Page 61 of Fish out of Water
She stepped back, head tilting to one side before she was on me again, this time cuffing the sleeves, rolling them over the watch on my wrist and up above my forearm. She stepped back once more.
Benjamin rushed to her side. “You want these?” He held out a stack of bands similar to the ones on his wrists.
Was that what this was? A woman trying to make me fit into what she wanted me to be?
Again.
A familiar sourness hit my stomach immediately, turning it in an instant.
“No.” Julia pushed them away. “We just have a special event tomorrow and he needs to fit in.”
She rested her hands on her hips. “What do you think, Nerd? Can you stand to look like this for a couple of hours?”
Guilt immediately replaced the sour stab.
I was so worried about Julia seeing my past because it was all I saw.
And I kept putting it on her.
I glanced down at the outfit I didn’t hate as much as she clearly thought I did.
“I’ll need a belt.”
Chapter Thirteen
Julia
THE SOUND OF the alarm on my phone going off was unwelcome as hell.
I smacked around the dark room, looking for where it was hidden, tucked somewhere in the insane thread count of the sheets on the bed in Grant’s guest room. Unfortunately the high pile of the comforter made it impossible to find by feel alone.
I sat up, flipping back linens as I hunted for the damn thing.
But the only sign of it was the sound ofI’m Legitplaying through the speaker.
It was a little muffled though.
I yanked up a pillow that was definitely made out of whatever cloud angels sat on. “There you are.”
Flopping back onto the mattress I debated between hitting snooze or just shutting the damn thing off.
As much as I wanted to curl back up in the bed of the gods, I needed to get up and moving.
And maybe go see if Grant drank his coffee in his underwear.
That was more than enough to get my feet on the floor. I made a pit stop in the bathroom attached to the room to brush my teeth and pee, and then I was creeping down the hall and past the woman in Grant’s life. Amidala stared at me as I passed, the slight movement of her body almost akin to shifting sands.
A lot of people hated snakes, but after spending time interning at a zoo during college I’d developed a sort of fascination with them.
I gave her a little finger wave as I passed. “Where’s your daddy?” I hit the doorway leading to the kitchen and stopped dead in my tracks.
Holy hell.
I’d seen Grant in what I assumed were his work clothes. The night we met he was wearing a pair of grey slacks and a button up. Basic. Maybe a little boring if it hadn’t been his body inside them.
But this…
This was…
