Page 83 of Loving the CEO

"This morning. The girls and I are really looking forward to going out with you. Leo said you moved into a new place."

"Yes, last night."

"We could all come by and celebrate at your place if you'd prefer. Like a housewarming party."

"That's such a great idea."

She laughed. "Sorry for inviting myself over. I just figured it would be cozier, and I know we’d all love to see your place."

"I love it. When do you want to come by?"

"Let's make it a Friday or a Saturday so we don't have to rush home or, you know, monitor our drinks with having to work the next day or something."

"I like your thinking, Meredith."

"Well, thank God you do. When you didn't call after the party in Essex, I figured maybe we'd intimidated you or something," she confessed.

I grimaced. I hadn't realized it might appear that way. "Sorry about that. I figured you offered out of politeness."

"You've known the Whitleys for a long time. You think they'd say something just for the sake of being polite?"

I started to laugh. Truth be told, I only knew Nick, Leo, and Maddox, but I could see where she was coming from. "Thank you for calling me, Meredith."

"No problem. And now you know the phone works both ways, so feel free to reach out whenever, okay? I’ll talk to the rest of the girls and see if they can do this Friday or Saturday.”

"Sure. I'm super excited!"

What a way to start my day in my new apartment. It had to be a good sign, right?

After hanging up, I texted Leo.

Tory: Meredith called. Thanks for talking to her.

Leo: No problem.

Tory: They’re going to come Friday or Saturday, but I'll tell them my door’s open anytime. No need for an invitation.

Leo: How about me?

I grinned and started typing, then stopped and considered my answer. We'd never discussed how things were going to change now that I was no longer in his house. Did we have to schedule seeing each other? Would we go on dates? Were we friends with benefits? Above all, we were still friends... right?

I wasn't even sure how that worked, but as per my first resolution, I wasn't going to overthink it.

Tory: That sexy ass is welcome here anytime.

Leo: That's more like it. How’s your first morning there?

Tory: I love it. But I have to buy a coffee machine. I'm drinking Earl Grey. Not really enough caffeine to wake me up.

Leo didn’t reply.

After finishing my tea, I jumped in the shower so I could get on with my day. I’d just rinsed my hair of shampoo and turned off the water when I heard the doorbell ring.

Oh shit, has it been ringing all this time?

I didn't hear anything more, so I wrapped my hair in a towel and threw a robe on as I dashed to the door.

I realized it wasn’t the doorbell ringing but the entrance door to the building. I let whoever it was in without even asking, then awkwardly hovered around the door. A few minutes later, there was a knock. I opened it and grinned. It was Leo.

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