Free Let Me Fly by Hazel St. James

herself from teasing him further, “It helps that he motivates me with sex, too.”
    Corey scoffed at her playfully, “That’s all I had to do to get you to ride with me? Dangle my dick in front of you?”
    Bryn punched him in the shoulder, wrinkling her face up as she replied, “That is such a nasty image, Corey. I was just kiddin’ anyways. We didn’t have sex, well not really.”
    Corey held up his hands, “Don’t want to hear it.” Lifting up his shirt to pat his belly, Corey changed the conversation, “I’m hungry, bitch. Get dressed and let’s go eat.”
    Bryn knew that if Corey waited for her any longer, all the donuts and rolls from the bakery would be gone. Then Corey would be bitchin’ all day about being denied breakfast because she wouldn’t get her ass out of bed.
    “Nah, you go on. I need a shower.”
    Right on cue, Corey’s stomach rumbled, making his decision to go without her easier. “Whatever, baby girl. I’m not sharing when I come back, though.”
    Bryn furrowed her eyebrows as she yelled to his retreating back, “You never do!”
    Laughing, he strode out the front door, the screen door slamming behind him. Bryn could barely hear his voice outside, “Be back later! Love you!”
    Once Bryn had unwrapped the bandages on her ankle and carefully showered, she had wished she had made Corey wait for her to go have breakfast. Her stomach was rumbling and there was no food in the kitchen except from some stale bread. Neither one of them really liked to cook, not that Bryn didn’t know how, she just never really needed to. Her mother always cooked, never letting her in the kitchen. Bryn stopped herself as a pain in her chest flared as she thought about her mother. No, I’m not going to let her get to me today.
    Voices outside her door pulled her away from her sullen thoughts. Bryn could hear two men laughing outside as she walked towards the kitchen in just her robe and her hair wrapped up Carmen Miranda style. “Yeah, we’ll see if little miss sunshine is up and at ’em yet,” Corey said to his friend as shadows passed by the kitchen windows. Not wanting to deal with any of Corey’s friends in just her bathrobe, Bryn ran for her bedroom as the screen door opened. She turned and slammed the door just as Charlie appeared behind Corey.
    Bryn yelled through the door to them, “I just got out of the shower. Let me get dressed and I’ll be right out.”
    Bryn quickly undid the tie on her robe throwing it and the towel from her hair on the bed. She ran to the dresser, throwing on her light pink, lacy bra and panty set. What is Charlie doing here? When did those two become best buddies? I liked it better when they were punching each other. Now they will just gang up on me.
    A soft rap on the door brought Bryn out from her thoughts, and she went scrambling for her robe again. “Bryn, do you need me to help you re-bandage your burn?” Charlie softly crooned through the door, making her heart melt.
    She pulled her robe back on, tightening the belt as she opened the door. “Thanks, that would be nice, Charlie.” Stepping to the side, she let him in her bedroom. He closed the door behind him, walking over to the bag of bandages and creams he had sent home with her last night.
    “May I ask when you and Corey became best buds?” Bryn asked.
    “I wouldn’t say that we are ‘best buds’, Bryn, but I have a lot of respect for the man that wants to protect his best friend the way he does you. Plus, I was at the bakery getting breakfast when he came in. I asked him how you were feeling today. After he tried to use his fist to answer, we talked for a while, and he calmed down enough to ask that I come here to help you re-dress your ankle. Apparently, you are quite stubborn and don’t like to admit when you need help.”
    Bryn rolled her eyes as she grabbed a pair of cotton shorts from her drawer. Slipping them on under her robe, she turned her back to Charlie as she let her robe fall to the