who had any kind of sex on his “not into it” list.
“Then we can just stick to washing machines. And tables and couches and floors and most definitely beds.”
“And walls,” he said.
Her body flushed remembering their first night. “Yes, not slippery, cold, wet walls.”
“Still hungry?” she asked. “Want to run next door and get my peanut butter and jelly?” Because she was hungry.
Zeke had said something about being on the way up to his grandmother’s place for food when he’d seen her on her porch, but he didn’t think taking her in there in just one of his t-shirts was a good idea. Not because anyone in his family would object, exactly, but because they’d all start begging her for glimpses of the penguins and he knew she didn’t want to have to field those requests.
“Actually, I was thinking about sneaking over to a different neighbor’s.”
“Zander actually has food at his house?”
“He does. But don’t go gettin’ all soft about my brother. He’s up at Ellie’s just as much as I am. He might have some Pop Tarts or frozen pizza or burritos though.”
“I’m fine with yogurt and cereal right here.”
“No way. When you’re fending for yourself, it’s fine, but what kind of guy would I be to do that to you”—He inclined his head toward the laundry room—“and then not even feed you?”
“The kind that doesn’t have any food in his house?”
“But I can get food in my house.”
“Okay,” Jill sat back in her chair and folded her arms. “Impress me.”
“So do you actually eat food intended for people over the age of ten or should I stick with macaroni and cheese and hot dogs?”
She lifted an eyebrow. “I love macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. But I only eat them from the microwave.”
“Of course, because it takes so long to boil water to cook the noodles, right?”
She grinned. “Actually, I meant the hot dogs. The macaroni and cheese I’m used to eating is from a place called Ruth’s that delivers until eleven p.m. It’s a spiral pasta with a five cheese sauce and a toasted Parmesan crust.”
“I’m not even gonna try to top that,” Zeke declared, pushing back from the table. “But Jordan is a good cook. I’ll be right back.”
Jill straightened as he got up from the table. “Wait, you’re leaving? Who’s Jordan?”
“Oh, are you jealous now?”
Was she? Jill thought about that for a moment. Maybe a little.
“It’s not really hard for me to believe that you have women on speed dial who will cook for you at the drop of a hat.”
He bent at the waist. “Thank you very much. And I do actually. If you want some real home cookin’ and are willing to give me about an hour, I could get Amber over here with some fried chicken.”
“Amber will cook fried chicken for the woman that you’re now sleeping with?”
“I wouldn’t tell her that before she brought chicken over.”
Jill laughed and shook her head. “We’re not making Amber make us fried chicken.” She paused for a moment, though, and then said, “At least not today.”
She loved fried chicken. Her grandmother’s was the best she’d ever had, but she would bet some of the ladies down here in Louisiana could make some pretty amazing fried chicken.
“Jordan is my brother Fletcher’s wife. She grew up down here and she is a hell of a cook. I don’t know what she’s got, but I’m guessing there’s some pretty good leftovers in their fridge. I’ll be right back.”
Jill watched him go.
So he was able to pop into one house to get shoes for her, and now go to another to get food.
And for some reason, she had the impression that Jordan and Fletcher wouldn’t mind having their refrigerator raided. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise her to find out that Jordan made extra just so there were leftovers for Zeke to pilfer.
Autre was a very interesting place. It made her miss home a little bit, actually.
There were plenty of places she could show up to borrow shoes or food. Of course, all of those places would come with a million questions and definitely some judgment about why she needed to borrow shoes and why she didn’t have her own food.
Around here, that didn’t seem to be the case. Either they were just used to Zeke being the way he was, or they really didn’t mind. Or Zeke didn’t care if they were judging him.
Yeah, that was at least partly true. But she liked that about him. He was a good