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The curiosity had diluted to a manageable level, but the hurt had lingered.
I moved my cold cappuccino aside and pulled out my phone, pushing away the longing to go straight to Vinh to soothe my feelings, and instead texting him that I’d be a while longer.
Then I opened my notes app and got to work.
And nearly two hours later, I had a budget, a timeline, and a nearly dead battery as well as the initial phase of my plan for regrowth.
The first leaf that demanded shedding was my living situation, and that meant finding a roommate.
41
BREE
Liem placed a tattooed hand over his heart. “I am honored and deeply humbled.”
We were in a motion theater pod at Willows—Liem’s coincidental choice of where to meet—waiting on the Halloween-themed ride to start.
I’d just finished explaining my idea—or proposal, rather—and he’d instantly seemed both interested and excited by it.
“I’ve been thinking it was time to move out. Dad seems better now, and I was thinking of asking Vinh if I could move in with him on the boat. I grew pretty attached to it this week.”
I smiled. “I know. I did too.”
He turned in his seat and threw his legs over the arms of the chair. “The only thing that kept me from asking him was thinking that you would be living there. Does he know you’re here propositioning me instead?”
I snorted. “You know that’s the wrong word.”
“Syntax error.”
I poked him in the side. “No, he doesn’t know I’m asking you to rent a place with me. The last text I got from him said he was back at the boat, catching up on some work, so I’ll call him when he’s done.”
“Well, regardless, I accept. Where do I sign?”
The lights in the theater flashed, causing Liem to throw his legs back into the correct position with a yelp of excitement. Then we buckled ourselves in.
Liem laughed in glee. “I’m so excited!”
“How many times have you ridden this show?”
“Feels like thousands, and each one even better than the last. But I’ve never experienced it with my Princess.”
The projector came to life before I could comment on that name, the dust particles above us dancing in its light as the pod started moving, following the twists and turns of the projected show, bodily throwing us around. Liem gasped and screamed at every cue, and I couldn’t help but get lost in it with him, releasing some of the tension of the day with every scream.
I knocked on the houseboat door, more than ready to say hello to Vinh and goodbye to the day.
He opened it immediately, but I only got a glimpse of the pleased smile on his face before he pulled me inside and wrapped me in a warm embrace. “There you are.”
“Here I am, and I probably smell.”
He made a point to take a huge whiff of me, and I pushed him back, laughing at his playfulness. “No, for real. I’m still in the same clothes as this morning.” I pulled back and crossed my arms over my chest, my hungry gaze eating him up.
He was dressed casually in a pair of heather-gray joggers and a loose green T-shirt and looked fresh from a shower, his hair wet and slicked back.
“If you don’t want me to lay you out on that table and do more than just smell you, you need to stop looking at me like that, Bree.”
My gaze immediately snapped to his, every nerve in my body lighting up at the sound of his beautiful voice deep with warning.
“Now, how about you grab a shower while I cook dinner?”
