Zach continues, “She stayed with Volk most of the time, so I guess I did kinda have my own place, but she took care of a lot, which I need to do now.”
“When… are you planning to come back?”
Zach’s gaze burns into the side of my face, but my scaredy-cat ass refuses to turn. Part of me wants to stuff it away, to hide from these feelings that keep expanding, but the other part… well, the other part relents, and I rotate my head until I see him. That part of me never wants to look away.
“I honestly haven’t thought about it.”
“With Kennedy gone, are you going to stay here?”
“I don’t know. My lease is up in a couple of months. We got this place during my rookie season, after I officially wore out my welcome at Volk’s house.”
I prop my elbow on the elevated countertop, leaning into my open palm. “Is that what we call starting a grease fire and running out of the house to let it rage?”
Zach curses under his breath. “If people keep running their mouths, you’ll want nothing to do with me.”
I smirk. “Itisa risk you run by bringing me around your friends. But it’ll take a lot more than that to scare me off.”
His Adam’s apple bobs. “Good to know.”
I walk further into the apartment, examining the furniture, the decor, the pictures, wishing I could turn this place inside out and find out every little thing about Zach Briggs. I point to the wall with a framed Palmer City Wolves jersey with VOLKOV and the number 42 on the back. “Big Volkov fan, huh?”
“It was a compromise with Kennedy. I can’t believe she left it.”
I bite my lip, trying to keep my smile in. Kennedy left it here to get under Zach’s skin, a favorite pastime of every person in his life. I can’t help joining in.
“Yeah? What’d you get in thiscompromise?”
He nods his head in the direction of a long hallway with several closed doors. “I’ll show you.”
I follow Zach into what looks like a gaming mecca. Bookshelves filled with video games line one wall. The perpendicular wall holds the largest TV screen in existence. Positioned across from the TV is the most comfortable-looking piece of furniture I’ve ever seen, a cross between a bed and a couch.
And then Zach flips the light switch and fairy lights come alive. He’s filled the ceiling with white lights, casting a cozy glow over the entire room.
“Wow,” I breathe, spinning once around the room before landing on him again.
He slumps into the doorframe. “Go ahead, call me a nerd. I’ve heard it all.”
I drop onto the couch, and yup, it’s so comfortable I might never want to stand again. “Being a nerd is a good thing,” I tell him. “If I didn’t already think it, this room would change my mind.”
Zach’s head drops lightly against the doorframe. “Yeah?”
“I think it’s cool. I mean, I plan to have an entire room in my house dedicated to the books I love. And it’ll be covered in quotes and art.”
I let myself fall back into the cushion, reveling in its softness. The bed dips with Zach’s weight, and I reach for him, connecting with his hand. He threads our fingers, and my stomach turns over, like the spurt of a blender when it first turns on.
“Zach?” I whisper.
“Yeah?”
I speak the words to the ceiling. “Earlier you said you thought something was going on with me. Why do you think that?”
He swallows hard, his grip tightening on my hands like he’s worried I might slip away from him. “You’re hiding gymnastics from everyone in your life. You’re so good, Finley, and I can tell you love it. The way I love hockey. You wouldn’t give it up for nothing. And you’re living with Matt and Gem instead of on campus when they can afford to pay for it.”
Zach inhales deeply. “That night we met, you weren’t okay, were you? I didn’t know it then because I didn’t know you. You were so confident and sexy. I followed you because I felt lucky you were talking to me. I didn’t know something was wrong… and now I feel like an asshole.”
I turn to my side and tilt his chin toward me. “Zach, no, that’s not… don’t put any of it on you. You’re right. I was struggling,but there’s no way you could’ve known. I thought I might always be this half version of myself, and then… you were rambling about needing to find the men's room before you pissed in the corner, and… for the first time in forever, I wanted to laugh about something.”
Zach groans, throwing a hand over his eyes. “You heard that? I’m surprised you left that closet at all.”
