Page 23 of Without You

“Mama and I need our privacy. You realize we haven’t had naked Thursdays since you got here? You’ve been living with us for over two months, sweetheart. Two. Months. That’s a long time. When you came home for Hannah’s wedding we thought it was just temporary, but it’s been forever since I’ve been able to come home from work and walk around the house naked. I miss it.”

I sputter and almost fall out of my chair. “Dad!”

He grins and shrugs a shoulder. “I am who I am.”

Scrunching up my nose, I shudder and tell him, “Nasty is what you are.”

That only makes him grin broader.

“Your mama never seemed bothered by my nakedness. In fact, she started to join me. That is, until you came along and ruined it.”

“I think it’s time to stop discussing this.”

“Of course, at first she always wanted to wear her underwear and would just go topless.”

“Did you not hear me say it’s time to stop discussing you and Mama being naked?”

“Oh, I heard you. Just wanted you to know what you’re preventing. You’re blocking our private time.”

I gag. “You’re making it worse. I’ll find a new place to live,” I relent, though it’s not so much relenting at this point as wanting to get the heck out of my mama and daddy’s house. How can I think of sitting on the couch anymore?

He swipes his hands against each other. “Then my plan worked out perfectly.”

“Oh my gosh, you’re such a jerk!” I laugh.

“Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.”

I roll my eyes. “I’ve lived with you for a few months, Daddy. It’s not like it’s been a year or anything.”

“I had gotten used to a certain way of life and you know how I am about change.”

“Clearly, I don’t know much about you.”

He stands from behind his desk and I have to admit, I’m glad to see he’s wearing pants. And obviously, I can’t let it go so, “Good to see that you didn’t take on the no pants policy here at the office as well.”

He laughs loudly and leans against the desk. “You’re such a smart ass.” My grin fades quickly when I see the look on his face. “Real talk, darling. You don’t need to leave right now, obviously. But we want you thinking ahead. I know that you don’t like living with us anymore than we like having you there.” He lifts a hand to stop me when he sees I’m about to say something because… ouch! “Don’t go there with me, you know what I mean. Of course we like having you there, but we also see that you’re sad and unhappy. We’re afraid you’re gonna settle in and not leave,” he teases. “Just kidding. Actually, we just want you on your feet and moving forward, not...” He trails off.

“Settling in,” I answer for him, using his words.

“Right.” He grimaces slightly. “I’m not doing a very good job of explaining this, am I?”

“No. You are. It’s just not exactly what I expected. I hoped to have a little more time,” I admit.

“We’re not kicking you out in the streets tonight. We understand it takes time to find a place to live.”

“It’s not as if I haven’t been trying.” That’s actually a lie. I had planned to stay with them rent free until I finished with massage therapy school mainly. Not because I enjoy living with my parents again, but it was helping me to save money.

“We know that, too. We’ll help and I’ll put some feelers out to see what’s out there for rentals in town. That is, if you want to stay in town,” he adds on hopefully.

“Oh, so you want me in Benton but just not in your house.”

Daddy points at me and clicks his tongue. “Bingo.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine, fine. I’ll start looking.”

“Naked Thursdays are on the horizon!” he cheers.

“Y’all are so gross. Why did you feel the need to tell me about your nakedness?”

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