Page 18 of Dream Girl Drama

“Hellooo,” Chloe called down the shoot. “Is anyone home?” With a laugh, she closed the drawer and straightened, directing her attention at the Realtor. “Who does the laundry once it’s down there?”

The Realtor blinked at her. Seconds ticked by. “Uh. You do.”

Chloe was incredulous, but also... visibly thrilled. “Really?”

“Y-yes.”

Sig almost lost his train of thought in the face of her excitement. “I don’t like the sound of her in the basement.”

“I do,” Chloe countered. “I’ve never been in one.”

“I assure you, it’s secure. And very elegant.”

Chloe looked crestfallen. “Oh.”

Sig would be confirming that before any paperwork was signed. “Let’s talk, Chlo,” Sig said, dipping his chin toward the hallway, indicating that Chloe should follow him. A few seconds later, they were alone in the kitchen, Chloe moving from cabinet to drawer to sink like a ricocheting beam of light. He had to hook an arm around her waist to cease her movements, drawing her to a stop in front of him. Close enough that he could look down into her face and trace the rim of black around her blue irises. But he buried the urge to trace her cheekbone with his knuckle. To lower his mouth to hers and sip at it, nuzzle it, kiss it.

He did none of that, but he’d been fighting the battle all week.

Would it ever get easier?

This week, every moment of daylight he’d been afforded between practice and games had belonged to Chloe. Going over the train route she would take to Berklee. Taking her to meet her new instructors. Eating meals together. Taking her to Sephora for the first time—a two-hour ordeal he’d pretended to hate, but handing over his credit card and purchasing a bunch of goop and sparkles had earned him a bouncing hug that he could still feel. That heneverwanted to stop feeling.

“Do you like this place?” he asked, voice husky from strain.

“It’s gorgeous,” she whispered, looking around while a trench slowly formed between her brows. “What does it cost to buy an apartment like this?”

“We wouldn’t be buying it,” he informed her patiently. “We’d be renting it.”

“Renting. Ohhh.” She gave an exaggerated nod, as if she’d just been let in on a great secret. “And what does that cost?”

“You’re not going to worry about that.”

Her gaze zipped up to his. “Are you sure?”

“I’m going to handle it while you’re training at the conservatory.” He thought about the dreams she’d confided in him over French toast yesterday morning. How she thought it might be time to take baby steps out of training and become a practicing member of her chosen field of music, something her mother never seemed inclined to let her do. Pursuing a place in an orchestra, instead of playing exhibitions where she was billed as a prodigy to come observe and gawk at. “Eventually, when you’re placed with an orchestra, you’ll take over.”

A shadow passed across her face. “You have a lot of faith in my ability to be placed with an ensemble.”

“Yeah.” He gave in. Brushed a hand down her hair, teasing the soft ends with his fingertips. “I do.”

Her eyelids dropped to half-mast at his touch, their chests rising and falling simultaneously. “Will you teach me how to do laundry?”

“As long as the basement isn’t a murder trap, yes. Let me check it out first.”

She considered him. “You’re going to be a little overprotective of me, aren’t you?”

A little? If he signed a lease on this place, he would be installing a third dead bolt before the ink was dry. “What makes you say that?”

“Well.” The Realtor appeared at the far end of the kitchen, her eagle eye zipping back and forth between Sig and Chloe. How close they were standing. Especially after they’d introduced themselves as future stepsiblings. “What do you think of the place?”

Chloe galloped toward the woman. “We’ll take it!”

“I want to see the basement first,” Sig growled, stomping after her.

It didn’t matter that he would probably have to stretch financially to pay rent on this place, as well as his own. Not to mention, he was still making mortgage payments on the house he’d bought for his mother upon signing his current contract. But, hey. He’d sell memorabilia on eBay, if necessary. Get the guys to sign some shit and make some extra cash. Plus, he had a few high-ticket items he’d collected over the years that would be in demand at auction.

And he’d pray the Bearcats offered him a decent contract for next season.

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