Light the Lamp by Catherine Gayle Read Free Book Online

it.
    I still thought Liam should have slept in his own bed, but I knew better than to begrudge myself a night of peace and comfort. I straightened my legs and pointed my toes, and at the same time, I raised my arms up over my head, extended my length as much as I could before getting up from the bed. Cats always stretched before they got up to do anything, and it had always seemed to me that there wasn’t an animal in the world that understood comfort better than a cat. I figured they were onto something, so I tried to remember to stretch out regularly. So far, I didn’t regret it.
    After a few minutes of that, I got up and used the bathroom. Then I listened at the bedroom door before opening it. Since Liam had slept on the couch last night, I didn’t want to do anything that might wake him. I had no idea what time he would be getting up. Was he a morning person? A night owl? Some people could be really grouchy in the mornings, especially if they were awakened by someone like me who lived for the start of a new day.
    He’d said that he would have to go to practice this morning, but I didn’t know how early that would be. Six? Ten? It was all technically morning .
    I heard a couple of masculine grunts and a few bangs and booms, and then the water from the faucet came on in the kitchen. Someone was up, whether it was Liam or his roommate, Babs, who I hadn’t met yet. I took that as my okay to head out into the living area.
    The lights were on in both the living room and the kitchen, but Liam wasn’t on the couch anymore. The blanket he’d used had been tossed onto the coffee table. A young guy—probably at least a few years younger than me—was standing at the sink, his light-brown hair sticking up willy-nilly. He had a coffeepot in one hand and was filling it with water, but his focus was on the cell phone in his other hand as he let out a huge yawn.
    I cleared my throat so hopefully I wouldn’t startle him, and I grabbed the blanket so I could fold it.
    His head shot over to me, and he grinned so big that dimples showed up in both of his cheeks. “Morning. You must be Noelle.” He shut the water off and set both the coffeepot and his phone down on the counter. “I’m Babs—Jamie Babcock. Kally’s in the shower. I’d offer to make you breakfast, but it’s probably better if we wait for Kally. He can cook. It should just be another minute or two.”
    “ Kally?” I wasn’t positive, but surely he had to mean Liam.
    “ Sorry. Liam,” Babs said. “Everybody gets a nickname as soon as they show up at their first practice, pretty much. It’s a hockey thing.”
    “ Oh,” I said, letting that sink in.
    “ I might have to come up with one for you, if you don’t already have one.”
    “ That’s not necessary.” I doubted I’d be around long enough for him to need to give me a nickname. I needed to get a job and figure out somewhere I could live. Maybe after Liam took me shopping today, he could drop me off at the shelter. They were supposed to have resources for job hunting. Maybe they’d have some leads I hadn’t tried yet.
    “ That’s what you think,” Babs said, but he was grinning.
    I nodded my head toward the coffeepot full of water, setting the folded blanket down on the arm of the couch. “You making coffee?”
    Babs blushed and shrugged his shoulders. “I was looking up how to do it so I don’t screw it up and start a fire or something.”
    I laughed. “It’s pretty hard to start a fire by making coffee.” I crossed over to him and picked up the pot, then poured the water into the coffeemaker. The filters and grounds were all out on the counter and ready to go. “You open this compartment up and put a filter in like this. Just rub your fingers over the edge of the filters to be sure you’ve only got one, not two. If you have too many, you might make a mess on the counter. The water can’t get through fast enough and it spills over.”
    He blushed again and gave me a sheepish nod,