I'm still in my pajamas, fixing coffee and tea, when Brendon knocks on the door.
"Hey." His steady voice flows through the wood.
"Give me a minute." I've worn this exact outfit at his place a hundred times. But right now it feels too revealing, too personal.
I move to my room, grab the outfit I laid out last night. High-waisted shorts and a v-neck t-shirt. Cute. Flattering. Practical.
I change as quickly as I can, dart back to the door, pull it open. "Hey."
Light surrounds him like a halo. It casts highlights over his dark hair and his strong shoulders.
God, his shoulders are bare.
He's wearing a muscle tank and shorts. It would look douchey on anyone else. On Brendon, it screams trace all the lines of the ink running down my shoulders. Don't you want these arms around you? Don't you want every bit of everything I have to give?
I can't have that.
I can't have a single bit of it.
It would kill Emma.
Even if it wouldn't, Brendon doesn't want someone broken. He ends all his "relationships" when things get complicated.
He nods to the boxes sitting in the living room. "I'll start loading."
I motion to the carafe on the counter. "Coffee first?"
"Coffee after."
"As long as I can have tea first."
"I'd never deprive you."
He's talking about tea, but my body doesn't catch the nuance.
My skin tingles. My stomach flutters. Heat spreads down my torso, collecting at the apex of my thighs.
I allow myself a moment to gawk as he picks up the first box and carries it to his car. Okay, then the second.
He shoots me an are you going to watch or help look.
I make my way to my bedroom and finish my last bits of packing. It's just clothes now. I have a lot of them. Nothing compared to Emma, but when my entire bed is covered with a quarter of my wardrobe...
Maybe I have a problem.
I pack my last set of dresses. Then all the toiletries I left out for this morning. I do one last wipe down of the bathroom, so everything is pretty and pristine.
Now, it's just my...
Oh God.
Brendon is in my doorframe, his eyes on my bed. Not just on the Little Mermaid comforter, but on the collection of underwear on top of it.
It wouldn't be so bad if I owned anything remotely sexy. But that's all cotton and comfort bras.
Not what I want him imagining when he...
No.