Page 147 of A Little Jaded
My eyes widen, and I press the heel of my palm to my temple, convinced I’m hallucinating. “You’re joking.”
“Not joking,” he replies. “McDonnell just called me.”
“You’re serious?” I ask.
He nods again. “Come eat.”
I head toward the center island and grab a barstool as Everett places a heaping plate of pancakes and bacon in front of me.
“Thank you,” I murmur.
“Of course.” He rounds the edge of the granite while wiping his hands on a white dish towel slung over his shoulder and kisses my cheek. “You good?”
I nod, then notice his swollen hands. “What happened?” Reaching for him, I cradle his raw knuckles, dragging my thumbs across the crusted skin as I grimace. “I could’ve sworn they weren’t this bad last night?—”
“I’m good, Raine.” He lets go of my grasp and cups the side of my face, tilting my head up and brushing a kiss against my lips. “Promise.”
I peek up at him, searching his face for any hint as to what happened. Whatreallyhappened.
“So what now?” I ask. “Now that he’s behind bars?”
“Still not letting you out of my sight.”
“Yeah, between you, my parents, and my brother, I don’t see myself being alone too much for the foreseeable future other than to shower and pee.”
“I’ll let you pee in private, but shower time is now with me.” He runs his lips against my cheek, then kisses the underside of my jaw, teasing a smile from me.
“How, uh, how accommodating of you.”
“I’m very accommodating,” he reminds me, stepping between my spread thighs and bringing us chest to chest.
“Mm-hmm. So, do you plan to…drive to wherever I live whenever I have to shower or?—”
“Who says I’ll have to drive anywhere?”
“Well,”—I pick at the edge of his basketball shorts before smoothing the fabric across his thighs—“since Drake isn’t a problem anymore, we should probably figure it out, right? Our living arrangements and everything.”
He leans away from me and frowns. “Tell me you’re joking.”
I press my lips together. “Not sure what there is to joke about. I was under the impression living here was always a short-term thing.”
“Tell. Me. You’re. Joking,” he growls.
“Simmer down, big boy.” I press my hand to his chest. “All I’m saying is we haven’t hadthe talk, and I don’t want to make any assumptions, especially when adding a thirty-minute commute to literally everything if we choose to stay here, let alone convince your parents to allow us to stay here. I want to make sure?—”
“Do you honestly think I want you to move out?”
“No, but?—”
“Then, what do you think?”
“I think you need to officially ask me to stay, considering the person who got us here in the first place is behind bars.” I sit up a little straighter. “You know, for my own peace of mind. Either that, or I need to find out if Finley will have an extra room available at the duplex once their side is finished being renovated.”
“You want to move in with my sister?”
“If you aren’t ready to ask me to officially move in with you, then yes. I’m not above shimmying my way into your life by way of your little sister.”
He scoffs. “She’d probably like that.” Picking up a piece of my hair, he wraps it around his fingers. “I think she’s been lonely since Dylan and Ophelia found boyfriends.”