Page 10 of Luke
It was the worst piece of furniture, probably the most uncomfortable thing she owned. She wondered when he’d last slept, as dark bags were forming under his eyes. He also looked earnest when he talked.
“I don’t know if it’s that simple,” she admitted.
Luke nodded. “I never expected it would be. If you want to kick me out, I respect that. I also respect that you aren’t all the way better yet and I’m not going to just leave you here to take care of him with no help. I can leave once you feel better.”
As though he needed her to prove his point, she started coughing. It took a minute to stop and she quickly downed some water.
“I’m not asking you to leave yet. I don’t know what will happen between us. I don’t even know what I want.” She did know; she wanted him. “Right now, you can stay. If it gets to be too much, I’ll let you know.”
“Fair,” he smiled at her. “I have something else I wanted to talk to you about.”
Pizza forgotten, she turned to face him, wary of what he wanted to say.
“I want both of you to come with me to another apartment. You don’t have to completely move everything if you don’t want to, but I think it would be healthier for both of you if we were . . .” He struggled to find the words to use. “Somewhere else.”
Paisley thought it over for a moment. It was the opposite of not depending on him to do that. Then again, this was for Garrett’s health, too. She hated living here but it was affordable and there were worse places.
“I don’t mean any disrespect. It’s nothing about you. It’s this building. It needs a lot of work and I just want you and him to be safe and in a place where you aren’t breathing in mold in the hallway.”
She knew he didn’t intend to be mean about her. “I understand. I’ll agree, but under one condition.”
“Name it,” he said.
“I need to keep this place just in case we find we can’t live together. I can’t afford anything else.” She hated admitting it, but it was what it was.
“Paisley, if we don’t stay together, your child support will be more than enough to have a decent apartment.”
She rolled her eyes.
“That being said, I paid your rent through the rest of your lease last month.” His grin was so proud.
Her jaw dropped. “What the hell?”
“I thought they’d tell you?” he said.
“No one told me until I called because I panicked that my rent wasn’t taken out of my account.”
“I thought they would have told you?” Luke chewed his pizza. “That’s my fault.”
“It’s fine. Any other big things you need to tell me yourself and not assume that someone else will because it freaks me out.”
“I’ll make sure of it,” he ground out.
“So we’re doing this?” she asked. “Pretending to be a couple and seeing where it goes?”
“I’m not pretending.” He stood and took his plate to the kitchen before returning. “I mean it. I’m going to prove to you both that I’m not going anywhere.”
Watching him shift a few times to settle on her sofa, she made a decision. If they were doing this, then it didn’t matter where he slept. She wasn’t having sex with him, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t already.
“You can sleep in my bed tonight.” She held her breath, watching his reaction.
“No. You just got out of the hospital. You need the bed,” he pushed back.
Realizing he’d misunderstood, she clarified, “Both of us. You can’t sleep on this sofa again.”
He hesitated and studied her face. “I wasn’t saying that to get you to let me sleep with you. It was all the truth. I’ll take the lumpy sofa for as many nights as I need to.”
She melted then. It was unexpected because the Luke she’d slept with before was so casual in the beginning. Right before he broke things off, she’d caught a glimpse of this man underneath the partying. She was glad he was still there.