I knew that because of the pile of clothes on the floor. My fingertips had been all over those clothes, along with the smoothness of her skin. Not to mention other places that would leave her blushing.
“Morning,” I said.
She turned, showing me that the shirt wasn’t buttoned at all. She wore it masterfully to keep her chest covered yet showed enough skin to keep my full attention.
“No coffee?” she asked in an almost purring voice.
“I can give you five bucks and tell you where to get some,” I said as I walked to the bed and sat down.
I reached for my black boots and yawned.
“Is that your gentle way of telling me to get out of here?”
My hair fell in front of my face. I never liked it going beyond my eyes, but lately I had really lost the urge to care or worry about stuff like that.
I ran a hand through my hair and looked back at her.
“Shelly,” I whispered.
“Michelle,” she corrected.
“You didn’t mind me calling you Shelly last night. Or earlier this morning.”
“I was a different person then,” Michelle said.
“Yeah? Me too.”
I stood up and Michelle walked toward me with the intention of getting right back into bed.
She touched the scruff on my face and pouted her lips. “Fucking artists. The best in bed. The hardest to understand in the morning.”
“You knew what you were getting into,” I whispered.
“Yeah. I did.”
I peeled her hand off my face and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
“When I get back, you’ll be gone?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said. “But I’m keeping this shirt.”
“Deal.”
I turned and set my sights on the door.
Michelle was comfort, not love.
She knew it. Even when she tried to push the line a little.
Women like Michelle thought I was heartless.
Truth was, nobody knew what love really meant to me.
I scribbled on a napkin as Aaron paced outside Joey’s Roast. He was in a heated conversation with someone and I wasn’t sure who I felt worse for. Served me right for showing up on time to meet him. Aaron had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. We went all the way back to kindergarten when a kid named Scott made fun of his underwear and I punched Scott in the nose. I wasn’t allowed to go to school for a couple of days, but when I did get back, Scott was much quieter and Aaron brought me an extra snack from home as a thanks. When Aaron realized I had no snack with me, ever, he started bringing one every single day for me.
Our friendship was built on chocolate pudding.
And now it was sustained by him running a construction company even though he could barely use a hammer. He was book smart. Money smart. Geeky smart in a way that I never understood why he didn’t take off to some place like New York City, make tons of money and live a crazy life.
I guess that answer came in the form of Rae and Toby.
Rae was his girlfriend and Toby was his son.
Aaron had always wanted to be a family man.
I finished my little drawing on the napkin as two coffees were brought to the table.
A pretty blonde girl slid them gently on the table “Here you go.”
“Thanks, love,” I said and smiled at her.
Her cheeks went a dark shade of red.
“I think I know you,” she said.
Ah, shit. Did I sleep with her?
Maybe that wasn’t the proudest question to mentally ask myself, but whatever.
“Do you now?” I asked.
“You do those pictures and paintings together,” she said. “I’ve been to one of your shows.”
“Did you buy something?”
“No,” she said, her cheeks turning even redder.
“Thanks for the support then,” I said with a wink.
“I… I’m…”
“I’m just playing,” I said. “Here, take this.”
I handed her the napkin.
It was a picture of a woman holding a heart like a newborn baby. A stupid scribble, but an idea in my head thanks to my surroundings.
“Are you serious?” she asked. “I can have this?”
“Sure. Why not? I would have left it on the table anyway.”
“Thanks. I guess.”
“Not a fan of art?” I asked.
The barista-slash-waitress laughed and tucked the napkin away.
Aaron suddenly appeared like a stealthy ninja.
“Thanks for bringing these,” Aaron said.
“Of course,” the barista-slash-waitress said as she started to walk away.
Aaron sat down and slipped a hand around his coffee. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”
“With what?”
“Always trying to find love in the wrong places.”
“That’s not trying to find love, brother,” I said with a grin. “You and I