DEPRAVITY : Embry Call

09

I wake up next to him in the morning. The shame hits me before his warmth. It's thicker than the quilt that covers us. So, I get out of bed while he still sleeps and I open up my suitcase. As I am slipping into my green pants and white tunic, he groans.

He feels the bed beside him and jolts up.

"Shit," he says when he sees me. "You scared me."

"I try," I joke, putting on my pager.

He looks over at the clock. "It's 6. You get up early. I thought we woke up early."

"My circadian rhythm is completely out of wack," I tell him. "Working 80 hour weeks with four shifts a week will do that to you."

"No kidding," he says. He pulls himself out of bed and pulls on a pair of pajama pants. He's shameless, but then again, so am I.

When Henry and I have sex, we hide from each other. Lights off, eyes closed, breaths quiet even. We don't want to be experienced. It's a habit.

I even orgasm at the same time as Embry. I'd never tell him that, but I thought that was kind of a myth. Our bodies fit together better than pieces of the same puzzle.

"I'm glad I remembered last night this time," he says.

I exhale, almost a laugh but only air. Finishing putting on my socks, I turn and look at him, "I'm glad you held your liquor this time."

"Yeah," he agrees.

I don't know what to do until he throws on a shirt and heads into the kitchen. Rather than stay in his room alone, I follow after him.

"The smell will get them coming, no matter how early it is," he tells me.

He gets bacon, a carton of eggs, and a loaf of bread. The bacon gets put in the oven to cook. In a giant pan, he scrambles the entire carton of eggs. I'm on toast duty, putting in two pieces at a time until I've used half the loaf and buttered them all.

He's right. Though it is early, Quil creeps out of his room. Jacob comes down the stairs, and Fawn follows behind him.

Quil and Jacob set the table while Fawn gets water for herself and holds a bag of frozen vegetables up to her head.

"I'm getting too old for this," she groans. She turns and looks at me. "How old are you, Blythe?"

"26," I answer. "You guys?"

"Embry and I are 24," Jacob answers. "Everyone else is 23."

Claire finally comes out of her room and lumbers over to the table. I finish buttering the last of the toast, and since Embry's done cooking, we all join at the table. Breakfast goes fine. Embry asks Claire about the crib delivery, and the baby, and all that sort of stuff. Fawn takes out her hearing aids; I assume the sound is bothering her, but I don't know for sure.

After breakfast, the others begin to clean up the mess Embry and I made. They take turns here, cooking and cleaning. At home, the brunt of the chores is my responsibility. Henry doesn't contribute anything but his father's money.

Embry heads into the backyard. It's not raining now, which is rare for an April day on this side of the continent. We put on our shoes and step outside.

The ground is still wet from last night's rain, but the sun is out. Despite this, I'm cold. I try not to shiver, but my teeth clack together. It's an obnoxious sound.