Page 22 of Not Your Romeo
Ziggy
I wasn’t used to waking up next to anyone, let alone being tangled with them all night. She wasn’t just a cuddler, Ro was a damn octopus.
I was almost relieved when my phone finally vibrated on the nightstand.
“Yeah?” I mumbled, my voice thick with sleep, even if I hadn’t gotten much.
“If you want these biscuits and gravy while they’re still warm, you better get that door open,” Henny sang.
“Yeah,” I grunted with a little more conviction as I threw a leg off the bed. Ro’s body remained draped over the other side.
I exhaled on a groan and stared at her, somewhat amused by the faint snoring. I didn’t know snoring could be cute, but it was kind of puppy-like.
“Scoot,” I grunted, tapping at her hip.
She murmured, and flung her arm out, all but ‘clothes lining’ me in the process. I cleared my throat, and she moved her arm off it.
“What?” she whined.
Oh, no. No. No. I couldn’t be smothered by an octopus all night and have something whining in my ear before the ass crack of dawn, too. I shoved her across the bed without a second thought and shot off my side before she’d finished shrieking. She finished flailing and gathered the covers around herself, pulling up on her knees to stare at me in that ‘wide eyed, startled from slumber’-type of way.
“What the fuck?” she demanded, as I hopped into my boxers and left the room without explanation.
I unlocked the front door and moved to the kitchen while Henny let himself inside. He was carrying a paper bag from the diner I favored. As he neared the table, he began to unpack.
“Biscuits and gravy?” I grunted, staring at the three steaming containers.
“You got it.”He popped the lid off one and presented it to me.
“Fuck, yeah,” I sank down in the seat and the movement behind him caught my attention when Ro appeared. “Morning, Sunshine.”
I winked at her and Henny turned to face her.
“Hey, Ro.” He raised his chin at her, but she didn’t return the gesture or the greeting. “Ey, I’m sorry I slung you out of the car yesterday, aight?”
Her gaze snapped from him to me. “C’mere, Henny brought us breakfast. I put Zeus in the utility room until the food is gone.”
I tapped the top of one of the other containers in offering. She briefly glanced at it before cutting her eyes back to Henny.
“Sorry for calling you a bitch. I shouldn’t have said that,” she sleepily mused, stepping around him.
I wasn’t really expecting her to apologize for it and paused with the fork midway to my mouth. When they both looked at me, I hurriedly returned to my food.
“I’ll forgive you, but only if you take that mutt with you when you leave.” She sniffed like she was playing but I could tell she was dead serious.
I laughed and saluted him with my chin, silently giving my consent.
“I didn’t want to say anything, because I really can’t be sure,” Ro stammered, “But– I don’t think he has them snared in anything– Your brother and his daughter, I mean. I’m pretty sure he’s just bluffing.”
“That the type of thing he does often?” Henny asked, taking a seat himself.
She popped the lid off her breakfast and raised one shoulder, “My brother has an odd sense of humor, but… we’re married, so that has to change things. He can’t have Sammy, she’s practically family to him now.”
I set my fork down and stared at her, until she realized I was doing so.
“What the fuck do you mean– Your ‘brother?’”
She finished chewing and sighed. “It’s hard to explain.”
