“Yup, that’s the guy.”
“But . . . he barely talks. You’ve barely spoken to him. He’s the least outgoing guy on the team, and he just so happened to offer you a place to stay?”
I shrug. “Probably felt bad for me. Whatever. I’ll take his pity. I bet he has a nice place. Plus, since they’re in and out of town, I’ll have his place to myself a few times, which will be nice.”
“And what about the times when he’s there?”
“I guess I’ll get to know him. And hey, it’s only for a few weeks. I can nurse my wounds, wait for my apartment to befixed, and enjoy whatever high-rise fancy apartment he’s living in. It’ll be nice.”
“Will it? Or will it be awkward?”
“Maybe a little awkward, but I can deal with that. Plus, who knows? Maybe I can help him come out of his shell. He’s so guarded and quiet, so maybe he just needs a little bit of Blakely to liven him up.”
“You realize that it’s not just bringing someone out of his shell. He lost his twin brother in a car accident. Eli told me Halsey used to be really outgoing and fun, just like Holden. It’s not his personality that’s shy.” Her voice turns softer as she says, “He’s grieving, Blakely, and slightly broken. I don’t think you should mess with that.”
My brow creases. “I would never mess with that and the obvious pain he sits with every day, but I don’t know, maybe it might be nice for him to have someone to talk to if he wants to talk. And if not, maybe the company will be nice for him. Either way, he said it was okay.”
“Maybe he was just being nice.”
I quirk my mouth to the side in confusion. “Do you not want me to live with him?”
“I just want you to be careful. You’re hurting; he’s hurting. I think it could be a recipe for disaster.”
“I’m fine,” I say.Kind of.Maybe I’m still in shock. It’s been so weird not seeing Perry each day...Perhaps I’m also still angry. Blindsided. “If anything, I’m just slightly bitter, but the way I see it is if we were meant to be together, Perry would have never taken that job in Australia, or I would have felt like I didn’t have any other choice but to leave with him...and I didn’t feel that. I felt like leaving here would have hurt more. So . . . yeah, it just wasn’t meant to be.”
“Well, I’m glad you have that mindset. I just want you to make sure you come to me if you feel differently. I think Halseyhas a lot going on mentally, and I’m not sure he could handle your breakup.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t impose that on him,” I say. “We might be roommates soon, but I also don’t think we’re going to end up being that close.”
“Okay.” She places some ice cream in her mouth before shaking her head. “I can’t believe you said yes to his offer.”
I chuckle. “You know me, I’m up for anything . . . other than moving to Australia on a whim.”
“Apparently, you have your limits.”
Chapter Three
HALSEY
“You know, I thought it was homier in here.” Posey looks around my apartment. “It feels...cold. Is it the concrete walls and floors or the lack of area rug? Maybe both.”
“Can you shut the fuck up and just help me?” I ask as I place a bonsai tree on the kitchen counter along with some of the supplies needed to take care of the stupid thing. I opted for the juniper bonsai tree because Posey insisted it looked more like a Sherman than the other varieties. The fucking thing was fifty dollars.
Fifty dollars for a miniature tree. Sure, I can afford it, but I was annoyed I had to purchase it in the first place.
I told Posey after our game last night that he was meeting me first thing in the morning to help me get groceries and some necessities for Blakely’s arrival, as well as a bonsai tree.
We’re running late because he made us examine the feminine products for ten minutes and what I should stock in mybathroom until I finally told him she was probably coming with her own. He agreed, that made the most sense.
We then smelled every candle in the candle aisle despite me telling him I had candles, and he ended up picking the scent that I already have in my home. This was followed up by him thinking I needed lots of snacks to make it seem like I was human. Pretty sure my walking body portrays that, but at that point, I was exhausted, so I let him fill up the cart.
Looking at the full reusable bags in my apartment, I’m guessing that was a big mistake.
“You know, I’m getting tired of the attitude,” Posey says as he comes up to me with a bag full of miscellaneous things like notepads, pens, lotion, and a whisk. He asked if I had one, and when I said no, he put it in the cart. You have to make it homey for her, he said. You have to make sure she doesn’t need a whisk and comes up short, he said.
Guarantee, she won’t even touch the fucking whisk.
“Then you never should have offered up my place to stay.” I fill up the sink with two inches of water and put Sherman—yup, that’s happening—in the water so it can soak up whatever it needs.
