“Your eyes did not deceive you.” I shrug. “She just wanted to grab some stuff.”
“At least you know she’s okay. For now, anyway.” He whips his shirt over his head.
“Yeah, you’d think she’s here all the time with the way she walked in yesterday.”
“That bad?”
I shimmy out of my pants, pull my tank top over my head, and climb into the shower.
“She acted like nothing was wrong with how she’s been acting,” I speak a little louder so he can hear me over the water. “She was definitely on something, though, so I can’t be surprised.”
“I’m sorry, Stewart.” He climbs in behind me, kissing me on the shoulder, as he turns me around so he can be under the water.
“I get why people have multiple shower heads in their houses. This is less enjoyable when someone is hogging all the warm water.”
He rolls his eyes, gripping my hips and turning us around so I’m back under the water.
“Just wanted to get my hair wet,” he replies. “This better?”
“Much.” I smile.
He grabs my shampoo off the shower shelf and squirts a small amount on his palm, lathering it between his hands before massaging it into my scalp.
I rest my body back against his as he does so.
This has been a part of our routine for a while, but it wasn’t as consistent as it is now. And it feels different now that I’m a girlfriend. It feels more domestic, somehow.
I look forward to these moments in the shower. We just talk and decompress, and I love to feel Zeke’s skin against mine. Weirdly, it makes me feel safe.
“Can I ask you a question?” Zeke asks.
“You technically just did.”
“Ha ha.” His hands fall to my shoulders, a way to let me know he’s done massaging the shampoo into my scalp.
“What’s up?”
“If I brought up you meeting my mom,” he begins, “how would you feel?”
“You want me to meet your mom?” My heart picks up its pace just a little bit as I move under the water to rinse out the shampoo.
“Only if you want to. And not just yet; I’ve just been thinking about it, and I thought I’d see where you were at in terms of meeting her.”
“When did you have in mind?” I ask.
“Well, it’s still a few weeks away, but maybe you could come with me to the hospital on my birthday.”
“Really?” I run my fingers through my hair to get out the soap.
“Really. Only if you want to, though. I don’t want you to feel obligated because it’s my birthday. I just thought because we’re officially dating that maybe it’s time for you to meet my mom, but if you feel like it’s too—”
I push up on my toes and press my lips to his, which stops his rambling.
“I’d love that.”
“And maybe after you meet my mom, you can meet the rest of the crew?”
“I’d like that.”