AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, we both keep pretty unconventional hours,” I said. “I do, at least. I try to get to bed at a decent hour when I know I’ll be training the next day. If I don’t, Yolanda will kick my ass.”
“I try to keep it normal so I can get to my classes,” Tria told me. “The earliest one doesn’t start until ten o’clock, at least.”
“That’s good.” I looked up at the clock on the kitchen wall. “We probably ought to turn in so you’re not late or tired or anything.”
We both stood, and Tria washed and dried the glasses quickly before putting them away. I had to smile because cleaning up wouldn’t even have occurred to me. On a good day, I might have put them in the sink.
I led the way to the hall and toward the bedroom door. As soon as we approached, Tria reached over and opened up the door to the closet, looking a little confused. That’s when a sinking feeling came over me. There was a major aspect of this whole arrangement that hadn’t even come to mind. Tria stopped and looked from one side of the hall to the other as she slowly closed the closet door.
“Ah…I…um…” Tria stumbled over her words. “I’ll just make up the couch, then?”
My arms felt like they were made of jelly as I realized what she meant. She had obviously thought the closet—which she hadn’t had in her apartment—was the second bedroom. Much like the mess, I hadn’t considered sleeping arrangements either.
“Take the bed,” I told her. I couldn’t believe how little I had actually thought about how this would all work out and was a little disgusted with myself. “I’ll stay on the couch.”
“No, Liam, no.” Tria held her hand out in front of her as if she was one of the Supremes and shook her head vigorously. “I am not kicking you out of your own bed. No.”
“I’m not letting you sleep on the couch,” I said emphatically. All I could think about was the stack of magazines I had hidden under there now.
“Why not?” She placed her hands on her hips, and I knew from the look in her eye this was going to be a battle.
“Because it’s a piece of shit,” I said. “It’s uncomfortable and nasty.”
And there’s a huge stack of porn underneath it.
“There’s no way I’m kicking you out of your bed!” Tria was equally emphatic, but I wasn’t going to budge on this one.
“You are not sleeping on the couch.”
“Well, what other options are there?”
Of course, there was really only one. I swallowed, glanced into the bedroom, and then back at Tria. After a long pause, I offered the only suggestion I had.
“It’s big enough,” I said quietly.
“Liam, I…” Her voice trailed off. She also looked from the small bedroom, which consisted of the bed and dresser, and then back to me. At least there wasn’t a shit-ton of dirty laundry around. There was only a small pile at the end of the unmade bed.
“I wouldn’t…” I started to speak but wasn’t sure how to end the sentence. I wanted to reassure her of…of what? That I wasn’t interested in getting into her panties? Because there was no way those words could pass my lips without having dead baby angels drop out of the sky.
She wrapped her arms around herself and continued to look from the bed to the couch over and over again. Her teeth gnawed nervously at her lip, and she rocked from one foot to the other.
“You’re not sleeping on the couch,” I said again.
“Neither are you.”
“That leaves the options a little slim,” I pointed out.
“True,” she whispered, “but…”
Her voice trailed off, and her fingers gripped her upper arms.
“I wouldn’t…” I started again, trying to come up with something I wouldn’t do, no matter how much I might want to. I eventually managed to spit out something relatively meaningful. “I wouldn’t…take advantage of you. You know that, right?”
“Yes, I know,” she replied. Her tone was off, and I couldn’t understand what her expression meant. It almost seemed like she was disappointed, but that didn’t make any sense.
“We could…give it a try.” It was lame, but it was all I had. We were both obviously too stubborn to let go this time.
“Give it a try,” she said quietly, and I wasn’t sure if it was a statement or a question, but I swallowed past the lump in my throat and nodded.
