Friendzoned

59. Snow day

“Alright,” she said. There was shuffling on the other side of the phone before her Dad voice came on, greeting her. “Hi Daddy.” I kissed her, thinking it was cute how she said that. She licked her lips, smirking a little at me before turning her attention back to her dad.

“How’s the trip going, Hunter?”

“It’s been great…beyond great. I like Ireland.” I beamed at her, proud that my country made it to one of the first that she visited and liked. “We went to London too, but it wasn’t the city part. It was nice there too.”

“Oh, yeah your mother was telling me about that. You saw Ellie Goulding and got a picture with her, right?”

“Yeah!” Oh god, here she goes. “That was one of the best days of my life, Dad. I want tickets to see her again for Christmas, okay?”

“We’ll see what Santa brings.”

“Maybe Santa will bring your boyfriend.” I whispered in her ear, smiling as she giggled.

“Your grandmother doesn’t like your cat, Hunter.” Her dad said, “She’s smacked her lots of times to get her off your bed.”

“WHAT!” Hunter shouted. “She’s allowed to sleep there! It’s her bed too! DAD!”

He laughed, “I know, I know—I told her about nine times. She must have dementia or something.”

“Ugh, I’m gonna be heated if I come home and my cat is hurt, Dad.” I snapped my fingers putting emphasis on her attitude. “I gotta go. I’ll see you at some point tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay, have fun on your extra day. Love you.”

“Love you too.” She struggled to use her elbow to end the call, but luckily her dad did it first. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow at my smirk. “What?”

“You’re cute with your parents.”

She shrugged, “They’re annoying sometimes.”

“Everyone is annoying sometimes.” She nodded. “C’mon wash my hair out.” She slid off the counter and walked towards the bathtub to turn the faucet on. I watched her bend over, blushing a little as a flash of images played across my mind. Christ. She stood up once she got the water at the right temperature and turned to face me.

“Ready?” I nodded and walked to the tub, kneeling down and leaning over so my head was under the stream of water. She sat on my back and moved her hands through my hair to rinse the suds out. “I want to get Theo a present,” she mumbled distantly.

“He’s breathed about six times and you’re already trying to spoil a baby that’s not yours.”

She laughed, “I’m being a good uncle’s-girlfriend.” Aunt.

“You don’t get me presents,” I pouted.

“Yes I did! For your birthday…you wore the jacket today!”

I chuckled, “Oh yeah.” She turned the water off and tugged on my shoulder to stand me up again. She pulled the towel from around my shoulders and towel dried my hair, like I was a dog. I was surprised by how good it felt. “What’d you have in mind?” I purred, absorbed by her working the towel in my hair.

“A blanket or something? He can’t really play with toys yet. Aw, or some clothes.”

“I don’t think he even wears clothes yet.”

“What do you think, they carry him around naked?” I shrugged. “You’re so stupid.”

“Hey,” I pouted as she dropped the towel on the floor and pushed me to sit on the counter. She grabbed the scissors before climbing up with me and straddling my lap. “Hang on, how much are you cutting?”