The Winner

Friends Don't Look At Friends That Way

*Julia*

"When do you even sleep??" I sit at the same table in the laundry room of the hotel, watching James shove his clothes into his basket. It didn't take him long to bring his dog home and come back. He must live close to the hotel.

"You know everything is gonna get wrinkled if you don't fold your clothes the right away." I feel my OCD tendencies kicking in watching James. He really is the complete opposite of Nate. Every single thing about him, including not caring about his clothes getting wrinkled.

"O.K. Mom." He ignores me and continues packing his basket with his clothes. "I hate folding."

"Would you like me to fold your clothes for you?" I ask sarcastically, shaking my head.

"Be my guest." James took me seriously. Guess I'm folding his clothes for him. I huff and stand up to grab his basket.

"You fold, and I'll load your wet clothes in dryer. Deal?" He already poked fun at me because I couldn't reach down to the bottom of the washing machine without practically leaning inside it. He puts his hands on my hips as he walks by. I don't think he meant to do it in any seductive way yet the small gesture sparked electricity through my body.

"I suppose." I dump out his clothes on the table to fold them. Folding his laundry does make me feel like a mom again, and I can't help but smile as I organize his clothes. I try not to look but notice James wears the same brand of boxer briefs as Nate. Calvin Klein. I fold his underwear quickly and put them at the bottom of the basket before folding his t-shirts.

"So when DO you sleep if you work the night shift. You don't ever look tired to me."

"I usually try to go to sleep around 2 pm and sleep till 5:30 or so." James responds.

"That's it? That's not a lot of sleep. You need more than three and a half hours of sleep." I say hypocritically, knowing most nights I barely get the same amount.

"Look who's talking. Hollan told me you have insomnia. You don't sleep either." James turns around to grab more clothes and glances at me. " Cept for THAT morning... after...you know..." He comments while loading the dryer for me. We really are like an old married couple sometimes.

I ignore his last comment completely and move on to Nate discussing my sleep patterns with James.

"Nate told you that? When?"

"When you were sleeping. He was worried because you weren't waking up. He said you never sleep, so I guess it weirded him out." James didn't think much of it. Thank God.

I look away, remembering why I wasn't waking up. One too many anxiety pills. I get a little nauseated thinking about it, bringing me back to the awful weekend.

James is already almost done loading the dryer and, of course, has to make things awkward every opportunity he gets.

"Ahh, there's my favorite color..." He holds up my red lace underwear and raises an eyebrow at me. I knew he would do something like that, but my face turns red anyway.

He laughs at my blushing face and tosses them in the dryer.

"I request you wear those next time."

"NEXT time?!" I scoff. "What makes you think there will BE a next time?"

I hate it when he flirts. He knows all my self-control goes out the window. He makes trying to only be friends really hard sometimes.

He leans over the table, but I purposely keep my eyes on the clothes, keeping myself busy.

"Ohhhh. There will be a next time." He whispers close to my cheek. "There's always a next time."

"James, stop." I furrow my brows while finding matches to his socks. He stands up, comes around to my side of the table, and pushes the basket out of the way. His body is way too close to mine.