Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
JESSE
I woke up with Clara’s leg hooked over my waist again.
Last night, when we started watching a film, we were sat on our sides of the bed, a chasm of space between us. As the ice cream tub was passed between us, Clara gradually ended up closer and closer to me until her head ended up on my shoulder. When the ice cream was finished, we slowly made our way to lying down, and Clara’s head rested on my chest with one arm wrapped around my waist.
It meant that even though she kept up a running commentary of the film, I could tell that sleep was coming for her. The press of her ribcage against mine got slower, her voice lower, and her head heavier on my chest.
I tried not to read too much into the fact that Clara, someone I wouldn’t consider a hugger, fell asleep pressed so close to me. But it was hard not to.
I also tried not to read too much into the fact that I slept like a log pinned under her weight when I typically couldn’t sleep while wrapped up with someone else.
Waking up before her today felt like a blessing for two reasons. One, she never had to know about this morning’s erection. Two, it meant that I could work on putting the plan that had come to me while she was swimming last night into motion before she woke up.
A plan that hinged entirely on Becky.
As if she could sense that I had somewhere to be, Clara turned over. But not without dragging her leg over the thickness of my crotch and pulling a low groan from the depths of my throat.
* * *
I found Becky exactly where I expected her.
The kitchen.
She was sat on a counter, looking out of a window, but turned her head briefly when she sensed she was no longer alone. She raised her mug in greeting.
“Anything interesting out there?” I asked as I rested my forearms on the island.
“It’s a beautiful day. The sun is shining.”
“The tank is clean,” I said reflexively.
She smiled as she raised her mug to her lips. “What has you up and at ‘em at this time?” she asked after she had savoured her sip of coffee.
“Clara.”
She quirked an eyebrow, and I scrambled for a follow-up sentence.
“Relax, I know you didn’t mean it like that. It would take quite a person to get engaged in anything this early. Unless…you’ve not actually slept?” I knew I was turning red, but I was helpless to stop. “I’m just messing with you. Sorry, that was mean. What exactly about Clara has you down here looking nervous?” She hopped off the counter and leaned on the island opposite me, her gaze intense.
“I’m thinking of taking her out for the day. Marseille is only a couple of hours away, and I thought it might be good for her to get out of here for a bit. So, I’m asking if you need her for anything today?”
Becky’s face was impossible to read.
“You took the box, didn’t you?” she asked instead of answering my question.
“What box?”
“I searched high and low in that flat for those cufflinks, and I couldn’t find them anywhere. I know all her hiding places, and she hadn’t put them back in any of them. Then I remembered that you saw her the night he broke up with her.”
Ah, that box.
“It’s in my kitchen. I figured she didn’t need the reminder.”
I’d forgotten I had it until right now. Clara never mentioned that it was missing, and it wasn’t in a drawer I used that often, so it fell to the back of my mind.
“Find a better hiding place.”
“Why?”
“In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re kitchen congregators. She’ll find it, and the more he can stay cut out of her life after this week, the better.”
“When is she going to be snooping around my kitchen?”
Clara had been to my flat, sure, but most of the time, I went to hers. I didn’t think she had ever entered my kitchen.
Becky shrugged. “When it’s three a.m. and she needs a spoon for her late-night mug cake or something.”
“You say that like we’re an inevitability.”
“At this point, I think you are. Move the cufflinks. And you can take her out on your road trip date. Just be back by dinner.”
“Oh, are you sure?”
“She’s been different this past month. I couldn’t figure out why, but it dawned on me this week that whenever I saw her, she was already herself. I didn’t have to wait half an hour before she shook off the version of herself that had to exist in her relationship.”
Again, she hadn’t actually answered my question. “What does that have to do with me?”
Becky pursed her lips. “Nothing. Or everything. Definitely everything because she’s relaxed enough to be herself all the time again. She knows you aren’t going to try and change her or make her feel bad about who she is. And who she isn’t.”
I frowned. “Why would I do that?”
“I hate to bring him up, but Drew used to joke all the time about how trying to be snuggly with Clara was like trying to get it on with an ice box. I mean, she’s not overly into hugging, but if she likes you enough, she will get all up in your business. I’ve shared a bed with her many times, so I know that she might actually be a reptile, but the last few times I’ve done it, she’s stayed on her side of the bed. No snuggles. She got so in her head about it that she just closed that part of herself off completely because the man she was sharing her life with leached it out of her. But I saw you two yesterday morning, and it was clinger central.” So was this morning. “It might not seem like much, but it’s everything. Look, Addie just got here, so she might use that as a reason to say no, but I’ll go talk to her now and tell her that she needs to tell Clo to go. So yes, I am sure that you can take her away from here. From him.”
“Thank you.”
“Just don’t break her,” Becky said before she left the kitchen.
I didn’t plan on it.