Once the door shuts behind them, I glance over at Rylee, noticing the yawn she’s trying to contain. As we make our way back into the dining room where Mom and Dad are clearing the table, an idea hits me, and I hesitantly ask, “Hey, um, since it’s so late, and like an hour to your place, do you want to stay here tonight?”
She arches her brow and replies, “Stay here? I, uh, I don’t know about that. I don’t want to impose…”
“It’s no imposition,” I insist. “I’ll take you over to your place or your mom’s tomorrow, no problem. Whatever you want to do. We’ve had a long day, and we’re both tired. I promise, I’ll get you to your Thanksgiving with time to spare.”
She hesitates, but I can see that I’ve tempted her - she is sleepy, I can tell, and honestly, I’m not keen on driving for an hour when I’m so tired and it’s nearly midnight. After thoughtfully nibbling her bottom lip, she slowly nods.
“Okay…okay, I’ll stay here tonight. Gizmo’s in the living room sleeping with the dogs, anyway. He’ll be pissy if I force him back into his carrier now.”
I try not to make my excitement obvious. “Mom and Dad are going to hit the hay once they’re done in the kitchen and Rosie’s likely already asleep.”
“Oh, I can help clean up first… ” she offers, but Mom cuts her off.
“That’s all right, dear! You must be exhausted. You go on and head to bed. David and I can take care of this.”
“Are you sure?” Rylee asks.
Mom smiles and assures her, “Yes, of course. Don’t you worry.”
“Okay,” Rylee nods, then looks back up at me. “I am pretty tired. Let’s find Gizmo and go to bed.”
Luckily, the little fur demon is easy to find. He’s come out of hiding and is curled up on top of Duchess’ back on the couch in the living room. Rylee grabs him and I lead her up the stairs to my bedroom.
Walking into the room, I groan inwardly at the sight of my highschool hockey trophies still on display on shelves around the wall, video game posters, and old PS2 and XBOX consoles and games in the corner hooked up to my old TV. Embarrassment floods through me. At least my collection ofSports Illustrated Swimsuit Editionsare hidden out of sight. I’m not sure I could recover from the humiliation if Rylee saw those.
Mom has refused to change anything about my room since I left for college, and so Rylee is getting a full-on look of high school Zander in his full nerdy glory.
She lets out a low whistle as she looks around. “Glad to see it’s not just my mom who keeps my bedroom looking like a shrine to my teenage self.”
I chuckle, feeling a surge of relief that she doesn’t think I’m a total loser who peaked in high school. “Oh, yeah? Good to know we’re not alone in the world.”
“At least you have a big bed,” she says, nodding toward the queen size bed that Mom replaced my old twin bed with.
“And she removed my Zelda sheets, thank God,” I joke.
Rylee laughs at that, but when she stops, the atmosphere grows thick with awkward tension. I look between her and the bed, unsure if she’s forgiven me enough to let me touch her again, even just to sleep.
“Um… I’ll build myself a nice little nest on the floor,” I offer. “You can have the bed.”
She looks at me with a small frown. “It’s okay. We can share the bed.”
My heart races and I feel a flash of hope. Has she forgiven me already? Can we go back to the way things were?
“Just… just stay on your side, and I’ll stay on mine,” she continues, popping my excitement like a balloon.
“Oh… okay.” I flinch when I don’t exactly hide my disappointment.
She swallows. “It’s just, um, too soon still, okay? I need more time.”
“No, I totally understand,” I quickly assure her. “There’s no pressure. I’m just really grateful that you’re here.”
She gives me a small smile. “All right. I’ll get Gizmo’s stuff set up and then I’m going to go to the bathroom and get changed.”
“Okay. It’s just down the hall. Third door on the left.”
She unpacks Gizmo’s travel food dishes and litter box in the furthest corner of the room from the bed. Then, grabbing her bag, she murmurs, “Thanks,” then heads out the door.
Once she’s gone, I let out a long breath and drop down to sit on the edge of the bed. Gizmo hops up next to me and bumps his head against my arm.
