Page 12 of No Place Like Home
The main character opened the basement door and fear clenched my stomach. “Yeah, can’t say much has changed.” I turned my body so I was totally facing Rowan and tucked my legs up under me. There was no way I was watching this movie. “So, you couldn’t tell me you changed your entire life’s goals? You had to treat me like just another one of your friends? I thought we were different.”
He turned to me and waited a bit before he spoke, his gaze traveled over my body. I resituated myself on the couch, suddenly uncomfortable.
“Not like I had a chance to say anything. You took me off-guard dancing around in a towel when I walked in, then we were interrupted by Kora and Kai.” He turned back to the show.
I wasn’t going to let him ignore me and I didn’t want to hear the music from the movie, so I leaned over him and grabbed the remote before he could react, pushing the power button to shut off the TV.
“Hey! What the hell, Summer. I was watching that.”
I threw the remote onto the carpet. “Now you’re going to talk to me. If you’re here for more than the next two weeks, what are we going to do about this living situation?”
“Your house should be finished soon, right? Then you’ll be gone, and I’ll be here. So, technically, I think that makes you the guest and I should get the bed, as this is my house.”
My eyes narrowed. Was he serious?
“Or,” he raised his brow in a challenge. “We could always share the bed. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Not happening. Not this time, anyway.” There were times, back when we were in high school, when I would be at his house and wouldn’t want to go home. After my parents’ divorce, my mother often drank too much and yelled a lot. I’d stay at Darlene’s and Kora’s most nights, but sometimes I’d just crash at Rowan’s.
My mother never asked where I was, and as long as my father wasn’t bothered by me, he didn’t care what I did. My parents were so wrapped up in their own shit—mom drinking away her depression and dad fucking any woman who would take him. I had to have an escape, and, luckily, I had amazing friends with great families.
The nights I was at Rowan’s house, we’d both sleep in his bed, but he’d sleep on the top of the covers with me under them. We werealways clothed, but it made me feel safe to be able to be there with him.
I walked to the closet by the front door. “I was the first person here, so this is my place, and you’re the guest. My house will be ready in three weeks. Until then . . .” I pulled out an extra pillow, a sheet, and a blanket. “You’ll need to get comfortable right here.” I threw everything at him one item at a time, then turned and left him sitting there with the grin that always grinded its way into me.
“Come on, Summertime. You look angry. Don’t be. It’s me.” He spread his arms wide, and his grin broadened.
That damn grin. It always irritated the hell out of me. It was the grin that would get all the girls chasing after him, but it just pissed me off.
Until now. The slight flutter deep in my gut surprised me just enough to piss me off more. I groaned in frustration. “Good night, Rowan.” I turned and walked away, but his chuckle followed me.
***
“Dammit.” I had been tossing and turning for I didn’t know how long. This was ridiculous. I flopped on my back and plopped my arms down hard on either side of me. I stared up at the ceiling. “It’s just Rowan, and this bed is plenty big enough.”
I threw back the covers, plodded heavily toward the door, and opened it. “Hey, ass, are you awake?”
“I am.”
His voice didn’t even sound remotely tired. How irritating.
“I can’t sleep. Want to talk? We can sit up in my bed and watch TV.”
“You want to sleep with me? Summertime, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. We’re just friends. I don’t want you to get the wrong impression.”
Even though I heard the joking tone in his voice, a rock lodged in my gut. What was I thinking? “Whatever. I was just offering, but if you’re stuck on being a dick, you keep your sorry ass on that hard couch.” I slammed the door and cursed under my breath. I might not have been able to sleep, but that didn’t mean I was in a mood to deal with his sarcasm, which of course he thinks is cute. I think it’s fucked up.
I fluffed the pillows behind my back and turned on the television. I’d found a rom-com and had just gotten comfortable when the door to my room opened. “Summertime, you need to relax and not take everything so seriously.” Rowan joined me on the bed and threw his legs on the comforter. He was wearing blue flannel lounge pants, a white T-shirt, and carried two bottles of water and a package of my favorite chocolate chip cookies. He handed me a water and opened up the cookies.
“You’re not going to eat those in my bed.”
“Technically, not your bed. And, yes, I am.” He popped an entire chocolate chip cookie in his mouth and exaggerated chewing it.
The sound of the crunchiness grated on my nerves. “Don’t you dare get any crumbs on the sheets.”
“Of course not,” he said with his mouth full. “That’s why I put the entire cookie in my mouth at once.” He took a drink and grabbed another, shoving that one into his mouth whole too. Then he offered me the bag.
I sighed heavily. “So, you’re eating in my bed. Are you going to sleep here also?”
