31. Chapter 31
Chapter thirty-one
I ’ve woken up in bed beside Marcus before. Many times, between the boathouse and the Cooper brothers’ guest bedroom.
But waking up in Cade Deans’ bed after spending a night with him?
God. Leaps and bounds better.
And he wasn’t even with me when I woke up this morning. Still better.
I stay in his T-shirt all morning, make myself a pot of coffee, light a candle to get myself in the mood to clean things up around the apartment. If I’m going to be staying here, I need to pull my weight.
I want to listen to music while I clean. I’m annoyed to find that Cade took his earbuds to work, so I opt for the next best thing: Taylor Swift blasting through my phone’s speaker as I scrape and scrub at the collection in the sink.
I’m deep into a rendition of You Belong With Me, using a bottle of dish soap as a microphone, when EJ walks out of his bedroom. I jump, startled, when he’s suddenly in front of me in the kitchen.
“I have underwear on!” I exclaim. “Shorts. Boxers?” I lift up Cade’s shirt, revealing the makeshift bottoms.
“That,” EJ says, shaking his head, “was not going to be my question.”
“Your brother is at work,” I supply as I pause my music. “And your girlfriend is, too?”
“Rory had to go to her place to grab a few things,” EJ replies. “I was going to ask—”
“Because it smells like him, alright?” I gasp. “That’s why I’m wearing your brother’s shirt.”
“I—What?”
“The shirt,” I say weakly, not looking at him. “It’s Cade’s.”
“I… Okay. Whatever. I don’t give a damn. I was going to ask why you’re cleaning our kitchen. And did you… Why does the stove look shiny?”
“Because I cleaned it?”
His forehead creases. “With what? How?”
“You know, they make cleaners for that kind of thing. It’s not supposed to be dingy yellow all the time.”
EJ blinks. “Gigi. How the fuck?”
I take my bottom lip between my teeth. “I may have bugged the front office to raid their cleaning supplies.” EJ’s eyes widen. “But that’s only because you guys had nothing! I just… I wanted to help.”
He’s looking at me the same way his brother does: bemused, beside himself. “You marched down there in that?” He gestures to Cade’s clothes hanging off my frame. “Really?”
I roll my eyes. “Like I had another choice.”
“My brother would argue that you did,” EJ offers. “You just make that coffee?” He nods toward the pot, still gurgling. I nod and hand him a mug, still warm from the sink. “Wow. I might have to convince Cade to keep you.”
“I don’t need your help with that,” I offer. I transition to drying dishes as EJ eyes me. “I know exactly how to handle it.”
EJ swallows. “Oh?”
I nod. “His birthday. It’s going to be the best birthday he’s ever had. Trust me.”
“Gigi,” EJ starts. “I think you should reconsider the birthday thing. Or at least reconsider whatever you’re thinking so it doesn’t happen on his birthday.”
I turn to face him, eyes narrowed. “EJ, I might know a side of Cade that you don’t.”
“Maybe.” He shrugs, blowing out a breath. “Beats me.”
I convince EJ to drive me to Roy’s Grocery before he leaves for a shift at Beach Brew. I tell him I’m going in to grab things for dinner, but I don’t blame him for being skeptical. I walk out with bags full of cleaning supplies, plus new sheets for Cade’s bed. And the few things needed to make spaghetti for dinner, of course.
“So, what? You plan on putting on a little apron and doting by the stove until Cade gets back?” EJ asks as we walk up to the apartment an hour later.
“No,” I reply, bitter. “I’m going to do laundry, maybe vacuum, and then start dinner. There will be leftovers in the fridge for you—I bought Tupperware.”
“Gigi—”
“I’m helping, EJ,” I say, smiling gently. “That’s all.”
A few hours later, when Cade’s bed has fresh sheets, the laundry is tumbling in the dryer, and the kitchen is as clean as it will ever be, Cade and Rory walk in.
“I’m smoking a bowl in the window,” Rory announces, pushing past Cade. “It was a fucking day, let me tell you.”
I frown. “That bad?”
“Worse!” Rory exclaims, then EJ’s bedroom door slams.
I wince at the sound, turning my attention to Cade. “Belinda wasn’t the most pleasant,” he says. “She wasn’t happy about being responsible for tables.”
“She should have considered that when she stuck her tongue down your—”
Cade holds up a hand, winces. “I know. I’m just telling you.”
I blow out a breath. “I can’t believe she’s making this everyone else’s issue.” Cade gives me a look. “Well, I can. But oh my god. To actually do it.”
“I know,” Cade agrees. “Mega bitch.”
“Mega.”
Cade smirks. “The good news,” he hums, putting his hands in his pockets and rocking on his heels, “is that me and Ms. Rory Rose got most of your stuff.”
My lips part. “No way. You didn’t have to do that.”
Cade nods. “It’s all in the truck. Most of it. Everything except for the furniture. I figured leaving unannounced was better than potentially being charged with theft just to prove a point.”
I laugh. “Definitely.”
“You want to help unload? There might be a surprise.”
My eyes light up, a smile spreading as my heart ignites. “I love —I love surprises.” No way did my subconscious almost spit out I love you.
I’m saving that for Cade’s birthday.
“I know,” Cade says cheekily. “That’s why I did it. Come on.”
I finish up the spaghetti, then follow Cade to the parking lot.
“Ice cream and coffee,” he says as he opens the driver’s side door. “I figured since we won’t be working together anymore, I’d start bringing our places home to you.”
I look at Cade, studying his face as he smiles at me, holding coffee and ice cream. He may as well be holding a dozen roses and an engagement ring, because that’s what this moment feels like.
Knowing that he feels the same as me, knowing that his heart pulls at the thought of me the same way mine does every time I think of him, every time I’ve considered the moment when I’m certain Cade feels the same way.
“Thank you,” I say softly, then close the space between us and hug him as close as the coffee and ice cream will allow.