“I’ve seen you really naked, Grace.”
“So what? Turn around, creeper.”
He obliged but laughed. “You’re a dork.”
I threw the sweater at the back of his head and then quickly wrapped myself in the towel. Matt went to the corner and fidgeted with the dials on the rolling dryer while I wheeled around in one of the office chairs, propelling myself in circles, faster and faster.
When he was done, he found another chair, pushed off, and came sailing at me across the linoleum floor. “Bumper cars!” he shouted, right before he knocked into me and sent us both falling to the ground.
“Is this your definition of us talking?” I said as he hovered over me, a mischievous grin on his face.
He leaned down, kissed the tip of my nose, and then popped up to his feet, offering a hand to help me up. I clung to the towel as I found my seat again. There was nothing clumsy about his movements, and he was always self-assured. I found that incredibly sexy.
Rolling his chair up to me so that we were face to face, he grinned again. “You gonna go to California with me for Christmas or were you planning on going home to your parents?”
“I can’t really afford either one.” I looked down at my hands in my lap. Even though he knew my circumstances, it was still hard not to feel embarrassed.
“I’ll pay for your flight to go home and see your parents. I’d love for you to come with me, but I don’t want to be selfish.”
I wanted to be with him, and even though I missed my family, I felt like I was going to miss him more if we were apart for three weeks. “You really want me to meet your parents?”
“Yeah, Grace. I do.”
“It’d be awesome to see California. I’ve never been.”
“Then it’s settled. Oh, one other thing”—he gave a cocky sideways smirk—“you asked me to have sex with you last night. Do you remember?”
Instant blush. “Of course I remember. I wasn’t that drunk.”
“So . . . what does that makes us?”
“What do you think?” I came back quickly.
“Do you want to date? Or were you just looking for someone to lose your virginity to?”
I tucked the towel under my arms, leaned back, and glared. “Well, isn’t there a word for friends that mess around?”
“Yeah, it’s a called girlfriend and boyfriend.” There was a strange expression on his face, like he was waiting for me to react.
“But we should keep it casual, right?”
“Well, we both have to study a lot, plus I’m going away this summer and you’re gearing up for grad school.”
Everything froze. “You’re going away?” How the hell did I not know that?
“Yeah.” He stood and walked to the counter to retrieve a piece of paper and handed it to me. It was a letter from National Geographic informing Matt that he had been chosen for an internship.
I reread it twice and looked up to see him wearing a huge, proud smile. Even though my eyes were selfishly tearing up, I stood and hugged him. “I’m so happy for you! Congratulations, Matt, I can’t believe it. I mean, I can because you’re amazing, but this is such an opportunity. Gosh . . . to be the only undergrad student they picked.”
“I know, I was shocked. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it sooner; I was just nervous about jinxing it.”
I kept looking down at the letter. “It’s so great! I’m really proud of you.”
“I’ll be gone this summer, and when I come back you’ll be in grad school. Hopefully I’ll have a job, if everything goes as planned.”
I couldn’t believe Matt was leaving. I had such mixed feelings, but I knew it was the best option for him. “So for now . . . we just keep it casual?”
“I don’t want to date anyone else and I don’t want to find you getting accosted in the hallway either, but we can call it casual if you want,” he said.
“Okay.”
“Okay what, Grace?”
“I don’t want anyone else either.” Ever.
An odd smell wafted into the room just then. I sniffed the air and my eyes widened. Burnt wool. “My sweater!”
“Shit!” Matt jumped up and ran over to the dryer. He hit a button and then pulled out what was left of my favorite article of clothing. “Oh, man, guess you’ll have to stay here naked.” He tried to hold back the laughter.
“That’s not funny, Matt. That was my favorite sweater.”
He threw it onto the desk and pulled me up into his arms. “You don’t need this.” Tossing the towel aside, he began kissing my shoulder and neck. I tilted my head, giving him full access, just as the bells on the front door jingled.
“Crap!” I jumped out of his arms and grabbed the towel off the floor while he made his way to the storefront. I heard a familiar voice. It was Dan.
I stood by the wall and listened to the conversation.
“Hi Matthew.”
“It’s Matt.”
“Hi Matt. Tatiana told me I could find Grace here.”
“Yeah, um . . . she’s kind of busy at the moment.”
“I just need to talk to her for a minute.”
I couldn’t tell what Matt’s face looked like, but if I had to guess, I’d bet he was amused.
“Dude, she’s in the back room half naked.”