I look around her and see that someone has once again propped the door open with a rock. I bend down and pick it up.
“Let’s add it to the others,” I say. “That’s all we can do for now. Have you had stronger locks put on your door yet?”
“I talked to the building manager and apparently I will lose my deposit if I do that. I’ll do it anyway, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’ve been pretty busy with trying to rebrand my business, and deal with my mom’s bullshit.”
Jealousy flares in my chest at thinking of Becca out on dates with losers every weekend. The sooner we can convince her mom that we’re together, the better. Now that we have to keep up appearances with our friends too, I don’t have to worry as much about dragging this out.
Becca unlocks her door and enters, and I follow along behind her. I take a detour to the bookshelves and add the newest door rock to the collection. There are a few there now, because I stop and grab them every time I come over.
“Here you go,” Becca says, handing me a beer. This one is a double IPA; nice and light for the end of the day. “Something to wash the taste of that crap we had at Alex’s out of your mouth.”
“Thanks.” I tap my bottle to Becca’s in a toast —“To excellent beer and even better company.” — then take a long drink.
Becca takes a long drink of her beer, then sets it on the kitchen table. “I think maybe we need to rewrite the rules,” she says. “We’ve already broken a few, so a rewrite is necessary.”
“Good plan. We haven’t done a very good job of following them, have we? And it’s only been a day. Maybe we should just throw them away altogether and see what happens?” I force a laugh to make it sound like I’m joking.
She gives me a look, then shakes her head. “No, it’s better with rules. This way, no one gets hurt.”
I know I’m getting hurt at the end of this, but I’m willing to risk it if it gives me a solid chance with Becca.
“Sounds good to me. Bring on the rules.”
