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Different.
Addictive.
I just needed to stay in the moment. No matter how hard it was.
“Give me your keys?”
“Are you on my insurance?”
“Um, no.”
“Then you cannot have my rental keys.” He held open the door. “You can direct me to your place.”
I sneered up at him. “It would be faster if I drove. Or better yet, we get my car and you follow me.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” He cupped the back of my head and drew me up on my toes. “My pushy fairy queen. Guess that title is quite fitting, yeah?” His lips hovered over mine before stepping back.
My heart raced and damn those stupid black dots danced again. I got into the car and he closed the door for me. I fiddled with my phone again, plugging it back in just in case.
“Where are we headed?”
“Go straight. Take a right at the end of the street.”
“Not so hard.”
The journey was quiet, save for my instructions and the low murmur of the radio. A Wilder Mind song came on and I turned up the volume.
He gave me a bit of side eye. “You like these guys?”
I nodded. “Sucks about the keyboardist. I hope they don’t break up over it.”
“Remains to be seen.”
“Are you president of their fan club?”
He laughed. “No.” But he didn’t volunteer any more information.
I tapped my leg to the rhythm and hummed the lyrics under my breath. Wilder Mind was a semi-local band. I’d followed them simply because they were from the area, then fell in love with their sound along with the New Yorker pride element.
My brother’s duplex was on the fringes of town. He’d been forever in fixer upper mode. The plan had been to rent out the other side of the duplex, but it had become a sort of showcase for all his furniture. A virtual storefront of sorts as long as no one picked up on the fact that the area wasn’t zoned for businesses.
Then again, things were very gray on that front since many people worked from home. I didn’t mind the two kitchens, however. Or the fact that I could have a super large freezer in the other half of the house.
August’s truck was gone and I blew out a relieved breath. I got out before Rory could come around and open the door for me again. Chivalry be damned. I waited on the porch for him.
“Nice place for a waitress.”
“Got a filter to go with that mouth?”
“No.”
I rolled my eyes and twisted a stone behind the large glider bench that was currently tarped against the winter elements. Soon, it would be spring and I could sit outside with my ice cream instead of huddling under a blanket.
I unlocked the door, returned the key, and held it open. “Welcome to Casa Beck.”
He crossed the threshold and the foyer felt smaller. Which was ridiculous since my brother was approximately the size of a rugby player and we came home together all the damn time.
