Page 91 of Catch Me
I wandered onto the front porch and sat on the steps. When I looked to the right, I saw the Nightmare Before Christmas cup he’d mentioned. Wait, where’d the golden retriever one come from? Christ. My brain was ungovernable.
After I finished my coffee, I dropped backward and stared up at the porch ceiling. Even though I kept my house clean, I forgot about the more detailed things. The webs above me, for instance. My eyes were locked on a black spider, and since I could see its legs,I considered it pretty big. I didn’t mind spiders, but one of those things might fall on my head one of these days, which would be crossing a line.
“Are you dead?”
I sat up straight. “Don’t sneak up on people.”
Roman breathed a laugh. “You should’ve heard me.”
“I was having an internal meeting about the spiders.” I gestured toward the ceiling.
“Right. That’s not weird.”
He went inside, and I glanced at the webs one more time before I followed him. Leaning my elbows on the counter, I watched him set some bags down.
“What’s that?”
“Food,” he replied. I peered into one and saw some takeout containers.
“I was thinking about what to make, but this is better. Thanks.”
He shrugged, then glanced at me. I cocked my head, trying to figure out what was in his expression. He reached into another bag and pulled out a couple pints of ice cream. The lemon bar flavor caught my eye and made me look at him.
“I’m in the mood for sweets,” he said dismissively. “Figured you might be too.”
Had I told him about this place? I didn’t remember mentioning it at all, let alone my favorite flavor.
“Thank you. That’s really nice of you.”
“It’s just ice cream.”
“Ice cream is my love language.”
He rolled his eyes, then put them in the freezer. I wasn’t sure why he seemed moody now, and I wanted to ask about it, but it’d probably piss him off. When it had been a few minutes, he huffed and put his hands on the counter. He stared at my fingers, which were tapping endlessly.
“Sorry,” I muttered. I opened my mouth to say something else, but he turned and walked down the hall. It was possible he just wanted to shower and get changed. After forty-five minutes, I decided that wasn’t the case.
Grabbing both pints from the freezer and a couple of spoons, I knocked on his door.
“Come in,” he said, still sounding grumpy.
When I stepped inside, his brow furrowed. Wordlessly, I sat on the edge of the bed and passed him a pint.
“You can...” He motioned toward the space next to him.
I stretched my legs out and leaned back against the headboard, then took my first bite. “This is the best ice cream in the universe.”
“We haven’t even had dinner yet.”
“And? We’re grown men who keep ourselves in good shape—”
“Is that why you checked me out?” he interrupted before smirking around his spoon.
“Shut the hell up. As I was saying, if we want to eat a whole pint of ice cream once in a while, nobody can stop us.”
“Fine, but let the record show that you dragged me down to your hellish depths.”
“And let the record show that you’ve checked me out too, so let’s just agree that we’re both attractive men and move on.”
