The rest of the ride to her place is made in silence, with only the radio playing softly in the background, neither of us having anything to say.
We pull into my parking spot in the building’s parking garage. I meet her at the back of the vehicle as we walk to the elevator together. I press my key fob to the button before pressing her floor. Usually the key fobs will only bring you to your own floor, but we had ours programmed for both for easy access.
“You don’t have to walk me to my door,” she tells me.
“As many times as you say that, you know my answer is always going to be that I am going to do it anyway.”
She snorts. “What is going to happen to me in the four steps from the elevator to my door?”
“Well, I was watching a documentary the other night about a woman who lived in a secure building in Chicago. She wasunlocking her door and a man had been lying in wait at the end of her hall. She didn’t notice him in the shadows. He forced his way into her home and then proceeded to rape her repeatedly over twelve hours before leaving her for dead. She barely made it out alive. The security footage was chilling.”
She shivers, making me step closer to her as the elevator opens.
“I think your monotone way of speaking makes that even scarier. Now I don’t know if I even want to go into my apartment.”
“You can come to mine,” I offer immediately.
She laughs. “I’ll be fine.”
She stops at her door, unlocking it with the code before she steps inside. “I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asks.
“Of course.”
“Night.”
“Night.” I wait for her to shut the door and lock it before I make my way back to the elevator.
I let my head fall back against the wall as it brings me to my own floor.
All I want to do is go inside, pull Iris into my arms, and kiss her like I’ve always wanted to. I want to carry her down the hall to her room and lay her down on her bed and worship her the way she deserves. The way I have thought about since the day I met her in that little coffee shop.
But I can’t.
She doesn’t want me like that, and even if she did, we’re friends. She deserves someone better than me. Someone who can give her the attention she deserves and everything that comes with dating. Someone who isn’t tired after spending the night out doing something she loves.
Friends.
That’s all we are and all we will ever be. It’s for the best.
Chapter
Seven
IRIS
It’s beenthree days since I met Clint in the bar, but he has texted me every day since. I have to appreciate how forward he is. Usually men wait three days and make a sacrifice to some man god before they even consider contacting a woman.
Not Clint. He messaged me before I even made it home. I didn’t feel the same spark I do with Max, but I liked this guy. He was cute and funny. A little cheesy, but he seemed nervous.
I get it. I am too.
So I agreed to a date. Tonight.
I won’t lie. I am nervous, but there is also this hopeful feeling growing inside of me. Maybe Clint could be the one.
I try to imagine him being the man at my side in front of that white picket fence, but it doesn’t feel quite right.
I brush the feeling away as I walk into the restaurant. I smile when I see Clint already waiting for me with a single rose in his hand.
