123. Nate
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE
NATE
I don’t knock before I open the front door, hoping to surprise Rosie with my early arrival.
But it doesn’t matter if I knocked or not, because she’s not in the living room.
I glance around the great room.
She’s not in the kitchen either.
I kick off my shoes and leave my luggage by the door.
As I walk past the kitchen island, I slow.
Glass containers cover the surface, all filled with tiny fish-shaped crackers.
I grin and shake my head.
Rosie told me she made Charles some homemade treats as an apology, but she didn’t tell me she made a thousand.
I unbutton my shirt as I walk down the hall.
I throw it to the floor as I enter the bedroom.
I undo my pants as I cross the room.
I kick them off as I stop at the bathroom door.
And when I see Rosie’s silhouette behind the frosted glass of the shower, I shove my boxer briefs to the ground.