“Come on in. Make yourself comfortable. This is your house now too.”
Man, that’s strange.
He walks over to a key ring by the front door and unclips one before handing it to me. “Speaking of which, here’s your key. The same key works on all the outside doors. I’ll get you an extra garage door opener too.”
I take it and put it on my own key ring before I forget.
He then says, “I restocked everything in the kitchen, but if there’s something you want that I didn’t grab, just let me know, and I’ll pick it up. Same thing with your bedroom and bathroom. I tried to make it nice for you.”
“Dylan, you really didn’t need to do any of that. I don’t need any special treatment,” I tell him.
“You’re growing a human life, so I get to differ on that point. Why don’t you go get settled in, and I’ll make us some dinner?”
I give an awkward nod while I walk to the bedroom. Once inside, I see it’s had a facelift. It was nice before, but now, there’s bedding that looks fluffy and extra comfortable. There are a couple of candles on the dresser along with a portable speaker. Holy hell, there’s now a TV on the wall. He really went above and beyond.
Quickly, I unpack my clothes, shoving most things in dresser drawers and hanging up the rest. After I finish, I collapse on the bed and stare up at the ceiling.
If you would’ve told me a week ago that I’d be right here, I’d tell you that you were fucking nuts. I’m still finding it hard to believe in this present moment.
I’m going to try to make the most of this situation, but I know that I need to keep my options open. This won’t be a permanent solution. I can save up and put away some money for the baby, and I can eventually get our own place—somewhere half-decent.
I’m not very good at this accepting help thing. Never have been. I tend to want to do things on my own. That way, if things go south, I have no one to blame but myself if shit goes bad. Plus, I don’t have to worry about me running out on myself.
Even in my head, I sound jaded. I guess that’s what happens when you date a slew of assholes.
Desperate to get out of my thoughts, I get up to venture out of my room. I make a quick stop in the bathroom before heading to the living room.
Looking around, I see Dylan in the kitchen standing in front of the oven.
The moment he sees me, he gives me a warm, wide smile. “Hey. How’s the bedroom?”
“Great. You really went all out to make a gal feel special.”
“I can’t take all the credit. Full disclosure, my mom and one of my sisters came over to make sure everything was nice.”
“Well, I guess I should thank them,” I joke.
I take a seat in one of the tall chairs pulled up to the center island.
He asks, “Are you hungry/”
“A little. Whatever you’re making smells good.”
“Lasagna,” he tells me. “What did you eat today?”
Quickly, I try to make up a lie. “This morning, I had eggs and a bagel, and for lunch, I had a big cobb salad.”
He sees right through me. “What did you really eat?”
“Half of a Poptart and a stick of gum.”
He lets out a loud sigh. “Leah, you have to start eating better and taking care of yourself.”
“Hey, I haven’t had any booze or caffeine,” I argue. But I know he’s right. “Dylan, I’ll try my best, but I basically live off of fast food and junk because I’m the worst cook in the world.”
“Well, lucky for you, I’m an excellent cook, so I can help with that.”
“You don’t need to cook for me all the time,” I tell him.