Page 70 of More To Us

"About an hour a day, but I also work construction, which is like working out all day."

"I tried working construction a couple summers ago but got fired after a week." He smiles. "I totally sucked at it. I didn't know what I was doing. I can barely use a hammer. Amber won't even trust me to hang their TV."

"Austin's going to put it up for us," Kira says, popping up from the couch. She yanks her shirt in place as she races over to stand next to me. "He's going to do it tomorrow. He said it shouldn't take long."

"That's great," Amber says to me. "Thanks."

"Sure. And if you need anything else done around here, just let me know. I can fix most anything."

"I seriously hate you, man," Matt says, smiling.

I laugh. "Sorry. Just trying to be nice."

"Why is your hair wet?" Amber asks Kira.

"Because I took a shower." She rushes out the words, still embarrassed. And I can tell from the sly grin on Amber's face that she's going to make Kira even more embarrassed.

"You took a shower at eight o'clock?" Amber asks. "That's an odd time to take a shower." She eyes my hair, checking to see if it's wet.

"Austin and I went rollerblading," Kira blurts out. "That's why I took a shower. I was sweaty."

Amber suddenly looks serious. "You went rollerblading? Are you sure you should've been doing that with your—"

"Yes," Kira says, glaring at her friend.

"But that's a lot of—"

"I had fun," she says, cutting her off. "Austin took me to this trail and it went through the woods and around a lake and..." She pauses, still glaring at Amber. "I had fun, okay?"

Amber keeps her eyes on Kira but doesn't say anything.

What the hell's going on here? The two of them are obviously angry with each other, but why? Because Amber didn't want Kira to go rollerblading? Why would she care?

"Rollerblading is another thing I suck at," Matt says, breaking the tension in the room. I wonder if he knows what's going on with those two.

"So what are you guys doing tonight?" Amber asks, her anger suddenly gone. But I feel like it's still there and she's just trying to hide it. That sly grin appears on her face again. "Or were you just planning on hanging out here at the apartment?"

"We didn't really have plans," Kira says. "What are you guys doing?"

Amber answers. "We're gonna go have a drink, then go to a late movie."

"You guys want to come with us?" Matt asks.

I look at Kira to answer. If Amber and Matt hadn't shown up, I'm pretty sure Kira and I would be having sex right now, so if they leave, are we still going to do it? Or maybe them showing up ruined the mood. It didn't for me, but now I'm thinking maybe tonight's not the right time. Kira said she normally doesn't move this fast, which makes me wonder if she was only suggesting we do it for my sake, because she thinks I expect it.

"You guys think about it," Amber says. "I have to go get my sweater. That's why we're here. I always freeze in the theater when they crank up the air conditioning." She grabs Matt's hand, and the two of them go down the hall to her room.

"I'll tell them we're staying here," Kira says to me. "We don't need to go out."

"Are you sure? Because I don't mind going. It'll give me a chance to meet your roommate. And that Matt guy seems cool."

"Yeah, he's nice." She glances down the hall, then back at me. "But what about..." she lowers her voice, "continuing what we were doing?"

"Do you really want to?"

"Do you?"

"I asked you first, but yeah." I smile. "And for the record, the answer to that will always be yes for me. But I don't want you doing this because of me. There's no rush, so if you want to wait until tomorrow, that's fine." I laugh when I see the surprised look on her face. "I'm kidding. It doesn't have to be tomorrow. It could be Sunday. Or Monday. Tuesday's a ways off, but I could do Tuesday."

---