His flight had been late, and she answered the door for him already dressed for bed, wearing a very oversized t-shirt over panties. They kissed with a sleepy passion. He had been gone more than a week on a trip for work.
As she turned and walked away from him, towards the bedroom, the name on the back of her shirt registered. "Murphy?" he asked. "As in your ex-boyfriend?"
"What? Oh, yeah. This was his shirt. Sorry, I didn't even think about it." She took a few more steps before realizing that he was no longer following. She turned to look at him, and was surprised to see him glowering, clearly angry. "Are you OK?"
"No. I'm not OK. That's not OK with me. I didn't realize you still had things from him. He was an asshole and treated you like shit. Why do you still have his shirt?"
"Honestly, I didn't even think about it. I found it at the bottom of my drawer the other day. It's comfortable, that's all." She smiled at him, tilted her head a little, and said, "I don't ever think I've seen you jealous."
His brow furrowed some. "You have shirts of mine that you could be wearing. You even have some of my shirts from college that have my name on the back." He stepped closer to her and gripped the sleeve. "You don't have to wear the name of some fucking bastard that cheated on you."
She looked at him a little more closely. "You really are bothered by this." She stepped in front of him and put her arms around his waist, looking up into his hazel eyes. "I'm finding this interesting. And a little hot, to be honest."
"I'm serious. We have been together for three years, Jen. I shouldn't have to see you wearing another man's name." His voice pitched lower, sounding edgy, a little primal, and he gripped her tighter. "And I do get fucking jealous. I love you and I trust you, so I don't make a big deal about it. That doesn't mean I don't feel it."
Jennifer took his hand and pulled Adam towards her bedroom. "Come on, I will find another shirt. I was tired, but now I'm starting to look forward to you taking this one off of me."
She still sounded a little playful about this. He was dead serious. Maybe it was the lateness, or how long they had been apart, or the stress from travel, but Adam didn't just want her to change her shirt. He wanted to claim her. He wanted to make her his in a way that she wouldn't forget.