Nine | Cassidy
Nine
Cassidy
“I still can’t believe you learned to cook like this,” I said, blotting my mouth with a napkin as I tried to get the barbeque sauce off. Sean had made pulled pork smothered in a homemade barbeque sauce with mashed potatoes that were to die for. I couldn’t remember the last time I had tasted something so good.
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”
“I guess time will do that to people,” I commented before realizing the weight of my words.
While we had agreed to a temporary truce until the storm passed and I could go home, that didn’t mean I wanted to dig up the past. There were a lot of things that had gone unsaid over the years, and now wasn’t the time to say them.
“I made brownies for dessert and ordered a carton of vanilla ice cream to go on top,” he said, redirecting the conversation for us.
My cheeks flushed as I noticed how many little things he did to make sure I was comfortable in his house on such short notice. The fact that he remembered most of my favorites was impressive. It wasn’t like I didn’t remember his from back in the day, but guys didn’t seem to ever remember those details while you were together, let alone twelve years later with no contact during that time.
“Thank you. That sounds delicious.” I finished my food and set my fork on my plate before looking down to see how to lower the top of the coffee table so I could get up.
“I got it,” Sean said, sweeping in to help me lower it before grabbing my plate and collecting my empty soda can.
“I can help clean up dinner,” I offered, attempting to stand.
“I appreciate the offer, but I would like it if you rested instead. The remote for the TV is right there if you want to find a movie or something for us to watch.” He nodded to where it was sitting on the end table and then headed into the kitchen to clean up.
I grabbed it and refused to allow myself to feel the butterflies that threatened to overcome me with thoughts of past movie nights with Sean when we were dating. It was our favorite thing to do back then, and we made it a weekly thing. Every Friday night, we would order dinner or pick it up, then cuddle on the couch and watch movies until curfew came around. Back then, we both worked part-time jobs and could afford to go out, but we preferred our nights in together.
I flipped through the channels, not sure what he would want to watch. There weren’t a ton of options other than sports channels and a few cooking shows. I kept going until I found a Christmas movie, figuring why not try to get in the holiday spirit. It wasn’t that I wasn’t excited about it this year; things just felt busier all around, and drawing Sean’s name in the Secret Santa exchange really soured my mood. It was hard to want to buy for someone when you held such hostile feelings toward them. While I wanted to hate him and hold on to the anger that had consumed me all those years ago, I was finding it harder to hold a grudge against him for how nice he was being.
“If you don’t like anything on TV, I have subscriptions to a few streaming services,” he offered from the kitchen as he finished loading the dishwasher. Max laid in the middle of the room, equal distance between Sean and me as if he couldn’t decide who to be with.
“You can pick if you’d like,” I replied, extending the remote to him as he came in and sat down in the recliner across from me. Max jumped up with him, nearly knocking the chair over with his weight as he struggled to get as close to Sean as possible.
“I’m good with whatever you decide. We can binge Christmas movies if you wa—”
His sentence was cut off as the power went out from the storm raging outside.
“Well. Okay, then. Or not.” He chuckled lightly as he got up and used the flashlight on his phone to make his way into the kitchen. Within a few minutes, we were bathed in soft lighting as candles flickered around us.
“That storm is getting worse,” I commented as the wind howled and tree branches whipped against the windows.
“Yeah, they said it was supposed to get pretty bad. It’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with weather like this, but it’s funny how it all just comes flooding back to me. I found myself in total prep mode earlier when I was placing the grocery order and made sure to get extra batteries and canned goods, just in case.”
“Thankfully, it’s not usually this bad, and since you live so close to Main Street, they’ll likely get the roads cleared fairly quickly. It’s usually those who live further on the outskirts of town that get hit the hardest.”
“That’s good to know. Sorry about the movie. I would offer something else to fill the time, but I haven’t unpacked much since I moved in.”
“No worries. I’m actually feeling a little tired, so I might call it a night.”
“Sounds like a good plan. I’ll show you to the bedroom and help you get settled,” he offered, coming over to help me up.
“You already have a guest room set up?”
I knew I was stuck staying here with him, but I hadn’t stopped to think about what that meant as far as where I would sleep. It seemed a little odd that he would go through the effort of setting up a guestroom when he had only been back a few months.
“Not quite.” He pulled his lips into a thin line as if expecting me to be upset.
“Okay. What does that mean?”
“It means there’s only one bed, and we’re going to have to share it.”