I close the door and lock the car. While it’s not a bad area, Apollo would kill me dead if his car got stolen—even if he has the cash to replace it ten times over. That’s not the point, even if I’d love access to his black card for like, an hour, someday.
“Brian makes great pies. I try a new one each time I go, just to see if I can find one that doesn’t make my mouth water. I haven’t found a single one that I don’t want to eat again.”
She leads me to the door of her building. “Why doesn’t he open a bigger place? Franchise it? Advertise more? I dunno…anything? I’ve been here for years and had no idea it was even there. I feel like he’s missing out on a lot of business.”
“He likes to keep it small. He prefers a more intimate customer experience, and he largely hates people. So going big is his own special kind of nightmare.”
She nods. “Still. I feel like he could make a killing with those pies, especially since he stays open late. Think of the line out the door for pie at three a.m. from drunk and stoned college kids.”
“I know. I’ve told him as much. The whole team has. He even has his back against the wall right now. Some big company wants to buy him out, bulldoze the building, and put condos or something there instead.”
She stops at the door to her room and turns to me, her eyes sparkling even in the darkness. “Oh my goodness, he’s Meg Ryan.”
Laughing, I nod. “Yeah. He’s Meg Ryan. Don’t let him hear you say that though.”
“I wonder if the person wanting to buy GTFO will be his Tom Hanks. Ugh.” She claps her hands over her chest and swoons. “Can you imagine the tall, gruff, Irish man finding his happily ever after with the woman who wants to destroy his livelihood?” She sighs again, and I fall a little in love with her right there on the spot. “You’ve Got Mailis such a classic.”
There’s not much space in her dorm room. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen a dorm room this small before. I should have asked her to come over to the hockey house. My room is bigger, much bigger, but I guess there’s also every chance the boys would throw a party around us, or walk in on us without knocking, or there’d be a gangbang happening in the next room.
Okay, that one’s likely just to be Ares, and he has his own place for that. But I’d be lying if I said he’s never come over to the house for a party and ended up naked and surrounded by a bunch of other naked people. Dude’s loud AF too.
Despite the tiny cubby sized room, this is probably better. She has her own bathroom, but it’s minuscule, too. I’m not sure I can even step in there and stand upright without getting concussion. Did she lose a bet to get stuck with this place?
When I turn back, she’s watching me with cautious eyes. “I have soda, water, wine, snacks…”
At the thought of eating anything else, my stomach lurches. Sure, I let one rip when I stepped out of the SUV, and thank the stars it was quiet and not the pant-shredder I expected it to be, but I’m still fuller than full.
“I’m good, thanks. But out of interest, where do you keep them?”
“There’s a shared kitchen at the end of the hall. But I have a mini fridge in my closet.”
This girl is smart.
“I know it’s tiny.” She takes off her jacket and hangs it on a hook on the back of her door with her scarf. “Athena keeps offering for me to move in with her. I keep saying no. But the longer I spend in this box, the more I question why I keep fighting her on it. It’s not like she’ll give me a free ride or anything. It isn’t charity. I can still pay her rent.”
I kick off my shoes and leave them next to her tidy line of boots next to the door. “So…what’s stopping you?”
She tilts her head and stares at me. I regret asking the question because her sadness is tangible in the air, and I hate that I led her there with just one question.
“You really want to know?”
“I really do.” I hop onto her bed and pat my chest.
She doesn’t hesitate to kick off her shoes and climb into my open arm, resting her head on my shoulder. “I’m afraid of losing her. My whole foundation feels unsteady right now. I’m still hurt my parents lied to me. I’m confused and don’t really know where I came from. I can’t talk to my birth mom. Athena’s all I really have outside my family.”
She winces against my body. “That sounds so pathetic, but it’s kind of true. I mean, I talk to other people, I’m friendly, but I don’t have a lot of friends, you know? Not good ones. I’m on the periphery of a bunch of friendship groups but I don’t feel like I belong in any of them. No matter how hard I tried and tried… I’ve never had a girl squad, you know? There’s just…Hen. And if I lost her…”
She falls quiet against me, but I can still feel her pain, her fear, her anxiety.
I plant a kiss in her hair. “You forgot someone, Savannah Banana… You forgot me. I’ll be in your girl squad.”
Her body tenses in my arms but she remains silent.
“I know we haven’t really talked about labeling what we have between us yet,” I say, “but since I saw you in the coffee shop, there’s been no one else for me. I don’t want there to be anyone else. I’ve been calling you my girl in my head for a while now, and I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me to.”
“There’s been no one else for me either. But I don’t have a great dating history. My good guy radar seems to be broken. I don’t want to mess this up either.”
“And you can’t trust me yet.”
