Clarity - Nicole Dykes Page 0,25
about ringing the doorbell even though Blair gave me a key. It feels like an odd invasion of privacy just walking into her home.
But I go ahead and do it since it’s after ten. I doubt she’s asleep yet. I showered at the gym, so I head upstairs where I left all my stuff. I suppose it makes sense to sleep in her room, but it still feels too intimate even if her room is bigger than my apartment and I'm sleeping across from her.
I see Bree’s light is still on and her door is open, so I knock real quick to check on her.
She’s reading on her bed and looks at me funny. “You don’t have to knock when I can see you.”
I walk in, ignoring the attitude I actually like. If she had no fight left, I would really worry. “You okay? You need anything?”
She shakes her head and points to the several shopping bags that are sitting on the floor under her window. “No. Your Barbie loaded me up.”
“She didn’t buy you a lot of pink shit, did she?”
She smirks at that and closes her book. “No. She was actually pretty cool. Let me get jeans and t-shirts. A really cool jacket. Some vintage stuff for the room.” She shrugs. “It wasn’t too bad.”
“Yeah, Blair really isn’t that bad.”
She lifts her little shoulders. “She still looks like a Barbie.”
I almost laugh. This kid seems to do that to me. “Yeah. I know. But don’t tell her. Makes her all pissy.”
She smiles. “Yeah. I know.” She looks nervous now as her head dips, her gaze staying away from me and her voice is quiet. “Please don’t ask me.”
“I won’t.” I know what she’s talking about. I don’t want to ask her. “But you can talk to me if you need to. Or Blair. When we earn it.”
Her eyes lift slowly. “You think I’ll be here long enough for that?”
“If I have anything to say about it, yeah.”
But we both know the process. We both know the hoops they’re going to make me jump through will be huge. “He wanted me to be this perfect little doll. That’s not me.”
“You don’t have to be anyone’s doll.” My voice is too harsh to talk to a child, but she doesn’t flinch.
“I thought that’s what your Barbie was gonna do today. Dress me up the way she wanted me to.” I listen quietly. “But she asked me what I liked.”
I tense because that’s very Blair. “She cares. More than most, even if she doesn’t seem like it at first.”
She nods her head at that, thinking it over.
“You sure you don’t need anything?”
She nods, shooing me away.
“School tomorrow. Go to bed soon, okay?”
She dismisses me again, and I leave her to it, walking down the hall to the double doors down at the end. They’re open, and Blair is sitting on her bed as well, flipping through channels on her TV.
She turns when she sees me. She’s wearing the world’s shortest pink shorts and a cropped, matching camisole. I’ve seen her naked, but this isn’t much different. “Fuck, Blair. You think you could find some real pajamas?”
She rolls her eyes, flipping me off and turning the television off. “You’re lucky I'm wearing anything. I usually sleep completely naked.”
And now my mind is exactly where she wanted it. Her naked body.
“I can sleep on the couch. I don’t want to put you out.”
She waves me off. “Or you could not be a pussy and sleep in the bed.”
She’s in a mood, but when isn’t she? I ignore her and take my shoes and socks off, worn out from the gym. “Her school isn’t far. I’ll drop her off on my way to work.”
“I don’t mind taking her.”
I look over at her as I remove my shirt and drop it next to the chair I'm sleeping on. “She grow on you?”
She scoffs, but I think she did. “She’s feisty. I like it.”
“Yeah. Me too.” I reach for my bag and find a pair of sweats. I should change in the bathroom, especially since Blair’s eyes haven’t stayed off my chest since I took off my shirt. “You’re like a dude, you know?”
She laughs at that and pulls her covers back. “You have a nice body. I’m supposed to ignore it?”
I guess I stare at her tits often enough. “You could try.”
She rolls her eyes and slides under the covers. “If you don’t want me looking, maybe you should skip the gym. Don’t tell me