He licks his lips. “I don’t really know. I just do whatever my family tells me to do.”
I blink. He doesn’t know?
What does he mean, whatever his family tells him to do? “Wait, you don’t have anything you do just for yourself? Nothing you enjoy?”
He’s quiet for a second. “Never really thought about it.”
That’s ... sad. Really sad. Before I can push further, he turns it back on me.
“What about you, Kelly?”
My eyes widen. I clear my throat, not prepared for the question. “Well, right now I work and take care of Clover, I guess. I don’t really want to work at that clinic though. The most exciting thing that’s happened to me there was you breaking in.” I shoot him a grin, trying to lighten the mood.
He raises an eyebrow. “I doubt that was a fun experience for you.”
He’s not wrong. “It wasn’t, at first. But ...” I trail off. “I don’t know. You’re interesting. Intimidating, but interesting.”
“Intimidating?” He sounds almost amused.
I give him a look.
He waves me off before I can say anything. “Fair.”
I grin at him. “So, seriously, nothing? No hobbies at all? What do you do when you’re not ... working?”
He considers it. “I fix things sometimes. Broken locks, pipes, whatever needs repairing. I guess. I’m good at building things.”
“You fix and build things?” I can’t hide my surprise.
“Keeps me busy. I like using my hands for something other than ...” He trails off, shakes his head. “Fixing things is simple.”
His phone starts ringing, and he pulls it out with a sigh. “I need to go.” He puts Clover down gently on the bed and gets up.
I trail after him to the front door. He puts his hand on the handle. Then stops, turning around to look into my eyes.
“Can I come over again?”
The question should set off alarms. It does set off alarms. He just showed up uninvited, acted like this was normal. My ex used to do that. Show up without asking. Act like he had a right to my space.
But this doesn’t feel the same. I don’t know why it doesn’t feel the same.
I bite my lip and nod before I can think better of it. “Sure.”
He nods. I see him glance at my mouth before looking away quickly. Then the door opens, and he disappears into the hallway. The door clicks shut behind him.
I don’t know what any of that was about, but the top three weirdest nights of my life have all involved him being part of them. I’m either losing my mind or getting myself into something I should definitely stay away from.
Probably both.
The smart thing would be to not answer the door next time. The safe thing would be to tell him not to come back. But some fucked up part of me wants to see him again. Wants him to come back.
And that part scares me more than anything else.
Chapter 8
Alexei
It’s been twelve hours since I left Kelly’s apartment. Seven hundred and twenty fucking minutes since I’ve seen his face.
