He tucked a curl behind my ear, his forehead tilting down to rest against mine. “Now, about making out in movie theaters...”
* * *
Eli didn’t bring up the move for the next two weeks and we fell into a comfortable rhythm. I’d text him a recipe in the morning. He’d pick up the ingredients. We’d make dinner together. Usually, at least. Sometimes I’d get a little lost in the writing I was dabbling with.
Okay, well, I was more than dabbling. But for the sake of my sanity, I called it dabbling.
On those nights, Eli would silently take over dinner duties and I would hardly notice until there was a warm plate of food set in front of me. Sometimes we would talk through dinner and other times he would read while I continued to work.
He made noises about letting me borrow his laptop, but I liked the routine of working on paper and then transcribing in the morning when I got to my office.
Then we would go to bed, both brushing our teeth at the same time. Every night I went through the motions of intending to go to my own bedroom, but he always waited in his doorway for me and dragged me by the waist to his bed.
(Marlon caught on rather quickly and had taken to automatically nesting at the foot of Eli’s bed after the first two nights.)
Some days Brody texted me, asking me to talk. I was surprisingly delighted by how simple it was to just delete those messages and move on. It felt good. I felt more whole than I had in a long time.
Every morning I woke up wrapped in firm arms, and now I didn’t want to wake up any other way.
Eli Buckley was absolutely ruining me, and I started to think that I might be okay if he would just continue to ruin me forever.
INT. PHOTO BOOTH—DAY
She kisses him on the third flash. He blinks and pulls away.
POPPY
(gasps)
I’m sorry!
She runs out of the photo booth, leaving him alone for the last picture.
POPPY (V.O.)
The danger of Arlo was that I would always love him more than he could ever love me.
Chapter Forty-Nine
It had been just over two weeks since Leonard had left me the cactus, and I hadn’t had a chance to go by and say thank you. After setting up for his writing workshop last week, I had to skip for a staff meeting and only had a chance for a quick hello, so I was long overdue for a visit to Leonard and Patrick.
I walked past Ruby’s door, tempted to let myself in, but decided that probably wasn’t the most productive way to start my day or to mend that fence.
As I stood in front of Leonard’s door and knocked, I noted that hisStay Awhile (Until You’re Asked to Leave)doormat had been rolled up and was leaning against the doorframe.
My phone rang from the depths of my tote bag. I checked to see who was calling as I waited for Leonard.
Brody.
Immediately, I sent the call to voicemail, pushing away every possible reason why he could be trying to reach me.
I knocked again, more impatiently this time, and only after a moment did I hear footsteps approaching.
“You here for the donations?” a deep voice asked as the door swung open.
Standing there in Leonard’s partially emptied apartment was one of our managing custodians in his tan uniform.
“Vera, right?” the man asked. “Was there something you needed? I’m just finishing up this removal cleanup.”
