Page 16 of If I See You Again

David

T he anxiety rolled off Malcolm in waves as he folded his clothes and stuffed them into drawers. He slammed them closed when he finished before spinning to face me. “Again, I’m so sorry that she sprung that on you. It was supposed to be just us.”

I laughed, crossing the room and looping my arms around his waist, pulling him into my chest. He usually tensed when I got physically affectionate with him, but for the first time in weeks, he caved to the touch.

“Malcolm, it’s fine. I think your mother is just excited.”

He sighed, leaning against me before finally pushing out of my hold. “She’s excited for the wrong reasons.”

There was that sting again. I had gotten so many mixed signals from Malcolm since that first night back in Chicago.

He’d crawled right back into bed with me, but we were in the same predicament.

I knew his job was at risk. It was foolish to think about anything different, but this was getting tiresome.

“Who’s saying she told them anything? When was the last time you were home for the holidays?”

That seemed to have him deflating a little.

He sank to the mattress and held his head in his hands.

“You’re right. A couple of years have passed.

It all got to be so much after Marcus… and even now…

” He looked off toward the bedroom door.

It was closed, but I hadn’t missed the door at the end of the hall, wondering if they ever opened it.

Was that what was bothering him so much?

“I get it. Trauma is hard. Especially if you all went through it for years.”

His laugh was derisive and humorless. “It was so sudden. Marcus was the life of the party until we got to college. Then it was like he became a stranger. His life was just sucked right out of him…”

I couldn’t imagine living like that. Watching someone you loved crumble into nothing. The person you thought would be around forever. Your other half.

Instead of letting him continue to dwell, I sat next to him on the bed and placed my hand on his back.

He was warm and sank into my side, accepting my comfort.

“So maybe give them a little more credit. They’re not bad people.

I like that your mom cooked dinner tonight.

If we’d gone to my place, my mother would have dragged us to a restaurant. She hates to cook.”

That earned me a genuine laugh. “Don’t tell her that. She’ll feed you until you’re stuffed.”

A playful grin spread across my face as I leaned in close to Malcolm’s ear. “Stuffed? I can think of better ways to be stuffed.”

A shiver raced through his frame, but he didn’t pull away from me.

Not only was he not drawing lines in the sand again, but he was responding to me.

It was the one thing that really drew me in the first time we’d met.

His responsiveness was like his body knew exactly what it wanted, even if his brain didn’t.

S oft light filtered through the gauzy curtains, and I sank deeper into the warm blankets wrapped around me.

When the bed shifted, I smiled. Malcolm had been so worried about the sleeping arrangements, but we’d maintained our distance through the night.

Not that I would have minded if he’d curled into me.

“Morning.” His voice was scratchy, thick with sleep.

I rolled over to face him. “Hey, gorgeous.”

A faint blush spread across his cheeks. I liked seeing him like that. He was so rumpled in the mornings, with just a hint of dark stubble across his face. He was so damn handsome, and I was lucky to have run into him that day at the restaurant.

“You woke up early.”

I huffed a laugh. “As did you.”

His shoulder, the one not pressed to the mattress, lifted in a shrug. “I’m always an early bird. I don’t think I’d know how to sleep in if you paid me.”

That was something I could relate to. Ever since I graduated from college and started building my empire, it was a miracle I slept at all most days.

I leaned closer. The call of his tempting plump lips was too alluring to ignore when my stomach grumbled.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, sitting up suddenly.

Disappointment churned in my gut as I rolled and crawled from the warm cocoon of the blankets. “I could eat something.”

Malcolm pulled on a pair of flannel pants over his boxer briefs, and I watched like a creeper. He had a round, firm ass that trailed down to strong thighs covered with the perfect amount of hair. My attraction to him remained strong.

“Good, because when my mom makes breakfast, she doesn’t hold back.” He stretched, and I watched as his muscles contracted when his arms lifted above his head. I needed to turn away before I popped a stiffy and had to take care of things before I could eat something.

Malcolm slid from the room before I could even wrap my head around what was going on. At least I didn’t have to worry about him catching me ogling him anymore.

I pulled out a pair of black sweats and a T-shirt.

While Malcolm may have been comfortable walking around shirtless in his family home, I didn’t know these people that well.

I pulled the soft cotton over my head and found my way to the bathroom across the hall just as Malcom was walking out.

We almost crashed into each other, and he smiled at me as we awkwardly maneuvered around one another.

The bathroom was small, but I smiled at the toothbrush propped next to the sink.

I looked out the door, but Malcolm must have already gone downstairs.

After emptying my bladder and brushing my teeth, I followed suit and joined the family in the kitchen.

It turned out that the entire Fisher family didn’t know how to sleep in.

“Good Morning,” Dana said as she pulled a few mugs from the cabinet. The smell of roasted coffee beans and greasy bacon permeated the room. My stomach let out another grumble as I took one of the offered cups and filled it with the steaming brew from the pot.

Covering the counter were all sorts of breakfast items. Pancakes, eggs, sausages, bacon, biscuits, and an assortment of fresh fruit.

Malcolm leaned into me as I was pouring a small amount of cream into my coffee to whisper, “I warned you about breakfast. She’s probably been up since four in the morning making all of this. ”

I snorted before lifting the mug and taking a sip. The bitter liquid soothed me and took away the last of the fogginess of sleep.

Dana smacked her son on the shoulder as she took plates from the cupboard. “We’re not overly formal around here. Go ahead and help yourself.”

Malcolm grabbed a plate and filled it full of all the different foods before sitting at the tiny table set in a little nook in their kitchen.

We’d all squished into it the night before for dinner, but it made everything feel so cozy.

Comfortable. It was nice that they were close enough as a family that it didn’t drive them crazy.

Then again, it had just been Malcolm’s parents the last few years.

If we’d had to share such close quarters in my childhood home, Audrey and I would have ripped each other to shreds.

I scooted into the bench seat next to Malcolm. Our thighs touched, and a little zing of electricity pinged through me at the contact. I wanted so much more with the man.

We ate our food quietly while his parents messed around the kitchen. There wasn’t a need to sit so close to him other than wanting to. When Malcolm didn’t complain, I couldn’t bring myself to move.

“What are your plans for the day?” Mr. Fisher asked as he filled his coffee cup for the second time.

Malcolm stuffed a bite of toast in his mouth and talked around it. It was cute how little crumbs went spraying across the table as he spoke. “I figured I’d take David around town a little. Show him some places I used to hang out…”

My eyebrows rose because that was an awfully boyfriend-y thing to do. If he was trying to convince his family that we were nothing more than coworkers, that wasn’t how to do it.

“That’s nice. You should take him over to the ice cream shop off Mayport.

You and Marcus used to love that place…” Dana trailed off, looking between us.

No doubt she knew of Malcolm’s history of telling people about his brother.

I knew a little, but I wonder if she had any idea what I knew. And did I know as much as other people?