“Ready, ready,” I say, trying to sound upbeat despite the roller coaster of emotions I’m on.
He stands in the kitchen and looks back at me with a smile. “You look too good. Go change.”
I laugh and spin around. “Really? You think so?”
He nods. “And you did that in record time, so you get Starbucks on the way in. It’s your lucky day.”
“Luck has nothing to do with it. You’re just a nice guy who’s putting up with a crazy lady. Then again, I guess that does make me lucky.”
“You’ve got to stop talking about yourself like that. You’re not crazy.”
“That’s not what you said last night when I was begging you to lift the couch up on end so I could vacuum.”
He scoffs. “Well, that was crazy. Who does that? You just vacuum around it like a normal person.”
“Then what about all the little crumbs and dust that get underneath? You saw it… there was tons of stuff under there that shouldn’t have been.”
He rolls his eyes playfully. “Well, if it makes you happy, I’ll keep muscling up the couch for you.”
“Mmm… that’s what it was for. I just realized it. I’m not doing it for dust bunnies, I’m doing it for biceps.”
His face pinks and he smiles wide, warmth filling my heart.
“Anyway,” I say, bumping his shoulder playfully. “How is your morning goi—”
“Going good, just worrying about a friend.” He sighs. “I know seeing that guy from last night has you all messed up.” He runs his hands down either side of my arm. “But you can’t forget who the hell you are.”
As I refrain from sayinga crazy, former stripper,Ryan tucks me under his chin.
“You’re a beautiful, thoughtful, smart woman who is working hard to better her life.”
I glance toward Ryan, my heart warm and full. “I’m not sure what I did to deserve you.” I reach toward his hand, cupping my own around it. “Thank you. For everything.”
“Let’s get moving,” he says, grabbing his laptop bag off the counter before taking my books in his arms. “I could spend all day trying to convince you that it’smewho doesn’t deserveyou… but you’d be late for class.”
I smile and lock the door behind us as we make our way down to his truck. It’s a beautiful day, sunny and warm with a breeze that rustles through the palms. Another month, and it’ll be rainy most afternoons with the threat of hurricanes on the horizon, though we rarely get hit head-on here.
“What’s going on in your life?” I settle back in the truck bench and pull my seatbelt into place. “We’re always talking about me lately.”
“Well, I rented this warehouse space down in Clearwater to start renovating furniture and old tools. Some of what I found just needs cleaning up, but others I think I can repurpose to make something new out of. I found this antique hutch at an estate sale that I think would work really great as a bookcase.”
“Oh… so likeProperty Brothersbut with furniture.”
He laughs. “It’s relaxing. The sanding, priming, and envisioning something new. The painting thing I might need some help on.”
“I haven’t painted in years, but I wouldn’t mind helping. I can stop over after school. We can take a look at what you have.”
“Maybe,” he says, flicking on his blinker to turn into the school. “It’s your first day, though. We should celebrate with something more exciting than furniture remodels.”
“Actually, a break from the exciting sounds kind of nice, especially after an entire day of social science classes. Maybe this major was a bad idea.”
“Social work suits you, but you’ll need a hobby to decompress afterward. That’s where this furniture painting will come in handy.” He smiles a Cheshire grin then twists toward me after parking in the campus lot.
“Everleigh,” he says, glancing back at the sprawling brick campus before twisting toward me. His gaze is perfectly square on mine, his hands massage one another. “We need to talk about something.”
Something?What kind ofsomething?
My brows narrow and my stomach turns. “What’s wrong?”
