“No worries!I’ll check with Zolt, maybe his ex left some stuff here or… who knows, hey?” I could feel my deep breaths expelling as I spoke.
And, with one look over the sofa to spy if it was bra-free, I dashed up the stairs.
I was going to cry. My face burned, my heart raced, and I needed Zolt to rock me back to a world where our love was simple, and his mum wasn’t across the hallway.
I shut our bedroom door and pressed myself up against it, collecting myself. Zolt turned around, taking a headphone out of his ear. “You okay?”
“No!” I whisper-cried, at his side within four strides, and pulled the other headphone out. “Your mum and Imre are here, and they want to stay the night!”
He frowned up at me. “Huh?”
“They’ve had a leak,”I explained, making the bed in a hurry — well, throwing the duvet up to meet the pillows. “So they want to stay here.”
“Fuck,” he said and pulled the needle out of his arm.
“Oi!” I cried, pulling my dressing gown off the door with more strength than I should. “If that’s been prescribed, you need every last drop!”
“What did you tell them?”he asked and pulled on a top from his half of the wardrobe.
“We’re prepping for an interview.”
He stopped, his head half poking out of the hole in his top. “That excuse will last one day.”
“Then I’ll have to go home.”
“No,” he said, the top on now. He reached for me, taking my hand. “You don’t have to go. Why don’t we just say you’rearguing with your sister, so you’re here for a few days between races? And you’re teaching me English?”
I chewed on my lip. Whatever decisions we made had to be made now. “Okay. I’ll grab my stuff and move across the hall.”
“I like knowing you’re here in my bed,” he said, stroking my cheek. “I’ll take the guest room.”
“That’s weird!”
“I am weird.”
No arguments there.
“They’ll see right through it,” I argued. My breathing picked up again, my chest pressing against his with each heave. “They’ll see right through us.”
He brushed my hair back.“At worst, they’ll see that I might have a little crush on you. But when they lived here before, they mostly got on with their own things. I’ll take Imre out to try and find some parts for the leak. You and my mum can bond. Then we’ll get a takeaway, and you can feign a migraine. Early bedtime.”
I breathed through pursed lips, and he continued to stroke my hair.
“I know you’re not ready to tell them,” he said. “But we will one day. And I’ll be beside you every step of the way.”
I nodded, and he took my hand. “We’ve got this, Fia.”
“Okay.”
And, true to his word, he threw on some shoes and a coat — I shouldn’t find him wearing a coat cute, but it gave serious Dad vibes — and he took Imre out to the shop, leaving me with his beautiful mother.
22
Chapter 22
Fia
Helena unpacked their suitcase in the second guest room, and I tiptoed around the house, smiling awkwardly when we crossed paths. The dogs and I waited patiently for the rain to subside so we could go on our walk.
