Page 46 of Falling for Her

My bedroom door is open, and my feet move before my head tells them not to. She’s on her side sleeping, her head on my pillow.

“Good night, Finley,” I whisper and close the door before making my way to the hallway closet to grab a neatly folded blanket.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

FINLEY

I turn over in bed and notice a musky smell right away. When my eyes flutter open, it takes me a second to realize where I am. The long blackout shades on the windows are open, letting light stream in.

When he told me to use his bed since he would be home late, I considered sleeping on the couch instead. But he’d told me not to, and I probably had enough strikes against me already for fucking up. It’s only a matter of time before he finally has enough of me, so I decided to pick my battles and came upstairs.

The minute my head hit his pillow, and I smelled the faint scent of him, it was as if a switch went off in me. I drifted off to sleep faster than I’ve ever fallen asleep before.

His room screams I’m a bachelor with the dark tones, from his dresser to his side tables to even his charcoal-gray duvet cover. The only light-colored items are the white sheets. Even the chair in the corner of the room screams man, with its rich brown leather. It looks like it belongs in one of those clubhouses where only men can enter. Like you would sit in it after a long day at the office and smoke a cigar.

There are framed photos on the corner of the long dresser facing the bed. There’s one of Lincoln and Asa together in front of a Christmas tree. In another, he has his shirt off, and a baby Asa is lying on him, his head bent to kiss the top of Asa’s head. Then there is one of Lincoln when he was younger, in uniform, with an older man beside him who looks exactly like him, so I’m assuming it’s his father.

I inhale before I slip out of bed to use his bathroom. In contrast to his bedroom, the bathroom is all white, with a long double sink vanity across from the door. Two single mirrors are above the sinks, each with a black light fixture on top that matches the black handles of the drawers and the cupboards. All of his stuff is gathered around just one of the sinks. His basketball shorts from yesterday are thrown on the light-gray cushion of a built-in bench against the wall.

I check on Asa, and when I see he’s still sleeping, I head downstairs. I stop midway when I see Lincoln on the couch. A blanket is on the bottom half of his body, and his chest is bare. One of his hands is over his head while the other rests on his stomach. His face is soft in sleep, and my stomach flutters.

I look from him to the door that has the coffee machine behind it. I take a full second before I make the decision, and instead of going to make a coffee, I head back up to his bedroom. When I ran to my place to get my pj’s last night, I couldn’t be bothered to grab a new change of clothes for fear that something would happen to Asa. So I make his bed and change into yesterday’s shorts and tank top.

I hear Asa get out of his bed and rush to leave his room, and I meet him as he opens the door. He squints in the light coming up the stairs from the kitchen. I put my finger to my lips.

“Morning, buddy,” I whisper to him. “Your dad is on the couch sleeping. How about we get dressed and go pick up some breakfast from the bakery and bring it back for him?”

“Okay,” he says softly.

“Do you think you can get changed and brush your teeth without waking him?” He nods his head. “Do you think we can sneak out of the house without him waking?”

Asa’s face fills with a huge smile, and he nods again. “Oh yeah.” He turns and rushes back into his room as I wait for him. He comes out five minutes later in shorts and a T-shirt, wiping his mouth.

“This is the plan,” I tell him. “We walk downstairs and sneak past him to the front door⁠—”

“No.” He shakes his head. “We head to the garage and go out the side door.”

“Oh. That’s better than my idea.” He smiles proudly. “Follow me and hold on to the railing. The steps are slippery.”

“Got it,” he confirms, and I walk to the steps on my tippy-toes.

Going down one step and then the next, I look over my shoulder at Asa, who is copying my every move. We make it to the bottom step and stand there for a second to confirm that Lincoln is still sleeping. Then I point to the front door where our shoes are. Asa creeps silently over to pick up his and mine and comes back to me.

We make our way to the kitchen and the door that leads to the garage. I instinctively close my eyes as I slowly turn the handle all the way before softly pushing it open. It makes a little creak, and I freeze. Asa looks at me with big eyes. We listen intently, but don’t hear anything.

I ease the door open more. Asa slips out, and I follow him, shutting the door as quietly as I can. Asa sits on the step in the garage, tying his sneakers, as I slide my feet into my flip-flops.

“Ready?” I whisper. He nods, and we head outside through the side door.

Only when we are on the sidewalk do I speak in a normal voice. “Look at us,” I hold up my hand. “We are amazing.”

He gives me a high five. “I thought he was going to wake up for sure.”

I suddenly remember I don’t have my car. “It’s a nice day, why don’t we walk to the bakery to give him more time to sleep?” He nods his head, and we start the ten-minute walk.

The breeze is warm, and I can already tell it’s going to be a hot day. The sun is shining, and there are zero clouds giving shade.

When we get to the air-conditioned shop, there are people in line.