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Iamrude, but I’d prefer to give people time to figure that out.
I nod and slide the earphones back into place.
“Say, Danny…”
I lower the earphones, then take my blue-light-filtering glasses off and rub my eyes.
“What’s up?”
She bounces a little in the chair, and I try not to notice the way it makes her breasts sway under her shirt. “I’m getting a record table delivered. It’s this really rad, vintage-looking piece. A littleI finally moved out of my ex-boyfriend’s apartmentgift to myself. I was thinking I’d put in my room, but if you want it out here…”
I don’t. I listen to podcasts while I work. Then again, I’m probably going to have to move my desk into my bedroom, aren’t I? I’m in the second, much smaller bedroom, so I’ll be squeezed up against my bed if I move my two-screen set up in there, but that’s a small price to pay for peace.
“Sure,” I say tightly. “Do whatever you like.”
She tips her head to the side, her dark hair swaying with the movement. My eyes follow it against my will. “Are you one of those people who says things you don’t mean? Because we’ll have to cure you of that. I prefer a more straightforward approach.”
“I’m trying to be polite,” I say through clenched teeth. The words came out a little sharper than intended. They’re not polite at all, honestly, and Ruthie would be ashamed of me. Hell, her daughter Izzy would probably say she was ashamed of me, too, and she’d do it with a pushed-out lower lip that would make it ten times more effective.
Mira’s eyes light up with something like humor. “Ah-ha, so there’s someone in there after all. I’ve been trying to tease you out.”
“What’sthatsupposed to mean?” I grind out.
“That you’re more boarded up than a murder house.”
I can actually feel my jaw ticking. “You don’t know me well enough to make that assessment.”
“And it’s obvious you don’t want me to get to know you,” she accuses, lifting her eyebrows.
There she goes, naming the elephant in the room and inviting it to be her pet.
I have my reasons for not wanting her here. Many of them, in fact. I’d prefer to keep them to myself.
“I seriously doubt we enjoy the same music,” I tell her. It’s a dickish thing to say, but I’m starting to feel like a dick.
Her eyebrows hike up higher, practically meeting her hair line. Her face is expressive in its disdain. “So that’s a no to listening to sweet, sweet tunes in the living room. Gotcha. I can tell you’re going to be a barrel of laughs.”
The buzzer rings, and she jumps up out of my favorite chair. I look away, trying not to give off Gollum vibes, then sigh again and get to my feet. “Let me help—”
A slash of her hand attempts to shut me down. “I’ve got this, Danny. It’s just a box. I’m going to have to build it up here.”
She’ll probably refuse to let me help with that, too.
“Iinsist,” I say tightly.
“Well, I can’t prevent you from following me,” she says as she makes her way to and then out of the door. Idofollow her, because now that I’ve decided I’m helping, I won’t be put off. “Men do like to follow me around.”
“Is that why your boyfriend asked you to move out?” I ask before my mind can catch up with my mouth. Fuck. I don’t usually let that happen anymore. I feel a flash of remorse, but once words are released into the ether, they can’t be reclaimed.
She looks back at me, clearly surprised, and stops walking so abruptly I almost barrel into her. “Is it weird that I like you more when you’re a dick than when you’re being quiet and agreeing to everything?”
“Yes, probably. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Either thing, actually.”
Her lips curve upward in a smile that’s so bright it feels like it unhinges something inside of me. I want to reach out and touch it.
I can practically hear one of my friends telling me this is what happens when a man lets himself go too long without sex.
“What?” she asks, lifting her fingers to her lips and taking what I wanted for herself. “Did I fuck up my lipstick? I did it without a mirror.”
