Page 36 of Because of Blake
Oscar pushes past Blake to jump up and down at me. He licks my hands and knees as he circles in between the jumps.
“Oscar! Get down!” Blake grabs Oscar’s collar. “I’m so sorry, Maggie.”
“It’s fine. He’s just happy to see me,” I say as I squat down to Oscar’s level and scratch behind his ears.
“Well, that makes two of us,” Blake says under his breath, but the words are clear. I don’t draw attention to it, I simply soak up the warmth his statement creates in my chest. “Come on in.” Blake steps back to let me inside, and I get a knee-buckling whiff of his cologne as I pass him.
The layout of his house is similar to mine, although it’s slightly smaller. A staircase runs up the wall to our right. He leads me through a sitting area which bleeds into a dining room with the kitchen around the corner to the right. The kitchen opens up into the living room, which makes my eyes widen.
There’s a full wrap-around couch starting on one wall, jutting out to separate the kitchen from the living room. The flat-screen television mounted on the wall is at least eighty inches and flanked on either side by surround sound speakers. Professional lighting illuminates the built-in shelving in the corners of the room with soft blue-colored light bulbs. Beautiful graphite and charcoal landscape artwork hang in various places. It’s enough to tantalize the brain, but not overwhelm it.
“Blake,” I say quietly. “This is...amazing.”
He sidles up next to me after putting Oscar outside, his hands in his pockets. “Thanks. I put in a lot of work to make this space what it is. Nice to have someone here to appreciate it. I don’t think Oscar is as impressed with it as you are.”
I turn my head to find him gazing down at me with a look of adoration on his face. We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment before Blake clears his throat awkwardly. “Um, would you like a drink? Water, soda? I have beer, if you’d like one.”
“I’ll have a soda, thanks.”
“Coming right up.” He disappears into the kitchen. “I got Dr. Pepper. That’s your favorite, right?”
A flutter rushes through me at his thoughtfulness.“Um, yeah. It is, thank you.”
“Do you like it in a glass or straight out of the can?” His head is ducked into the refrigerator as he asks, and my eyes can’t help but stare at his ass.
“The can is fine.”
“Okay, suit yourself,” he says, handing me a frosty soda. “Cheers.” He clinks his bottle against the aluminum can in my hand as I crack it open.
“What are we cheers-ing to?”
He gives me a sideways look and one side of his mouth ticks up. “To neighbors becoming friends.”
My heart skips a beat. “I’ll drink to that,” I say, then tip my drink to my lips. “So, what are we watching tonight?”
“Well, I was going to watch this documentary on black market trading, but we can watch something else if it’s not your style.”
I scrunch my nose. “Doesn’t sound like something I’d watch.”
“What about superhero movies, then? The new Marvel one is out, and you had your Scarlet Witch costume down pretty good last Halloween.” He rakes me over, as if recalling my outfit.
I must have made quite the impression. “Oh, that was all Dylan’s idea.”
“Well, it was a great idea.” He stares at me a moment before blinking a few times and taking a drink. “Those movies kind of have everything. Action, suspense, romance.” His voice cracks on the last word and he turns his gaze to the floor.
I pinch my lips, not wanting to embarrass him further. “Sure, sounds good to me.”
I take a seat on the couch, right in the spot where it curves so it cuddles me. Sitting all the way against the back, my feet barely hang off the edge of the over sized cushion. Blake settles down a full cushion away. He’s far enough to emphasize the fact he’s “not trying anything,” as he said earlier, but close enough I can see him from the corner of my eye.
“What about Oscar? Weren’t you two supposed to watch a movie tonight? I don’t want to steal his place.”
Blake frowns. “You want Oscar in here? After his antics on the porch, I figured he should hang out in the yard.”
I shake my head. “I don’t mind.”
“Okay.” An easy grin spreads across his face. Then, as if he realizes he’s smiling, he blinks and furrows his brow. “You asked for it.”
I laugh as he gets up to let Oscar inside. Oscar jumps onto the couch and settles on my other side so he’s not impeding my nearness to Blake. I pull my knees up, tucking my feet to the side to nuzzle them under Oscar. When Blake sits back down, he presses play on the remote, and as the epic intro music to the Marvel brand starts, I relax a bit more. I’ve watched so many of these movies with Dylan, this is almost comforting, but I miss snuggling with my baby.