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I nodded. “Thanks for the ride.”
Even though it was time to get out, I sat there in the passenger seat just staring at the stone and vinyl townhouse. It wasn’t necessarily chaos, but it wasn’t exactly calm either. Moving days never were. Of course, today would be hectic. We were leaving the dorm we’d been in for almost two years and replacing it with a three-bedroom townhouse. We needed actual furniture for this place. Dishes for the kitchen. Appliances… Wait. Did we need to buy appliances?
My eyes went to the back of the truck, but there were no appliances. Just some furniture we’d bought from a local store that they’d held on to until today.
The fact that I didn’t know if we got everything we needed hit me hard because it brought on a surge of helplessness. Being helpless was something I worked hard not to be. It also made me feel a little ashamed that I let Kruger and Jess take on the bulk of all this, pretty much going along with whatever they wanted and planned because it was less stressful than trying to make decisions on my own.
“Hey,” Arsen called softly, his hand sliding over my thigh.
The touch was unexpected, and I glanced down, studying the way his long fingers looked draped across my leg. He had three rings on today. The band on his thumb, the chain-looking one on his pointer finger, and then another silver band on his middle finger, this one with a black spade in the center.
My phone lit up and my stomach tightened, but then I saw who was calling, and the anxiety of talking on the phone vanished.
“It’s my gram,” I told Arsen.
He gave my thigh a little squeeze. “Answer it.”
“Hi, Gram,” I said into the line.
“Hi, honey, how’s the moving going?” Her voice was familiar and calm, and hearing it just then brought a wave of homesickness over me.
Without thinking, I dropped my hand over Arsen’s. His fingers flexed and widened, making enough room for me to push mine between them.
“Not too bad,” I answered, gazing out the window. “Everyone is here helping.”
I could practically see the sparkle in her blue eyes when she said, “Is Jess keeping them all in line?”
I laughed beneath my breath. “Doesn’t she always?”
“She’s going to have her work cut out for her living with you two.”
“We aren’t that bad,” I teased.
“Well, you aren’t. Benjamin on the other hand…”
I laughed.
The humor in her voice melted right into genuine concern. “How are you doing, honey?”
“I’m okay,” I told her, spinning one of the rings on Arsen’s finger.
“I can still get on a plane and be there by tomorrow. Are you sure you don’t want me to come help set up the house?”
Yes. I did want her to come. But I was almost twenty-one. She’d already done so much for me. More than she ever needed to do. I needed to do this to prove to myself I could.
“I’m sure,” I told her. “Elite is all here. We’ll be done in no time.”
“Do you have everything you need?”
“Yeah,” I replied, wondering again about appliances. And dishes.
“I put extra money in your account. Go and get anything you need. And buy your sister some flowers. She deserves them.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said dutifully.
“Okay, well, I know you’re busy, but I wanted to check in. FaceTime me tomorrow, okay? Give me a tour of the place. I want to see everything.”
“I will.”
