AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oh, good lord. He really has lost his mind.
"We are not dating."
"No, we're not. We're getting married."
"Getting married?" I whip around so fast I manage to headbutt him and practically fall off the stool again. "You're insane!" I shout, flapping my arms helplessly while he massages his chin. "You are not marrying me!"
"Why not?"
"Because…because… reasons!"
"Fine, then move in with me," he says.
"Aha!" I cry, poking him in the chest. His stupid, hard, perfect chest. "That's what this is about. You're trying to trick me into moving in with you by threatening to marry me. But it's not going to work, Buster. You can't trick me."
"Buster?" He smirks at me, amusement lighting his eyes.
"Shut up," I say and then poke him again for good measure.
He grabs my finger and kisses the tip of it. "Please move in with me," he says. "I'll keep my hands to myself if that's what you want. I won't even make you sleep in my room. But I don't want you out there in the world, Charlotte. It's too dangerous for you."
"More like I'm too dangerous for it," I mumble.
His lips pull down into a frown.
"If I move in, can I pay rent?" I ask before he has a chance to ask what I mean by that. There's no way I'm telling him the truth. Not happening. This is all my landlord's fault. If he hadn't let Dixon move in upstairs, I wouldn't have set my apartment on fire. And if I hadn't set my apartment on fire, I wouldn't be hereright now, with Theo talking crazy, making me want to spill all my secrets.
Already, my resolve is weakening. I want to tell him the whole miserable truth and let him make me feel better. Except…what if I'm right? What if it does scare him off? My own mom couldn't wait to be rid of me. Why should Theo be any different? He has a lot more to lose than my mom did.
"No."
"I'm not moving in unless I pay rent."
"You realize that's not how a favor works, right?"
"Me moving in with you is not a favor."
"It is when I need the world to believe we're dating."
"Why do you need them to believe we're dating?"
"Because reasons."
I narrow my eyes on him, which makes him smile.
"I don't want everyone thinking you're a puck bunny, little one," he says, speaking softly. "I don't want them to think you're just a quick fuck. Right now, that's what they think. If you move in here for a while, they'll abandon that storyline."
"What's a puck bunny and why don't you want people to think I'm one?"
"Puck bunnies are women who sleep around with hockey players."
"Oh." I wrinkle my nose. "You're the only hockey player I know."
"I'd like to keep it that way," he mutters under his breath, and then raises his voice. "I don't want everyone harassing you because I couldn't keep my hands to myself. If you move in here, they'll lose interest and move along to someone else."
"This doesn't sound like a favor to me, Theo," I say. "It sounds like you saying it's a favor so I'll do it when really, it's just you being bossy and crazy. You really should get your head checked. I think your brain might be damaged."
"Trust me, baby doll. My head is fine, and this is a favor." He eyes me levelly. "Your uncle is going to throw a holy fit when he sees the photos. It'll soften the blow if he thinks we're dating. And I don't want the world thinking I sleep around, either. Puck bunnies piss me off enough already."
