Page 43 of Wild Fires

I liked her place. It was warm and cozy. I especially liked that it smelled like her. But I had this ridiculous need to take her back to my place. It was insane really, because I never brought women back to my place.

Sometimes Gracie annoyed the piss out of me. She questioned everything when people rarely did around me. She was stubborn and pigheaded. And she was messy. She liked to take risks, but then again if she hadn't we wouldn't have had this opportunity to work together and really get to know one another.

The more I got to know her, the more I really liked her, maybe even more than liked her.

I definitely liked her enough to take her home.

“It'll be fine. Please. Stay with me this time.”

She slowly nodded as she followed my instructions on where to park.

She sat there for a second and I knew she was weighing the pros and cons of this decision carefully. If it had been a burning building, she wouldn't have thought twice about it. If I had dared her to join me, I had no doubt we'd already be upstairs and naked. But this wasn't something she was doing to just dive right into. I liked that about her. It told me that this meant something to her too.

“Okay,” she finally conceded.

Before she could change her mind, she was out the door and walking towards the elevator. I had to scramble to catch up.

I'd always thought of Gracie as a careless free spirit. Not that she didn't care about anything, just that she lived life in spite of the consequences. She acted before thinking. But apparently when it came to the important things in life, she did stop and consider things first.

I hit the button to the top floor. When we stepped off, the hall was clear.

“You and Elias are the only people who live on this floor?”

“Yup.”

“I've been here before Ryan. There are more than a dozen apartments on each level.”

“True. Just not this one. He owns half and I own the other half.”

“That's insane. Your place didn't look that big this morning.”

“It's bigger than you think, and I haven't fully finished all of it. There just hasn't been a need for so much space when it's just me.”

“So you plan to live here forever?”

I shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe.”

“Are you going to get mad if I don't refill the toilet paper roll?”

“Mildly irritated for sure.”

“What if I spill red Kool-Aid on your white sofa?”

“You'd have to smuggle it in with you. I don't have any of that here.”

She gave me a side-eyed glare, but I just smiled back.

“You can be as messy as you want, Gracie. I'll just clean it all back up.”

I was surprised to find I truly meant that too. Even my own family drove me insane, not putting things back where they belong or leaving crumbs behind and not cleaning up after themselves. But for some reason, the thought of those things done by Gracie didn't bother me. Not bother me much at least.

“Relax. You're gonna pop a blood vessel or something. I will try not to destroy your home.”

“Well, thanks, I guess.”

I let us into the apartment and had this insane urge to carry her over the threshold. I did refrain though.

“Make yourself at home.”

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