Page 43 of Up All Night

I sat down at the table with my back toward the hallway—that way it would give her a minute to realize I was home before we had to acknowledge each other.

Was I totally overthinking this little interaction? Absolutely. But in my defense, I’d never had a woman who wasn’t my girlfriend use my shower before.

Yeah, let’s go with that for why I was acting like a nutcase.

The bathroom door opened as I took a bite of cereal, and I forgot how to swallow.

Coughing, I tried to swallow the rest of the cereal in my mouth, but forcing it down only seemed to make it worse.

I was now experiencing a full-blown coughing fit. My eyes watered as I continued to cough and swallow so I could breathe again.

“Are you okay?” I heard Halle’s voice as she quickly came to my side.

I tried to nod as I was coughing, even though I was so far from okay right now. I couldn’t breathe, which seemed minor compared to how embarrassed I was at having Halle see me like this.

Halle rushed into the kitchen, opening the fridge and looking around before she spotted what she had been looking for.

She twisted the cap off the water bottle and thrust it into my hands.

Why hadn’t I thought of that? I guessed the lack of oxygen had clouded my thinking.

I took a gulp of the cold water and pushed the cereal down my throat, hoping I wouldn’t spit it out all over Halle.

Thankfully, the water helped, and the coughing lessened the more I drank.

I cleared my throat. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad I was here to help,” she said, still looking at me with concern.

Although if she hadn’t been here, I would have swallowed down the cereal without any problem.

Now that I could breathe again, I was able to take in Halle in all her post-shower glory.

She looked beautiful. She’d left her hair down, the darker wet strands making her blue eyes stand out even more. Her face was washed clean and bare of any makeup, a look I’d never seen on her before but had me feeling privileged at getting to see this side of her. The taupe-colored shirt and short sleep set she wore looked way too good to be considered pajamas.

I hurried to look away, blinking a few times as I realized I had been staring.

“I’m sorry about that.” I gestured to my throat and the bowl of cereal in front of me. “I normally can eat without any complications.”

I wasn’t sure where to go from here. After I’d completely embarrassed myself, what was I supposed to say? I was making things more awkward by the second.

“That’s good to know,” she said with an amused smile.

“Anyway.” I stood and picked up my bowl since I didn’t trust myself to eat any more of it. “Was the shower okay?” I asked, not looking at her but taking my bowl to the sink to rinse it and put it in the dishwasher.

Turning, she let her gaze follow me. “Yeah, it was great. Thank you again for letting Kate and I shower here.”

“Of course.” I dried off my hands on a dish towel. “I see that you were able to get Betty repaired.” I remembered her referring to her car by that name.

“Yeah.” She tucked some hair behind her ear. “She started up like a champ, so I won’t be needing a ride to the gym anymore. And then hopefully my shower will get fixed and I won’t be needing your shower anymore either.” She looked down as she played with the hem of her shirt. “Sorry you’ve had to help me out so much lately.”

I could tell she truly felt bad for needing my help, but neither of them had been an inconvenience to me. I’d been happy to help, if maybe a little hesitant at first.

“Really, it’s not been a problem,” I assured her. “I’m just glad I’ve been able to help.”

She continued to avoid my gaze. “It’s just that I don’t usually ask people for help, so…” Her voice trailed off.

Intrigued by her unfinished sentence and the opportunity to get to know her more, I asked, “And why is that?”

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