“The Proposal. It’s my favorite.”
“What’s your favorite? The show or Ryan Reynolds?” I ask and she grins.
Outside, the sun sets on the horizon, and the streets go quiet as everyone settles themselves in for the night. I jump up to close the window and sneeze when a breeze blows in.
“You must be getting a cold,” Gemma says.
“Allergies. It’s that time of year. I better start taking my meds.”
I grab another beer, sit back down and when a commercial comes on, I turn to Gemma. “What do you guys do at this Davis weekend, anyway?”
She turns my way, and when I notice her glass is empty, I jump up, and get the bottle from the kitchen. As I refill her glass she says, “Oh, we have a barbecue, swim, play games.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It usually is. Just…”
“Brad?”
“Yeah?”
She turns back to the commercial, effectively cutting me off, and I let it go for the time being. Her ex is a sore spot, and I suspect there is more going on than she wants to say. I sit next to her, fully aware of her presence for the rest of the movie. It’s hard to concentrate when she chuckles or makes those little breathy sounds when something romantic happens. She’s definitely a romantic at heart.
The final credits come on and Gemma flicks the TV off. She exhales slowly, and that’s when I realize I can’t drive her home for two reasons. One, my daughter is asleep and even if I did call the neighbor over to watch her for a few minutes, two, I’ve had a couple drinks.
“I should get going. I have to pack tonight too and head to the Cape.” She gives a very unenthusiastic, “Yay,” then shakes her head and groans. “I love my family, I really do. I hate that I’m not looking forward to going.”
“It’s understandable. Your ex will be there and that makes it awkward.”
“His family, my family, they all go way back,” she says with a frown. “I just wish he understood that we’re over. I stayed with him too long as it was,” she mumbles, and her eyes go wide, like she said too much, but I’m beginning to get a clearer picture of Brad here, and I don’t like it one little bit.
“I was just thinking.” I glance out at the dark night. “Maybe you should stay the night.” Her eyes go big again and I quickly clarify. “I just mean it’s late, and,” I point to my empty beer bottles. “I didn’t think before I had a couple drinks. I’m not used to having women over and driving them home.”
“I can get an Uber,” she says, and stretches out, but she doesn’t look like she’s in any hurry to leave.
“Yeah, but you know. I’m not really comfortable with that. If I can’t see you home safely, and personally, then I’d rather you’d stay.” I stifle a sneeze again, and gesture toward the stairs. “I can drive you home in the morning, on the way to Kaitlyn’s grandparents’ house.”
“It is late,” she says. “I don’t really have any reason to rush home.” She looks down for a moment, and I sense the loneliness in her. I understand it, perfectly.
“I have a spare toothbrush and some clothes you can wear.” Her face pales and I instantly realize she’s thinking I mean Zoe’s. “My clothes,” I say. “They’ll be big on you, but no one will see, but you.”
“I guess,” she says. “You don’t think Kaitlyn will mind…or get the wrong idea?”
“She’s six. The only ones who might get the wrong idea are my neighbors and believe me they’d be thrilled.”
I stand and pull her up with me.
“Thrilled?”
“They’re always trying to set me up. When I dropped Liam off, his mother basically gave me the winky-wink and thumbs up.”
She laughs. “I guess we’re definitely going to give them something to talk about.”
“Big time.” She follows me up the stairs and into my bedroom. I pull open my dresser and grab her a clean t-shirt. I toss it on the bed and grab a pair of sweat shorts with a drawstring from my closet. I hand them to her.
“Did you tell them we were just friends?” she asks as she stifles a yawn. “That we go way back?”
I snort. “Yeah, but they have their own theory on that.”
“Oh, like friends with benefits,” she says with a laugh that sounds a little hoarse, and my dick twitches as it encourages me to go for it. I’m not looking for a relationship, and she doesn’t seem to be, either. Friends with benefits, however.
Whoa, where did that come from?
“Let them talk, Gemma. Maybe it will stop them from trying to set me up.”
She picks the clothes up and holds them against her body. “All right then. Let’s give them something to talk about.” Her smile falls off. “I don’t mean literally. I just mean—”
“I know what you mean,” I say. I back out of the room. “I’ll leave a spare toothbrush out for you and in the morning, I’m making waffles.”
She laughs, totally getting the joke. “That’ll do donkey,” she says to my reference to the children’s movie.
Her laugh follows me down the hall as I make a quick trip to the bathroom, take a couple of allergy pills and check on Kaitlyn. I drop down onto the sofa and sprawl out. I wake up sniffing from allergies, and completely foggy-brained, going to the kitchen for a drink of water. Still half asleep I groggily climb the stairs and crawl back into bed.
4
Gemma
A strange noise in the distance pulls me awake. My lids fly open, my heart beating double time in my chest as the last fragment of my erotic dream drifts away. I glance around the
