Chapter Twenty-One
Molly
While Brock and I lay talking in bed, I could hear Jake moving around in the apartment.
“Does he have class today?”
Brock looked at the clock, it was seven forty-five. “He must,” he said, “or he would never be up this early.”
“Can I stay in here until he leaves?”
I knew he would know, because since I didn’t go home last night, Megan will know. What Megan knows, Jake knows…for the most part.
Brock kissed me. I hated thinking about all of the kisses I’ve missed by holding out for so long. I loved his lips, and the rest of the body they were attached to. He was so kind and gentle, but at the same time he was all man. I shuddered, just thinking about last night.
“You can stay forever,” he said. Then he quickly changed the subject, like he hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “I’ll go make breakfast and see if I can hurry him up. I’ll let you know when it’s all clear.”
I kissed him back. I really liked this whole kissing thing and I hoped I wasn’t developing a dependency on it. What if I suddenly became like Megan and I couldn’t go five minutes without one?
“Thank you,” I told him, truly grateful that he was such a sweet guy.
Brock slipped on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and then he took a long-sleeved shirt out of his closet and said, “If you don’t want to get all dressed up in your pretty skirt and blouse for breakfast, you can wear this.”
“Thanks,” I said. After he had gone, I rolled on my back and stretched. I couldn’t stop smiling. I rolled over onto his pillow and breathed in his scent. I suddenly wanted to kiss him again.
I finally forced myself to get up a little bit later. I put on the shirt he left for me. It was long, stopping just below my knees and definitely more comfortable than putting my skirt and blouse back on would have been. I heard Jake call out, “See you later,” and then Brock said, a little too loudly, “Okay, Buddy! Have a good day.” That’s okay though, Jake probably wouldn’t get it anyways. I poked my head out the door and said, “Is the coast clear?”
“All clear,” he said. He was standing at the island in the kitchen slicing something or other. I came out of the bedroom and went into the bathroom. I had to at least finger-brush my teeth. I wanted to be prepared in case the opportunity arose again for a kiss.
Once I was looking vaguely human, I went out to the kitchen. Brock was still chopping and he looked up at me as I came down the hall and grinned.
“Mm, that shirt sure does look a lot better on you than it does on me,” he said. I felt my face flush and mumbled some kind of thank you. It was silly, I told myself. A girl who just woke up naked next to this guy shouldn’t be acting shy about wearing his shirt.
“It smells good in here,” I said, deftly changing the subject. “What are you cooking?”
“I made egg-white omelets with mushrooms and bell peppers and fat-free cheese,” he said.
“Wow, maybe you should be a chef instead of a musician,” I said, taking a seat at the counter.
“Quick, which would you rather, me sing to you or cook for you?”
“Sing,” I answered without hesitation.
He grinned, “I was hoping that would be the answer. I like to cook, but I live to sing.” To prove it, he started singing. I don’t even know the name of the song, or who the artist was, but it was once again, beautiful. As he sang he worked and when he went to the refrigerator to get something out he grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to me.
I smiled. “Thank you. You don’t have to take care of me, you know.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve seen you do a mighty fine job on your own. Sometimes it’s nice to have a little help though, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I told him as I opened the water and took a healthy drink of it. I think I needed it. I had barely been able to pee this morning. Dr. Harris was not going to be happy with my output unless it got better than this.
Brock put our omelets on a plate and added a side of toast. He sat one plate in front of me, and the other in front of the other barstool. “You want some juice?” he asked me.
“Is it green?” I asked. I wasn’t heartily against green juice, but I wasn’t what you could call a fan of it either.
“No, it’s peach mango,” he said with a grin.
“Then yes please,” I told him.
He sat down and when he did, he just reached out and lightly touched my hair. It was barely even a touch, more like a breeze from the motion of his hand, but it gave me goosebumps nonetheless. It was the intimacy of it. The fact that we had made love last night had forged an already forming bond even deeper. I liked it. While we ate, I asked him about his family.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” I asked him.
“I have a half-brother,” he said. “He’s a great kid, but I don’t get to see him that often. He lives in London with our mother.”
“How old is he?” I asked him.
He’s ten. He plays rugby already, and from what I’ve seen in the videos my mom sends me, he’s pretty good.” I could see by the way Brock’s eyes lit up that he was proud of his little brother.
“What about you? No siblings to torment you?” he asked.
“None that I know of,” I said. “With my mother unfortunately, who knows? She may have five more out there somewhere that someone else is raising. I don’t know who my father is, so he could have a hundred that I’ll probably never meet.”
I hoped after I said it, that I didn’t sound too bitter. I really wasn’t…most of the time. My mother had left me in a better place than she had ever lived in as an adult, so for that I suppose, I am grateful.
We talked for another half hour or so and then I helped him clean the kitchen. It was after nine now, and his first class was at ten. I went to put my skirt back on, thinking I would just throw my coat on over and walk home. When I came back out, Brock said, “It’s freezing out there. You’re not walking.”
“No offense to Suzie, but don’t you find it colder on her?”
He laughed. “I’m sure she would take none,” he said. “She likes you, and that can’t be said of most women. But I do see your point. I have to go that way anyways, for class. Will you at least wait and walk with me?”
“That sounds good,” I told him, honestly.
While he was gone getting dressed, I picked up one of his bottles of medications. I didn’t mean to snoop, I was just curious if it was one they had tried on me. Brock said it was to shrink the tumor. I wondered if it had to be only tumors in your brain, or perhaps it could work for a kidney or two. I put the bottle back before he came back out.