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“I see. So you have no problem camping out on her couch but hesitate moving in with me. I’m sensing the double standard.”
She burst out laughing. "Touché."
“You will barely see me, Avery. I work all the time.”
“How many hours per week is 'all the time'?”
“A hundred, give or take.”
Her eyes bulged. “Give or take? That's like two jobs.”
“I think it's going to be closer to eighty.”
“Still two jobs.”
“In that case, I'm going to be a great roommate.”
She bit her lip, looking around. “I don't know. What if you do decide in a few months that you want to leave again, and then I'm left with all this rent?”
“I would never put you in a bad position, Avery. You know that."
“I see you still like to play knight in shining armor, huh? Then again, I guess that’s why you became a doctor." She glanced around the loft. "Well, I have two more options that I'm going to look at this week."
Disappointment hit me like a fist.What the hell?I hadn't expected that.
When I’d first replied to her message in the alumni group on Facebook, it had been to extend a courtesy to the woman who once meant the world to me. I would've done anything for her back then, but then I lost her. When had it gone from that towantingto share the apartment with her?
“I can take you and Alana out for drinks later," I offered. "I'd like to catch up with her as well.”
“I don't think we can do that tonight, but it would be lovely to catch up at some point, even if this doesn't work out.” She twirled her hair around her fingers, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"What?" she asked.
“You still have the same body language and mannerisms. It's a very odd sensation. I can't even describe it. It's like we're in the present but also in the past at the same time.”
She smiled, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I know what you mean. I had the exact same sensation when I saw Alana.”
“Come on, let's go back downstairs. We don't want to run into the next visitors.”
"Don't you want to check out the competition?" she asked playfully, looking at me over her shoulder.
“No.”
“That's right. You intimidated that poor dude into practically giving you the apartment. I don't even think the others stand a chance.”
“Good. They shouldn't.”
“It's not yours just because you were the first one to contact him about it. You can't claim something simply because you were first.”
Funny, because that was exactly what I wanted right now: to claim her.
Dammit, Sam, sheusedto be yours. Not anymore.
This evening was not going the way I wanted. I thought it would be a friendly catch-up. Instead, I was fighting every instinct not to kiss her.
As we walked through the living room, I instinctively reached out. This time I didn’t catch myself anddidput my hand on her back. She straightened sharply, looking at me sideways. I saw her swallow hard and dropped my hand. She flexed and then unflexed her fingers, playing with the ring on her middle one. I had a flashback to our first night together; she'd played with it just the same way before she told me she was ready.
"Thank you. The apartment is lovely. We'll let you know soon," she told Mal, who nodded.
