“—my computer.”
Your—His brain screeched to a halt. “Yourcomputer?”
“I know, I know.” Rory chuckled. “I’m a huge geek. But my laptop isn’t really cutting it anymore.”
“Your laptop?”Stop repeating everything, Finn.
“Last night, I was trying to integrate the app with Thrill’s database, but they have such bad data, I've been writing a bunch of extra code to handle their issues…” Rory took in the expression on Finn’s face. “What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing, I’m fine.” Finn cleared his throat. Not a drop of moisture left in his mouth. “A little hungover, maybe.”
“Been there. My mom’s champagne always goes down so easy.”
Finn got up to get some water. “Sorry, you were saying?”
“Right, well…” Rory turned to watch Finn fill his glass. “It would be easier with all my gear here. My desktop has so much more RAM, and you know how I love all my monitors. So, I was wondering if it would be okay if I…moved my computer over?”
Finn stopped so suddenly the water sloshed out of his glass. “You want to…move in?”
“Er.” Rory scratched their nose. “Not, like,officiallymove. Just my computer. For now. And maybe my plants.”
“Um…” Finn tried to tell his racing heart to slow down while his brain processed.Should I let them get more comfortable here? They’ll realize eventually…“Where would your computer go?” he asked. He’d been to Rory’s apartment a few times and had seen the extensive setup. It took up an entire room.
“I know,” Rory said sheepishly. “That’s a good question. I only…I thought we could maybe figure something out.”
Finn sat and chugged his water. Of course, he couldn’t say no. He should, but he couldn’t. Not when he wanted to spend every possible second with Rory before they realized.
Rory watched him, brow furrowed. “Or not. If you don’t think it’ll work—”
“No—yes! Yes, it’ll work. I… I was just surprised. But of course. Yes.”
Rory smiled, relieved. “Great. I mean, no hurry—”
“Let’s do it today!”
“Today?”
“Sure! Why don’t you go pack it all up and I’ll clear out half my studio. There’s gotta be more room in the garage somewhere.” His laugh was slightly manic.
“Okay. Are you sure you’re feeling up to this today, love?”
“Yes! I’ll get started right now.” Finn stood so fast his chair screeched.
“All right.” Rory stood, chuckling, and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Finn’s lips. “I’ll swing by the plant to grab some boxes and see if maybe Griffin or Jackson is around.”
“Sounds good.”
“Don’t forget your French toast,” Rory said, fingers already a blur over their phone.
“Right. French toast.”
* * * *
“Pick up, pick up, pick up…” Finn muttered as Luka’s phone rang. He paced back and forth on the narrow bare strip of floor in his studio.
“Finn?” Luka answered, confused and half-asleep. “Is everything okay?”
“No. I mean, yes. I’m fine, everyone’s fine, but…Rory’s parents are loaded.”