Page 28 of West (The Moral Compass 1)
She starts to look through the freezer and looks back over her shoulder at me with a puzzled face. She then opens the cupboards and, again, looks back at me. She turns to face me. “Do you actually live here? I meanlivehere, as in, you don’t just sleep here?”
She asks but, for some reason, it feels like there is another question hidden underneath the actual question.
“Yes, of course I do. I don’t eat much frozen, processed food which is why the freezer only contains ice cubes, and I don’t have anything in the fridge because I threw it all out just before you came to stay. Did you forget I was at the hospital the whole week before you were discharged? The food had gone bad. I wanted to go shopping before I picked you up, but the doctor discharged you earlier than I expected. That is why I shamelessly offered takeaway for lunch.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry, my bad. I suppose McDonald’s is out of the question, then?” She looked sulky, but then her face lit up with a smile. “Joke,” she giggled and then started laughing, and I mean, like, full-on belly laughing.
“You should have seen your face. You looked like you were going to pass out. I take it McDonald’s is not your go-to hangover cure, then?”
She’s still laughing, now holding her stomach. I should be mad. She’s laughing at me. But for some reason, I’m starting to laugh, and, before I know it, we are both laughing so hard, she is actually crying. I don’t know why but the more she laughs, the more I can’t help myself.
I take a deep breath. “What are we laughing at?” I stutter.
“I don’t know, but for fuck’s sake, it feels good,” she replies with a sing-song tone to her voice. If this is what a couple of hours in the shower does to her, she can do that every day. This girl here right in front of me is someone else. I thought I liked Sutton the damsel in distress, but this Sutton, right here, right now, is something completely different. It’s all in the way her laugh brings life to the apartment and her smile lights up the whole place.
I like this Sutton, and I mean,reallylike her.
We order sandwiches in, and I pull up the company website. We go through the different products and the business plan for the next year. We talk about different programmes and discuss the options and debate strategies. It’s right now I remember what I saw in her interview. Passion, excitement, and a fantastic business brain. Why the hell has she not been working at the top before. That much, I will find out, but for now, I’m enjoying the banter and seeing the businesswoman in action.
I look at the clock at the bottom of the screen, and it’s now nearly 8:00 p.m.
“So, we haven’t moved or eaten anything since lunch. What do you want to do for dinner? Netflix and Chill?” I joke with a wink.
“Oh, if you insist.” She winks back.
Shit, I’m in trouble here.
“We need to eat though, and I’m not feeling takeaway sandwiches again.” She pulls up an app and taps away. “Chinese okay?” I nod in response, and I’m just about to give my order from my list of go-to Chinese meals when she asks for the address of my apartment. I give her the details and she says, “Done. It’ll be here in half an hour.”
“I didn’t tell you what I wanted,” I protest, but she just smiles and then starts to giggle.
Oh, not this again. I nearly pissed myself last time we ended up in a fit of laughter.
I turn away, but her smile is infectious, and I’m smiling like a fool looking in the opposite direction. Half an hour later, the food arrives. I don’t know how but she has picked all my favourite foods. We sit and eat and talk some more. She still hasn’t asked anything personal or history-related, and I’m not going to offer any info, either.
After the food is finished, and the plates are washed and put away, we are both yawning.
“Time for bed, sleepyhead,” I say.
“Hmm, okay. Can you give me a hand with my crutches, please?”
I jump up and do something better. I sweep her up off of the sofa and carry her into the bedroom. My bedroom. After last night, I’m not wanting her across the hall with the ability to give herself orgasms. Not when I’m right here and, to be fair, ready and eager to go.
“One slight problem, West,” she says, tilting her head.
“Yeah, what?”
“I’ve left my buzzy friend in the other room.”
“What are you talking about? You don’t need that tonight!”
“Well, I do if I want clean teeth and minty breath.” She giggles and winks again.
“Oh, your fucking toothbrush… I thought you meant your other buzzy friend you were relating to last night.”
She blushes, but I see her squeezing her thighs together.
Yeah, she’s up for it, and by the looks of my cock, so is he.
