“Do you…knowwhat a veterinarian in Ohio does?”
I wink, and she throws a fry at me.
I catch it in my mouth.
“Get your bags, Thompson.”
Chapter 39
Grace
Itap my foot nervously as I hold open the creaky, heavy metal door. Stepping inside the stairwell, which smells faintly of wet laundry and lemon-scented cleaner, we walk up two flights of stairs to my apartment. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little anxious about bringing Danny, CEO of Robot Appliances, to my modest, one-bedroom Columbus apartment.
“Walking up these stairs is my exercise every day. Probably good for me since it’s the only workout I get.”
I turn back with a smile, but Danny isn’t smiling. “There wasn’t a doorman at the desk down there.”
“Oh, yeah,” I say sheepishly. “Craig is the only doorman. He takes breaks throughout the day, so sometimes it’s unmanned. But this area is really safe, so we don’t even really need him.”
A muscle ticks in his jaw. “The main lobby was unlocked, though. Anyone could get in.”
I try to lighten the mood. “Sure, but it comes in handy when I get food deliveries. They can just walk right up to my door, so I don’t have to go down in my pajamas. A perk, if you will.”
It doesn’t take us long to reach my place. I take my keys out as we pass the shared laundry space. With slightlyshaking hands, I open the door and gesture him inside with an exaggerated flair. “Welcome.”
He steps into my apartment and takes his shoes off before picking them up and setting them neatly on the mat by the front door. Watching him transports me back into my childhood bedroom, waiting in anticipation for him to remove his sneakers before climbing through my window.
When he straightens to his full height, I realize just how big he looks in my space.
“I know it’ll be hard, but try to refrain from jumping for joy during this tour or else I’ll be treating you for an offseason concussion,” I joke.
He softly chuckles. “I think I’ll manage.”
As soon as the “tour” starts, I realize how ridiculous that word is to describe what we’re doing. Everything in the living area of my place is within several steps of the next place we’re “touring.” I’ve never felt that my apartment was abnormally tiny until now.
Forging ahead, I gesture to the entire living area, an open-concept space with laminate wood flooring. Big, bright paintings decorate the tenant-white walls along with a large, colorful tapestry. A small magenta loveseat, a vintage wooden coffee table, and two conversational chairs upholstered in mismatched jacquard patterns complete the space.
He walks closer to my really-nothing-special flatscreen, sitting on a black and silver stand. I laugh when I notice him looking at the stack of old DVDs underneath the TV.
“Yeah, I don’t even know why I keep those. I don’t have the equipment to watch them,” I snort.
Danny only hums in response as I guide him down the short hallway to my one full bathroom.
“A self-explanatory room, one might say,” I playfully introduce. “There’s just a regular sink in here, no touchless faucet to be found.”
Stepping inside the bathroom, Danny picks up my coconut vanilla perfume on the counter. “Is this the same one that?—”
“Yeah, it’s the one that Mae got me for my thirteenth birthday. I’ve been wearing it forever.”
“It suits you,” he says simply, setting the perfume back down.
“Thanks. So, uh, if we’re done in here, the last stop is my room right across from us.”
I take approximately two steps to my bedroom door, which is already cracked, and gently push it open. “Go ahead,” I tell him, curious to see what interests him first.
Heading over to my dresser, it’s the pictures on top that catch his eye. He picks up a frame with a photo of me and Ben and studies it for a moment.
“This was your graduation from vet school?”
