Page 14 of Let Me Love You
It’s still weird. Exciting but weird. Shopping for apartments. Setting up times to view said apartments. Imagining living with Theo forreal.My heart flutters at the prospect. Which is kind of ridiculous since we sleep together half the time, anyway. But the idea of making it official? Of living under the same roof?
If ten-year-old Blakely could see me now.
I grin and click on the next potential apartment when my phone rings. It’s Mom.
“Hello, Mommy Dearest,” I answer, pinning my phone between my ear and shoulder as I continue scrolling through housing options.
“Hey, honey. How are ya?”
“I’m good. Looking at apartments.” My eyes thin as a basement apartment catches my attention.
“Aw, so you decided to officially move out of the house with the girls?” she asks.
“Yeah. I think it’s for the best.”
“I know you’re bummed they’re all leaving.”
“It’s fine,” I reply, and for the first time, I actually mean it.
A beat of silence follows. “Well, someone’s tune has changed,” she muses.
To be fair, she’s right. I’ve been bitching about my lack of a diploma for the past two months and all the changes inevitably following once graduation rolled around.
“It’s like you always say when one door closes, another one opens,” I tell her, examining a photo of a tiny shower barely big enough to fit one person, let alone two.
Goodbye, shower sex.
“That’s my girl,” Mom cheers. “So, where are you thinking of moving to? Are you and Mia going to try to get a place off campus, or are you going to move in with your mama again and keep me company?”
“While both of those options sound pretty tempting, Mia’s yet to find a job, so she doesn’t want to sign a lease until she knows her salary and the location where she wants to be. And you, Mommy Dearest, are a big girl who—from what I’ve heard—has been all too invested in her Bunco groupandhas been staying out at all hours of the night. You honestly think I want to come home and babysit my mother?”
She laughs but doesn’t deny it. And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. After my dad died, Mom broke. She put on a strong face for Colt and the rest of my brothers, but as soon as they were out of the house, I’d find her crying in the kitchen. In her bedroom. Even showering was more effort than it was worth for a while. It’s why I decided to stay with her during my first two years and take online classes instead of dipping my toe in campus life. Hell, she practically had to kick me out a year later because I was so worried about her. And in the end, it was the best decision I could’ve made.
“So you’re going to find some new girls to move in with?” she asks, her tone laced with confusion. “I thought you said it was the last thing you wanted to do.”
“It is, and I’m not.” I pause, finding a three-bedroom apartment. It’s way overpriced, but I click on it anyway. “Oooo, this one could have an officeandan in-home gym. Yes, please.”
“Honey, focus,” Mom scolds. “If you’re not finding some new girls to move in with, where are you moving?”
I close my eyes and rein in my overstimulated squirrel brain, explaining, “Theo asked me to move in with him.”
“He what?”
“He asked me to move in with him.” I slap my laptop closed and roll onto my back, staring up at the ceiling as the familiar kaleidoscope of butterflies makes another appearance.
“And you agreed?” she questions.
“Duh. I kind of love him, remember?”
Silence.
I sit up, shifting my phone from one ear to the other. “Mom? Are you there?”
“I am.”
Silence.
“And?” I press, my nerves getting the best of me.