“Thank you. Trust me, I’ll eat it.”
“Cool.” I move over to the kitchen drawers and pull them open. “Oh, your keys.”Why the fuck are they in the drawer?“Here you go.”
“Thanks.”Right. Move on.
“Silverware is here. Utensils in this one.” I lift the whisk. “You can use this, feel free to whisk anything you need.” I notice the tag dangling off the end, and I curse myself for leaving it on there.
Her smile grows even wider. “Oh, I love a brand-new whisk. I’ll get good use out of that. Thanks.”
She’s being sarcastic. I can tell by her expression and tone.
It makes me sweat.
I point rigidly behind her. “And that’s the balcony. I don’t have any furniture out there because I don’t use it much, but I can buy some furniture if you want to go out there.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. I can just lie on a blanket and enjoy the balcony like that. No need to buy furniture.”
Fuck that. I’m buying furniture the minute I’m done with the tour.
I should have had it to begin with.
Blakely deserves furniture.
“And down the hallway is your bedroom.” I head that way. “You have your own bathroom, so no need to worry about sharing one with me.”
“Oh great.” I open the door to her bedroom and cringe at the sight of the cumbersome bedding and wrinkled curtains. It’s painfully obvious that I just set this up and did a terrible job at that. “Aw, it’s so nice in here.” She takes a look around.
I run my hand over my jaw nervously. “Sorry about the wrinkles. I didn’t have time to iron everything.”
She turns toward me and, to my surprise, places her hand on my arm. “Don’t even worry about it. It looks great. Thank you.”
“And the nightstands don’t match,” I blurt out. “Sorry.”
She chuckles. “Seriously, Halsey. It’s fine. This is perfect. I really appreciate you offering up your place. I know it must feel like an invasion of your privacy and all that, but I promise you’ll barely notice I’m here. I’ll be sure to watch over Sherman while you’re gone on your away trips.”
“Thanks,” I say, feeling defeated and exhausted. No need to head to the freaking arena today. I got my workout through worrying. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it.”
“Thanks. I’m just going to grab my bags.”
“Oh, I can help you with that.”
“That’s okay, I can do it.”
We both head out of her room toward her bags. “Seriously, I got it.” I grab both of the handles.
“Halsey.” She smiles softly. “You’ve done enough.”
“This is no big deal.” Why am I fighting with her over her bags?
Because I’m sad and pathetic and want her to know that I’m a good guy who would help a girl with her bags.
Despite her protest, I move the bags down the hallway, pushing one and pulling the other, and I set them to the side in her room.
“Thank you,” she says softly.
“You’re welcome. Uh, and you have my number so if you need anything, just let me know.”
“Great. Thanks. I’ll probably be unpacking and settling in tonight but let me know if you want me to grab dinner or something.”
