“Please.”
“I’ll meet you in here.” She heads on toward the door at the end of the hall, and I slip into the bathroom, closing the door gently behind me.
I’m staying. This could mean everything and nothing. The fact that she trusts me in her home with her kid is a huge step, but then she could just be overly polite and doing what she thinks is right. Then again, the way she grabbed me and how she spoke fuels my hope that I’m staying because she really wants me to.
After relieving myself, I wash my hands and stare at myself in the square mirror above the sink. Color lights up my cheeks and my eyes sparkle. My usually perfectly combed hair is ruffled all over my head and my T-shirt is stained with pizza sauce and I didn’t even notice. It’s so normal and yet oddly comforting. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I lived through a day rather than drifted by, simply existing.
Once my hands and face are dry, I ease out of the bathroom and into Calliope’s bedroom. She’s pulled blankets and pillows out of the single cupboard near her window, where sheer pink curtains have been draped shut and bunched to make the room as dark as possible. Light warms the air from her bedside lamp, an ornate metal item with a shimmering pink shade that has several small holes decorated over the top. They cause the light to display on the walls like a hundred stars have fallen and attached to the cream walls.
Calliope’s bed rests in the middle, with several pillows near the headboard that look immensely cozy to settle into. She spots me and smiles, holding blankets in her arms.
“I’m okay on the floor,” I say before she can mention any self-sacrificing choices about giving me her bed.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. If anything, it’ll definitely be softer than my hotel bed.”
“Aw.” Her face crumples slightly. “Is it really that bad?”
“I’m a man used to luxury,” I tease softly, keeping my voice low. “You know how it is.”
“If you’re sure.” She passes the armful of blankets to me and tosses a few pillows onto the floor next to her bed. As she works, I finally notice the shelf near the door I just walked through. It’s filled with toy ponies with different colored manes, some action-adventure books, and a couple of dolls. Not exactly what I expected.
“This is my childhood room,” Calliope says when she catches me staring, and I turn back to face her. “My own room back at my place is very different.”
“Oh, of course. I remember your saying you were staying here because…”
“Because of my father.” She pauses after pulling the blankets down on her bed, then she clears her throat. “Could you turn around? I need to?—”
“Of course!” I spin around immediately and face the door.
“Thanks.”
“Can I ask what happened to your hallway? And your lounge? It all looks very…” Despite my search, no polite words rise to the surface so I end up trailing off.
Calliope groans behind me above the rustle of clothing. “Don’t ask,” she sighs. “It’s a disaster I’m too tired to think about.”
“Of course.” I nod. I’ll ask later.
“Okay, I’m good.” I turn back around and she’s tucked into a floral nightdress with her hair scooped up to the top of her head. “Do you want to change?”
“I can do it under the blanket.”
Calliope leans one knee on her bed, giving me a glimpse of her bare skin as the fabric rides slightly up her thigh. “Are you sure you’ll be okay on the floor?”
“Promise.”
She seems unconvinced but climbs into bed anyway. I toe off my boots, wrap a blanket around my waist, and quickly shimmy out of my pants. My shirt follows and out of the corner of my eye, despite how Calliope is purposefully averting her eyes, I catch her glancing my way.
I smile inside, fighting to keep my face neutral. Placing one blanket down, I settle onto it and cover myself with the other. “Goodnight, Calliope.”
“Goodnight, Elijah,” she calls softly from her bed, and the room drifts into darkness as she turns off the light.
Silence falls, other than the soft skim of Calliope moving about under her blankets. I close my eyes as a giddiness sweeps through me. I feel like a teenager again with how exciting it is to be lying on Calliope’s floor, surrounded by fabrics that smell like her, and after such a good day.
Get a hold of yourself.
I roll my eyes and close them, trying to settle, but unfortunately, the afternoon on the rink is playing havoc with my muscles, particularly my thighs. It’s also colder than I expect and before I know it, a constant shiver is radiating up and down my spine. I grit my teeth, roll over, and bundle myself up.
