"We’re good? Like, nothing’s weird between us now?"
I shook my head. "Nothing’s weird."
He exhaled in relief and nodded. "Good." With that, he swung his legs out of bed and stood, stretching his arms to the sky. As he did, I couldn’t help but notice the way his body moved, the trail of hair leading down into his shorts, and the way he groaned as he moved. It did something to me—my gut stirred and my body flushed with heat. It reminded me of the porn I’d seen. The one I had neglected to mention to him. It suddenly seemed important that I not tell him about it after all.
I shook my head at myself and exhaled sharply, turning away from Emery and facing the wall until the fluttering in my stomach subsided.
"Dibs on changing in the bathroom," Emery said to my back. A few seconds later, the bathroom door shut behind me.
I stood, a little shaky, a little confused. What was going on with me? Maybe it had been too long since I’d gotten laid. While he was in there, I pulled clean clothes on and tried some deep breathing to center myself. I made my way to the front bedroom and called out for Emery as I heard the bathroom door open.
He came into the room just as thunder boomed outside. "I don’t think we’re getting much done today."
I shrugged. "I can check those pipes in the other bathroom, so we can get the water running again. Plus, we need to run to the grocery store for supplies. Hot dogs and marshmallows can only get you so far."
He snorted. "Says you."
"Some of us aren’t thirteen years old anymore."
"You calling me old?"
I shook my head. "Never. Because if you’re old, then so am I." We were both nearing forty, nowhere near old enough to be considered old. "Let’s make a game plan."
"Okay. Where do we start?"
I looked around. "I say we get everything out of this room and trash anything that can’t be saved. Then we’ll make our way into the other rooms. We can get a good idea of what needs to be repaired or replaced." A crackle of lightning sounded outside. "And it’ll keep us indoors until we need to make a grocery run."
"Sounds like a plan." He grinned, a lopsided, soft smile, and nodded. "Let’s get to it."
The morning passed quickly and soon my stomach was growling and there was furniture crowding the main living space. We’d removed everything and set aside anything salvageable, including a dresser, the beds, and a couple of small nightstands. They were all a little worse for wear but would probably be fine.
Emery stood and stretched, arching his back. "Okay, maybe weareold," he said, laughing.
"You want to break for the grocery store?"
"Deal."
A few minutes later, I pulled on a jacket and a hat to protect me from the rain and we ran outside to Emery’s SUV. The rain had slowed to a steady drizzle rather than the torrential downpour we’d had earlier in the day, which was a relief.
As soon as we were safely in the dry car, Emery turned to me. "That’s a terrible hat."
“Your mom’s a terrible hat.”
He snorted. “Did you just make a joke about my mom?”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
Emery laughed and shook his head. “I thought we were more mature than that.”
“Clearly you thought wrong. My immaturity runs deep.” I chuckled and nodded toward the road. “We going or what?”
Hetskedand started the car. “Not sure I want to be seen with that hat on your head, but whatever.”
I defiantly tugged my baseball cap more snugly on my head. "What do you have against my hat, anyway?"
He shrugged. "It makes your ears look funny. Hides your eyes, too."
"Whatever you say.” I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "Just drive."
