Page 147 of What We Break
"You lift patients all day. You're stronger than you look."
He's not wrong. Yeah, the orderlies do the really heavy lifting when they can, but you can't plan for a wobbly patient, or a fainter. "Flattery will get you everywhere."
His grin is hot, naughty, and my tummy does a little jump. "I'm counting on it."
After dinner, we clean up together. "I love this," I say as Reid rinses the last bowl.
"What, doing dishes?"
"No, dummy. This. Us. Being here together like this is just... normal."
Reid turns to look at me, dish towel in his hands. "Normal's good?"
"Normal's perfect. I spent so many years thinking normal was boring. Turns out I was wrong."
Reid steps closer, until we're standing toe to toe in his kitchen. "What else were you wrong about?"
"Lots of things, probably. But mainly about whether I was built for this kind of life."
"What kind of life?"
"The kind where you stay in one place long enough to know which grocery store has the best produce. The kind where you have inside jokes with your boyfriend. The kind where you can picture yourself in five years and it doesn't scare you."
Reid's hands come up to frame my face. "Can you? Picture yourself here in five years?"
I look into his green eyes, see the hope and affection there, and realize that yes, I absolutely can. "Yeah. I can."
"Good," Reid says, leaning down to kiss me. "Because I'm planning on you being here."
Saturday morning.Reid's arm is heavy across my waist, his breath warm against my neck.
So cozy.
"You awake?" he mumbles.
"Barely."
"Good. Don't move." He pulls me closer. "What time is it?"
"No idea."
"Perfect."
We drift for a while. His fingers trace lazy patterns on my hip. No alarm. No shift. No reason to be anywhere but here. Lazy mornings like this are something I didn't appreciate until my thirties. I was either passed out till noon, or up with the birds and working. But this in-between, awake but drifting, is all kinds of wonderful.
"I have an idea," Reid says eventually.
"Dangerous words."
"Hear me out." He props himself up, hair sticking in six directions. "There's a dog park about fifteen minutes from here."
"Okay..."
"We should go."
I roll over to face him. "Reid. We don't have a dog."
"I'm aware."
