by Allie York
I get out the instant muffin mix and half gallon of milk. Can I bake? Yes. Would I rather use the mix to make my muffins? Also, yes. I get out my muffin pan, preheat the oven, and try to make as little noise as possible. I mix up the chocolate chip goodness and spoon it out in heaps into the pan. When the preheat light goes off, I slide the pan in and start the timer. The timer is the most crucial step. Before my timer purchase, I burned many a muffin.
While they cook, I decide to clean up the mess from last night. I toss the beer cans in the recycling, fold up the fifteen blankets on the back of the couch, and fold his clothes neatly in the papasan chair. I pick up another fuzzy blanket from the floor and drape it over my wooden chair in the corner. I own way too many blankets, but when someone asks me what I want for a holiday or birthday, I always say a blanket. You can never have enough blankets. I dump out the untouched popcorn from last night and put the bowl in the sink. I end up cleaning the entire living room, Doctor Who on silent with subtitles, while waiting on muffins. I wrap up my cleaning at the same time the timer dings and I pull them out to cool. I curl up on the futon, Doctor Who running from some alien in the background and decide to watch Rae’s latest stream. I love and appreciate video games, even though I don’t play them very often, and I love supporting Rae’s career. I’m about twenty-minutes into the stream when I hear footsteps in the hall. The bathroom door closes, a few seconds later the toilet flushes, and then the sink turns on. Wyatt comes down the hall a minute later, walks to where I’m sitting, and drops down next to me.
“I smell muffins.” Wyatt’s voice is gravelly and deep in the morning.
“I made muffins.” I pause the video and set my phone down.
“Your hair is amazing in the morning.” He reaches out and tugs a curl straight. When it slips from his fingers, it bounces back into a ringlet.
“Your voice is amazing in the morning.” I lean toward him and he meets me halfway with a kiss.
“Oh, you like that huh?” He drops it another octave on purpose.
“I do.” I kiss him again.
“So, I was thinking….” He rubs his hand over the stubble on his chin. “We kind of skipped dinner and went straight to dessert, so I was wondering if we could try again tomorrow night?”
“Officer Collins, are you asking me on a date?” I grab the scrunchie from last night and fight my hair into a ponytail.
“I am. I figure that I owe you that after making you skip dinner for sex.” He smirks at me.
“You did not make me skip dinner for sex.” I roll my eyes. “I’d love to see you tomorrow.”
Wyatt furrows his brows. “About that,” he pauses, “I know you said you weren’t seeing anyone, but is there anyone else you would like to see tomorrow?” He shakes his head. “That was awkward wording. I mean can this be just us?”
“Were you planning on adding a third person?” I tease. “I’m sure one of the speed dating guys is down for that.”
It’s Wyatt’s turn to roll his eyes. “No. No need to ask any of them. I just meant.…”
“Are you asking me to only date you?” I interrupt him.
“I am,” he answers quickly.
“I think I can handle that. I’m assuming this arrangement goes both ways?” I know better than to not make it clear that if I don’t get any more joysticks, then he can’t plug into any other consoles.
“It definitely goes both ways,” he agrees.
“How is this going to affect Cruze?” I ask honestly, having no idea what the rules are about the new lady friend meeting the kid.
“It won’t.” Wyatt looks confused.
“I just mean, what if this,” I gesture between us, “doesn’t work?”
“That seems like an awfully depressing topic after I asked you to enter a committed relationship with me.” He gives me a chastising look. “But I see what you mean. I’ve avoided relationships for four years. I’ve not gone on a single date. Partially because I’ve been focused on work and partially because I didn’t have anyone I wanted to date. The second you hit me with the door, I knew you were special.” He bites back a laugh and I shove his shoulder. “Now I’m only here because I’m afraid you may die if you don’t have adult supervision.”
“I’ve made it this far without you, Officer Collins. What do you think I need you to protect me from?” I cross my arms and pout.
“Yourself!” he yells, laughing. “You fall more than any human I’ve ever met. I don’t know how you haven’t been hospitalized for this issue.” I twist my lips and look away. “You have, haven’t you?” I hold up three fingers. “What the hell, Noralee?”
I hold up one finger, “Wrecked my bike into the back of a parked car.” A second finger, “Tried skateboarding.” Third finger, “Fell down the stairs.” Wyatt grabs my three fingers and kisses them, giving me the most pitying look ever.
“I can’t with you.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, I’m not the kind of person who can keep two lives separate and I’m not going to try. Cruze will be fine even if we don’t work out. Although I don’t want to think about that right now, and you don’t have to worry about him.” I open my mouth to argue, but he keeps talking. “He’s my son and I know that. You have no responsibility to take care of him or anything.”
“Weirdly enough, that didn’t even cross my mind. I just worry about him getting close to me, me getting close to him, and one of us deciding that maybe this was a bad idea.” It’s a sad thought right after we decide to date exclusively.
“Let me worry about that,” he says and leans in to kiss me. I kiss him back, letting the worry melt away. Things either work or they don’t, but you never know until you try. So, I guess we’re trying.
“Okay,” I finally agree. “I hate to say this, but I need to get ready for work.” Wyatt is still only in boxers and I drag my gaze over him.
“I should get dressed and go then, huh?” He glances at his clothes on the chair.
“You can stay, but I have to shower and put on real clothes. I smell like sex and my hair may be turning into dreads.” I fluff my mane.
“Go on. I’ll yell at you before I leave.” Wyatt kisses me quickly and jumps up to get his clothes. This time I get in a swat to his perfect ass before he makes it to the chair. He turns to return the favor, but I jump up and run down the hall, slamming the bathroom door behind me. I can hear him chuckling until I start the shower water.
Thirty minutes later, I’m washed, dried, lotioned, and I smell pretty. Wrapped in a towel, I head to my room under the impression that Wyatt didn’t want to bother me and left. I’m proven wrong when I walk into my room and see Wyatt reclined on my bed, scrolling through his phone. He doesn’t even look up when I come in. He does look up when I drop the towel around my body and walk to my closet, pulling it open and vanishing behind the door.
“How do you get hotter every time I see you?” Wyatt calls out to me.
“No idea,” I call back and grab my dress from the closet. It’s mustard yellow and looks like Captain Kirk’s uniform. I grab a pair of black leggings and my black combat boots. I kick the closet door closed behind me, and rummage through my underwear drawer until I find my black bra and ‘beam me up Scottie’ underwear and Enterprise socks. I shimmy into the panties, snap on the bra, and untwist my hair from the towel. I pull the dress over my head, feeling his eyes on me the entire time. It’s a weirdly empowering feeling knowing that this man in my room is staring at me like I’m the hottest thing he’s ever seen. I have to sit on the bed to get the leggings on over my freshly moisturized legs. His hand trails down my spine as soon as I’m seated, but I ignore it to pull the leggings on.
“Come here.” Wyatt tugs the back of my dress.
“I need to go dry my hair before I look like a swamp monster.” I give him a look, but crawl across to where he’s sitting anyway and lean in for a kiss.
“Go dry your hair. I’ll go. Have a good day, Miss Reynolds.” Wyatt kisses me again. I glance at my Star Wars projection clock ne
xt to the bed.
“Rae is already here, so you can go without worrying about locking the door. If you see her, tell her I’ll be down in a second.” I hop off the bed, bending to tug on my shoes and socks before I go work magic on my hair.
“I’ll let her know. See you Sunday?” He follows me out of the bedroom and to the bathroom. Propped against the door frame with his arms crossed, he’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Biceps bulging under the sleeves of his button down, the fabric pulled tight over his shoulders. It’s really flipping hot.
I grab my blow dryer from under the sink. “Sunday sounds like a date,” I agree. “Text me with a time?”
“Of course,” Wyatt shouts over the blow dryer.
I spray heat protectant with one hand and start drying with the other. “Have a good day, Officer Collins,” I yell over the dryer. He winks at me and turns to leave. I lean out the door to watch him walk down the hall and to my door. He turns to catch me, and I duck back into the bathroom. I check to make sure he’s gone, then really start my hair drying process.
Twenty minutes later, I have glossy curls, winged eyeliner, and red lips to match my dress. I make it downstairs in time to flip on the open sign and go to greet Tuesday and Greer at Second Breakfast. Rae’s car is outside, so I know she’s in her room doing her thing. I wanted to see her so she could help the twins make fun of me. For once I’m getting shit for getting laid, not for being single. They’re taking care of their morning coffee fix and restocking from speed dating. I grab a cup and fill it with our Light Side roast.
“So, you finally got laid. I hope it was mind blowing considering how smug you look right now.” Tuesday hands me a lid for my cup and I blow my coffee before popping it on and taking a sip.
“Oh, it was mind blowing.” I take another sip.
“His dick is huge isn’t it? He looks like he’s packing.” Greer nods thoughtfully.
“It’s perfect.” I sigh thinking about it. Wyatt does have a lot going on down there. “I did something I’ve never done before.” I have to talk about my sudden body confidence. Not that I have body image issues, I know I’m in pretty good shape, but I’ve never had the lady balls to do what I did last night. It was weirdly freeing.
“Anal? For the first time?” Rae appears behind me and I nearly spit my coffee.
“What?” I screech.
“Oh my god!” Greer almost drops her coffee.
“No!” I yell at a laughing Rae. “I stripped for him.” I say it a little louder than I meant to.
Tuesday is laughing way too hard to answer, Greer’s face is red, and Rae is smiling at her handiwork. “That is way boring compared to anal, but you do have nice boobs so I’m sure he was all turned on.” Rae keeps laughing.
“I didn’t dance or anything, but I stripped, then I walked around naked in front of him this morning. It was weirdly freeing.” I try to explain it without blushing, but I know my face is red.
“You were just prancing around naked in front of him?” Greer asks.
“I wasn’t prancing, but yeah, I was just… naked.” I shrug and take another drink.
“That is badass,” Rae chimes in again and we all just stare at her. “I mean it. No sarcasm. Comfort with your body is nothing to be taken lightly and if he makes you that comfortable, that’s amazing.” She blows a bubble. “You have some nice C cups happening there, so I get why you’d be comfortable though.”
“Your boobs are bigger than mine,” I remind her.
“But yours are perkier, so you have the double whammy.” Rae winks at me. “See what I did there?”
“We got it.” Tuesday rolls her eyes. We all jump when someone pulls the door open and the bell chimes. Tuesday pulls her apron on; I step away to go greet the customer and Greer picks up the duster to start cleaning. Rae is already halfway to her room.
“Text me when we order lunch, I may forget to eat. Oh, and we should go out tonight to celebrate!” With a wink and a finger gun, she closes the door to her room.
The customer who came in is a young guy, maybe in his late teens, and looks mousy and nervous. I meet him at the front desk. It’s the creepy guy from speed dating, “Hey, can I help you?” His dark eyes dart all over.
“I know who broke in here.” My skin prickles when he says it.
“You know who broke in here?” I say it louder than necessary so Greer can hear me.
“It… It wasn’t me. But I know who it was. I… I drove the car when they did the job next door.” He meets my eyes and I believe him. Greer peeks around the shelf and holds up her phone. I give a quick nod.
“Can you tell me?” I ask gently.
“I can’t go to jail.” The kid shakes his head, receding into his coat. “My mom is hurt, and I have to work. I can’t go to jail.” He takes a step back and I hold up my hand, shaking my head.
“Okay. Look, I don’t want you going to jail. You’re here doing the right thing, and I don’t want you punished. I do want the people who keep breaking into these businesses stopped. Okay?” I use my calmest voice and make sure to try and make eye contact. The kid is terrified, and I really think his conscience is eating away at him. He nods quickly. “So, how about you write down names and I pretend this was magically left on my doorstep? I never saw you. They don’t know you sold them out, you don’t get in trouble, and you did the right thing. Sound good?” I pick up a piece of paper from the printer and a pen. He nods again and I offer him the writing items. He takes them and writes down four names. For a second, I think he may keep the paper, but after staring at it for several seconds, he slides it to me.
“You won’t tell anyone?” he asks.
“Nope. I don’t know your name. How am I going to tell?” I shrug.
“Are you going to describe me to the police?” He shuffles from foot to foot.
“Are you going to play getaway driver for your dumb friends again?” I counter and his eyes go wide.
“No! I haven’t slept since I did it. I feel terrible.” He blinks rapidly and shakes his head.
“I never saw you. You were never here.” I smile and the kid smirks a little. “Thanks for stopping by. Have a good day.” He spins on his heel and power walks out of the store before I can change my mind. I watch through the glass door as he gets in a navy, four-door, older model car. It pulls out of the parking spot and vanishes out of sight.
“You just let him leave?” Greer comes storming around the corner.
“He’s just a kid.” I shake my head. “He came and did the right thing. Now the idiots who broke in will get caught and won’t do it again.”
“He drove the getaway car!” Greer has a bit of a dramatic streak.
“And came to turn them in,” I retort. “Look, I feel like the right erases the wrong here, and the kid seemed earnest.” I’ve made my decision and I’m sticking to it.
“You’re weak.” Greer glares at me. “But you are the boss.”
“I am not weak!” I snap.
“You let a criminal go because he snitched. Where I come from snitches get stitches.” Greer crosses her arms over her chest.
“We come from the same place. Literally. I’ve known you since we were, like, six.” I roll my eyes and look over the names. Sure enough, four names, three guys, one girl.
“I just think he should be punished.” Greer isn’t going to let it go.
“He’s beat himself up enough. He learned his lesson. I feel good about him not doing it again.” I can argue my point as well.
“Fine. He did look pretty scared,” Greer agrees, joining me behind the desk. I realize how casual she looks today. Skinny jeans and her Words for Nerds t-shirt. Greer is usually the best dressed of our group. I mean, if four girls like us can have a best dressed.
“You look cute today,” I comment. Her long hair is even up in a ponytail. She usually wears it down.
Greer looks down at her clothes and gives me a glare. “That’s just insulting, Noralee. We both know I look like shit.”
“No! I mean it!” I argue.
“I was up late working on a commission and may not have gone to bed at all,” she admits, and I realize her sketch pad is on the corner of the desk. She shrugs and grabs it.
“Is this why you’re also grumpy?” I ask as she collects Sharpies from the drawer under the desk.
“Yes. And I called the cops while you were talking to the snitch,” she answers, stacking up the markers on the back of her book and heading to the side room where we left a couple of tables set up. I watch her go and make eye contact with Tuesday across the store. She makes a phone signal with her hand and I pick up my cell. The message light is blinking.
Tuesday: Neal was supposed to meet her last night at O’Connells
Me: He didn’t show up, did he?
Tuesday: Nope
Me: I wish she’d listen
Tuesday: Me too
I shake my head at her across the store and her shoulders drop. The door opens and the two officers who handled our break-in stroll in, ready to bust some hardened criminals. I meet them halfway and start explaining what happened this morning. If this is how Greer is going to act all day, it’s going to be a long one.