“I’m so sorr?—”
“Please, I don’t want your pity or your apology.” She shakes her head, looking toward the bartender. “Can I close my tab?” He nods, tapping on the screen of the register. Shetakes the receipt, fills in the tip, signs her name, and then looks back at me.
“It sounds like it’s been a long day for the both of us,” she says.
“If I had known you lived there…”
“You would have what? Not done your job?” She shakes her head. “It’s business, not personal. I mean, it’s very inconvenient, and I think it’s really shitty that you or your company promised to preserve the building and then went back on that promise, but I’m not mad at you.”
“I never meant for you to get caught up in this.”
“I’m sure you didn’t. Tonight was…” She hesitates for a second. “Fun. Tonight was fun. Bye, Tanner.” She turns to walk away, and I go to grab her hand, but I miss and make contact with her purse instead.
“Please don’t leave. I’m worried I upset you.”
She takes a deep breath. “You didn’t. I’m tired and a little drunk. I need to go home. I have a long day of apartment hunting tomorrow because as you know, soon, I won’t have a place to live. I’ll see you later.”
All the joy that radiated off of her during ping-pong is gone, and I want so desperately to get it back. I might be a huge disappointment to my dad, but I don’t want to be a disappointment to her.
“Live with me,” I blurt out.
Her mouth falls open.
“You know Jacks moved out. I have space.”
“Nope. Not happening.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
“I’m not living with you.”
“Give me three reasons why you shouldn’t?”
“I’ll give you four.” She holds up a finger and takes a step towards me. “One. Living with your friend, who’s a girl, is a real cock block. I’m not going to be responsible for you getting blue balls.”
She already is.
She holds up another finger. “Two. Men and women cannot live together and just be friends. You flirt with everything that moves, and I move. I’m not going to force myself to live under the same roof as your bullshit.”
But flirting with her sounds fun.
She holds up a third finger. “Three. I’m tipsy, and I’m not about to agree to something while under the influence. I’m more responsible than that.”
Man, she’s cute when she thinks she’s getting her way.
“And four.” She puts up the last finger. “ I’ve been to your place. I could never afford it.”
I’m about to blow your mind, Wren Dawson.
“True, I guess,” I reply, shrugging my shoulders. I close the remaining space between us. Looking up at me, she swallows hard. She freezes and her hand remains upright, like she’s afraid to move, for fear it’ll put us even closer together. “But, have you considered there might be actual legit reasons why weshouldlive together?”
“No, because there are not.”
Smirking, I move one of her fingers down, leaving only three still upright. “One. You currently have no place to live, and I have a spare room.”
I push the second finger down, and she remains frozen in place.
“Two. I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m really strong, which means living with me is safer than living alone.”
