Right Next Door

Chapter 14

Maggie

Maggie was trying to soak up as many mild-weathered days as possible. Over the past few weeks she and Brandon had spent just about every evening together, either on her back porch or with Aaron playing games and watching movies.

Today, Aaron's preschool class was taking a field trip to the Seattle Aquarium as a last hurrah before summer break. He was so excited about this trip he talked it up for days. Maggie dropped him off at school at 8:30 and headed back home. Being her day off, she idly thought how nice it would be to see Brandon. They didn't get a lot of opportunities to spend together outside of home, so she decided to call and see if she could meet him for lunch later in the day.

Brandon answered on the 3rd ring. "Hey Maggie." He sounded deliciously sleepy, Maggie thought.

"Aaron is on a field trip all day. I thought we could meet for lunch if you were available."

"Ah, well I'm not working on the job site today so I'm home. Want to come over?"

"Sure, that would be great. I'm almost home so I'll see you in a few minutes." She said 'goodbye' and quickly turned onto their street.

Taking her time so as not to appear too anxious, Maggie parked her car in her driveway and walked briskly over to Brandon's door. She knocked twice and let herself in, finding Brandon on the couch holding a bowl of cereal in his lap. She dropped her purse on the floor, removed her shoes and sat down next to Brandon, who greeted her with a sloppy kiss.

"This is an excellent surprise," he murmured against her lips.

"You look so cute sitting here in your PJs eating Cheerios." She smiled. Brandon offered her a spoonful which she gladly accepted. "What are we watching?"

"America's Test Kitchen," he replied after swallowing more cereal.

The pair stayed curled up on the couch together under a worn afghan blanket through two episodes until Brandon asked, "Are you sleepy?"

No sooner did he ask did Maggie let out a huge yawn. She stretched and snuggled deeper into his side and Brandon kissed the top of her head.

"Want to go upstairs?" he whispered against her hair.

"Mmmhmm." She yawned again then replied, "to sleep?"

"That was the idea," he smirked. "Did you have something else in mind?"

Maggie untangled herself from Brandon and stood from the couch. "No, I just wanted to know your intentions."

"This may sound cheesy, but I really like the idea of going upstairs and taking a nice, long nap with you." Brandon stood and neatly folded the blanket and reached for her hand. "What do you say?"

Without a word, Maggie grabbed his hand and he led her up the stairs.

Maggie loved Brandon's bed. The king size platform bed lay in front of a huge window in his upstairs master suite. The white linens and down comforter atop the bed made her feel like she was lying on a cloud. Lying in Brandon's sheets felt as intimate as could be. She was enveloped in his smell and she blushed furiously when he spotted her sniffing one of his pillows. When he settled down beside her, he pulled her back to his front and wrapped one of his arms around her waist. He kissed her shoulder, grazed his lips along her neck and nestled his head against hers, breathing deeply and evenly. Within minutes the pair was sound asleep.

Brandon's cell phone beeped, waking him up. The shifting of the covers and the loss of his weight against her body stirred Maggie and she rolled over until she found Brandon again. Laying her head on his chest, she wrapped her arm around him as he typed a text message to someone over her head.