Runaway - Chapter 33
Saturday
“I’ll be back soon,” Miller whispered and kissed my forehead.
“Hm?” My eyes slowly opened. Miller was fully dressed, his threadbare winter coat and all.
I slowly sat up in bed. “Should I drive you to work? That way I can use the car to explore and look for a job today.”
“No.”
I laughed. “What do you mean no? I want to see what’s around here. And I need a job to pull my weight.”
“I’d rather show you around myself. All you need to do today is sign up for online classes so you can start on Monday. Unless you’re already signed up?”
I had most definitely not been taking stupid high school classes online while I was in California. Was it that obvious? “I’m not taking two more years of dumb online classes. I’ll just take the GED test.”
“Pretty sure 17-year-olds have to take high school classes. Isn’t the GED thing for adults?”
I pressed my lips together. “I am an adult. Besides, I’m not even Brooklyn anymore. I’m Jane. And Jane is 21. Which means Jane can take the GED.”
Miller raised his eyebrow at me. “Whatever you want to do. But focus on that instead of thinking about getting a job. I’ve got us.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss against my lips. “I’ll be back sometime after lunch.”
“Okay.” I watched him walk out of the bedroom and then I glanced at the alarm clock.
It was only 6 am. It was tempting to go back to sleep, but I was feeling restless.
I guess I needed to figure out how to take that test online.
Or maybe I could take it at the local high school.
I pulled on a few layers of Miller’s clothes and wandered out into the hall.
There was a wooden desk in the living room with a laptop on it. I sat down and pressed the power button. A box popped up, prompting me for the password.
Crap. Miller had forgotten to tell me the password to his computer. I took a few guesses. His birthday? No. My birthday? No. What was I supposed to do all day?
I leaned back in the chair, looking around the room.
I had too much pent-up energy. What I really wanted to do was go for a run. But that wasn’t exactly a possibility with all the snow.
I stood up and peered out the window. Yup, it was definitely still too snowy. I stepped back and looked around the living room. I wanted tonight to be perfect. Miller was a very organized person. But he wasn’t a huge believer in sweeping. I knew exactly what I could do today.
After searching a few closets I found some cleaning supplies.
Most people probably wished there was a mop.
But I actually preferred mopping with a sponge and my hands.
I wasn’t sure why. I grabbed the big bucket in the corner and rolled up the sleeves of Miller’s hoodie I was borrowing.
He’d come home and be so surprised with all I’d gotten done.
***
I’d dusted, swept, mopped, and scrubbed until my arms were sore.
I’d cleaned everywhere important. The only places I hadn’t gotten to were the two spare bedrooms. Miller never exactly told me to make myself feel like I was at home.
But I was pretty sure it was implied when I said I was staying for good.
I wiped my sleeve against the glass of the picture frame and placed it on the end of the mantle.
The stone fireplace was beautiful, and I was well aware that my cheap picture frame didn’t quite belong.
But it was my favorite picture of my mom and me.
We were dancing around our yellow kitchen, cheesing at the camera. She was so full of life.
The kitchen timer started going off. I stepped away from the picture before I could get emotional.
I hurried into the kitchen and opened the oven.
Miller’s pantry was scarce. But he had plenty of flour and sugar.
There were eggs in the fridge too. It had been a really long time since I’d baked something.
I’d been trying to cut back on sweets around my uncle because I was worried about his weight. I’d been worried I’d lose him too.
My hand paused around the spatula. It was weird when I was alone. Like the sadness had nowhere to go but right to my heart. If I stayed busy, it was easy to keep my demons at bay. That’s probably why I was fond of having two jobs, not zero.
But the smell of fresh cookies made me shake the thought away. Miller would be home any minute. And I wanted him to walk into a clean house with freshly baked cookies.
I pulled out the tray and moved the cookies to a cooling rack.
I turned off the oven and just stood there, fidgeting with my hands. Now that it was after lunch, I was nervous. Did he mean like…right after lunch? Or more like 3 o’clock? Or maybe after lunch meant right before dinner. Would he be back by 5?
God, I was a nervous wreck. And it had nothing to do with not knowing the exact time he was coming back. Yesterday he’d told me he’d stop by the store after work. The store meant condoms. And condoms meant we’d be having sex.
Maybe I wasn’t nervous at all. I think I was just excited. I’d always had a bad time differentiating between the two. I needed to check my makeup again.
I hurried back into the bedroom and walked into the bathroom. I’d put on mascara earlier, just in case he was coming home early. But that was pretty much the only makeup I ever wore. My face was tanned from the sun. And the mascara made my eyes pop.
But I didn’t exactly look sexy. I looked down at my outfit. And by that I mean…Miller’s outfit. I was wearing one of his sweatshirts and a pair of his sweatpants. All my clothes were ridiculously cold for this weather. But there had to be something sexier than this.
I started rummaging through Miller’s drawers. Maybe I could find one of his old dress shirts he used to wear for work. Wearing just that and my underwear was sexy, right? That was a thing girls did in movies. They made it work.
But I couldn’t find any of his dress shirts. All I could find was a warm flannel button-up. Surely it looked amazing on him. But the sexy lumberjack vibe wasn’t exactly what I was going for. Anything was better than what I was wearing though. This was our first time. It was supposed to be special.
I pulled off the hoodie and sweatpants and put on the flannel shirt. I kept the top unbuttoned and turned to the mirror.
Okay, I don’t know what shirts these girls were wearing in movies…but their men must not have been as big as Miller. I was drowning in this thing. Maybe if I put my hair up…
I pulled my hair into a high ponytail. No. I pulled out a few strands to frame my face. Now I just looked like a messy lumberjack.
I heard the front door open.
Shit.
“Brooklyn! I’m home!”
There wasn’t any time to change out of the messy lumberjack getup. It was what it was. I ran out of the room, hopping on the cold floor. I looked ridiculous anyway, so I should have put on a pair of socks…
I slowed down as I reached the living room. I lifted my head and tried to walk out in a sexy strut. But my feet were freezing. And I’m pretty sure it was more of an unsexy hobble.
Miller smiled when he saw me. “What are you wearing?”
Oh God, this wasn’t sexy at all. Improvise. I leaned against the kitchen counter and popped my hip out. Not that he could tell because I was drowning in his shirt. I should have just answered the door in my underwear! Too late now.
“Aren’t your feet cold?”
I looked down at my bare feet. “Yes,” I said with a laugh. “I’m trying to be sexy but I totally flubbed it. And my feet are so freaking cold.”
“Hm.” He grabbed me around the waist and lifted me onto the counter so my feet were no longer on the cold floor. “Well, you’ve succeeded.”
I laughed. “Yeah right.”
“I had no idea I was coming home to a sexy, frozen lumberjack.”
I laughed harder. “I’m so sorry. I totally ruined the mood.”
“What mood?”
“The you just bought a huge box of condoms mood?”
The corner of his mouth ticked up. “This morning it seemed like you might like a little tour of the town. I haven’t stopped by the store yet. I was hoping you’d come with me.” He lifted up a cookie and took a bite. “These are amazing. And it looks awesome in here. Did you clean?”
“Yes. So back to the important thing we were just talking about. You want me to come with you to buy a box of condoms?”
“Unless you want to stay here.”
I didn’t actually want to purchase condoms. But he’d probably be doing that. And I really did want to go exploring. “No, I’ll come.”
“How about you go change into something a little less sexy and we can get going.”
“I feel like you’re making fun of me.”
“I’m not.” He caught my hip before I could slide off the counter. “If I knew you’d be waiting for me like this I would have stopped by the store first. Trust me.”
I leaned forward and placed a kiss on his lips. “You’re way too nice to me.” I tried to slide off the counter again, but he kept my hips locked in place.
“I’m serious, Brooklyn. Greet me like this again tomorrow and I’ll show you how serious I am.” He didn’t look like he was joking around now.
I swallowed hard. He seriously wanted to go out and about right now? Because I was pretty sure we’d both rather stay in. But…condoms. I really wanted those condoms. “Then I’ll dress like this again tomorrow.”
This time he let me slide off the counter. I quickly changed into my one pair of jeans and pulled on his hoodie again.
We drove slowly in the snow. But it only took a few minutes to reach the local Main Street. There were still lights streaming down the sidewalks from Christmas. And even though they weren’t lit up for the night yet, it still looked festive and quaint.
Miller opened up my door and held his hand out for me. He kept his hand wrapped around mine as we walked down the sidewalk.
“This place is cuter than the pictures,” I said.
“It’s really creepy that you stalked everything so thoroughly before you bought this place. I’m trying to show you something new and you already know it.”
I laughed. “I wanted to make sure you’d be happy.”
He looked down at me. “I wasn’t happy until you came back.”
I smiled up at him.
He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and kissed me. Without a care in the world that there were other residents of this little town milling about. We were invisible here. Just the way I liked it. I pulled back. “So where are those condoms?”
He laughed. “Come with me.” He grabbed my hand and led me past the cutest little shops.
There was a bakery with a pink exterior, a toy shop where kids were staring in the windows, a newspaper stand, a little pub.
We stopped outside a local convenience store.
The bell jingled as we walked in and the person at the register waved to us.
“People here are so friendly,” I said. “It’s the exact opposite of New York. I love it.”
“Just be mindful. A small town means gossip.”
“You think the sweet old man at the register is dying to find out our true identities?”
Miller stopped in front of the condoms. “Maybe.”
I looked around to make sure no one was near us. “We have to purchase some other random stuff. Not just these . It’s going to look like we’re sex fiends. Talk about small town gossip.”
Miller laughed. “We don’t need anything else. Now take your pick.”
“What? No. You take your pick.”
“You’re the one that wants them,” he said.
I just stared at him. “You don’t want to use one?” I whispered at him. “We can barely afford to feed ourselves, let alone a little monster.”
He laughed. “A monster?”
“It’ll feel like a monster if you accidentally knock me up.” I pulled a random box off the shelf. “How about these?”
“They’re neon.”
“Little Dicky will like them. He’s very retro and loves clubbing.”
Miller laughed even though the expression on his face was one of pure shock. “What the heck happened to promising not to call me that?” He grabbed the box of neon goodness and put it back on the shelf.
“I promised not to call you that. Not him .” I wiggled my eyebrows as I looked down at his crotch.
“Whatever you want, kid.”
I stuck my tongue out at him.
Instead of sticking his tongue out at me, he captured mine in a kiss. His fingers gripped the back of my neck, pulling me closer. It was exactly how I’d been hoping he’d kiss me when he came home earlier. It was the same way he kissed me right before he’d touch me. Like he was desperate for me.
He groaned and pulled back. “Would you just pick out a box already so we can go home?”
I blinked up at him innocently. “What about touring the town?”
“I’d much rather tour you.”
His eyes wandered back to my mouth.
I swallowed hard. God, I loved when he looked at me like that. I turned back to the condoms and grabbed a box of very normal looking ones that were on sale.
“Much better choice,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“But we should buy something else so we don’t look…”
“Like sex fiends? I’m minutes away from fucking you in this store. That would make it look a little worse, don’t you think?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
He paused in the aisle, and slowly backed me up until my butt hit one of the shelves. “Do you want to bet?”
Kind of. Not because I thought he wouldn’t. But because I thought he might. And I’d really been looking forward to this moment. The last thing we needed was to get arrested though. I ducked under his arm and hurried up to the register.
As I suspected, the old man looked shocked by my purchase.
Especially when Miller came up and put his arm around my shoulders.
It was like he was trying to embarrass me.
Or torture me. Or something. But it wasn’t working.
Because he’d turned me on so much back in that aisle that all I could think about was getting home.
I grabbed the bag and raced out of the store. I wasn’t nervous anymore. Just excited.