All He Ever Dreamed by Shannon Stacey

speak, living in a house that ended up with eight strangers in it for the weekend was a drain on Katie and she was so thankful when Sunday rolled around. They all hit the road back to their own homes and she and Josh made short work of stripping the beds and giving everything a quick once-over.
    Of course, now she had a veritable mountain of bedding to wash and thorough cleanings to give when tomorrow morning rolled around, but right now it was Sunday night, Andy had offered to watch a movie with her mom, and she was parked on Max’s couch to watch some Sunday Night Football .
    It was made both more awkward and more amusing by Josh’s inability to get comfortable. At least that looked like the problem to everybody else, she guessed, even though she knew all the shifting and rearranging was him trying to avoid his body coming into contact with her body. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be trying to pretend she wasn’t there at all.
    Funny, considering they’d ridden over together in his truck because it made no sense to take separate vehicles. He’d been fine on the ride over, talking about the trails and something about groomer parts and stuff, but once it came time to hit their usual sofa spots, he’d started getting weird again. He was also a little more enthusiastic than usual in his dislike of San Francisco’s team and the referees. Katie had even spotted Butch turning down his hearing aid.
    In the break between the first and second quarters, Katie decided to give Josh a short reprieve by going into the kitchen to replenish the chips and dip. A few seconds later, Max followed her in, carrying everybody’s empties.
    “Confession time,” he said in a low voice. “What did you do to Josh?”
    Katie shrugged, but the blush heating up her cheeks gave her away. “I ran into him in the kitchen on a midnight snack run a few nights ago. Tank top, skimpy shorts. No bra. He looked like somebody had just smacked him upside the head with a shovel.”
    “Ha! I knew you guys would hook up eventually.”
    “We haven’t actually hooked up. He told me to put some clothes on and went storming up to his room. Alone.”
    Max stared at her for a few seconds, his head cocked to one side. “Okay, wait. It’s midnight. You guys are alone in the kitchen and you’re barely dressed and…he told you to put some clothes on?”
    “Yeah. And ever since he realized I’m not actually one of the guys, he’s been acting weird. Not all the time, but a lot.”
    “Probably only when he’s thinking about having sex with you.”
    That gave her pause, because if Max was right, that would mean Josh thought about having sex with her a lot. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to have, I don’t know, kissed me or something, instead of criticizing my lack of clothing and leaving the room?”
    “That’s probably how most guys would have played it.”
    “So what’s his problem?”
    Max gave her a good impression of a deer in the headlights, before shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s afraid of mucking up your friendship?”
    That’s what she figured, too. “It’s pretty mucked up already.”
    “Maybe if you hook up, it’ll kill the awkwardness and everything will be normal again.”
    “That’s what Hailey said, too.”
    “Who’s Hailey?”
    She held up her hands in total disbelief. “Max, how can you have lived here five years and not know who Hailey Genest is? She’s the librarian.”
    “Which librarian? I’m really bad with names.”
    “Whitford only has one. Blond. Attractive. A little older than me?”
    “Oh, her. She seems nice. And we seem to be in agreement on you and Josh having sex.”
    Katie laughed. “There you go. A consensus. You guys obviously have a lot in common. You should take her out on a date.”
    He recoiled. “With the librarian?”
    “Why not? You can have some dinner and get to know each other better. Talk about her work. Talk about your work. Maybe have a drink or two.”
    The