Page 93 of Academically Yours

TWENTY-FOUR

Matthew

I didn’t think I had ever enjoyed a week so much in my entire life. We had been enjoying ourselves in every possible location in my house: the couch, the shower, the kitchen counter, and of course, the bed. Last night we had fallen asleep, still naked and cuddled up next to each other.

“What do you want to do today?” I asked, still lazing in bed with Noelle next to me.

She hummed, rolling over to face me, eyes still glassy with sleep. “Sleep.” Noelle cuddled her head into my chest and closed her eyes.

“Sunshine.” I brushed the messy strands out of her face. “There’s nothing I’d like more than to spend all day in bed with you, but we only have a few more days together, and I don’t want to waste them.”

Noelle grumbled. I swear, trying to get her out of bed in the morning was like trying to raise the dead. “Ten more minutes,” she mumbled.

I smiled, pecking her forehead with a small kiss. “I’m going to go shower.” I tried to pry her body off mine.

That did it. Her eyes flew open, and she pouted. “Without me?”

I swatted at her bare ass. She had taken to only wearing my shirts to bed, and I had to admit I really liked it. “Come on, then.”

After we were both showered and clean (showers took twice as long with Noelle, but I didn’t mind), we went into the kitchen so I could make breakfast.

Noelle sat on the counter while I fried us some eggs, and bacon, and popped some toast in the toaster.

“So.” She kicked her legs as she leaned back on the granite. “What’s the plan for today, prof?”

“I think I asked you that, Noelle. Is there anything you want to do?”

She bit her lip. “Well, we could go to the beach, take Snowball with us?”

“It’s still less than sixty degrees outside.”

“Okay, point taken. Hmm…” She looked deep in thought for a moment. “Bookstore day?”

I placed one hand on each side of her as I kept the spatula in my right one. “You just want to buy more books, don’t you?”

“Maybe.” She stuck her tongue out at me. “Oh! What about going to the Farmer’s Market? There’s normally one around here on Wednesdays… and I haven’t been to it since college.”

“Oh, yeah?” She took her phone out, typing furiously and searching for something. Finally, she spun around her phone towards me. “Okay, that sounds nice.” I nodded while reading the details. “We can get some stuff to make dinner with.”

When I clicked out of the window accidentally, I realized her background photo was us from behind, holding hands at the zoo. I smiled just looking at it. It was before we were a couple—or anything, really, and she was leaning into me, and I was looking at her like I had never seen her before.

It made me realize I needed a photo of her for my own lock screen and background.

Noelle, oblivious to my inner monologue, beamed. “Don’t think I’m letting you out of that bookstore date, though.”

“Of course not.” I turned my attention back to our breakfast, and after it was done, Noelle hopped off the counter and we both sat at the table, eating side by side. “Tomorrow, maybe?”

She nodded. “Let’s just enjoy the sunshine today.”

And we did.

The farmer’s market was bustling with people who had all seemed to come out in droves for the sunny day, but it didn’t bother me, even as Noelle and I weaved in and out through the crowd.

We had picked up some things to make for dinner that night, as well as various produce items, cheeses, and loaves of bread. Noelle was a sucker for bread, and well—I was a sucker for her.

“Come on,” she said, pulling me over to one of the food trucks. “Let’s get a snack. I’m starving.”

I laughed. “We ate breakfast like two hours ago.”