Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68390 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 342(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
I’m going to be amazed at this and not the least bit put out. I’m not going to let my nipples dictate my feelings.
“Sure, we can order something. But you didn’t have to do all this. It’s…it’s a lot. And on short notice, it has to be expensive.”
“Don’t worry about the money. I want to do this for you,” Sterling replies.
I start putting things back in the fridge. “Thank you,” I say to the fridge, and then I feel bad, so I turn around to face him. “Thank you, Sterling. That’s very kind.”
He hesitates like he’s done something wrong. I force a smile. I’m being silly. That’s what this man does to me. He makes me ridiculous. I get my phone instead and bring up a Mexican restaurant’s menu. I’m totally making that stir-fry tomorrow. I ignore my tight nipples, the burning in my belly, and the buzzing going on lower down. In a perfectly normal voice, I order tacos, then think about the whole Beans thing and how it’s probably up there with garlic and onions. Who wants to Dutch oven it out together when we spend our first night sharing covers? But it’s too late.
Couples who fart together stay together? Not sure if that’s a thing, but if Sterling can’t handle a fart, then he’s not the one. There are so many worse things we’d see from each other if we made this work and continued making it work.
After dinner, which is the world’s most delicious tacos, we take Beans out for a walk. It’s a good thing because I’m stuffed. Sterling ate at least seven tacos, and then I lost count, so he must need the walk as well.
Throughout the whole walk, I don’t feel eyes burning into my back, and I don’t ask if there’s security tailing us. I don’t really want to know.
We loop through the streets, twisting and winding through the blocks, saying nothing, but it’s an easy silence. After a while, we start making small talk. Sterling likes squirrels, and he thinks raccoons are hilarious. He also likes the particular shade of blue the recycling bins are. Then, he compliments a group of kids on their street hockey skills and finds a quarter that he says must be lucky. He slips it into my back pocket. We keep walking until the evening gets that dusky feeling I enjoy so much. Summer duskiness really is the best. I like that sunset, nighttime summer glow where the heat doesn’t fade, and the dark doesn’t feel long or oppressive like it does in winter.
We’ve been gone for a few hours, and I’m amazed that as soon as we walk back into the house, there are no crews, though I do see dust and some mess here and there. There are new registers and a new thermostat on the wall. When I glance outside, I can see the box unit set up out there, humming away. I’m shocked beyond everything. How many people had to come out to make this happen in just a few hours? They worked all through dinner, and it took a while to come, but it couldn’t have been more than four hours. Yes, they would have started around five, and it’s now after nine.
I duck back inside and find Sterling sweeping up the dust on the floor.
I help him clean up the mess after I feed Beans. When Beans is done eating, he takes up his favorite spot on the couch and waits for us to join him for movie night.
It’s already cold in here.
Really cold.
Cold enough that my bare arms have goosebumps on them, and if I were wearing shorts and not jeans, my legs would be goose-pimply too. It’s cold enough that I’m slightly freezing my beaver off. Yes, I went there, like nineteen seventies style. I’m privately amused, and I smile to myself as I clean up. I’ve heard of free-the-nipple, but now I’m thinking of freeze-the-nipple. At least I can blame how hard they are on the cold.
It takes a good hour to sweep up and wipe everything down. When we’re done, it’s already after ten, and I glance at Sterling, all the heat rushing to my face to combat the cold air circulating through the house. “Is it too late for a movie? Should we maybe just go to bed?”
“It is pretty late, I guess.”
“Are you tired?” I ask.
“Exhausted, but only because the last two nights have been sleepless, and the night before that wasn’t the best sleep either. And before that…uh, okay, that’s a long-winded answer. I am very ready for bed, and I don’t care how grandpa that sounds.”
“I’m tired too.” That’s a lie. Sort of. I am tired because I haven’t slept well either, but I’m also one hundred million percent fully awake.
Sterling has his things back from the hotel room. He brushes his teeth in the bathroom first while I get the bedroom ready, adjusting the blinds and the lighting. I think we’re still planning on putting on a performance, and I get all shivery just thinking about it.