Page 72 of Nave
There was a soft bark, making Fallon glance down to see Edith looking up at him expectantly.
“‘Sup, dog? You are a dog, right? Could be one of those curly-haired guinea pigs.”
From the familiarity with which he said it, I would put good money on one of his kids getting ready to ask for one.
“Edith!” Lolly whisper-yelled. “Get back—oh.” She appeared in the doorway wearing just one of my tees, her hair all bed-messy, her bangs half sticking up. “Hi.”
“Lolly,” Fallon greeted her. “I think your hamster wants to go outside. Want me to take her?” He was already reaching for the leash in Lolly’s hand.
“Oh, thanks. That’s really nice…”
“Fallon,” he supplied. “That schmuck’s boss,” he added, nodding toward me. “Come on, chipmunk, let’s go.”
“He’s really your boss?” she asked when we were alone.
“Also my cousin.”
“That makes more sense,” she decided.
“Do you want coffee? Or I could make some decaf.”
“I think I saw some orange juice in here,” she said, going toward the fridge. “If no one used it for mix—oh, good.”
With only a couple of sips left, she drank it straight from the bottle.
“I don’t know why I’m so dehydrated,” she said, catching me watching her.
“Oh, I got an idea,” I said, thinking about how wet she’d been for me the night before. I got to watch the way a blush crept across her cheeks as realization dawned. That shit was cute as fuck.
“You hungry?” I asked as she went to the sink, rinsing the bottle, then placing it in the nearly overflowing recycling bin. Beer cans and liquor bottles had really piled up quickly. Spike and Cain would have a lot of work to do when they got up. And it was nice to no longer have to worry about shit like that myself.
“Actually, I hate to do this, but—”
“But?” I prompted.
“I kind of agreed to have brunch with Gracie today. You know, before all this happened. She’s making crepes. I can ask if you can come.”
“Gracie’s brunches are girls-only,” I said, shrugging. “Nah, it’s fine. I can drop you off there once you get ready. And pick you up when you’re done. I like that you’re making friends.”
“Gracie is really sweet.”
“She is. She’s the glue around here, and I don’t think enough people see that.”
“You sure you don’t mind?”
“Babe, friends are important. I can keep myself busy for a few hours. Are you taking Edith, or do you want her to stay here with me?”
“No, Gracie demanded to see her.”
That worked out then. It would give me some time to go online, look at houses, maybe even see one if there was one that seemed promising.
After Fallon brought in Edith, we set food down for her, and Lolly went into the bedroom to shower.
When Fallon took off, well, I wasn’t going to waste a perfectly good opportunity for some alone time before we went our separate ways for a chunk of the day.
I stripped as I made my way through the bathroom, then peeled back the shower curtain.
There she was.
