Whoa.
Well, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. It will be awhile until she is ready for the future I have in mind. Right now, she’d probably run for the hills at the idea of being tied down to anyone.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” She spins around, pointing behind her at the mirror.
“No reason. Just a new experience to have you over as an adult.”
“Granny would only send me to get Des.”
“But . . . you’d stay.”
“It was nice here. Your mom and stepdad were also so nice. He let me watch cartoons once. We didn’t have a TV, so I thought that was pretty cool.” She laughs, but there’s a bit of pain behind it.
“Well, you can come over to watch TV anytime you want.”
“Thanks, Tris. Wait. Does it include popcorn?”
“I’ll make sure to stock up on some. Anything else you want me to keep here for you?”
“Uh, no. Just the motorhome.” With a blush, she glances away. “So, uh, where is this famous recording studio?”
“Upstairs in the bedroom.”
She knocks her shoulder into mine. “Ha. Ha. Real funny.”
“No, I mean it. It’s actually a spot wedged in my closet.”
She still doesn’t believe me until she follows me in, surprised to see a computer and microphone between my clothes. Blankets hang around the tight space, foam bricks glued to the wall. She freezes when she catches a picture of herself taped to my computer screen.
Ah, crap. I forgot about that.
“Is that me?”
I snatch it up and hide it behind my back.
“Maybe.”
“Why am I in here?”
“Well, that’s the end of the tour?—”
“No, no, no.” She wags a finger at me. “Let me see it.”
Cringing I pull out the photo of her with a lavender ski hat on with snow-covered trees behind her. She pulls it from my hands, confused.
“This was last Christmas, right? At Des’s? I don’t remember you taking this. Why is it in here?”
My face burns, the small closet heating up to an uncomfortable temperature. I pull at my collar, swallowing thickly.
“I use it for inspiration when I’m working.”
She blinks at me, waiting.
“Ahem. Well...” I shift awkwardly from foot to foot. “When I do scenes where I’m talking to the female character, I pretend I’m talking to you. It’s easier to have a person in front of me to speak the lines to.”
Reese places a hand on her chest. “Okay, that’s less creepythan I thought it would be. Kinda sweet, actually.” She taps the photo on her palm a few times before handing it back to me. “Here. I’d hate for Austin to not get his next audiobook deal because of me.”
I toss it on my desk littered with papers just as she wraps her arms around me, snuggling into my chest like she belongs there.
