Page 56 of Even If the Sky is Falling
“Oh. Um...”
I glance down at my bare legs. Goose bumps prick up against my still-wet skin. The thought of wearing just a robe for the next however many hours makes me want to crawl out of my own skin.
“Actually, that would be great,” I say, hugging my arms around me.
He nods once and spins around, facing the wall as he begins to shed his hoodie. I quickly spin around too to give him privacy. That doesn’t stop my brain though. Instantly I picture what naked Caleb looks like. It happens like a reflex. In my imagination, he’s flawless. Rugged and ripped with a healthy dusting of dark blond hair on his chest that trails down all the way to what is most certainly an impressive, thick...
I bite down so hard on my tongue I have to muffle a yelp. I try to swallow, but there’s so much saliva pooled in my mouth that I almost choke. What the hell is wrong with me? My contractor, who is a total stranger, is standing four feet from me, about to give me the literal clothes off his back to help me feel more comfortable, and here I am mentally violating him.
God, I am such a cavewoman. A heathen. A literal deviant.
The sound of fabric rustling halts before he clears his throat again. I wonder if he does that when he’s nervous.
“Here you go,” he says softly.
When I turn back to him, he’s holding a balled-up mound of fabric in his hand, which is stretched toward me.
I smile and say a quiet thanks as I take the hoodie from him, barely able to maintain more than one second of eye contact with him after the way I just ravaged him in my brain.
“It’s clean, I swear,” he blurts. “Just did a load of laundry this morning. So, um, you’re good.”
He frowns like he’s annoyed with himself for what he said before scrubbing a hand over gold-blond scruff along the sharpest jawline I’ve ever seen.
I bite my lip, but it’s no use. I burst out laughing anyway.
A smile splits his ruggedly handsome face, and for a moment I’m breathless. This guy is downright gorgeous when he smiles.
“Wow. That was a really weird thing to say.” He chuckles.
“It’s okay. I appreciate the heads-up. Clean clothes are always a plus.”
We share another laugh before I spin around. A half second later I hear the sound of Caleb turning around too, and I take that as my cue. I quickly dress and unwrap the towel from my hair so it can air dry.
“Decent,” I say when I turn around.
Caleb turns and flashes one hell of a boyishly handsome half smile before glancing down at the floor for a second. It almost comes off like he’s shy, which is endearing as hell.
I shrug, the collar of his navy blue hoodie so wide on my frame that it nearly falls over my shoulder. I zip it up all the way to the top and smooth my palm down the front of the hoodie, which nearly hits the tops of my knees.
“Not a perfect fit?” The hint of teasing in his tone goes far to lighten the mood even more than when we shared laughs together just a minute ago.
“Weird, isn’t it? I mean, I could have sworn we were the same size,” I joke.
Another shared chuckle has me feeling even lighter. I can tell Caleb is too. He’s standing at nearly his full height now and his arms are resting at his sides instead of shoved into his pockets.
“Wanna sit?” I point at the nearby couch, where Mango is currently curled up.
He nods, and gestures for me go first. I take the far end, pulling Mango into my lap while Caleb plops onto the opposite end.
“Here.” He grabs the plushy blanket that’s draped over the back of the couch and hands it to me. “So you don’t get cold.”
“Thanks.” I smile at him and drape the plushy material over my legs.
A few quiet moments pass, and the reality of the situation starts to sink in. Something big is hurtling toward the Earth. When it hits, how bad will the impact be? What will life be like when we’re eventually able to go back out into the world?
A mix of dread and nerves settles in the pit of my gut.
“You okay?” Caleb asks.
