CH 7 - KATHERINE

“Good morning sleepy heads!” Audrey bursts into my room snapping me from a peaceful sleep. I blink, sitting up slowly and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I look at Audrey, one red eyebrow hitched up high and a smirk on her face.

And it suddenly clicks: I remember I am buck naked in bed with Dan.

With Dan.

Holy shit.

I feel the heat rising into my cheeks. I gather the sheet up in a rush to cover my breasts, and Audrey burst out laughing, rousing Dan from his sleep. He sits up leisurely, taking in my rumpled hair, clutched sheet, and red blush. His gaze hover over me, eyes full of mischief before glancing over to our interloping friend, and grinning.

“Trying to join us Drey?” He teases her.

She retches, cupping her throat with her hands in mock choking. She winks at me then turns and walks from the room, shaking her bouncy red curls. Dan’s green eyes return to me, all joking gone, and a concerned warmth replacing it.

“You feel okay about everything this morning, Kat?”

Blunt. Okay, I can work with that.

“Yeah, I’m good, Dan. Great,” I start. “Thank you for, uh, last night.” His lips rise slowly into a grin, jaw twitching with a clearly repressed laugh. Damn him.

“For future reference, never thank the guy, Kat, he should be the one doing that.” He gets up, and winks at me. My eyes dart immediately down to his waist. He is so casual about his nudity, slowly spinning around in search of his discarded clothes. “So, you're not going to get all girlfriendy and clingy and be all ‘oh Dan oh please come back’ are you?” His voice raises several octaves at the end in a very poor mimic of my voice. I roll my eyes, and lean over the edge of the bed, shoving him further away.

“Psh, whatever, Daniel. I had two other men inviting me to their beds last night. You should thank your lucky stars I chose you.” I mock back.

“Oh, well in that case,” he pauses, standing tall like a soldier at attention before bowing deeply with an arm outstretched, “a thousand thank yous to her lady’s parts for choosing me.” My jaw drops, and I burst out laughing before reaching behind me to throw a pillow at his head.

“Get dressed, dumbass,” I say rolling my eyes. “I’m hungry.”

I don’t watch as he slips back into his pants, and instead make my way to my closet, and picking out a comfortable pair of sweats and a t. I follow him out to the kitchen where Audrey is impatiently waiting for one of us to make breakfast. She hates to cook— no, she cannot cook, like prone to burning water cannot. So, I am the one cooking our meals unless Dan is here, in which case, he usually cooks.

“You two okay with scrambled eggs?” He asks on cue.

“Yeah,” we reply together. He sets to work at the stove while I power on the coffee. Ten minutes later, we are sitting around the table shoving forkfuls of eggs into our mouths.

            “Okay Kat, you still need to tell me about your two male suitors from the club last night!” Audrey orders before taking another big bite. Always the nosy best friend.

            “Really, Drey? That’s what you want to ask her about?” Dan asks her, an incredulous look on his face.

            “Yes, Daniel, I want to hear about the mystery men not about how you use your equipment,” she says scrunching up her nose, but then she leans in to whisper to me, “I do need to hear about your first time later though.” I just smile, and roll my eyes nodding at the meddlesome girl.

“Alright, the first guy I met was … um, Josh, I think. He was a blonde. Blue eyes. Charming. Very charming, and very respectful. He seemed more like a going steady type of a guy than a hookup though.”

            “So, option one is blonde prince charming, mhm. Boring. Go on.”

            “He wasn’t boring! He actually gave me his number before he left.” I shrug. “I don’t think I will use it, but I don’t know.”

            “Oh, no! You should definitely use it,” Audrey confirms, “see what is hidden behind prince charming’s charm.” She perks up in her chair. “Actually, do it right now! Where’s his number?”

            “Umm, it was in my clutch I had last night. I don’t remember where I put it.”

            “I got it,” Dan says with a knowing grin. He walks over to the living room, and picks my small black bag off the couch. “You kinda dropped it last night.” Oops. I blush again as he hands it to me, and sits back down to stuff into more eggs. I pull out the napkin with Josh’s number on it start a new message. My fingers are frozen, though. I don’t usually do this.

            “What should I say?”

            “Just say hi and your name. You’ll know if he’s worth your time if he remembers you,” Dan advises, no bullshit in his tone.

Katherine: Hey Josh, it's Katherine from last night.

I set my phone down, and, takin a large gulp of my coffee, anxiously wait for a ring.

            “Okay, what about the other guy?” She continues grilling. Adam’s dark eyes flash through my mind making my body feel warm. I'm not even sure how to describe him.

            “Where to start, oh gosh. His name was Adam, and he was the definition of tall, dark, and sexy.” I say giving Audrey big eyes, and fanning my face dramatically. “He was very forward, not shy about telling me what he was thinking or what he wanted.”

            “Oh, I bet not,” she says wiggling her brows and giggling. “I wish you got pictures of these boys, Kat, so we could compare both your options.” I roll my eyes, drinking down the rest of my coffee.

            “Excuse me,” Dan cuts in, “what about her third option?”

            “What third option?” I ask him, feigning innocence. He smacks me on the shoulder while Audrey and I laugh together.

            “Oh Daniel,” Audrey says, “you aren’t an option here, you're the dessert she comes home to when her options fail to satisfy her.”

            “Yeah Dan, what she said,” I tease, but then a thought pops into my head and I nail him with a serious look. “But if you ever use me as a side piece, then you will be forever banned from my bed, and probably my home.” I give him a falsely saccharine smile. He puts his arms up in surrender.

“Yes ma’am.”

And with that, we finish breakfast, so Dan can head home. Audrey and I sit on the couch to enjoy a relaxing Sunday watching movies and gorging on salty snacks before retiring to our rooms in the evening. I hop into bed, hearing my phone suddenly buzz on the nightstand.

Josh: Hey princess, I was wondering if I would hear from you again.

Katherine: Princess huh? You just sayin that cause you don’t remember my name?  

Josh: Don’t like it? Don’t worry, I remember everything about you Katherine.

Katherine: I didn’t say that. You busy this week?

Josh: Never too busy for you. Tomorrow night. Dinner. I’ll pick you up at 6.

I suppose that could have gone worse. I set my phone down with a sigh, trying to decide how I feel about this date. I want to be excited, but for some reason, I am just not as much as I expected to be once he responded. Reserved to simply feeling indifferent, I lay back and drift off into a peaceful sleep.