chest, outlining the hint of muscles beneath it. Without looking at my own, I remembered I was wearing a white shirt, one that was completely see-through revealing my bra and ample chest. This was way worse than the sports bra. He saw me putting the pieces together in my mind and looked back up at my eyes. Rhys Edwards may have been a gentleman, but he was still a man.
“I need a three minute head start,” I shrugged apologetically.
Closing the door behind me, I rushed through my flat to make sure there wasn’t anything incriminating lying around. I threw my lobster pajamas and childhood stuffed animal into my closet, running in circles to double-check everything else. As I assessed the kitchen, Rhys peeked his head through and asked, “Can I come in now?”
“Yeah, thanks for waiting.”
After setting the basket on my counter, Rhys began unbuttoning his shirt and, mortified, I had to look away. In my peripheral I could see his undershirt, so I relaxed a bit and looked at him again. Tortuously sexy in his undershirt, Rhys made eye contact. “Can you possibly put this in your dryer?”
I stared at his strong, but subtle arm muscles, and the ones underneath his skin-tight shirt. “Yeah,” I muttered idiotically, heading to my room to get him one of my larger pajama shirts. “Here, give me that one too and I can throw both in. I’ll be right back.” After closing my bedroom door, I changed into dry clothes, partially as an escape to hide from seeing him shirtless.
When I returned to the living room, I saw him wearing my old Wicked shirt on my way to the dryer. I liked seeing him in my clothes, in my flat, in my space. I was obviously losing it. Rhys was on the floor starting to take out all of our food when he looked up, and said, “I figured we’d eat before continuing to practice.”
“You know we can sit on the table,” I said gesturing towards my small dining area.
He looked at me like I was insane. “Obviously not, Ellie. It’s a picnic.” I laughed. He was so adorable. “Well,” he shrugged. “It was supposed to be.”
While we ate I watched Rhys glancing around my apartment trying to process the little bits of my personality. I had lots of colored furniture, with blankets laid around, and art on every wall. It was actually quite personal despite that I’d only lived there a year. I had made it a home with the intention of moving forward in the space. He was shocked when I confessed he was the only person to have seen my flat.
“Really?” he said, his tone fluctuating in curiosity. “I feel special now.”
“Well, we didn’t have anywhere else to go in a hurry.”
Disappointment removed his grin and I regretted my comment, but I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea, and I was protecting my own feelings. A few minutes passed in silence and as I finished up, Rhys got up suddenly to investigate my three bookshelves. He placed his hands in his pockets, looking rather silly in my baggy shirt, though he fit right into the space. Browsing the titles, he commented on authors he had read or ones he would like to. When he turned around, he caught my watchful eye and smirked. “Which is your favorite?”
“I can’t pick a favorite child, that’s cruel.”
“Oh come on,” he continued grinning.
“Too many, but I love To Kill a Mockingbird .”
His eyes lit up, and I couldn’t understand why until he explained, “You know it’s playing at Regent Park Open Theatre through September. We should go.”
“I didn’t know actually,” I said, ignoring his suggestion.
As much as my heart floated upon his invitation and the idea of going together, I wouldn’t. He noted my hesitance, left it alone and returned towards the sofa. As I washed my dish and hands, I eyed him perusing through his binder, looking up at my desk, and spotting Aaron’s picture. I knew the moment his eyes spotted the love of my life, and I wished I’d put it away, but only for a second. Rhys respected the
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