“They’re definitely among my favorites,” said Leah. “Here’s the chart for this room.”
She handed me a clipboard. These animals were really easy to take care of, especially since none of them were special needs. It was primarily important to keep their cages clean, though, since they were poop machines.
It was tough work to move the cages around and clean them, but we took breaks to play with the animals—it was important to socialize them. And it was a good reprieve from the manual labor.
When I got back to the house that night, I was exhausted. I hadn’t been the most fit person to begin with, so I was definitely going to develop some muscles by the end of the summer.
Brianne had made dinner for us, and we sat down to eat.
“This is delicious,” I said, digging into the chicken pesto pasta she’d made. “Seriously.”
“Thanks. I’ve been trying to improve my cooking and other skills and it’s been going great. Figure I should use this time to learn more about adulting before I actually do it.” She laughed.
As we continued stuffing our faces, I wondered if this was the right time. But then, of course, the advice Leah had given me was to stop holding out for the “right time.”
“Brianne… I love you,” I said, looking up from my plate.
Her eyes widened slightly, and she broke out into a smile. “I love you, too.”
There. It had happened. And the best part was… It felt absolutely right.
When we’d finished putting our dishes away, we curled up on the couch and put on a show we’d been working our way through. Brianne massaged my shoulders, which I appreciated, and worked her way down to my hands, making sure every muscle was kneaded. I felt boneless in her arms, completely at peace.
Eventually, I started losing the plot of the TV show. It was time for bed. I sat up and kissed Brianne. “I love you,” I said again.
17
BRIANNE
Work was apparently going great for Margie. She always came back with great stories about the animals, telling me I needed to visit the barn sometime. She was also getting along great with Leah and Jean. Bizarrely, she even told me that Leah’s sister-in-law was married to the movie star Callie Hinderbrook, which I found very hard to believe, but I couldn’t imagine why they’d lie about that. When I looked Callie up on Wikipedia, I found out that she was right.
On the other hand, my search for a job was still going pretty slowly. The places I’d applied to hadn’t gotten back to me yet, so I’d sent in follow up emails—which was just as irritating, because it made me feel kind of desperate. At least they hadn’t outright rejected me.
And to think that Nicole had been hand-picked by Robinson. I still found it irritating, but there was no point in dwelling on it.
The front door opened and Brianne walked in with a great big grin on her face. I never got tired of seeing her smile like that, since I remembered how she used to be—always so shy, dejected. Now it was like I was seeing her personality shine through on her face.
“You look cheerful,” I said.
“I am cheerful,” said Brianne. “We just got some baby bunnies at the rescue. I’ve got pictures.”
She came and sat next to me on the couch and pulled out her phone, bringing up the pictures of the bunnies. They were really incredibly cute. I would have to make a trip out to see the rescue sometime.
“Sounds like you’re having a blast,” I said.
“Yeah. I mean, I knew I was going to like working with animals, but I wasn’t expecting to like it so much. I just love bonding with them and making them feel loved.” She sighed in contentment.
God, she was just so cute. Even though her clothes were a little dirty and she was sweaty from all the work she’d done, I still wanted to scoop her up into my arms and pull her close.
So that was exactly what I did.
I hugged her to me and started kissing her neck, loving her natural scent. She smelled like sunshine and hay, probably from working in the barn. And her skin was so warm… She turned around and started kissing my lips, and soon enough, we were full on making out.
This was definitely one of the benefits of living with my girlfriend.
Even though she usually seemed exhausted when she came home, she sometimes had the energy for more sensual activities. And now she definitely had the energy, probably because she’d been in such a great mood.
I wondered if Brianne would be ready to have oral sex tonight. It was the one thing we hadn’t done yet. Was she ready for something so intimate?