Page 41 of Unmoored

My heart squeezes tightly as I pick out the coffee machine cord and plug it in, then grab the jar of coffee. I know it’s not about me, but I wish he’d let me take care of him a little bit more.

At least, for today, I can make him coffee. I just hope we can talk about his next steps—and soon. If he insists on living aboard, the winter is going to be hard. I’ll need to do a lot of work on his boat, and he’ll need to let me.

It would be easier for us to live together in my big old empty house on the island. But, after what Eden shared last night, I think he’d run away screaming at the suggestion.

I stir two cups of coffee, blowing on mine for a minute before I finally venture a tiny sip.

“Ugh,” I murmur, recoiling for a moment before sighing. I guess it could be worse. “Well, caffeine is caffeine.”

I crouch to check the fridge for oat milk. Hell, maybe I’ll try some myself and see if it helps. I grab the carton, rubbing my chin as I pause to figure out if Eden takes sugar.

There’s a sleepy voice in the doorway. “Two sugars.” There he is—dressed in a big old faded grey T-shirt with white flowers, which hangs down almost past the hem of his tiny little shorts. “Thank you,” Eden adds, covering his mouth as he yawns and stretches.

“Coming right up.”

I kind of expected this to feel awkward, but it’s not. It just feels nice—sleepy and slow and sweet. I drop two sugar cubes in his mug, stirring a little before handing it over, spoon and all.

Eden takes it with a grateful little smile and leans in to kiss my cheek. I turn my head to catch his lips instead, kissing him softly.

“Good morning.”

Eden’s smile grows so big that his eyes crinkle at the corner and his forehead lifts all of a sudden, like his whole face is opening up. “Well, goodmorning,” he murmurs playfully. “I guess it wasn’t a good dream after all.”

“I hope it wasn’t a bad one,” I laugh.

Eden grins at me. “Not when I have you here to ward them off.”

My ears almost ring with the mental image of it—wrapping myself around Eden last night, holding him close until he drifted off, finally falling asleep myself to the sound of his deep, even breathing.

It felt perfect.

For a moment we just smile at each other. Then, I nod toward the bathroom door. “I just gotta?—”

“Hold on, I’ll—” Eden breaks off at the same moment I do, halfway through gesturing at the bow doors and the dishes still outside. “We’ll reconvene,” Eden decides. “You go pee while I speedy-tidy, eh?”

“Challenge accepted.”

There’s not much to look at while I’m peeing. Just the weird, dated decor I’ve already inspected, and the baskets full of Eden’s personal grooming things. But I can hear the sounds of scurrying footsteps, like he’s rushing to get everything into the sink.

It’s so cute. In spite of… well, everything about Dawn’s Embrace… he really wants to make things look nice for me. By the time I dry off my hands, Eden’s sitting at the table on the bow, shielding his eyes to look around at the early morning traffic in the harbour.

“Thank you for the coffee,” Eden says as I duck out through the doors and carefully squeeze myself into one of the lawn chairs.

“My pleasure. I’m glad I could provide you with a cup of hot atrocity.”

“Mmm,” he sighs, making a show of sipping his cup. “I need a nice warm atrocity right in my face, please.”

“Like last night?” I rumble at him, raising my eyebrow meaningfully. “I’m glad we both enjoyed that.”

Eden gives a startled little giggle. “Oh, yeah. I mean, it’s not as sexy as a good mailbox?—”

I know what he’s up to, though, and two can play this game. “Are you sure? I think you showed me your mailbox last night too.”

Eden laughs again, louder this time. “I’m rubbing off on you.” He pauses, like he’s passing me the puck and leaving the net wide open.

I shake my head at his expectant look. “Too easy. It’s better when you work for it.”

“Like last night—” Eden muffles his giggle in the coffee mug as I roll my eyes. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop. But really, I… I had a really nice time.” He scoots his chair a little closer to the table and rests his hand in the middle of it, like he’s reaching out toward me.

---