Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
STEVE STOOD in front of his mirror, pulling his black belt through the loops of his jeans. The denim rubbed against his fingers, freshly pruned from the long shower he'd taken. His eyes fell to Valentina's figure in the reflective panel. She'd been laying in his bed for about an hour now, claiming there was no point in going home while he showered just to come back.
Steve made her wait outside while he cleaned up his room—AKA hid anything embarrassing, like the box of paper airplanes he'd collected from her over the last decade—then reluctantly allowed the girl to wait inside while he showered. It wasn't that he didn't want valentina in his room—trust him, he did. But it was the worry that she would find something embarrassing while snooping, which he knew she would do even if he told her not to. She'd already found his hair spray last year.
Turns out, though, Steve had nothing to worry about. By the time Steve finished his shower and walked back into his room with a towel hanging low on his hips, fully prepared to make the girl flustered and continue his summer-long plan of making her fall for him, Valentina had fallen asleep. Drool on the pillow, snoring and everything.
Steve got distracted watching the girl through the mirror, her hair sprawled over his pillows, his blanket pulled up to her chin, and accidentally lost hold of the belt. The buckle whipped into the mirror, emitting a loud noise that startled the sleeping girl.
Valentina groaned, slowly stirring. Colors danced behind the darkness of her eyelids as her fists rubbed into her face, trying to wipe away the sleepiness. Her eyes opened to find Steve, in a suit, chuckling at her.
"Did I die?" she grumbled. "Why do you look like you're going to a funeral?"
Steve tore his eyes away from her, feeling overwhelmed by the sight of her so relaxed and half-awake in his bed. Her hair was uncombed and her eyes were missing their usual smokey look. She hadn't taken the time to truly get ready that morning.
Valentina woke up, let herself into Steve's backyard, and spent the day reading in the sun by the pool. Eventually, though, she grew extremely exhausted from the overconsumption of vitamin D. She fell asleep in the sun.
When Steve came home from his first shift at Scoops Ahoy and found his best friend asleep in a lawn chair, book laying open over her face, he considered a number of things. Carrying her home, carrying her to his home, dumping her in the pool... He decided on gently shaking her awake.
That brought them to now in his bedroom, the girl continuing her nap—or stirring from it—and the boy finishing washing off the stench of grimy sugar-obsessed children.
