Ache With Me

I stepped out of my bathroom in my favorite fluffy robe, shuffling sleepily to where I’d thrown some clothes on my bed. Despite all the lovely hot water of my shower, I was still groggy beyond belief. I’d been up late looking through the pictures I’d taken on Saturday, both of the city and of Hunter. I’d gotten three or four incredible shots of his attic office that I couldn’t wait to show Zina.

Of course, with the weather like this, I may not even make it to work. The sky was a sickly gray-green color, with sleet coming down in sheets. I had absolutely no desire to go out in that weather, let alone try to catch a bus or a cab. I could see the traffic from my window. Yes, I was definitely going to be late.

I hated to do this to him, but I was honestly in a jam. I needed to go in to work today to go over the article with Zina. So I called Max.

“What?” He whined when he finally picked up the phone.

“Babe I’m sorry to wake you up but I’m seriously stranded at home and I need to get to work.” I felt bad, waking him up this early.

“Christ, why do you have to start work so early.” I heard movement like he was getting up. “All right, I’ll come get you. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“You’re a lifesaver.” I heard a dial tone and looked at my phone in surprise. He hung up on me! I supposed he had a right to be grumpy and finished getting myself ready before heading down to the lobby to wait for him. Fifteen minutes later he was pulled up in front of my building. I ran out as fast as I could without slipping on the icy sidewalk and climbed into the passenger seat.

“You owe me, Lily.” He grumbled, pulling away from the curb. He was wearing pajama bottoms and a ratty old sweater, a knit green beanie perched precariously on top of his blond hair. He looked like he was half asleep and he was smoking with all the windows closed. I didn’t like the smell but opening a window meant letting in the sleet. Plus he was doing me a favor so I really shouldn’t complain.

“Whatever you want, I promise.” It wasn’t until I really thought about what I’d said that I realized why he was smiling like that. “Okay, whatever you want within reason.”

“You’re coming over after work and spending the night.” He honked the horn. “If I can even fucking get you to work!”

“I’m still waiting for a text from Zina saying I don’t have to come to work.” Occasionally we had snow days; I really wanted today to be one of those days.

“So Hunter told me you interviewed him this weekend.”

“Yeah, I’m really excited to write this article, I got some great pictures.”

Usually it took twenty minutes on the bus to get to work. Today, it took forty five. I was ready to kill someone by the end and I felt especially bad for Max. He parked in the space that would have been allotted to me if I drove to work, and followed me up to the office blearily. I think he was just following out of habit from our lunch time dates. Or maybe he was just seeking the warmth of the office. The office was nearly empty, and the few people there looked miserable. I sat Max down in my chair and wrapped my jacket around him before poking my head into Zina’s office.

“Hey boss lady, I’m here.” I said, looking over her ensemble for the day. Her red hair was covered with a white beanie, making her look a little like a Christmas elf.

“You won’t be for long, half the office has been calling me saying the power’s out in their buildings and they can’t get out.” She shook her head. “Damn newfangled buildings.”

“See this is why I live in a loft.” I shrugged. “I’ve got Max with me, he’s half asleep.”

“Stick him on the break room couch and put a post it with your name on it.”

“He’s not my food in the fridge, and we both know that won’t stop someone from taking him.” She laughed and shooed me out. I herded Max over to the break room couch, getting him a cup of coffee and a blanket. He passed out before he even drank the coffee.

Zina loved the shots of Hunter and his attic room. While she was looking at them, I was writing my article as fast as I could. I wanted Max to be able to go home as soon as possible, and he told me just before he conked out that he wasn’t going to leave until I did so he could make sure I got out of work safely.

Around noon, I finished up the article and let Zina do the revisions over my shoulder. Then she took over to work it into the layout for tomorrow’s page with the one person from layout that had showed up that day.

“Max?” I shook his shoulder gently. He opened one eye.

“What?” He grunted.

“My poor cranky baby, I’m sorry I called you this morning.” I knelt down beside the couch to kiss his cheek, the only exposed part of him at the moment.

“Better you call me than try to get on a bus in this weather.” He muttered, moving to give me a peck on the lips.

“We can go home now, Zina’s sending us all home before the weather gets too bad.” I left out that I didn’t have work the next day because of the storm headed this way.

“Then let’s go, so you can repay your debt.” He waggled his eyebrows at me as he threw the blanket off. The drive home was slightly better since no one was trying to get to work now. Unfortunately, as soon as we got into Max’s apartment, his lights flickered and went out.

“Ow, fuck!” I yelped as I whacked my shin against his coffee table. He’d left all his curtains closed so it was pitch black in the apartment. I heard the click of a lighter and then he was handing me a small candle.

“Here, light some more.” We worked in silence, lighting candles and spreading them around the apartment to give us some extra light. Then we collapsed on his couch under a blanket. It was too cold to get up and move around, so we just snuggled under the blanket and talked.

Okay, that’s a lie. We totally made out for a while too. His hand was just inching up under my shirt when he let out a startled yelp and fell off the couch. I was wondering if he’d felt a third nipple or something when I realized Sylvester had jumped on his head.

“Damn cat.” Max chuckled, scratching him under the chin. “I bet he’s hungry.” While Max went to go refill his food dish, I cuddled the large black cat to me. His purr rumbled through his chest. He especially liked it when I scratched behind his ears and gave him little kisses on the forehead.

“I think your cat loves me.” I told Max when he came back from the other room. Sylvester was splayed across my lap, belly up and soaking up every bit of my attention.

“I think that means you’ve made it. Cheshire still hates me.”

“She just smells Sylvester and doesn’t like it, I think. She gets mad at me every time I come home and smell like this big cuddle bug here.” Sylvester purred in agreement.

“Well cuddle bug needs to get out of the way because his daddy wants to kiss you.” Sylvester was rudely deposited on the floor when Max pulled me onto his lap, settling me so my knees were on either side of his hips.

“Interesting position you’ve put me in.” I murmured, trailing my lips down his neck.

“I rather like it.” He tangled his hands in my hair, pulling me back up to him. I wasn’t having any of it though and peppered his face with light kisses. He was so lovely I could hardly stand it.

“You’re too pretty for your own good.” I commented, settling back on his knees to look at him. He moved his hands to my hips to help me keep my balance.

“You really think so?” He flipped his hair. I laughed at his pitiful attempt.

“Definitely. You need that nose ring to help rough you up a bit.”

“My girlfriend thinks I’m too pretty.” He faked a pout.

“For your own good.” I corrected him. “Zina suggested that I put a Post-it on your forehead so that everyone knew you belong to me.”

“That wouldn’t stop anyone from taking me.”

“That’s what I said!”

Eventually we got off the couch and made dinner. He had a gas stove so all we had to do was turn the burner on and light it with his Zippo. It was nothing complicated, just some pasta so we could fill our bellies. We crawled into bed early, having nothing better to do. Then we remembered we had left all those candles burning and ran around blowing them all out, tripping over random things as we went. I blew out the last one and turned around to find I couldn’t see Max anymore.

“Max?” I called, feeling my way through the apartment. Then two arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me up against a warm body.

“Got you!” He crowed, kissing my neck. He carried me into the bedroom, my feet dangling off the ground. I was already wearing a pair of his sweatpants. He was so much bigger than me that I had to pull the waistband as tight as it would go and roll it down four or five times. Even so, I was afraid they would just slide off me in the middle of the night, not that Max would really complain.

“Stay close or I’ll freeze to death.” I said as I crawled under the covers.

“You couldn’t keep me away darling.” He let me curl up next to him and rest my head on his chest, one arm over his slim waist. The steady beating of his heart echoed in my ear and relaxed me in a way sleeping pills never could, lulling me to sleep in his arms.