smile when I hear her order the same thing, only hold the onions. We always had the same food tastes. Whenever we’d go out to eat together, we’d always end up swapping plates halfway through the meal. It was our thing. We had a lot of “things” back then, and I can’t help but wonder if we will get the chance to make new “things.”
Our late dinner is excellent, the side of mixed fruit surprisingly hit the spot. I catch Casey eyeing me head to toe as I lean back in my chair and stretch my legs out with my arms over my head. It tugs at something inside me, something I thought might have been dormant between us. Not to mention it gives me hope that she’s thawing out. Or maybe she’s just too exhausted to fight.
“Do you have the number for a cab company?” I ask, breaking her trance.
She startles, blushes from having been caught staring, and looks over at the clock on the microwave. “Decker, it’s almost ten o’clock. You can stay in our guest room tonight.”
“I don’t want to impose-” She clenches her jaw and gives me one of those looks, and I shut my mouth right up. You know the look…it screams, “are you serious right now?”
“If you didn’t want to impose, you wouldn’t have followed me across the country, now would you?” she says calmly with her hands flat on the table in front of her.
“Right,” I nod. “I appreciate this, Case.”
“It’s fine,” she says, getting up from the table. “It’s just for tonight. You’re going home tomorrow.” She fixes me with another glare before picking up her plate and taking it to the sink.
So much for letting that one go. But I’m not going to argue with her. I know deep down she knows damn well I’m not leaving, no matter what she says. I get up and help her clean up the kitchen. Kate had already eaten dinner before she came home earlier, so she didn’t join us and has remained in her room the past couple hours.
Casey warns me that the guest room is in between her room and Kate’s so I have to be quiet. What the hell did she think I was going to do once I went to bed? Blast my music? Do sit ups and grunt? I dutifully nod and follow her down the hall. She points out the bathroom I’ll share with Kate, Casey has a private bath off her bedroom and clearly doesn’t want me near her bedroom. Then she points to a door on the right—beside the bathroom—which she says is Kate’s room. The room across the hall from Kate’s is hers, and the room at the end of the hall, in between the two, is the guest room.
The guest room is really nice. It’s painted a light green. There is a dark, cherry wood, queen-sized sleigh bed in the middle of the room, flanked by a couple matching nightstands. A dresser sits off to the side by the window, and a closet with a pocket door is on the other wall.
“My parents would stay in here when they visited. It’s why we got a three bedroom,” she says absently.
I stop my perusal of the room and look at her just in time to see her eyes well up with tears. I set my duffel down on the bed and step over to her, pulling her into my arms. She folds into me willingly, and I can’t say it doesn’t make me feel good she came to me so willingly. I half-expected her to swat me away.
Hope.
“Will it ever get easier?” she asks, referring to the loss of her dad, I’m sure.
“I don’t know, sweetheart,” I say, resting my cheek on top of her head. “But I’ll be here for you every day until it does.”
She exhales a big breath. I’m not quite sure if it’s out of frustration or if she’s relieved to have me here, because, in the very next moment, she wraps her arms around me and gives a light squeeze.
Chapter Seventeen
Casey
When I wake in the morning and the events of the previous night unfold in my mind, I can’t believe I allowed Decker to spend the night. Even though he was only in the guest room, it was still a moment of weakness I can’t afford to
Our late dinner is excellent, the side of mixed fruit surprisingly hit the spot. I catch Casey eyeing me head to toe as I lean back in my chair and stretch my legs out with my arms over my head. It tugs at something inside me, something I thought might have been dormant between us. Not to mention it gives me hope that she’s thawing out. Or maybe she’s just too exhausted to fight.
“Do you have the number for a cab company?” I ask, breaking her trance.
She startles, blushes from having been caught staring, and looks over at the clock on the microwave. “Decker, it’s almost ten o’clock. You can stay in our guest room tonight.”
“I don’t want to impose-” She clenches her jaw and gives me one of those looks, and I shut my mouth right up. You know the look…it screams, “are you serious right now?”
“If you didn’t want to impose, you wouldn’t have followed me across the country, now would you?” she says calmly with her hands flat on the table in front of her.
“Right,” I nod. “I appreciate this, Case.”
“It’s fine,” she says, getting up from the table. “It’s just for tonight. You’re going home tomorrow.” She fixes me with another glare before picking up her plate and taking it to the sink.
So much for letting that one go. But I’m not going to argue with her. I know deep down she knows damn well I’m not leaving, no matter what she says. I get up and help her clean up the kitchen. Kate had already eaten dinner before she came home earlier, so she didn’t join us and has remained in her room the past couple hours.
Casey warns me that the guest room is in between her room and Kate’s so I have to be quiet. What the hell did she think I was going to do once I went to bed? Blast my music? Do sit ups and grunt? I dutifully nod and follow her down the hall. She points out the bathroom I’ll share with Kate, Casey has a private bath off her bedroom and clearly doesn’t want me near her bedroom. Then she points to a door on the right—beside the bathroom—which she says is Kate’s room. The room across the hall from Kate’s is hers, and the room at the end of the hall, in between the two, is the guest room.
The guest room is really nice. It’s painted a light green. There is a dark, cherry wood, queen-sized sleigh bed in the middle of the room, flanked by a couple matching nightstands. A dresser sits off to the side by the window, and a closet with a pocket door is on the other wall.
“My parents would stay in here when they visited. It’s why we got a three bedroom,” she says absently.
I stop my perusal of the room and look at her just in time to see her eyes well up with tears. I set my duffel down on the bed and step over to her, pulling her into my arms. She folds into me willingly, and I can’t say it doesn’t make me feel good she came to me so willingly. I half-expected her to swat me away.
Hope.
“Will it ever get easier?” she asks, referring to the loss of her dad, I’m sure.
“I don’t know, sweetheart,” I say, resting my cheek on top of her head. “But I’ll be here for you every day until it does.”
She exhales a big breath. I’m not quite sure if it’s out of frustration or if she’s relieved to have me here, because, in the very next moment, she wraps her arms around me and gives a light squeeze.
Chapter Seventeen
Casey
When I wake in the morning and the events of the previous night unfold in my mind, I can’t believe I allowed Decker to spend the night. Even though he was only in the guest room, it was still a moment of weakness I can’t afford to
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