I should ask him out. We could get one of the others to watch Baby Anthony and get dinner or something tomorrow. If he wasn’t going to ask me, then I would ask him.
Before I could, the wooden steps creaked as Taylor walked downstairs. He was wearing red boxers and a white tank top, and his blond hair was disheveled.
“Did you have a nightmare, little guy?” Derek asked in a condescending tone.
Taylor flipped him off, then turned to me. “Hey. I was thinking. Do you want to go out tomorrow? Like, out on a date?”
“Oh,” I said. His question totally caught me off guard. “Yeah. That sounds like fun.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don’t want to force the issue about sharing you. I just figured it was a good time, and we can get one of the other guys to watch the baby…”
I was just thinking the same thing regarding a date with Derek.
“I would love to go out with you,” I said.
“Cool. Awesome. Neat.” Taylor bobbed his head. “Okay. I’m going back to bed now.”
“Goodnight,” I said.
The steps creaked and shifted as he walked back upstairs.
“So,” Derek said calmly. “Youhavecome to a decision about our… offer.”
“Maybe,” I replied. “We’ll see.”
18
Taylor
I had a big, stupid, headache-inducing crush on Clara Ricci.
I had the hots for herbad.
Since I had been working at the firehouse, I always looked forward to Fridays, because that’s when we ordered food from Tony’s. Which meant Clara would be delivering the food to the station.
Sometimes Dan, the other guy, delivered the food. Those days sucked. But usually it was Clara.
We knew she was hot. Curvy in all the right ways, with full breasts and silky hair that I wanted to run my fingers through. That was all apparent within a few seconds of meeting her. I tried not to objectify women too much, but shoot, it was impossible not to eye Clara whenever she was around.
But now that we had spent a week pretty much living together, I knew she was much more than a good-looking woman. She was funny, and smart, and caring. So caring! The way she handled the baby put a permanent smile on my face.
To borrow a phrase some of my buddies used: she waswife material.
I sat in bed and stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. Usually, I was a good sleeper. You had to be in this business, catching power naps whenever you could. But tonight, Clara kept running through my mind.
Was she interested in our proposition? Or did she just want to be with Jordan?
It took about half an hour to work up the courage to just go downstairs and ask her out. At least then I would know the answer to the question. But despite my fears, she accepted the date.
I was so happy, I practically jogged back upstairs. I still couldn’t sleep after that, though now it was because I was excited.
And because Jordan was snoring in the room next to mine. Derek was right: these walls werethin.
Sleep or no sleep, I woke up full of energy the next morning. I threw on my running shorts and sneakers and went downstairs. Derek was sipping coffee in the kitchen while reading the newspaper.
I frowned. “Isn’t that Tuesday’s paper? The Athletics game on the front was from Tuesday.”
“I like to catch up on the news I missed during the week,” Derek replied. He flipped the page and then said, “So you and Clara are going out tonight, huh?”