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No matter how bad my anxiety is, this is happening tonight, and the best thing to do is to remember my breathing exercises and prepare mentally as I’ve practiced with the therapist in Oklahoma that I used to see that helped with the anxiety after the tornado.
I had planned to find someone new when we moved to Seattle, but I just never got around to it, and I really felt like I had the tools I needed to combat my anxiety since my panic attacks were becoming less and less.
“My bedroom is at the end of the hall if something happens. Night Brynn.”
I bet he'd be as interested in spending a night with me in his bed as he would if he were volunteering to sleep out on the porch tonight.
“Don’t be such a scaredy cat, Brynn; you can do this. You can sleep alone in a storm. Your entire future happiness with Daniel depends on this.” I coach myself.
I stare over at the bed and think about stripping out of these drenched and grimy clothes and pulling on some pajamas. But the idea of sleeping all night in the saltwater that I’m covered in has me squirming in my own skin.
I spin quickly towards the exit of the spare bedroom just in time to catch Seven before he leaves me here for the rest of the night.
I hate to ask for more favors, but I really need this one.
“Could I maybe take a shower before bed? I feel gross from traveling all day, and the rainwater feels sticky.”
I doubt he cared about my reasoning, but I gave it anyway. I am inconveniencing him, after all.
He turns back to me and nods.
“Yeah, follow me.”
Seven took a right out of the bedroom and then immediately left to go back the way we came.
He flips on the light to the bathroom before I enter behind him.
Unsurprisingly, the bathroom continues the house's general theme, but the walk-in shower looks like a new insert—something designed in the last decade.
Seven walks deeper into the bathroom, opening a floor-to-ceiling cabinet and pulls a crisp white fluffy towel out. Then he plops it down on the small countertop near the sink.
“If you need anything else, it should all be in the cabinet. There’s nothing fancy in the shower, but you can use whatever is in there.”
“Thanks,” I say, still standing just inside the bathroom doorway as I watch him move from one area to the next to make sure I have everything I need.
He reaches into the shower and cranks the handle one way. A stream of water with good pressure comes out of the shower head, and as of this moment, there is nothing sweeter that my eyes have ever beheld.
I’m itching to get into that shower and wash off this day, especially since the sand has dried between my toes.
“The shower was plumbed in wrong when they remodeled it. Hot is cold, and cold is hot. I’ve been meaning to fix it. If you forget which is which, it won’t take long before you figure it out.”
I half expect him to give me a playful smirk, but he doesn’t.
“Oh… okay. Got it,” I say, making a mental note.
“Tomorrow, we’ll find you somewhere else to stay.”
He turns back from the shower and then heads for the bathroom door, not bothering to look back over his shoulder.
“I appreciate you letting me stay here.”
I’m no more excited about the proposition of staying in this house with him than he is. The idea of finding a vacant room in one of the large, all-inclusive resorts in the city is far more appealing at this point.
“I’m headed to bed,” he says.
“Night,” I say, watching him walk out of the bathroom door frame and pull the door shut behind him.
I reach back and lock the door just for good measure, though I have a feeling that Seven has absolutely zero interest in me whatsoever.
