“Oh.” Jack leans back in his chair, looking relieved. “What’s wrong?”
“They found more damage,” I tell him. “It could be another month before they have everything repaired.”
“Oh.” He looks unperturbed by this. “Well it’s not like my spare bedroom is going anywhere.”
My lips twist as my eyes avert and I feel uncertainty flush through me. “Sure, but…I mean…We didn’t exactly say how long I would be staying when I moved in. I’m sure you didn’t mean to have me for so long.”
“What,” he snorts, “do you think I’d just kick you out?”
“Well, no, but—”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” he says, leaning in closer, “I kind of like having you there.”
I feel my cheeks flush, a small smile forming at my mouth. “I mean, I get that, but I just…It has me thinking, you know?”
“About?”
“About what all this means.”
“This being…?”
I point my finger back and forth between us. “Me and you.”
“Oh.”
I nod. “Yeah. Oh.”
“Are you asking what we are?”
“I’m not…notasking that,” I say nervously, feeling my stomach clench with uncertainty.
It’s not a conversation I planned to have today, but with how good things have been going, I can’t pretend it hasn’t been on my mind. I find myself wondering more and more if this thing between us is just something fun and convenient for Jack, or if there might be more to it. If Iwantthere to be more to it.
Jack crosses his arms over his chest, eyeing me. “What do you want it to be?”
“What?” I rear back, blinking in surprise. “You’re asking me?”
“Well, yeah,” he says. “You kind of have all the power here, Abby.”
“How do you figure?”
“Because I already know whatIwant,” he informs me, his tone serious. “It’s just a matter of whatyouwant.”
My heart rate ratchets up higher, pounding away beneath my ribs. “And what do you want?”
“I’d have already put a lock on your door to force you to sleep in my bed every night if I could,” he says nonchalantly.
My mouth falls open. “You don’t mean that.”
“Of course I do,” he says without any hint of trepidation. “In case you haven’t noticed…I’m kind of crazy about you.”
“But it’s only been a few weeks,” I argue feebly.
He shrugs again. “I know what I want.”
“And you’re ready to…what? Tell people? TellIan?”
Jack gives me a shit-eating grin then. “Oh, I wouldloveto tell Ian.”
