Stone In Love

Chapter 25

I was no stranger to waking up on unfamiliar couches, but there  typically wasn't a dog licking my face instead of an alarm.

"Hello, Clyde," I said to the blue-eyed whippet. I had made a point of remembering his eye color to distinguish him from Bonnie.

"Clyde, keep your tongue off my girlfriend." Vincent's voice carried from his position on a barstool at the kitchen counter. The smell of hazelnut coffee sweetened the air.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked as I scrubbed my eyes to get a good look at him. He was staring at a laptop screen, but all I noticed was his ass-hugging jeans and tight-fitting V-neck that accentuated his ripped torso. A pair of curls laid across his forehead. He looked as delicious as that coffee smelled.

"Not quite two hours. Your phone just chimed. Aren't you waiting for a call from your parents?"

"Yes, thanks. They probably just landed. I'm sure they'll want to get food somewhere after they leave the airport."

"Tell them not to bother. I'll arrange to have food delivered."

I texted Mom as I stood from the couch, and that's when I realized I was wearing one of Vincent's tee shirts and nothing else. I strolled up to him and adjusted myself on the neighboring barstool, making no effort to sit discretely.

"Is Amelia going to bring over something for me to wear? I'm not used to greeting my parents in nothing but a tee shirt."

"Yes. She or Griffin should be over shortly." Vincent completely ignored my provocative pose and leaned over the counter to retrieve a coffee pot. "Do you like hazelnut?"

"Sure. I take coffee any way I can get it."

"How do you take it?"

"Sweet and creamy, if you must know."

Vincent rolled his eyes as he poured coffee into a mug and slid it to me. He almost seemed annoyed that I was trying to flirt with him.

"How many hours of sleep do you usually get, Vincent? I noticed you haven't slept yet."

"I typically don't sleep at night. I take three hour naps twice a day depending on my schedule. Gollums don't need the same amount of sleep as humans."

He pushed a carton of creamer across the counter and set a bowl of sugar in front of me before returning to the screen of his laptop. Was there a brush off happening? Was I intruding on his personal time? I was kind of hoping for a good morning kiss.

"I'm sorry about the thing in the shower, Vincent. I shouldn't have done that to you. It wasn't fair."

"I don't expect you to suppress your urges on my account." He never looked up as he offered his sterile response, and I stared into my mug, waiting for him to finish with something less harsh, like 'just kidding', but he was clearly not engaged in the conversation.

"You make it sound like my attraction to you is an affliction."

My comment had him glancing up. "Well, that's not what I intended. I'd like to make a couple of calls before your parents arrive. Do you mind if I walk you next door to Jonathan and Amelia's place? You can get dressed and eat something over there."

"Don't bother. I can find my own way."

I stood and walked to the door, letting myself out. The man was infuriatingly clueless sometimes, and it irritated me even more when he didn't chase me into the hall. The situation had me revisiting my former relationship and the number of times Heath and I pissed each other off. I had a pretty short fuse, but so did he. By the time I reached Amelia's door, I was starting to question who was behaving badly, Vincent or me.