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“Whatever you want to call them,” I muttered.
“Well, it was my mom when I was little,” she said, “but I don’t really remember that. Then I lived with my dad until he passed away, then the Harrisons. This just feels…different.”
“Different how?”
She sat back on her
heels and chewed on her lip.
“I don’t know how to explain it,” she finally said. “I just keep waiting for you to get tired of me being here and tell me to get out, and I don’t know what I’ll do if that happens.”
“Tria,” I said, chiding her. “I’m not going to do that.”
I reached over and took her by the chin.
“Why do you think I’m going to send you away?”
“Because you could,” she said simply.
There was something else she wasn’t telling me, but she didn’t want to budge on talking about it. She went out to the living room for another load of clothes, and I tried not to be a total horndog and peek at her underwear when she put it away, but I couldn’t help it.
I had to excuse myself to the bathroom for a bit.
Tria was in the living room zipping up the empty suitcase when I came back out. We found a place at the top of the bedroom closet for it and then sat on the couch for a bit of a rest. Tria was totally lost in thought and zoned out on me to the point where I had to wave my hand in front of her face to get her attention.
“What are you thinking about?” I finally asked her.
“This and that,” she responded.
“Not very informative,” I told her.
Tria’s eyes moved from their fixed point in space to look at me, and she smiled.
“I suppose I’ve been thinking about the important things,” Tria said.
“What kind of ‘important things’?” I asked.
“Important things,” Tria said. She turned her head, and her smile made my heart stop. “Like homemade bookcases and strong arms that keep me safe at night.”
I was never one to blush, but I felt my cheeks warm at her words.
Chapter 4—Suffer the Wait
The next day brought sunshine and unseasonable warmth. Tria headed off to campus early, and I took my normal run before heading to the gym. It felt like forever since I had been there, but I was still greeted in proper Cheers fashion as I walked in and started smacking the heavy bag a bit. Yolanda was working with one of the other guys, so it was a while before she could come over and give me shit.
“You’ve been hiding,” she said as I climbed onto an elliptical and upped the tension. I didn’t usually use that particular machine, but the idea of sitting my still-sore ass down on a stationary bike was not attractive.
“Just waiting to heal up,” I told her.
“Don’t bullshit me,” she responded. “You weren’t at your apartment, and Dordy said you borrowed his bike. Since when do you ride?”
“I don’t,” I answered as I started moving on the machine. “Tria does, though.”
“Where did you go?”
“Her hometown,” I replied.
“Why?”
