Page 30 of Hot Response
He had about an hour left before Cait showed up at his apartment, and he really didn’t need Grant filling his head with a bunch of stupid crap. Cait wasn’t going to rummage through his drawers and his cabinets. And if she did, she was going to get bored pretty quickly and find something else to do.
Most of his life was in his computer. His personal documents were in a fireproof safe in the closet because his mother had given it to him for his birthday and insisted he use it. Other than figuring out he liked boxer briefs, crew socks and cheese-flavored snacks, there wasn’t much to be gained from snooping in his apartment.
But he did have one concern about handing the place over to Cait, and it made him scrub the kitchen table a little harder than was necessary. “What if she has a guy over?”
Grant snorted. “Why would she bring a guy home to your place? That would be weird.”
“Because I told her to treat it like it’s her own place for the night. And maybe having sex with a guy is something she’d do in her own place. Don’t forget she’s been living with her mother and kid brother for a while.”
“Just tell her straight out,” Grant said. “It’s your apartment. Your rules.”
“There’s no way I can tell her that. ‘Hey, Cait, make yourself at home, but please don’t bring a guy back to my place to bang because I kinda want to bang you myself.’”
“You don’t kinda want to bang her. Youreallywant to bang her.”
“I sure as shit ain’t telling herthat.”
“Then it’s on you if you come home and find some strange guy’s skivvies under your bed.”
“Jesus, Cutter. What the hell is wrong with you? Who even says skivvies anymore?”
“My grandpa calls them skivvies.”
“Okay, when you’re the same age as your grandpa is now, you can call them skivvies, too. I think it’s because you’re from New Hampshire. You people are backward as shit.”
“Kiss my ass, flatlander.”
Gavin threw the wet sponge at him, but he ducked and it hit the wall. “Why are you even here?”
“I was bored.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your date?”
“Okay, so when I say bored, what I really mean is that I was driving myself crazy thinking about tonight and I needed a distraction.”
Gavin grabbed a soda out of the fridge and offered it to Grant, who shook his head. He shrugged and popped the tab. “Why are you overthinking tonight? I’ve never seen you drive yourself crazy before a date.”
“It’s our firstrealdate, I guess you could say. Like, I’m not her coffee buddy or a friend, but a guy she wants to see romantically, so I’m picking her up at her place and taking her out to dinner.”
“If she’s looking for romance, it might be—” Gavin cut off theyour last date, toowhen he saw Grant’s expression. Damn, the guy was seriously into this Wren woman, but being romantic wasn’t his strong suit. “A good idea to get her flowers or something.”
“Like a dozen roses?”
That seemed excessive. “Probably not a dozen. Do you think she likes roses?”
Grant picked up the sponge and tossed it into the sink before leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms. “No. No, Wren wouldn’t like a dozen roses. Something small and delicate, maybe. Purple. She likes purple.”
“My mom has a friend who owns a flower shop. She could totally hook you up.” He sent a text to his mom asking for the name of the place and got the information back a couple of minutes later. After jotting it down on the back of an empty envelope, he handed it to Grant.
“Thanks.” He looked at his watch. “I should head there now, in case they’re busy or close early or whatever. You have your key to my place, right?”
“Yeah. I might stop by my parents’ first, but I’ll be there before you get home.” He chuckled. “Do me a favor. Don’t forget I’m crashing at your place and bring your date back.”
“I think it’ll be a while before I have to worry about that. We’re taking it slow.”
Gavin snorted. “What’s that like?”
“Since your girl’s staying at your apartment tonight alone, while you’re sleeping on my couch, you tell me.”
