I stared at him while trying to sort through possible social patterns and explanations, but I was coming up with nothing.
Must be something I don’t get.
“Okay,” I agreed. “Let me go grab my mug. I’ll be right back.”
I shuffled down the hallway to my apartment and darted in, leaving the door open behind me.
“The door will be unlocked,” Connor called after me.
“Got it,” I called as I picked up my steaming mug of coffee. The mug was a gift from my older brother, Alex, and had a cartoon tabby cat with fur the same red color as my hair and a little cartoon bat—who had x’s for eyes—hanging from her mouth painted on the side. (Slayer humor is weird.)
I started for the door, paused, then backtracked and grabbed the communication book I’d purchased from Book Nookery when Connor and I visited the bookstore in October.
If Connor’s busy, I’ll need something to do or it could feel awkward.
I tucked the book under my arm, grabbed my keys—my phone was already in my jeans pocket—and locked my door before heading over to Connor’s apartment and hesitantly nudging the door open.
“I’m back,” I called, pausing in the doorway. An awkward feeling that I hadn’t ever felt before with Connor sat on my chest, and I was pretty sure a blush was heating up my pale complexion.
Connor hadn’t invited me over to his place before. In fact, Sunshine was my only Magiford friend whose house I’d seen. Since the invitation was so rare, it felt extra personal.
“Welcome.” Connor stood by a fancy, wooden table, smirking into a wineglass of red liquid, which the prickling feeling in my teeth told me was blood.
His smirk returned my sense of normalcy, so while I bumped his apartment door shut with my hip and looked around, the awkwardness started to fade.
Since he had a corner apartment, his windows were bigger and lined not only the back of the apartment, but the entire outer wall as well. I could see that his patio was also bigger and wrapped around both sides of the building, and he had a bistro set that was currently wet from some rain we’d had earlier in the day.
His kitchen was larger and had nicer cupboards and appliances, and there was a large dedicated dining area—not to mention, unlike my cramped entertainment space that barely had room for my TV and couch, his living room area was light and airy with lots of room since his apartment was much wider.
There was a darkened, full-sized bathroom right by the doorway where I stood, and three wooden doors—all of them closed—lined the other wall.
Does he have three bedrooms? I didn’t know this building even had three-bedroom apartments!
“Wow,” I said. “You have a really nice place.”
“You sound surprised.” Connor took a seat at his fancy table and adjusted the thin, sleek laptop he must have been working on before I interrupted him.
“I am,” I said. “I didn’t know the building had such a great apartment.”
Connor looked up from the laptop’s screen. “I had some minor remodeling done before I moved in.”
“Yeah.” I took extra care to hold my coffee mug without jostling it when I walked across the expensive Turkish carpet rolled out over the apartment’s cheap carpet. “I can see that.” I paused by the cluster of comfortable furniture angled to take advantage of the view given by the apartment’s many windows. “Is it okay if I actually sit on any of this?”
Connor sat with his back to the wall, so he could watch me without having to turn. “Of course, why wouldn’t it be?”
“Because one furniture piece looks like it costs what I make in a month,” I said.
“They’re for sitting in.”
“Are you sure about that? They look… decorative.” I stared at the leather couches and armchairs—at least they were modern and didn’t look like antiques.
Connor’s smirk was back. “Sit.”
I reluctantly chose one of the leather armchairs and sat, my shoulders stiffening when I sank deeper into the chair than expected.
I took a gulp of my coffee, which nearly scalded my mouth, but it was too close to being overfull and I didn’t want to spill on Connor’s stuff, especially on my first visit.
“Did you bring abook?” Connor asked.
