“Well, I discovered that there is a vacancy in your apartment building. It also happens to be an apartment right down the hall from yours. So either we can live there and Sloane can have yours, or the other way around. Whatever you want to do, we have to act fast.” He beamed, clearly pleased with himself.
“You have been busy, Mr. Blythe. I’ll ask Sloane and see what she wants to do. So you don’t want to live here?” His apartment was pretty nice. Nicer than mine, even if it was smaller.
“This isn’t my home. The only time it feels that way is when you’re here with me.” Aw, he was just the sweetest sometimes.
“Besides, your apartment is bigger, and the spare room would make a good place for my stuff.”
“What stuff? Your secret room stuff? Can I finally see that now? I mean, not right now, but maybe later?” I’d almost forgotten about Lucah’s secret room in all the insanity.
“You can see it whenever you want. They’re all unlocked now.”
“When did you do that?”
“A few days ago.” I flipped around so I was facing him. “I don’t have anything to hide anymore. No more secrets, no more lies. Whatever you want to know, I’m an open book.”
I liked the sound of that.
“How did you get started in corporate espionage?” I knew that wasn’t what his job was called, but that was what I was going to call it.
“It’s a long story, but basically I wanted to make money and I wanted to be someone else. I spent a lot of time running from my past. I guess that was just another way to keep doing it.” One of the candles guttered out, making it even darker.
“Why?”
He sighed and shifted under me.
“Because I didn’t want eat cereal for dinner. Ever again. And I didn’t want people to know that was where I came from. My parents never tried to put the burden on me or my brothers, but I remember going to the food bank and understanding at a very young age that we didn’t have things that other people had. I didn’t want life ever to be that hard again.”
It made sense, and I could understand wanting to run away from your past.
“This one time in college, I changed my major for a day. I also went by my first and middle name when I introduced myself to people.”
“What did you change your major to?” The water was starting to get cold, but my muscles were all loose and I didn’t think I could get up. He was going to have to carry me.
“Photography. It sounded cool, even though I didn’t even own a freaking camera. I just wanted to do something else. Of course then I woke up in the middle of the night and pictured Dad’s face when I told him I didn’t want to work for the company and I was waiting at the guidance office before they opened the next morning to change it back. I never told my parents.” It had been a moment of insanity, and I’d never told anyone about it, not even Sloane.
“I can’t picture that, but I’m sure you would have been a great photographer.” No, I would have been bad at. I couldn’t even take a decent selfie with my phone.
I shrugged and another candle went out.
“We should probably get out before the water gets too cold. Are you hungry?”
“Yeah. I barely ate anything today.” It was a miracle that my stomach hadn’t growled yet.
“Well, we’ll have to do something about that.” He got up and got a towel before he pulled me out of the tub and wrapped me in it, rubbing the water from my body before he wrapped one around his waist.
“I can walk. I think.” I might have moved a little slower than normal, but I made my way back to the couch and slumped on it. Lucah brought me some clothes and I got dressed as he made dinner in his boxers and a t-shirt.
“Can I look at your rooms now?”
“You can look at them anytime you want.” He stirred spaghetti into a pot of boiling water and jerked his head at the three doors. It felt weird looking at these rooms with him here, but I got up and went to door number one.
It was just a closet, really, and was stacked with boxes. None of them were labeled, and despite what he said, I didn’t feel comfortable going through them, so I went to the second door. This room was a little bit bigger, more of a small office size, but it too was filled with boxes, and his guitar. I walked in and shut the door behind me.
I pulled open one box and found there were a bunch of books in there. I skimmed some of the titles and they were some of my favorites. The next box had pictures in it and I flipped through some of them. They were of Lucah when he was younger and oh, boy. This was some quality blackmail material. I made a note to come back and look at those things later.
The rest of the boxes were also books and photographs and some yearbooks and other little things like band shirts and sweatshirts and so forth.
His life was in these boxes, his past, who he really was. Packed and locked away. It was almost tragic, that he had to keep this hidden. I found a few framed photographs with him and two little girls who had to be his nieces, and I gathered them into my arms before going back out into the living room.
Lucah didn’t comment as I placed the pictures on the coffee table and then went back and got some more of his stuff and put it out. I went into the third room and found even more stuff and put that out.
When I was done, all three doors were open and his apartment actually looked like a home. I went to the kitchen and put my arms around him from behind.
“You’re not going to comment on my redecorating?” I said as he stirred some spaghetti sauce so it didn’t burn.
“I haven’t lived in an apartment with my things all out in four years. It’s . . . it’s going to take some getting used to. But it’s nice to see my pretty girls again. Now we just need to put some pictures of you around.” Ugh, I didn’t. I wasn’t that fond of pictures of myself. But if he would be in them with me, that would be okay.
“No nude shots, okay?”
“Oh, I have some of those already,” he said, pouring the sauce over the pasta and stirring it together.
“Shut up, you do not.” I smacked him and he turned around and gave me a smile.
“Maybe I do and maybe I don’t.” I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t want any naked pictures of me to exist. I pinched his butt, and he just kept smiling.
“Asshole,” I said as he carried the spaghetti over to the coffee table which was now cluttered with photographs and other things. I’d also brought out his guitar and propped it against the wall. I was hoping for a performance later. That would be the only thing that would make this night better.
“What do you think?” Sloane said as she adjusted the skirt of my dress.
I was officially wearing the most beautiful dress in the history of dresses. Eat your heart out, Scarlet O’Hara. That bitch had nothing on this.
The fabric was black with almost a flower pattern on it that you could only see when you got up close. I swiveled my hips back and forth and listened as the dress swished and moved like a bell.
“Is it possible for me to wear this every single day for the rest of my life? Because I’d love for that to happen.” I would clean in this dress. I would sleep in this dress. “I’m never taking it off.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure Lucah is going to want to take it off you. And it’s going to get pretty funky if you don’t wash it.” She played with the skirt again and I spun all the way around. I wasn’t wearing a tiara, but it didn’t matter. I felt like a princess. Where were the woodland creatures to help me with all my chores?
“Okay, now that you’re set, wanna see my dress?” She wiggled her eyebrows and I had been afraid of this.
“Okay, so we have to talk about that. I know I said I was going to take you as my date, but that was before Lucah got done, and now he’s not going to be able to go, so that means Marisol and Chloe are out as well.” I’d been trying to think of a solution to that, but I didn’t have one and the event was next week.
“So basically you’re telling me that you’re going to invite your boyfriend and bail
on me,” she said as I stepped away from the mirror.
“No! No, I’m not saying that. I’m just trying to figure out how I can still get all of you in. So. I’m going to ask Dad if I can just invite all of you. Sure, it’s probably going to piss people off, but I don’t give a shit. I want all of you there.” Sloane beamed and hugged me, being careful not to smush the dress. It was going to get smushed when I danced, but I wanted to keep it perfect until then.
“You are awesome! Okay, let me just put my dress on and then you can tell me how fabulous I look.” She dashed into her changing room and came out a few minutes later wearing a dress that was even better than the drawing she’d shown me. The cutouts were more daring, and plunging, but there was black sheer material that covered her (sort of) so she didn’t look like she was wearing anything too revealing. The rest of the fabric was silk and white with large black tropical flowers printed on it. She spun slowly and I got a look at the back.
“You’re gorgeous and you know it, Sloane. You don’t need me to tell you that.” Sloane wasn’t vain. She was just confident and she was gorgeous. Anyone who said different was jealous or lying or both.
She came and stood in front of the mirror with me.
“I love you,” I said. “And thank you for being the best friend I could ever ask for.” She put her arm around me and gave me a hug.
“I love you too, bitch.” She stuck her tongue out at me in the mirror and I did the same.
Once we were back into our other clothes, I told her about Lucah’s plan.
“So it’s up to you, whatever you want to do.” I knew she could afford the apartment and had been talking about maybe getting one for a while now, but we liked living with each other so much that neither of us wanted to make a move.
“If I move down the hall, do I get to keep my key and come in whenever I want?” she said with an expression that I really didn’t like.
“Within reason, Sloane. I don’t want to be in the middle of having hot sex and look up and see you standing there. We’re close, but we’re not that close.” Sloane made a face.
“I love you, but that is not something I would want to witness, thank you very much. I was just thinking of sneaking in early in the morning and gluing all your furniture to the ceiling, or hiding your shoes, but you took it totally dirty, you perv.” Oh, like she hadn’t thought about that.
“Shut up,” I said, and we shared a cab back to our apartment. Lucah was at his place, packing his stuff back up to start bringing it over to my place. It felt weird to be fitting him in, but it also felt right.
Oh Jesus, where was I going to put my shoes?
Lucah came over with a few boxes and had dinner with Sloane and me so we could talk about the apartment situation.
“On the one hand, I’d get to start over with a brand-y new place. On the other, I’d have to move all my shit. So. Do you mind if I stay here? I’m kind of attached to this kitchen.”
“The kitchens are identical,” I pointed out.
“I know, but every stove is different. I like this stove. We know each other and we get along.” She went over and stroked the stove and then kissed one of the knobs.
“She really likes the stove,” I said to Lucah and he just shook his head at her.
“Well, you can keep the stove. So I guess that means we’re moving, huh, Sunshine?”
“Guess so,” I said. That was going to be a bitch, but hopefully Sloane would help us? Yeah, probably not.
“Maybe I can commandeer my brother to come and help us.” I swore Sloane’s ears perked up at the mention of the brother.
“Is he a ginger as well?” She tried to sound uninterested, but definitely failed.
“Yes, he is. Sort of. It’s more brown with red highlights. And yes, he is single and no, he is completely off limits. My brother is a time bomb and you don’t want to be around when he goes off. Trust me.” Lucah was smart, but he didn’t know Sloane. The fastest way to get Sloane to do something was to tell her not to do it. If he had just kept his mouth shut about Ryder, Sloane probably would have lost interest, but now . . .
Sloane’s eyes sparkled at me, and I gave her a warning glare. She just skipped back to the table with a satisfied look on her face. I texted Lucah.
You have no idea what you’ve done.
His phone buzzed and he read the text and then typed a response.
She doesn’t want him. Trust me.
“You’d better not be sexting with me right here,” Sloane said and we put our phones away.
“You’re insane,” I said to Lucah, because he still wasn’t getting it. He just smirked back at me. This was going to be a disaster.
“So, I have a question,” I said that Sunday at dinner with my parents. I felt bad for asking Dad when he was so tired. I’d never seen him look so worn out. He wasn’t as young as he used to be and I wondered if the drama had taken more of a toll on him than he would admit.
“What’s that, Rory?” Mom said.
“Well, I need a favor. I want to bring four dates to the Ball.” I didn’t look up from my plate to see their reaction.
“Four dates?” Mom was the one to drop her fork this time. I glanced up and pretended like it was no big deal. “Who on earth are you bringing?”
“Sloane, Chloe, Marisol and Lucah,” I mumbled, especially on the last name.
“You want to invite all your friends?” Mom acted like this was a ridiculous request. “This isn’t an eighth grade sleepover. This is your work event.”
I glanced at Dad and he looked like he was thinking.
“I know it’s a work event. So do they. I just thought it would be nice to invite them. They’ve always wanted to come and I want to invite them.” It wasn’t the best reason, but I didn’t have a whole lot of ammunition to fight this battle.
Mom opened her mouth to protest, but Dad put his hand up.
“She can invite them if she wants.” He smiled at me and I smiled back. “If my daughter wants to bring her friends to her work party, then my daughter can bring her friends.” I wasn’t going to point out that it was actually my three friends and my boyfriend. I hadn’t told them that Lucah and I were seeing each other, but they were smart people.
“Well, then if she’s going to invite who she wants, then I think she should invite Fin. She doesn’t have to go with him as a boyfriend, but I think he should come.” Mom just wouldn’t give up.
“Fine,” I said. That would work out perfect. He could accompany Marisol.
Now that we’d gotten that straightened out, I had to tell them about my move.
“So I’m going to be moving into the apartment next door and Sloane is going to keep the other. She needs more space for work and um, I like more space as well.” Or uninterrupted sex. That was really what I wanted.
“I always told you that place was too small, but you wouldn’t listen. Why not just get a better apartment in a nicer building?” We’d had this conversation a million times already and I didn’t want to go into it again.
“Are you sure you want to do that, Rory? That’s a big step.” Dad wasn’t talking about moving into my own place. He knew the only reason I would do that was to move in with Lucah.
“I’m ready,” I said simply. I was practically living with him anyway. Besides, if disaster struck, I could just hop back in with Sloane. Not that I didn’t think it wasn’t going to work, but just in case.
“Then at least let me call some men to move all of your things. I don’t want you hurting yourself moving anything, even if it’s just down the hall,” Mom said. I kept my mouth shut even though I already had at least two guys to help me move. I glanced at Dad and I could tell he knew about that too. Smart man.
“I’m going to leave some of the stuff with Sloane. I can always buy new furniture.” Then Lucah and I could go shopping together, or he could bring in some of his own things. My apartment was definitely more feminine than masculine. Not that I was going to be letting him bring in a basketball hoop, or a beer
cap collection, but we could man things up a bit.
“Well, just let me know if you want to go shopping, or if you need any help with anything,” Mom said and finally went to get out dessert. Phew. That went as well as I could have expected.
Lucah and I were moving in together, he was coming with me to the Ball and other than the shit show at work, and the fact that Lucah was unemployed, things were looking up. Plus, I had a fabulous gown in my possession. That would make the very worst day better.
“Moving sucks,” I said the next night as we started packing up my stuff to move it down the hall. Lucah and I had signed the lease that morning, after slipping the building owner a fifty to let us move in early.
Sloane was gleefully talking about what she was going to do with all the extra space and pretending to be helpful, but actually doing the opposite.
I’d texted Chloe and Marisol, but they were busy. Or they just didn’t love me that much. Or a little of both.
I joined Sloane and sat down on one of few packed boxes. I was sweating and we’d barely done anything. You never know how much stuff you have until you try to move it.
Sloane sighed and got up to get two bottles of beer from the fridge. I had no idea why we had beer because none of us drank it. I gave Sloane a look when she handed me one of the bottles.
“What? Beer felt like an appropriate moving drink. You know, the working man’s drink.” This was one of those times when I knew she had some reason for her crazy, but I couldn’t figure it out.
The key sounded in the door and Lucah walked back in, but he wasn’t alone.
“Rory, Sloane, this is my brother, Ryder. Ryder, Rory and Sloane.” Lucah was NOT happy about the introduction. I could see from the way he held his shoulders that he was stressing out.
I slowly looked at Ryder and immediately saw that he was Lucah’s brother. They had similar features, but Ryder was more . . . rugged. He also had a few scars here and there, the biggest one on the side of one of his cheeks. His hair was darker than Lucah’s and he was a lot bulkier, with tattoos roped around his arms. There was a look in his eyes and that look said a few things to me.
Sweet Surrendering Page 28
