Page 32 of Dare Me

“Um…this is different.”

Beside her, Will nodded. “Yeah.”

It was nine on Saturday morning and she was standing in the middle of Will’s new apartment. “Did you know it was going to be like this?”

He shook his head. “I just figured all the apartments were the same. Patrick knew what I was looking for, but…maybe I wasn’t particularly clear.”

“I mean…it’s nice, but…”

“This isn’t a floor plan I’m particularly on board with, but what choice do I have?”

It wasn’t terrible, Arianna thought to herself. But the main part of the apartment was long and a little narrow, and then the bedroom was a loft. A large loft, but it offered no privacy.

“I should have asked more questions, right?” he asked nervously.

“Well, yes, but…this is also going to limit what you can buy.”

“How come?”

“You’re missing a wall up in the bedroom, so you can’t fit a lot of furniture in there.”

“The closet’s fairly large, so I think I can handle that.”

She nodded and took a sip of her coffee. “And then downstairs has an awkward layout too. We’ll need to take good measurements so you pick out pieces that won’t be too large.”

“Yeah. And I’ll have to sell this mattress too once I get mine. Seems like a waste.”

Arianna wasn’t sure she’d call that monstrosity of a mattress a waste. Right now, she was having some fairly vivid images playing in her head of her and Will on it. All it had was a fitted sheet on it and one lonely blanket, but it still looked incredibly inviting. If she gave him one little playful shove, they could…

“Arianna?”

“What? Hmm? Oh…I’ll take it off your hands when the time comes. Staying with Ryleigh is killing me—although her couch is still more comfortable than the bed in Liam’s spare room—but once I move out, I’ll need to shop for furniture too.”

He didn’t respond and for a minute, things felt awkward.

And that sucked. They had texted each other all week and even though she knew he was doing it so her brother wouldn’t hear them talking—even though he didn’t hear them last Friday night—it was still something she enjoyed every night. Having that time to just chat and reconnect—talking about silly stuff and nothing of any real importance—reminded her of their time in San Francisco.

Ryleigh knew what they were doing and was totally on board with it, and her contribution was to say she was out shopping with them if anyone asked. Arianna was curious as hell about what her sister was actually doing, but she had a feeling she was just going to enjoy flying under the Donovan radar for a day or two.

Actually, before Will had texted her, Ryleigh had offered to go out with him and work out a plan soshecould actually go out with him. Everyone would think Will and Ryleigh were out, but in reality, Arianna would be the one with him. Right now, shewas hoping it wouldn’t have to come to that and everyone would just butt out, but it was nice to have a backup plan.

“So,” she began when she couldn’t stand the silence anymore. “Are you ready to hit the stores?”

He laughed nervously. “I suppose. Just…be gentle. I’m new at this.”

Unable to help herself, she gently patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll take it nice and slow.”

And if this wasn’t a conversation full of double entendres, she didn’t know what was.

There was a little nervous laughter on both their parts, but they managed to walk back down the stairs and then out of the apartment without saying anything else awkward.

They had opted to take Will’s Jeep because it was much bigger than her Honda sedan. Even if they weren’t bringing pieces of furniture home, she had a feeling every inch of the interior was going to be full of purchases. When he said he had nothing, it wasn’t an exaggeration. They were going to need to pick out pretty much every single thing a person could need other than clothes.

And she was more than up for the challenge.

The mall was almost an hour away and while she wasn’t sure it would have everything he needed—especially since there were primarily clothing stores in it—there were all the other retail giants nearby. They’d hit Walmart, Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and then perhaps a few décor shops on the way home.

It might not be as organized and planned out like Ryleigh would do it, but it was close enough.

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