A boisterous laugh crackles through the phone, I can’t help the smile that forms on my lips from the sound. “Anything you say. How’s Wednesday at Ruthies?”
“Sounds great.”
“Sweet dreams, Harper.”
“You should know, people close to me generally call me Harps.”
“Is that so?”
“It is,” I confirm, as I begin chewing on my thumb nail, a smirk playing on my lips.
“Alright then. Sweet dreams, Harps.”
“Goodnight, Xavier.”
It’s quiet for a moment before the call disconnects. I look back at my phone, before I shut the screen off and slip it in my pocket. I get up and put the fire out, letting the water extinguish the flames. Once that’s done, I place my blanket in the storage ottoman I keep outside and wake Evie up.
“Eves, get your ass up and get to bed.”
It takes a couple tries before she finally gets up and drags herself to the house. I finish the quick clean up of the backyard before I call Winnie in and head in for the night.
I have most of my stuff packed and ready to go for the end of the week. Evie and I sat down together, going over what she needs to do for Winnie while I’m gone. He’s pretty easy to take care of, but with this being my first long stint without him, I’m a bit worried. I don’t want him to feel like I’m abandoning him.
Xavier and I have been talking almost daily, and end the night on the phone now. It’s crazy that a couple weeks ago, I had literally fallen into this guy's lap. Now, I’m heading on a trip with him and his family a couple hours north to stay in his family’s ski lodge. How did my life take this turn?
Like he knew I was thinking about him, my phone rings.
“Well, hello.”
“Hey,” he greets, his deep baritone washing through me. “How was your day?”
I roll onto my side, putting the speakerphone on, resting my phone on the pillow next to me. I tuck my hands under my head as I respond. “It wasn’t too bad. I had a couple meetings and finished off my final round of edits for one of my people. How about yours?”
I hear some shuffling on his end of the phone, and the open and closing of a fridge, indicating he’s in his kitchen. I check my phone, seeing it’s nine thirty. “It was busy, but that seems to be the norm. I had the vet who is covering for me come in today so I could go over what the schedule should look like in the next couple of weeks. But, it’s the holidays, so you still can’t truly know what the place is going to look like. My only saving grace is Todd being there to run the front desk and keep everyone alive. I don’t know what I would do without them.” He barely gets the last word out before a yawn comes from him. “I just got in after locking the crew up for the night. So, I’m about to grill up some chicken and veggies to scarf down before going to bed.”
“That does sound like a busy day, but at least it was productive!” I feel movement on the bed and look down to see Winnie army crawling up the bed. His tail is thumping on the bed as he looks affectionately at me. Once he moves his body to melt into mine, I throw one arm over to embrace him. I kiss him lightly on the head. He huffs before he buries his head into my blankets and gets settled. I’m absentmindedly petting him, when Xavier’s voice comes in after I hear a clatter on the floor.
“Ah fuck,” he grunts.
Lifting myself up on my elbow, I let my curiosity show. “Is everything okay?” Pulling my phone toward me, I switch the call to video chat. When he doesn’t answer right away, I think the worst. There’s the clanking sounds again, and then a minute later, I hear the water running. It’s then that he accepts my call, having his phone leaning up against the wall facing him at the sink.
“Yeah I’m fine, I just wasn’t paying attention as I went to grab the dish out of the oven and I was using a dish cloth instead of my oven mitt, so I just burnt my thumb a bit. I’ll be fine though.”
“Jeez, yeah that sucks. Did you save your dinner at least?”
He chuckles. “You would be hearing a lot more swearing if I dropped my food along with it.”
There’s a comfortable silence as I watch him move around the kitchen, eyeing the flex of his arms as he puts on his oven mitts and then takes his dinner out of the oven. When he reaches above him his shirt rides up a bit, giving me a teasing glance of the patch of hair that starts from his belly button and works its way down into his shorts. He really is a delicious looking human being, and I'm still trying to figure out how this arrangement turned into something so—effortless.
For the last week, we’ve drifted between casual conversations about our days at work and what we’re doing. One night, I convinced him to watchIs it Cake?because he didn’t believe me when I said there are some people who do such a good job, you can’t tell which item is the cake. That night, we watched three episodes before I fell asleep, our call on the phone still connected. I woke up that morning to drool down my cheek and a message from Xavier saying I fell asleep and he hoped my sleep was great. I find myself smiling about that moment, when Xavier interrupts.
“I actually wanted to talk about tomorrow. With it being a couple hour drive, I don’t feel comfortable with you driving up there by yourself. You haven’t been there before, and sometimes the road to the lodge can be confusing.” I hear utensils working over a plate before it stops. “So, I’m going to pick you up.”
“Oh that’s really okay, I don’t mind driving my—”
“I wasn’t asking Harps, I would feel better if you drove up with me.”
I pause there for a moment. His tone leaves no room for arguments, but he does it in a way that shows that he cares. It doesn’t take me long before I agree with him. “Fine.”
