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“Seems we’re well suited, I guess.” She smiled. “Good thing we’re already friends.”
Yeah. Friends. “What are your parents like?”
“Uh…” She pursed her lips. “Understanding. Too understanding, maybe. When I came out here, they told me I was making a mistake, but that when it all fell apart, they’d be waiting for me with open arms.”
He shifted, resting his elbows on his thighs and crossing his ankles. “But you didn’t go back. Why not?”
“I wanted to prove them wrong. Wanted to show them I could do this alone and succeed.” She lifted her chin. “They, of course, supported that, too.”
“They sound nice.” He stared at the bubbles in his champagne. “Have they ever come to see you here?”
“Yes. You met them, once, in the elevator. You held it open for my dad a month or so ago, and he told me about ‘the nice boy down the hall.’ It wasn’t hard to figure out who he meant.” She flinched. “I might have told him you were an asshole. Sorry.”
“I was an asshole.” He shrugged. “I like to think I’m not anymore, though.”
“You weren’t an asshole. I just didn’t know you.”
He locked eyes with her. “Now you do?”
“I like to think I do,” she said softly, echoing his words.
“Hey, earlier at dinner, it seemed like you had something you wanted to say.” As a matter of fact, she’d seemed like she’d had something to say for a week now, but nothing ever came out when she opened her mouth. “If you want to tell me something, I’m here.”
She turned away, gulping down her champagne.
He reached out, grabbed the bottle, and refilled her glass. “You look like you’re going to need this. Is it that bad? Let me guess. You’re actually a panda bear, and you’re returning to your people tomorrow.”
A small laugh escaped her. “How’d you guess?”
“I’m just that good,” he said, dragging out his words to sound exasperated.
She rolled her eyes, but her smile gave her away. “Goof.”
“Seriously.” He set the bottle down and rested a hand on her knee. “What’s up?”
“I just…” She opened her mouth, closed it, and then smiled. “I like you, Eric.”
“I like you, too,” he said immediately, his heart skipping a beat like a fucking teenage girl’s. Around Shelby, he kind of felt like one. Like everything in life was new and exciting and fresh. “Being with you is nice. You’ve shown me it isn’t necessarily better to be alone. Not when you’re with the right person, anyway.”
Her lower lip trembled. “You think I’m the right person?”
“Well…” He ran a hand through his hair, knowing he was in a tricky position here. Because, fuck yeah, he thought she was the right person. But she wanted to leave, and he didn’t want to seem like he was trying to stop her. He wasn’t. “You’re the right person for now.”
She leaned back a little, studying him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That I like being with you, but it’s going to end soon.”
Nodding, she avoided his eyes. He could feel her jumping nerves from his position on the couch. “What if I don’t get a job soon? What then? Do we still end it? Do we stop, before things drag on for too long and become confusing?”
He stared at her, not knowing what to say.
Of course he didn’t want to end things yet.
He
wasn’t done with her, damn it.
“You’ll get a job. When you do, we stop. Until then?” He lifted a shoulder casually, even though he felt anything but. “We keep going. Unless you’re ready to call it quits?”
