He kissed me on the head then said, "I'll be in my room."
"And I'll be out here, dying of embarrassment," I mumbled back quietly which made him laugh again.
Once he was gone, I glanced at Tolliver fully expecting him to run away, tell me he had another page-turning appointment or something equally lame. But he didn't. Tolliver shook his head, looking after my dad in awe.
"Your dad is so cool," he said.
"Huh?"
"Threatening me right off the bat like that to protect you? Mad respect. He's a badass."
I sighed. Clearly, there was something wrong with Tolliver. But he was here now, and he did bring ice cream, so...
"Come on," I said, leading him to my room. "Just so we're clear, I read romance, and I don't care if you think that's stupid."
"I don't,'' Tolliver said.
"And I won't be judged for how much ice cream I eat either."
"I wouldn't?—"
"I'm still depressed about the tour. This is how I cope."
"In case you forgot, I brought you the ice cream."
"Good point," I said, stopping in the doorway to my bedroom and turning to face him. "So, you're just here to help? Out of guilt and the goodness of your heart?"
Tolliver's brows scrunched. "Yeah...but it's more than that."
I waited.
"I like you, Freya."
"Really?"
"Is that so hard to believe?"
"You don't even know me," I said dismissively.
"I know more than you think," he said, and before I could ask what he meant, he gestured to the paperback lying on my bed. "So, what are we reading?"
* * *
It didn't take me long to figure out that he was serious.
Wewere reading.
Together.
From the same book.
Or at least, that's how things ended up.
It was less awkward than I thought it would be.
And it turned out much more intimate.
I started off determined to make this as difficult as possible for Tolliver, in hopes that he'd just give up and go home.
