“I’ll follow you,” he stated with a nod before climbing into his truck and firing up the engine.
I rushed to my SUV, closed the hatch, and jumped into the driver’s seat, hoping that despite my scrambled brain I remembered how to get to my new place.
Luckily, I had no trouble, and we were pulling up within a few minutes, just as the rain began to fall in earnest.
He was already out of the truck, the tailgate dropped.As I reached him, lightning cracked overhead, making me jump.
“We should hurry,” he coaxed.
I nodded in agreement as he slid the couch out of the truck bed, and I caught the end.Together, we carried it up my walkway, the front steps creaking under our weight.“One sec,” I panted, carefully setting down my end so I could unlock the door.
We guided the couch through the doorway into the dark front room, placing it just where I’d envisioned, facing the television.
“Didn’t get too wet I don’t think,” he muttered, surveying the couch as I hit the lights, wincing as they only served to illuminate the wood-paneled glory of my humble abode.I could only imagine what his place was like.
“It’s outdated, but….”I trailed off.
“It’s cozy.”He was quick to interject.“It has a good layout in here.”He nodded, looking around, his appraisal holding no judgement as he eyed my place.“Got a lot to work with.And the couch is a nice addition.”He grinned.
“Thank you for your help,” I murmured.“I guess it does look slightly better in here than on a curb a few miles back.”I wrinkled my nose as though pained to admit it.
“Glad you think so.”He stared at me patiently, waiting for me to make the next move.And while my sanity would be far better off putting space between us, my manners got the best of me.
“Do you want to stay for a beer or something?I just went to the store.”I gestured toward my fridge, which was now stocked full.“I also have water and, um, well, that’s about it.”I shrugged.
He eyed me steadily with that intensity of his that, though I was becoming slightly more accustomed to it, still made my knees weak.“Beer’s good.”He raised a brow toward my fridge.“That thing works?”
“So far.”I laughed as I twisted the caps off two beers, handing him one.“Believe me, I’m as surprised as you.Do you want to sit out front?I love watching the weather come in.”
“I’d like that.”He followed me out to the two rockers on the front porch as a large clap of thunder sounded overhead.
“Holy shit, that’s close,” he muttered, his gaze to the sky.
“I love thunderstorms.You can feel the weather in your bones.The hair raises on your arms.Such a reminder of how powerful Mother Nature is.”
He looked over at me in surprise.“I always thought that too.I love how the weather’s so moody here.In my travels, I haven’t found the likes of it.”
“I always intended to travel more,” I admitted.“But we had some pretty good summer thunderstorms in DC.Kept things green year-round.”
“Do you miss it?”he asked, his blue eyes probing as I turned my gaze to the sky.
“Too soon to tell,” I replied quietly.“Though, even after a little more than a day, it feels good here.”I sighed.“I was always close to my aunt and cousin, even though we lived so far away.It feels good to be closer.And the town, the land—it all feels right in a way.”
“What about your folks?Where are they?”
“In DC,” I replied, grimacing at how many calls I’d declined.“They’re not very supportive of my move,” I admitted, surprised I’d said as much.
“Oh?”he prompted.
“My parents are…” I searched for the right words.“Tough.They wanted things for me, a life for me that never quite resonated.I guess I’d finally had enough.”
“Good for you.I bet that was fucking hard.”
There was something about the way he said it—so genuinely—that had tears pricking the backs of my eyes.“Thanks.It was.So how about you?Your family’s here?”
“Yep.Born and raised.One of four.”
“I heard a little about the Carters,” I hedged, relieved to take the subject off me.
