Page 51 of Dare Me

“Yeah, funny story on that,” she said, but with very little humor in her voice. “There are a ton of great places to rent around here. Most aren’t right in downtown, but within fifteen minutes! He knows I’ve been needing a place for a year and he hasn’t even mentioned any of them to me! Hell, there’s even a place available in your building!”

“Wait…what?”

“Yup. A studio and a one bedroom.”

“That’s amazing! Are you going to take it?”

“Not if my brother is involved.”

“Which one?” he asked with a small laugh.

“Ugh…I want to say both, but right now, my rage is at Patrick. Why would he hold out on me?”

“Maybe he’s afraid to get involved and the potential wrath of your parents.”

She groaned again. “That makes total sense. Still, I don’t know if moving into your building is the best idea. I don’t want to cause any issues between you and Liam.”

“How would you be doing that?”

“Other than the obvious?” she asked incredulously. “Look, I know I said I didn’t want to talk about this, but I need to just…you know…put this out there.” She sighed. “If Liam found out about us while we’re sneaking around, he’s going to be pissed. More so at you. On the flip side, if by some miracle of miracles, he does find out and doesn’t kill you, but then things don’t work out between us, he’s going to be pissed at you. The two of you are starting this whole business together, Will. I don’t want to be thereason it doesn’t work out for you. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I’m the cause of you losing out.”

Damn. As much as the main reason he’d stayed away from her was Liam, he hadn’t even considered the business angle.

This time he was the one to sigh. “Why is this so difficult?” he asked sadly. “It doesn’t seem fair.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “Now maybe you can understand where I’m coming from and why I’m not out there being the defiant child my family knows me to be.” She paused. “Contrary to popular belief, I think about my actions, and most of the dares I’ve taken were harmless. No one ever got hurt. But now? Now there’s a very real possibility of you getting hurt and I can’t let that happen.”

“Arianna…”

“What about you?” she asked quickly, her voice perking up. “What does your week look like? Are you excited about the furniture coming in?”

“Definitely,” he replied as he got comfortable on the bed. “I’ll be happy not to have to sleep on the floor.”

“It’s not really the floor…”

“You know what I’m saying.”

“I do and hey, that reminds me…I may need that mattress if you’re still looking to get rid of it.”

He laughed. “You’ll know my pain when you get your place. It’s all fun and games until you have to furnish an entire apartment and spend your first week living out of boxes and sleeping on the floor.”

“Again…not really the floor,” she reminded him. “And trust me, a mattress on the floor is still more comfortable than a couch.”

“You’re definitely right about that. I only slept the one night on Liam’s couch, but it wasn’t something I wanted to do long-term.”

“Yeah, um…sorry about that.”

“Nothing to apologize for.” He paused. “So, are you going to at least look at the studio?”

“I’m going to look at all the available places. There’s an apartment that’s really close to where I work, so that’s a perk. Well, that and the fact that it would give me a little more privacy for…shall we say…overnight guests.”

“Hmm…you know what else would give you more privacy?”

“What’s that?”

“If you lived in the same building. Your car would always be there overnight and so would mine. Seems very convenient, don’t you think?”

“Now that definitely sounds convenient…”

---