“Spoiled?” he wondered, and I could see why he’d think that was the case.
“Dedicated.”
My response must have surprised or impressed him, because he stopped walking and looked at me.
At the sound of tiny feet shuffling against the floor, I looked down. Gremlin bypassed Ali and made his way straight to me.
“Ah! You’resostinking cute,” I complimented, lowering myself to pick him up as he tried to climb up my legs. Gremlin wasted no time sniffing and licking every part of me he could touch, which caused me to burst into a fit of giggles. I don’t know how long I stood there loving on him, but by the time Gremlin hopped out of my arms, Ali was gone.
He must have heard him because he said, “I’m in the living room. Just follow him to me.”
Doing as I was told, I headed down the hall and found Ali seated on a plush cream sofa. I was tickled at the sight of Gremlin climbing up three stairs and plopping down on the bed that was next to Ali.
“After I order our food, I can give you a tour if you’d like.”
“So . . . are we going to be friends?” I asked, sitting next to Gremlin. “I know I haven’t earned enough of your trust for an interview yet.”
“I guess we will have to be friends. We can’t be more, and you ain’t getting that interview.”
Chuckling, I didn’t bother to respond. He was strong willed, but I was too. I was pretty confident I’d get my way in the end. Hell, even if I didn’t, just being in his house and talking to him was a win. Romantic feelings aside, I had to remind myself not to squeal in delight. I was literally sitting in my favorite author’s living room. Before I could stop myself, the squeal came out anyway. Gremlin jumped and hopped in Ali’s lap, who looked at me like I had three heads.
I was too amused to be embarrassed as I covered my mouth and laughed.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t believe I’m here. If you knew how big of a fan of yours I was, you’d know why I’m so excited right now. You haven’t kicked me out, called the police,orgotten a restraining order against me yet. I feel like I’m in a dream.”
Ali laughed. “Just how many people have restraining orders against you, Avery? Do I need to be worried?”
“Oh! God no! I don’t have any against me personally, but some of my associates do. When I told my editor I was coming to your house to ask for an interview, she told me you were either going to kick me off your property or call the police on me. I kind of figured you’d think I was a weird stalker and try to get a restraining order after I came back that second time, but I’m glad you didn’t.”
For a while, he just stared at me before releasing boisterous laughter. Clearly, Gremlin wasn’t a fan of noise, because he hopped down and left the living room, which made me laugh.
“Yo, I’m starting to think you’re a little crazy, girl, but for some reason I like it.”
“Good, because you’re stuck with me now that we’re friends.” His laughter turned into a smile as he stared at me. When I couldn’t take the pressure of his gaze anymore, I bashfully looked away as I asked, “What?”
“It’s not craziness,” he said, as if he’d just had some kind of revelation. “You’re just . . .” His pause had me looking at him. Ali’s head tilted as he stared at me intently. “Honest. Genuine. Pure.” I wasn’t expecting that to be his response, so when my mouth opened, no words came out. “What do you have a taste for?”
Besides his lips?
I had no clue.
Shrugging, I cleared my throat, hoping that would help me remember how to speak again. “Anything’s fine.”
“Do you have any allergies I should know about?”
“No allergies, but I don’t like mushrooms.”
“Gotcha. I was just gonna order a pizza and wings, but?—”
“That’s actually perfect. I don’t need anything fancy.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
We talked a little longer about the toppings for the pizza before he ordered it and the wings, then gave me a tour of his home like he said he would. The two-story, new build was absolutely beautiful. It came as no surprise to either of us that his home library was my favorite room.
“Oh, when I come back, I’m spending all my time in here.”
