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“Do you realize you flirt without even knowing it?”
“Huh?”
“You call me babe or baby often. I don’t even think you’re aware of it. It just comes natural to you. It’s like breathing.”
“What makes you think I’m not aware of the fact I call you baby?”
“Well, because I’m me. You wouldn’t flirt with me intentionally.”
“Do you hate it when I call you baby?”
“Don’t forget babe,” she murmurs. She’s smiling, her eyes soft as she stares at me. She’s curled on her side, her hands are under her cheek, pressing into her pillow. She takes my fucking breath away and I love that she’s wearing my tee.
“Hmm?” I hum, lost in thought, wondering what I’m not supposed to forget. It’s hard to think when someone so beautiful is in your bed and staring at you.
“Don’t forget you call me babe, too.”
“Oh,” I respond, sounding lame. For a minute I thought she was calling me babe and I really hate she wasn’t. “Do you hate it?” I ask again.
“No,” she laughs. “I’m not as stupid as I was when I was a teenager.”
“What does that mean?” I frown, not liking the fact that she ever thought she was stupid. She’s the smartest, strongest person I know.
“That when I was a teen, and you called me baby, I swooned.”
“Is that right?” I practically purr.
“Stop,” she orders, her voice full of sass. “The point is, I would take it as a sign that you liked me as much as I liked you. I told you I was stupid.”
“Stop calling yourself that,” I warn, not liking it one bit.
“I’m serious. Teenage girls are full of raging hormones and insecurities. I was stupid. We all are at that age. Mine was just worse because I had this crush on someone I should have never looked at. You weren’t for me. I knew it, but I ignored it.”
“Thea—”
“This is kind of an embarrassing conversation, Dom. Can we just let it drop?” she basically pleads.
I take a minute to decide what I should do. It would be smart to let it go. Then again, I’ve never been smart. Why the hell should I start now? After all of the wrong that I’ve dished out, seems like it’s about time I try to make up for it—at least a little.
“Babe is a throwaway. I’ve used it from time to time, I admit it. I also admit that I use it mostly when I’m annoyed. Sometimes I alternate it with the word woman.”
“Dom,” she groans. “I told you I understood?—”
“Baby is a word that I only use when it’s someone I care about. It’s not flirting, Thea. It’s plain out saying you’re important to me.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m dead serious.”
“Okay, fine. How long is this list of women you refer to as baby?”
“Two.”
“That’s a quick answer, sure you don’t want time to think about it?”
“Not at all, though it may give you reason to hate me more.”
“I don’t hate you, Dom.”
