“Peyton, why do you insist on being the hardest person in the world to do something nice for?”
“I’m not. It’s just that you have your own work and your own life to?—”
“Stop it.” I kept up the back massage. “I’ll put Jordy on it. A lot of these guys put stolen bikes on Craigslist or wherever to sell them quickly. He’ll find it. Then I’ll pay the sucker a visit—teach him a lesson and get your bike back. Problem solved.”
“You think?”
“I do.” She felt so right in my arms, but I knew she could go into volcano mode at any moment. As the minutes rolled by without a complaint, I counted myself lucky.
Eventually, she composed herself and pushed away from me. “We can’t.” She sat up. “I needed that, but I refuse to be weak.” She carefully wiped under her eyes to keep from messing up her makeup.
I grabbed a tissue from the bedside box and offered it.
She took it, wiped her face, and stood. “Let’s go. I’m done wallowing. I’m not weak. That’s my quota for the month.”
Getting up as well, I smiled. “I know you’re not weak.”
She nodded. “Damned straight.”
“I think crying only shows you’re human. It’s kinda cute when you let your guard down.”
She grabbed a pillow and launched it at me. I didn’t duck in time, and it got me on the side of the head. I laughed anyway.
“Shut up and get out.”
“As soon as you’re packed, we can go.”
“For one night,” she clarified. “As soon as you get the door fixed, I’m coming back here. Nobody is chasing me away from my home. I’m stronger than that.”
“Are you afraid to be around me?” I put on my best I’m-hurt face.
She walked to the door. “I don’t scare that easily. Not after…”
I saw a thread to her past and pulled on it. “After what?”
She threw up her arms. “This whole thing. Out now.” She pointed down the hall. “So I can pack.”
I left her bedroom, convinced that something else in her past had scared her even worse than today.What are you hiding?“Pack for a week,” I said from the hallway. “Just in case.”
“No way.”
I returned and hung on the doorjamb. “I know what it is. You’re afraid you won’t be able to control yourself around me. That’s it, isn’t it?”
The answer was another pillow slung my way.
That one I avoided by swiveling out of the doorway.
“Shut up,” she repeated.
“I’m adding ‘cute when she’s upset’ to your list of qualities.”
Silence.
I walked down the hallway and announced, “In all seriousness, you’re not coming back here until I’m sure it’s safe.”
She followed me out into the hallway. “What do you mean,safe? You’re not my boss.”
“Lucas put me in charge of your safety.” It was a bit of a fib, but for her own good.
