Love at First Spark

12 | September: Say Yes

When the sun came up, realization came with it.

I glanced at Dex's sleeping form next to me, his bare chest peeking out from the top of the covers.

Two plates sat empty save for a few crumbs on the nightstand. A trail of clothing led from the bed out the door to the hallway.

Welp, so much for having moved on.

I reached for my discarded bra and panties, slipping them back on before tiptoeing over to the bathroom. The floor creaked beneath my footsteps and I winced, as Dex shifted in the bed.

"Mornin'."

I turned around to see Dex sitting up against the pillows. He ran his hands through his hair and grinned before spreading his arms out.

"Hey." I grinned sheepishly. "I was just, um, gonna clean up. We made a bit of a mess last night."

Dex chuckled. "Let me help." He reached down on his side of the bed and grabbed his boxers then met me over by the bathroom.

I caught a glimpse of our reflections in the mirror. Dex's hair was tousled, mine a mess. I hated that he could make anything look sexy. "So, um." I cleared my throat. "We should probably clean up the kitchen before my sister gets home."

"You think she's gonna know it was us?"

I rolled my eyes and stalked toward the kitchen, collecting our discarded clothes along the way. Dex followed behind with our empty plates from the night before. After we'd had sex, the sandwiches were a bit cold but still as tasty as ever.

The fact that I knew Dex's visit was going to be short-lived, though, made every moment worth it.

But Braden still weighed heavily on my mind.

Without a word, Dex walked over to the refrigerator—still in just his boxers—and took out the carton of eggs. He began to get the stove set up, cracking the eggs effortlessly against the side of a pan then stirring the whisk so fast it made me dizzy.

I leaned against the counter, watching him in awe. "I wish we could have this, Dex." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. My throat constricted and I turned away, tears threatening to spill from the corners of my eyes. "I wish..."

"Amelia." Suddenly his arms were around my waist and my head buried into his chest, heaving heavily with sobs. "Hey. Look at me." He peeled away from me and lifted my chin up with a finger. "You'll always have me. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, right?"

"Apparently it also makes you ignore everything you've been trying to get over," I muttered to myself. "I'm going to get dressed."

I walked back into my room and threw on a sweater and a pair of jeans. By the time I got back to the kitchen, Dex was already serving up two plates of perfectly scrambled eggs. He smiled at me from across the room but unlike before, this smile didn't reach his eyes.

We ate in silence; the only sound was the scrape of the forks against our plates.

"How long are you staying?" I asked. It was a question I'd thought a lot about since meeting him at the front door last night.

"Through the weekend at least," Dex replied. "That's actually something I wanted to talk to you about. My company is going to have me travel a lot for work and there's a convention here in Portland coming up. They wanted me here early so that I could get acquainted with a few things. I have to go to the restaurant that's hosting the convention tomorrow but that's why I got here when I did. I couldn't come back home without seeing you."

"Bet you didn't think you'd get to see all of me." I smirked.

Dex laughed. "No, that was certainly unexpected. But amazing. You are amazing." He reached out to take my hand.