I end up hanging out with Lukas longer than I planned. I really shouldn’t have gotten out the snacks. The moment I did, I found myself perched on the edge of the couch. Then somehow I was sitting on the couch. And before I knew it, two hours had passed, and we were a few episodes deep into some heist show I’d never seen before but was already obsessed with. Roxy is sprawled out on the couch between Lukas and me, her head and paws resting on his lap. Even Princess has deigned to join the party, perched in her usual spot on the back of the couch, watching the room like a queen surveying her kingdom. This whole situation is entirely too… Comfortable. We look suspiciously cozy, like we’re one step away from being in a cute family movie. The thought makes me squirm. I glance over at Lukas, and to my surprise, he’s watching me, not the TV. He seems deep in thought, his expression unreadable. I narrow my eyes suspiciously, but he just gives me a friendly nod and leans in slightly closer.
“Do you want more?” He asks. Excuse me? More what? I blink.
“Huh?” I say dumbly.
“Do you want to watch another episode?” He clarifies, gesturing at the TV, where the streaming service has paused to ask if we’re still watching.
“Oh, uh… no. I don’t think so. I’m exhausted.” I admit, stifling a yawn. Lukas nods.
“That’s understandable.” He hesitates, his tone shifting awkwardly.
“Uh, this is a little awkward, but… would you mind if, while you’re asleep, I throw my clothes in your washer? I don’t have anything else to wear. I can go buy some clothes tomorrow, but I’d really like to be clean.” The request catches me off guard. My first instinct is to say yes, of course. But then it hits me why he’s uncomfortable and why he waited until I was going to bed. He has literally NOTHING else to wear.
“Yeah, you can wash your clothes.” I say, and I nod towards the bathroom.
“There’s probably a robe in there. It’s mine, so it’ll be tiny on you, but…” I trail off, feeling awkward for even mentioning it.
“Of course. Thank you,” Lukas says quickly, his tone polite and sincere. I nod again and get to my feet, heading toward my bedroom. As soon as I close my door, I turn back around and open it again, intending to tell him that the laundry detergent is in the cupboard behind the laundry door. But the words never leave my mouth. I freeze in place as I catch sight of Lukas. He’s already unbuttoned his shirt, and… Damn. I mentally kick myself. Come on, Clare. You hate the guy. Stop staring! Before he can notice me standing there like an idiot, I spin on my heel, duck into my room, and shut the door firmly behind me. He can figure out the detergent for himself.
I call my cousin Laura and spend the next ten minutes summarizing my last twenty-four hours—minus the whole necromancer situation. If she thought I was involved with something like that, she’d show up, drag me off by my hair, and put me on total lockdown. Instead, I stick to the safer version: Lukas is having family issues, got beat up by some relatives, and I’m helping him out. It’s not a lie. Just… not the whole truth. As expected, Laura is thoroughly amused.
“So let me get this straight. The guy insulted your style then implied you were incompetent, and now you’re playing nurse while he crashes on your couch?” She asks, her voice brimming with barely contained laughter.
“Yep.” I reply with a dramatic sigh.
“And he brought his dog into your home.” She adds.
“Yeah.” I confirm.
“And you hate him?” She is starting to giggle at this point.
“Definitely.” I say, my tone firm.
“But you still want to see him take his shirt off?” She teases, and I roll my eyes so hard it’s a miracle they don’t fall out of my skull.
“Hell yeah! If you saw him, you’d understand. Even all beat up, the guy is hot enough to bake cookies on.” My words come out as a complaint.
“So… You actually DO like him?” She asks, the teasing edge in her voice impossible to miss.
“No way!” I protest immediately.
“Of course I think he’s hot, that’s just a fact. But the guy is a total jerk, so it doesn’t count.” Laura laughs, but it fades into a resigned sigh.
“Why are the hot ones always assholes?” She asks.
“Because they can be.” I reply with my own sigh.
“If they weren’t so pretty, they’d have to actually be nice to people. They daze people with their good looks then get away with being jerks.” I explain.
“That checks out,” she agrees. We chat for a few more minutes, but while I’m winding down for the night, Laura’s still at work and has to get back to it.
Even though I know I shouldn’t, I crack open my bedroom door and peek out into the living room and it is SO worth it. I have to slap a hand over my mouth to stifle my giggles. Lukas is wearing my robe, the one I warned him would be too small, and I was absolutely right. It’s comically short on him, the hem barely brushing his knees. The sleeves end awkwardly at his forearms, and the belt looks like it’s holding on for dear life. To make it even better, the robe is an alarming shade of hot pink, a color so bright it might actually glow in the dark. He looks utterly ridiculous. The complete opposite of the perfectly put together and composed man I first met in his office, all polished suits and carefully combed hair. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. For a moment, I’m tempted to step out there and complain that his outfit isn’t appropriate, just to rub it in a little. But even I know that’s a bit too petty, even for me. As I go to close my door, it creaks loudly, and I freeze. Great. Not wanting to risk making more noise, I leave the door cracked open slightly and practically sprint back to my bed, diving under the covers like a guilty teenager caught sneaking out. I flick off my lamp, pulling my blankets up to my chin, trying to erase the mental image of Lukas in my hot pink robe. It’s not just that he looks absurd. It’s the fact that he’s pulling it off. Somehow, he manages to look simultaneously ridiculous and kind of… Endearing. I shake my head at myself, curling up under the blankets. No. Absolutely not. I’m not going down that road. Still… It’s freaking me out that the guy seems to fit in so well in my colourful apartment… I definitely need to stop thinking about this. Ugh, I am so ready to sleep.
I wake in the middle of the night, groggy and disoriented. The room is pitch dark, and for a brief, heart-stopping moment, I panic. Something, or someone, is in bed with me. My heart races as I freeze, listening for any sound, trying to figure out what’s happening. My mind immediately conjures the worst possibilities, an intruder, a ghost, maybe even some sort of cursed creature from the magical drama that seems determined to drag me into it. Briefly I even consider that Lukas might have stumbled his way in here at some point. But then my hand brushes against something soft and warm. Fur. It takes a second for my brain to catch up, but I finally put two and two together. It’s just Roxy. She’s joined me in bed, clearly having decided that my blankets are better than Lukas’s couch. I let out a long sigh of relief, my heart still thumping from the brief moment of terror. Normally, I’d probably be annoyed, this is my bed, after all and sharing it with an enormous German Shepherd wasn’t exactly in my plans. But the truth is, I’m too tired to care. Roxy shifts slightly, her big head resting heavily against my legs. She lets out a contented sigh, and I can’t help but smile faintly in the dark.
“Just this once.” I mumble into the darkness. Whatever. It’s late, and I’m exhausted. I’ll deal with it in the morning. Closing my eyes, I snuggle deeper into the blankets, letting the comforting warmth of Roxy’s presence lull me back to sleep.