He takes my bowl.
“No judgment!”he says, setting it in the sink.He squirts dish liquid on it and begins to wash it.“So, what was so bad about work today?Just really busy?”
I groan.“Oh, just everything.I like the people I work with, but I’m not looking forward to going back in a couple months.”I take a long sip of water.“First, we ran out of this beer everyone’s been raving about, but it wasn’t taken off the tap list, so I had to spend the whole night explaining and re-explaining to people that we didn’t have it.And yes, it was really busy, so I didn’t get a chance to have a break, and by the end, I had this sort of hunger-fueled rage that I had to suppress every time I was annoyed.”
Bryson snickers.“I’m familiar with it.”He sets the bowl and fork in the drying rack.
I glare at him.“I ended up hitting a customer, Bryson.I’m not in trouble, but he got kicked out, and he said he was going to sue the bar.”
“Those people never end up doing that,” Bryson assures me.“What’d he do to you?”
I look sheepish.“I sort of overreacted.It was time for me to leave, so I asked if he wanted the check and he reached over and started rubbing the back of my leg.He was really drunk,” I add hurriedly, seeing a dark look cross Bryson’s face, “I wasn’t in any danger, and the bouncers were right on him after, but I couldn’t help it - I just slapped him.”
Bryson is frowning deeply.His hand is gripping the edge of the countertop firmly; his knuckles are turning white.“Fucking right, Carleigh.”He gives me a once-over.“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.Totally fine.Other than being slightly worried I’ll get sued.”
“You won’t.”Bryson’s in front of me with one large stride, holding his hand out.“Come on.Let’s get you to bed.The ferry to my mom’s leaves at ten o’clock.You didn’t forget about that, did you?”
“No, of course not.I can’t wait to meet her.”
I let him pull me to my feet and lead the way to the bedroom.For the most part, we’ve still been sleeping in our own beds, at least on weekdays; it’s part of going slow, as I asked for.It works decently well since he usually wakes up much earlier than me.Weekends have been a different story, with us usually falling asleep in the living room and then trudging to the same bed, but it’s been a long day, and tonight I just want him with me.
I strip down to my underwear and an oversized t-shirt that’s almost definitely Bryson’s, then crawl into bed.He slips in behind me and wraps himself around me.I barely have time to register the kiss he drops on the back of my shoulder before I’m fast asleep.