Page 59 of Unwanted

“I’m guessing that’s when you came to Seattle?”

“Yeah,” I answer solemnly “We were in a bad place and I ran away.”

“And you’ve seen him since?”

“And kissed him and made him come.”

“Fuck,” Jordan says on a laugh. “I didn’t see that coming. So, what’s the problem?”

“There’s still so much we haven’t spoken about,” I say. “We’re in this bubble, and I don’t know what we can and can’t talk about or what we should and shouldn’t talk about,” I explain. “I don’t want to ruin it before we’ve started.”

“Am I correct in saying you want to be with him?” Jordan muses.

“I want to at least try this time.”

“And Arlo?”

I think about the last few weeks, the touches, the glances, the heated confessions. There’s no denying what we want, but how far into the past are we willing to go to get to our future?

“I need to talk to him, don’t I?” A sigh of exhaustion leaves my mouth. “Why is it all so complicated?”

“Complicated can be worth it,” Jordan says. “I didn’t think I would ever be this happy, but complicated was so fucking worth it.”

“You are obnoxiously happy,” I tease.

“For only one real and honest conversation, you can be too,” he says, his voice mimicking those voice-overs on an infomercial.

“Point made,” I say dryly. “But on another note, you’d really get me a job out here?”

“I’d hate to lose you. At work and as a friend,” he says. “But if it means you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be, then yeah, I would do that for you.”

Filled with gratitude for Jordan and his friendship, we finish up the conversation and a part of me feels a little lighter.

I don’t know if or when Arlo and I will have the much-needed tough conversations, but I’ve at least admitted to myself that staying in LA is very much a possibility.

Reopening my laptop, I sift through emails to find the correspondence that took place when booking the Airbnb and confirm the day I’m expected to check out.

With the four weeks coming to an end, I scroll through a bunch of other listings—places I could potentially move into—but without knowing how long I’m going to stay, I find it even harder to decide on a place.

I’m about to give up looking when I hear the front door unlock. Looking over my shoulder, I catch a tired looking Lennox walk inside.

I wait till he’s looking at me before I greet him.

“Hey,” he says as he makes his way to where I’m seated.

“Hey.” I raise my hand in a quick wave and then sign and speak. “How are you?”

Rhys has been teaching us all the basic greetings and questions to get us by, and Lennox requested that we all still talk while signing, with the hope he could learn how to lip read, if he needed to.

“In need of a nap,” he answers. “How about you?”

I point to my computer screen, and Lennox walks over, standing right behind me. “What’s this?”

Grabbing my cell, I type out a quick explanation on my notes app.

I only booked this place for a month, and I’m not ready to go home yet, so I need a new place to stay.

Lennox takes the seat beside me. “You want to stay?”

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