123. Nate

ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE

NATE

I don't knock before I open the front door, hoping to surprise Rosie with my early arrival.

But it doesn't matter if I knocked or not, because she's not in the living room.

I glance around the great room.

She's not in the kitchen either.

I kick off my shoes and leave my luggage by the door.

As I walk past the kitchen island, I slow.

Glass containers cover the surface, all filled with tiny fish-shaped crackers.

I grin and shake my head.

Rosie told me she made Charles some homemade treats as an apology, but she didn't tell me she made a thousand.

I unbutton my shirt as I walk down the hall.

I throw it to the floor as I enter the bedroom.

I undo my pants as I cross the room.

I kick them off as I stop at the bathroom door.

And when I see Rosie's silhouette behind the frosted glass of the shower, I shove my boxer briefs to the ground.