Page 17 of Craving Francesca

“I’m not that young.”

“All right.”

“How old are you?”

“Too old for you.”

“That’s not what you were saying before,” I commented snarkily.

He raised an eyebrow. “Provin’ my point.”

I glared and floundered for something to say. “Who teaches their kid that it’s rude to let someone make their own bed?”

“My ma,” he replied with a smile. “Grab the blanket.”

“It’s a quilt,” I argued weakly as I moved toward a box along the wall markedbedding. “And I need a different one first.”

“That one’s already out.” He pointed.

“Yes, but I have a system.” Ripping open the top of the box, I found the large blanket I usually kept on my bed and carried it over. “This one goes first.”

“That’s a lot of blankets.”

“It’s two.”

“You need two?” He caught the blanket as I tossed it on the bed and pulled it snug.

“It’s actually three,” I replied. “One of them gets folded at the end of the bed.”

“Why?”

“In case I get cold in the middle of the night.”

“This house has heat. I can hear the furnace.”

“Are you really giving me shit for how many blankets I use?” I paused, looking at him in exasperation.

“Get the quilt,” he ordered.

“I need the weight,” I said, reaching down to grab the old quilt I’d found at a random pop-up thrift sale at a grange hall.

“The weight of the blankets?” he asked curiously.

“Yes. I like it when my blankets are heavy.”

He nodded in understanding as he helped me center the quilt and tuck it down at the end of my bed.

The whole process was intimate, and I tried to shake off the feelings it invoked. This guy wasn’t for me. Full stop. He’d made it perfectly clear that our little interlude was just one of those fun things that wouldn’t be repeated. I reached for the garbage bag and pulled out my pillow and the three pillowcases folded inside.

“You only got one pillow?” he asked easily, glancing over to the open box.

“You really don’t have to help me with those.”

“They in the box?” He started in that direction.

“Yes,” I murmured in defeat, following him over.

“How many pillows you need?” he asked in surprise, handing one to me.

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