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She gave him a soft smile. “Thank you.” With that, Lena got up from the table and grabbed her knee scooter to make her way down the hall.

Kieran stood and started to gather dishes. “How much longer do you think she’ll need that thing?”

I shrugged and put the last forkful of food on my plate into my mouth to avoid having to speak to him.

He watched me for a moment. “Well, I’m going to clean up. I’ll leave the dishwasher full, but can you start it when you bring your plate into the kitchen?”

“Sure.”

His expression wavered, but after another beat, he nodded. “Thanks.”

I felt like an asshole, being so curt with him, but I couldn’t let myself continue to become friends with him, not if he was planning to take off in what really amounted to five or six weeks. I needed to keep my head down for the next few weeks and focus on work, not making friends.

“Hey,” he said, returning to the dining room. When I raised my eyebrows, he took it as encouragement to keep talking. “I know it’s none of my business, but did you ever figure out what Eva wanted?”

My stomach soured as I remembered that I still hadn’t even read Eva’s texts from the day prior. I’d been avoiding them hard enough that I’d completely forgotten. I shook my head. “Not yet.”

“Okay. Well… I’ll just…” He gestured in the direction of the kitchen.

I nodded. “Thanks.” My tone was curt and I winced internally before heading to my room. Once the door was closed and I was safely on my bed, I pulled my phone out and finally, finally looked at Eva’s texts.

Eva: Look, I’m sorry for bothering you. I just need a favor.

Eva: The house needs some yard work I wanted you to help with. Gutters. Power washing. Also, a tree fell on the fence. I got the tree off, but I need you to repair the fence.

Eva: That’s all. Let me know when you’re going to come by. Love you.

I narrowed my eyes at my phone and scoffed. “Give me a fucking break, Eva,” I muttered, standing and getting changed for bed. I had absolutely zero intention of going over there and helping with yard work. Instead of responding, I pulled on a pair of soft pajama pants and a T-shirt and crawled between the sheets, willing myself to think of anything other than Eva as I drifted off. Unfortunately, try as I might to redirect my thoughts, that anything other ended up being Kieran.

The silence in the tattoo shop was getting to me a little, making me want to crawl out of my skin. I’d finished my last tattoo of the day and was sketching on my tablet for the following day, but my mind kept wandering. To my great annoyance, it was Kieran who was popping up in my thoughts near-constantly, and the more I tried to make myself think of anything, anyone else, the worse it got.

Lena had chastised me that morning for being rude to him, saying I really needed to give him a chance and make friends with him. Why bother? Why bother making friends when he’s just going to leave in a few weeks? I couldn’t help but grumble to myself as I recalled our conversation from earlier. Besides, I wasn’t being rude, I just wasn’t being warm. Again, I didn’t see the point. I shook my head and tried to refocus on my sketch.

Emma, the owner of the shop, plopped down in a chair at the station next to mine and pulled it closer to me.

“What’s good?” She leaned her elbow on my tattoo table.

I put my pencil down. “Nothing much.”

“How’s it working out with your new roommate?”

I cut her a look, eyes narrowed.

“That good, huh?” When I didn’t respond, she pivoted. “In other news…”

I raised my eyebrows. “Yeah?”

She glanced around the empty shop as if she were checking to be sure nobody would overhear. Everyone had gone home, even Garrett, and we were alone. “There’s this space I saw when I was walking around the other day.”

I waited a moment for her to continue and when she didn’t, I sighed. “Get to the point, Em.”

“It’s an empty storefront. It looks like it would be perfect for a little independent shop.”

“You going to open a clothes store or something?” I asked warily.

She laughed and kicked me. “No, asshole. For you.”

I frowned, drawing my eyebrows close together. “You want me to open a clothes store?”