He frowned slightly. “You don’t have to struggle. I can help.”
“I know,” she said, reaching for his hand. “But I need to do this part on my own. I don’t ever want to feel like someone can take my life away from me again.”
He studied her for a long moment, then nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?” she questioned.
“Okay,” he repeated. “I trust that you’ll let me know if you need my help. You have it if you want it.”
Her smile was small but bright. “Thank you.” Elias leaned in and kissed her, slow and full of promise. Whatever the future held, he knew one thing for certain—they were walking into it together.
Elias was halfway through his first cup of coffee at work when it hit him that Aliza was at his apartment. She wasn’t visiting or crashing for the night at his place. She was living there, and that realization was both exhilarating and terrifying all at once. Five days had been all it had taken for his carefully ordered life to flip on its axis. Her toothbrush was next to his in the master bathroom. Her schoolbooks sat on the shelves in his living room, and Cat had already claimed Aliza as his own.
Elias didn’t regret moving her into his place—not one bit. Still, he knew exactly what Jonnas was going to say, and after their scheduled morning meeting, he knew that he’d get an earful from his best friend. Elias checked his watch and realized that Jonnas was late for their meeting, which was totally out of character for him. He decided to look for him, eventually finding him in the physicians’ lounge later that morning, scrolling through his phone while pretending not to eavesdrop on a group of residents arguing over lab results.
“You missed our meeting,” Elias accused.
Jonnas looked up. “Shit,” he said, gathering the paperwork that he had spread out in front of himself. He looked up at Elias and paused. “You look like you’re about to confess to a felony. You okay?”
“No, and it’s not as bad as a felony confession,” Elias said. “I let a woman move in with me.” There, ripping the band-aid off quickly was his go-to move, and now was no different. Once the words were out there, he couldn’t take them back.
Jonnas froze. “Say that again,” he shouted, garnering some unwanted stares from the residents around them.
“Can you keep your voice down?” Elias whispered. “Aliza’s staying with me. Her dad cut her off and took her apartment away from her. There was an eviction notice on her front door. The fucker even cleaned out her apartment. He took everything but her clothing and a few personal effects. She had nowhere else to go.” He was explaining himself and his decisions to Jonnas—the hospital’s bad boy, and he wasn’t sure why that was. His friend had done some pretty questionable things over the years since they had been friends, and Elias had never asked him for an explanation.
Jonnas stared at him. “Elias, you’ve known her for five days.”
“I know how it sounds,” Elias defended.
“No, you don’t,” Jonnas said. “It sounds insane.”
“She didn’t have anywhere else to go. Her friend, Dani, has a few roommates already, and she is kind of a loner, like me. Besides, I really like her. She didn’t have any choice in the matter,” Elias insisted.
“Okay, but you did,” Jonnas challenged.
Elias felt his irritation flare. “I wasn’t going to let her end up homeless. I care about her, damnit.” He looked around the room to find that they had an audience, and he cursed to himself. “Can we continue this conversation while walking back to my office?” he asked. “I’d rather not broadcast my personal life to everyone in the room.
“There are shelters, or relatives, I’m sure. What about student housing? You’re not the only option, Elias,” Jonnas insisted.
“She doesn’t have any family other than her asshole father,” Elias snapped. “And I wasn’t about to turn my back on her or send her to live in a shelter or try to find student housing.”
They started walking towards Elias’s office, and Jonnas leaned in to whisper. “This is how people get hurt. You’re mixing a rescue mission with romance.”
“That’s not what this is,” Elias breathed.
“Isn’t it?” Jonnas shot back. “She’s vulnerable. You’re older, stable, and hold all the power here.”
Elias bristled. “I’m not controlling her.”
“I didn’t say you were,” Jonnas replied. “I said it’s a bad setup. You’ve fallen hard, and that’s understandable. She seems like a nice girl, but she’s just that. She’s just starting in life, and you’re—um, you’re established. And now you’ve let someone into your home before you even know who she is. Do you even know her birthday?” Shit, that wasn’t something that he felt was important—not yet. They would get to details like that about each other, but for now, they were just starting out. Maybe hehad put the cart before the horse, but doing so with Aliza felt right.
Elias’s jaw tightened. “I know exactly who she is, and all those little details will come with time.”
“You know who she is when she’s scared,” Jonnas countered. “That’s not the same thing as knowing her.” Silence fell between them.
“I care about her,” Elias said quietly.
“I know,” Jonnas replied. “You’ve already said that, and that’s why I’m worried. You’re in over your head.”
