like twice a year?”

Reed looked to the side and then back to me guiltily. “Well, I might have already guessed this would be the last night, so I spoke to him at breakfast.”

“Really?” I asked with a sigh. “He already busts his ass to make everyone the best food in existence. And you added more?”

Reed pointed at one of the seats. “Sit. Look, he offered and he seemed enthusiastic, alright? Honestly, I think he was excited to be able to do something fresh and customized for someone. The guy doesn’t get to let loose and do shit like this.”

I sighed, knowing that was probably true. He was a Tier One like Reed and I but had been here longer than us. His graduation from the program was bound to happen soon, but I doubted he would leave. And I doubted even more that Mona would deny him the chance to stay on as the main cook. From what I’d heard, there had been a drastic uptick in the quality of food served at the ranch when Rip came on. Mona wouldn’t pass up that quality if he wanted to stick around.

“And,” Reed said as he sat across from me, “it would be a waste of his food if you let it get cold because you’re worried about his feelings.”

“Fine,” I said with a huff because there was no argument I could make against that, and I took the offered seat.

It only took me a few bites to realize he was making a point I couldn’t argue against. The green beans were wonderfully slathered in butter, and the onions and garlic were perfectly cooked, adding to the fresh, natural flavor of the beans. The potatoes were mashed just enough to give them a few rustic chunks, and I took them with the herb butter and some of the bacon while Reed slathered on cheese and sour cream.

“God,” I moaned as I bit into the burger. “How does he always cook them perfectly? Even when he makes them in batches, they’re flawless.”

“The man has the talent and the passion,” Reed said as he began nibbling the ribs. “I’ll give him that.”

“He sure does,” I said with a chuckle, taking another bite, cutting off anything I had to say.

It took us the better part of an hour to eat our way through the buffet of delicious food, and I was surprised by how much we managed to get through. The downside was that the leftovers would inevitably go to waste as we weren’t provided with fridges. I’d never thought to ask about that logic, but it was probably one of the many ways to keep the bills down when food was only in the dining hall.

I took my final pill for the day with a glass of the well-loved lemonade made on the ranch while the two of us cleaned up the remnants of the meal. I kept finding Reed glancing my way through the clean-up process but never got a sense of what was on his mind while we bagged it up and put it in the lockable trash can outside.

It was only when I returned to the cabin and sat on the bed that I realized. “Oh, when did you have time to shower?”

He looked down and shrugged. “Oh, when I went to check on how the food was going, Rip told me it would take a while. So I stopped by my cabin and grabbed a quick shower and some fresh stuff to sleep in.”

“Oh,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as disappointed as I felt. We went out of our way not to put ourselves on display for one another, so it wasn’t like I would miss out on a free show. Maybe it was just a reminder that this was going to be our last night, and soon, I would be without his company again.

“I think I need to hibernate for a while, go into a food coma,” he said, dragging the roll-up cot out and unfolding it. He grabbed the pillow he’d brought from his cabin and used it to prop himself up so he could read. “If I start snoring, wake me up after twenty minutes.”

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