Page 35 of Finally Home

Gripping the back of my neck, I wince at her words. Why hadn’t I thought of that before leaving her here? What if I had been even longer?“Yeah, I usually just eat at the bar or, on my day off, swing by my mom’s.”

“Well, if you tell me a list of things you like, I’ll run to the store tomorrow.”

“You don’t need to do that, and you didn’t need to do this, babe.” The nickname comes more and more easily the more time I spend with her.

She loops her hands around the back of my neck, and I rest my hands on top of them. It doesn’t matter how, I just have this carnal need to always touch her. “And you didn’t need to give up your weekend for a total stranger, so again, call it even. I hope you like Chinese. It was the first one that popped up on the food delivery app, and once I saw the menu, I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to eat.”

Hmm, I can definitely think of something else I want to eat, and I’m looking right at her.I honestly haven’t stopped thinking about the way she came on my tongue and fingers.

Clearing my throat, I try to banish the dirty thoughts from my mind since I’m unsure exactly where we stand after last night.

“I do.” My gaze rakes over the amount of food behind her. “Are you feeding a crowd?” I’m not sure we even need to go to the store with all these leftovers.

She blushes and slightly winces. “I know. I might have gone a little overboard. But hey, Chinese food makes the best leftovers. Chicken lo mein for breakfast is bangarang.”

“Did you just say bangarang?” I chuckle.

“Maybe,” she teases, stepping away from me, but glances over her shoulder and winks.

I step up behind her as she takes the lids off the containers. “And I must say, I definitely like this look on you.” I pinch the material on her shoulder. “You in my clothes, that is.”

“I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. Like I said, this is your home.” I like it.Almost too much.Maybe I should have had her call the bed-and-breakfast to see if they had any openings.

I grab two plates for us and hand one to her.

“Oh, I got something for you while I was out.” I reach into my back pocket and reveal the small brown bag with the local hardware store’s red logo on it, and set the bag on the counter. “I swung in on my way home and had a key made for you.”

“That wasn’t necessary.”

“Yes, it was, Holls. I don’t want you to think that you’re stuck here while I’m gone. I want you to come and go as you please. Remember what we talked about, just smiling and saying thank you?”

She rolls her eyes, and I smack her ass briefly.

“Thank you,” she whispers.

We both fill our plates with various dishes, including chicken lo mein, shrimp fried rice, beef and broccoli, and my ultimate favorite, General Tso’s chicken.

“Do you want an egg roll?” Hollie holds out the plastic bag toward me with one of the two egg rolls sticking out like how you see in old movies when someone offers a cigarette.

I arch a brow. “Is that a serious question?”

“I don’t know, maybe?”

I grab the egg roll and hold it up in the air. “The answer is alwaysyesregarding egg rolls.”And when it comes to you.“Are you good eating in the living room? We could put on a movie.”

She nods. “That sounds great.”

We set our plates down on the coffee table and sit on the couch. “Okay, do you want to stream something? I’ve got access to pretty much all there is to offer. Or I have a massive DVD collection.” I point out the bookshelf full of movies to our right.

“Ooh.” Her eyes light up, and she hops up, walking over to the movies. “Definitely old-school DVDs.” She runs her fingers over the titles. “Are you sure that it’s your mom who’s obsessed with Tom Hanks?” she jokes, pointing out the extensive collection of Tom Hanks movies.

“What? We’ve already established that he’s a great actor.”

“Mama’s boy,” she coughs into her fist.

“And I thought we’ve already established that as well,” I say before taking a bite of my egg roll.

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