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“Can I put my feet up on the couch?” I asked mindlessly, kicking my sneakers off and shoving them under the table. I hoped my shoes were tame enough that I wasn’t about to torture the entire household with travel feet. I really should’ve showered, but drinking wine and eating chips felt much more important at the moment.
All three of my friends—roommates—turned to look at me as if I’d asked them to paint the sky yellow. I thought they might’ve just been shocked by the stench of my toes, but their faces twisted in bewilderment, not disgust, so I had to assume it was a reaction to my perfectly reasonable question.
“Put your feet wherever you want, Kai,” Jonah said, leaning his head back on the couch as he gazed sideways at me. I pulled my heels onto the seat, and he grabbed one of my ankles, urging me to position my legs over his instead. “This is your home.”
???
By 9:00 p.m.—6:00 a.m. in Spain—my eyes were starting to drift shut and my head hung heavily. I fought as valiantly as I could for more time with my friends, but Jonah insisted on taking me to the bathroom to clean up for bed with the promise of more fun tomorrow.
He sat on the edge of the tub and began brushing his teeth into the spout to leave me space at the sink. There was something so amusing about the image of him bent over, sticking his face under the short stream of bath water. I smiled as my exhaustion shifted into that very particular tired but happy feeling, like being sleepover drunk. Not intoxicated by alcohol, but by drowsiness and good company.
I grinned and began my work at the sink.
First, I brushed my teeth. Then, as I spit the toothpaste and filled my mouth with water to clean up, I splashed my whole face with water and moved right into washing my skin. I counted to sixty in my head as I rubbed the cleanser in before rinsing it off. Then I used a toner spray and then lotion. Next, I dabbed a thick, clear paste onto my lips.
“For my lip fillers,” I said, turning to Jonah. He was staring at me firmly now with his toothbrush hanging from his fingers. His eye roll was a reminder that he thought the fillers were stupid.
I turned back and brushed a serum onto my lashes before releasing the claw clip from my hair. I took my bottle of hair oil and pumped it three times into my palm before rubbing my hands together and running them through my waist-length waves. Then, taking a wide tooth comb, I combed through them. Using a fuzzy sock I had placed on the sink, I ponytailed my hair and pulled it through, fastening it with a scrunchie. Finally, as I rubbed my lips together and looked at myself in the mirror, I washed the excess oil from my hands with soap.
While drying between my fingers with a towel, I again faced Jonah. “I know it might seem like a lot, but it feels good to do stupid little things like that. It makes me feel pretty.” Besides, if I didn’t do my routine exactly as I’d constructed it, I’d fall off the wagon completely. My brain clung to my carefully crafted needs, and if I didn’t pump my oil three times or fasten my hair with the correct color scrunchie, it convinced me I was incomplete.
“No.” He stood with a pleasant expression, his gaze burning into me not with heat, but with a calm sweetness. “It’s fun to watch and, uh, nice to see. And you are pretty—inside, out, and all over.”
I returned my attention to the sink, my bottles clicking and clacking as I piled them back into my little hygiene bag. Jonah’s hand reached around me to drop his toothbrush into the designated cup. He then pressed his palms to the counter on either side of my hips. Our eyes met in the mirror, and I smiled.
His composure was as mature as I’d ever seen it. He’d been taking care of his long hair, and he had a few new tattoos on his arms since my last trip. I could tell that his facial hair had thickened from the shadow on his chin, though he never let it grow. Everything about him just seemed put together in an entirely new way. He was…an adult.
“You look good,” I said.
“And you have a sock in your hair.” I pretended to elbow his chest as punishment for his comment, and he chuckled. He was just tall enough to line up his mouth with the top of my head, just tall enough to press a confident kiss to the side of my temple. My Jonah was grown up, getting close, and showing affection. What a weirdo. “I guess now that we’re living together, we’ll learn a lot more about each other.”
I scoffed. “Please, Jonah. I know your preferred sleeping position. I don’t think it’s possible for us to learn more.”
His body was so close behind mine that I could feel the atoms pushing between his chest and my shoulder blades. I may have been staring at him a bit too creepily, because he averted his gaze with a little grin and placed his hands on my shoulders. He backed me away from the sink and turned me toward the door, signaling that it was time to rest.
Back in the room, I hid behind the closet door and changed into my pajamas while he did the same on the other side. I wondered if we would always awkwardly get dressed like this, or if we’d work out some sort of system. Maybe I should’ve considered that question before moving into his space. I made a mental note to get dressed in the bathroom next time.
“All right,” he said, tossing his things into his hamper. I handed him mine, and he threw them in as well. “Time to get to bed. You’ve had a long day, and we’re in for some fun tomorrow.”
I just stared, waiting for him to stumble across the traps Oli and I set and clinging to bits of my sleepover drunkenness as I forced my giggles to remain hidden in my chest. He crossed his arms and sighed before giving a quick nod to himself. Holding eye contact, he approached his bed, sat down, and slowly lowered himself to rest his head on the pillow, eliciting the faintest of sounds from the whoopee cushion below, almost like a pig’s oink.
I bit my lips back to hold in my amusement, but I was already practically crying, my face hot and full of humor.
He wrapped his arm around the side of his bed frame to pull his head down harder into the pillow, still refusing to break eye contact. The noise that came from beneath him was long and muffled, the whoopee cushion taking more than a handful of seconds to empty itself. With each passing moment, it only got harder to breathe through the laughter. Finally, the toy sputtered out, and I was practically on the floor. Jonah just shook his head as he retrieved it from beneath his pillow and placed it on the nightstand.
He must’ve assumed the coast was clear because he pulled back his blanket to get into bed without a hint of reservation. The dildo rolled off the side of the mattress and dropped onto the carpet. Fucking Oliver put it too close to the edge. Still, Jonah watched it fall, and the look on his face was arguably just as funny as startling him would’ve been. My laughter became so intense that it produced no noise.
“I’m not touching that,” he said, pushing his feet under his covers to get comfortable.
I slapped my thigh and picked the dildo up off the floor, stomping on weak legs. My stomach twisted with so much amusement that I was unable to straighten myself up fully as I crossed the hall to Oli and June’s room.
“Oh good,” Oli said, taking the toy in his giant hand. “Juni, Kai found my other ear plug.” The thing flopped over in his fist, and I simply couldn’t contain myself. I fell against the doorframe, hooting without control as June approached and took it from him.
“No, babe, this is my bracelet holder.”
“Oh god.” I smacked a hand over my chest. These two were going to kill me if they didn’t stop. “Okay, I can’t breathe. I’m headed back over to the dark side.”
“Kai, wait!” Oli said before I turned away. “Don’t forget your doorstop. Sometimes the doors slam when the windows are open.” His thumb pointed back toward the toy in June’s hand, and I genuinely lost my breath for a split second. I said nothing more as I made my way back across the hallway, my cheeks sore. How happy I was to be home.
