Page 12 of Home for Christmas
“Kids. Look, Ruby! What’s that towel doing on the floor?”
Damn, they are fast! The moms are too close, and the door is still open.
“God damn it!” I whisper the words, but the next words aren’t said in a whisper. “Mom, Ruby, don’t come any further.”
I tell Marley to stay with my eyes and nothing else and go to close and lock the door.
“Is everything okay, Tannen?”
“Marley’s alright, isn’t she?” Marley isn’t the only one who likes watching those damned murder documentaries. Her mom does too. She’s probably thinking I found her daughter hurt or something even more awful.
“Yeah, Ruby, she’s fine. We’re both fine. We just need a minute to…Marley isn’t…,” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. This is going to cause so much fallout, but it has to be done. “Marley isn’t dressed. Why don’t you go over with Mom to our place, and we’ll come over when she’s ready?”
“Oh…um, okay, Tannen. Just…take your time.” I hear both of them snicker as they walk away.
When I turn back, it’s to find Marley shooting me a death stare.
“Tannen, what the hell are you doing?!”
“No one sees you naked, okay.” Only I will ever get to see her like this! Only me!
Chapter Eleven
Marley
What the hell? “Were you trying to keep my mom from seeing me… naked?”
“I told you; no one sees you naked, Peach. Come on, quick, before you get cold. What are you wearing?”
“Wearing?” He lifts me off the bed and turns his phone’s light on. I grab for the blanket on my bed and wrap it around me. Now that he’s said something about it, there is a chill in the air that seems to be getting worse.
“Your hair is wet and everything. Damn it. Come on. You like wearing those stretchy things that go on like a second skin.”
I rush to where he is opening my dresser drawers, “Get out of my drawers, Tannen.”
I just need a minute to focus and process what is going on. Not only am I embarrassed by the fact this man saw me completely naked, but I asked the poor man if I could measure his…package. My mouth ran away with me, and I said it before I could actually think about why it would be a horrible idea to ask the question.
“Can you just go out into the hallway and give me a chance to dress without having to hold a blanket around myself? Please.”
“Yeah, okay, but keep my phone so you can see. And I'm leaving the door cracked.”
“I have my own phone, Tann…,” Before I can tell him I could just use my own phone’s light, he is out the door, pulling it almost closed behind him and leaving me alone to straighten my thoughts out.
I felt Tannen. I was pressed up against him and I wasn’t wearing anything. He saw…Tannen is huge! I yank out clothes -the leggings he was talking about and an oversized sweater- and take a moment to stare at myself in the mirror over my dresser.
I don’t look any different from how I did before the hall incident, but I feel kind of different. And Tannen is acting kind of different. Isn’t he? Or is this all part of the plan to start over again? Are we doing that or was that just for last night?
A knock on the door has me jumping and jerking around. “It’s getting colder, Peach. We should get going.”
“Okay.” I open the door to find Tannen leaning against the opposite wall.
“Do you have a bag or something to bring some clothes with you?”
“Oh, um…I might have a tote somewhere. Or a backpack. A backpack would work, right? Yeah…”
I go digging in my closet while Tannen waits for me.
“Sorry…I know it’s here somewhere…ha! I got it.” I turn with the bag in hand only to realize I never asked him why I need something to put clothes in exactly. “Um, why do I need to pack stuff?”