Her cheeks turn pink and she hides her face behind her wine glass. “Stop it.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t agree,” I poke her ankle.
“Okay fine. But, I’m going to choose to believe he got the wrong name.”
She hasn’t seen him doing what he does for the club so I’m not going to change her opinion on that.
“Okay,” she says after taking another sip of wine. “If you could choose your name, instead of it being Nashville, what would you have picked?”
“Shit, I’ve never really thought about that. We don’t choose our own road names, they’re given to us, like we’re born into the club.”
“So, if you were given the name,” she rubs her lips together and looks up at the ceiling, thinking of a name. “Sprinkles! You would have been happy with that?”
A loud laugh bursts out of me. “I mean, I think I could pull that off.”
“Your bikes exhaust could fire out glitter,” she chuckles.
“And I’d have to have a pink helmet with a unicorn horn.”
“I would love to see that,” she tilts her head back and rests it on the back of the couch.
“You think I could look tough in that get-up?”
“It takes a strong man to be confident enough to wear a pink unicorn horn helmet.”
“Damn straight.”
“But I wouldn’t want to see you getting your ass kicked so maybe stick to Nashville.”
“I think you’re right. But now we’ve talked about it, I do kinda feel a little let down. Does it make me unoriginal, Charley?”
She raises her head and looks at me. “Honestly,” she nudges my thigh with her toes. “I don’t think there is anything unoriginal about you. I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“How do you mean?” I turn to face her.
“I’ve been really crap at trying to find somewhere else to live. I told myself one or two nights max and I’d leave you alone and, every time I thought about looking I got distracted. You could have kicked me out ages ago.”
“I wasn’t about to do that. And to be fair, I haven’t exactly looked either.”
“It’s on my list. I can’t keep imposing on you.”
“Funny thing is, it’s been nice, having someone around.”
“Someone to watch cheesy vampire shows with and not judge you?”
“Exactly,” I lean forward and tap my beer bottle against her glass. “In all seriousness Charley, I’m not planning on kicking you out. The last thing I want is for you to go from one bad situation to a slightly better one when you can get what you actually want if you wait a little longer.”
Her head dips and she stares into her wine. “At least let me pay rent.”
“You don’t have to do that.” She is about to protest and I understand that it’s not just about paying me for being here, it’s about pride. “How about you pay for the groceries, and gassing up the SUV?”
“That sounds like I’m getting off easy.”
“Yeah well, it’s not going to be forever, right?”
She frowns into her wine and nods. When she looks up at me, it’s hard to read her expression. Is she disappointed by that statement, or looking forward to the day she gets out of here?
It’s really hard to tell and when she finishes her wine and says she needs an early start at Elegance, I don’t ask her to stay, instead telling her I’ll handle the clean up.
