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“I was only teasing,” I say, chewing over my next words carefully. “But you know... we’ve never discussed finances.” He’s quiet, munching on his Chex Mix. “We could do that now,” I continue.
“Or we could make out,” he counters.
“Or we can discuss finances and then make out.”
He picks out a few almonds from the mix and pops them into his mouth, considering my words. “That’s a very couple-like thing to do.”
I smile and drop my head to his shoulder, batting my eyelashes up at him obnoxiously. “It is, huh?”
He shrugs his shoulders, but not enough to disturb my head. “Guess we’re just gonna have to call it like it is, then. We’re a couple.”
I sit up straight like an eager puppy and clap my hands.
“What?” he asks in amusement. “Weren’t we already?”
“Well, not officially.”
“See, I seem to remember a beautiful brunette sitting on the steps of a quaint little cabin at the top of a mountain, telling me all the reasons I should be her vacation boyfriend.”
“Well, vacation is over. Has been for a while.”
He leans forward and gently places his lips against mine. “Every day is a vacation with you.”
I groan. “So cheesy.” He can’t even keep the smirk off his face, probably because he knows how ridiculous that line was. “Okay, back to adulting, boyfriend.”
“Right. I gotta work for my kisses.” He straightens and takes a quick gulp of water. “Well, I have no credit card debt, my student loans and truck are paid off, and I have a big chunk of savings in case of emergency.”
“All of that is good to know, but it’s not quite what I wanted to discuss.”
“Okay, shoot.” He picks out a few peanuts from the mix and holds his hand out for me; the peanuts are my favorite.
“Well, I’m kinda starting to feel like a leech.” I wrinkle my nose. “And I was wondering if you’d be okay with me paying rent.”
For just a second, he looks at me like I’ve lost my mind before he busts out laughing. “Baby, no. This is your home. You’re not paying me to live here.”
“It just doesn’t feel right, not contributing anything.”
He turns his barstool my way, then reaches out to grab my hips and spins me so I face him. I do my best to ignore the heat from his palms on my thin sleep shorts, but holy shit.
I’m starting to regret not skipping straight to the making out.
“You may be a newbie around here, but this is still your home.” He pauses and cocks his head. “I understand where you’re coming from, though. I don’t want you feeling uncomfortable about anything, but for now, I’d rather we keep things the way they’ve been. Besides, you don’t even have income right now.”
“Yes, but remember, I have plenty saved up.” The way his fingers trail up and down my thighs is making my words come out a little breathy. I think he notices, because one side of his mouth curves upward.
“I thought that savings was for your dance studio,” he says.
“Yeah, but plans change.”
He shakes his head and leans forward so he can grab my hands. “Addison, I know life is a hell of a lot different than you thought it was going to be, but you’re not giving up on your dream just because you had a change of circumstance. In fact, we need to get working on that. I’ll make some calls this week.”
“It’s just that easy, huh?”
He shrugs. “Yeah, why not? There’s no need to complicate things. We have enough of that going on around here.”
I nod. “Okay. Well, we’ll see how things go.”
“How about that make-out session now?”
“Hmm... I’m kind of tired,” I say. I stand slowly, grinning as his eyes fall downward. I stretch my arms over my head with an overly enthusiastic yawn, causing my breasts to graze against his hard chest. My nipples pucker against the fabric of my sports bra, aching for his touch.
“What a coincidence,” he says. “‘Because I have a bed.”
My heart takes flight in my chest. “Perfect.”
