Page 14 of Jack Frosting

“Fuck yes.”

He laughed. “Thai okay?”

I nodded. “You good if I clean up first?”

“Of course. You good with the stairs?”

“I can handle the stairs. Thank you,” I answered with a smile.

Clayton moved a few steps closer. “I’m really sorry my…uh-”

“Fluids?”

“Oh Jesus…yes,” Clayton answered. “I’m sorry that happened.”

“I’m not.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “You’re not?”

“Now I know you’re”–I searched for the right word–“adventurous.”

I turned and made my way down the troublesome stairs, wondering why the fuck I just flirted with my single dad landlord. What was I thinking?!

FIVE

CLAYTON

I stood in the kitchen, alone and speechless.

Jack was…interested in me?

No way. He’s just a flirty person.

It was pointless to think about it anyway. He was living with me and my son. It didn’t matter how full his jock was when I found him on the floor earlier. I needed to order dinner anyway.

Once I got off the phone, I noticed how much of a disaster the kitchen was. No matter how many times I reminded Henry, he’d always leave his dishes wherever he wanted. But he’d been through enough, so I wasn’t about to scold him for it. I was home now full-time and until I found another job, I could take care of it all.

“Here, let me help you with that.”

He startled me and noticed.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“No worries”–of course he was wearing gray sweatpants, which did nothing to help get my mind off what was under them–“Thai food should be on its way.”

“Great! I’m starving,” he said, before bending over to load a few plates in the dishwasher.

It was like he was trying to tease me.

What if he’s doing it on purpose?

If this wasn’t a sign that I needed to go blow another random stranger at a club, then I don’t know what was. I’d been fine for months but after a few days with Jack in the house, I was already hallucinating his flirtatious behavior. There was no way he was interested in a recently abandoned father almost ten years his senior.

“Dad! The toilet’s clogged!”

With a son that was a handful.

“You know how to use the plunger!” I yelled back.