Page 26 of The Path to Loving Him
“I’m going to go open the house,” Doug says. “I’ll let you two get to know each other.”
He takes off as well, leaving just the two of us.
I stick my hands in the pockets of my jean shorts as I try to figure out what to say. This is not what I expected. Not evenin the slightest. I thought the first time I saw him again would be at school, and we’d just have a bit of a laugh about it all. I was hoping he’d find the whole situation funny, but seeing his reaction now, I can genuinely assess that he doesn’t find this amusing at all.
Not even a little.
“Um . . . hi,” I say.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, his voice laced with an edge.
“I live here.” I gesture to the building behind me. “Nice place, actually. Glad I found it.” Stay calm. Maybe if I keep my cool, he won’t fly off the deep end.
“I thought you traveled for a living.”
Oh shit, right . . . I forgot I told him that.
Yikes.
What do I say now? I lied, and in fact, I will be teaching at your school, and oh wait, we aren’t just co-workers and living on the same property as each other, but also . . . we’re coaching together. Doesn’t that sound like fun?
From the crinkle between his eyes, I’m going to guess he wouldn’t think that’s fun at all. More like a living nightmare.
“Um, so yeah, got a new job, and it happened to land me here in Almond Bay. Imagine that.” Not a lie.
I toe the ground as we hear the little girl in the back galloping with her horse stuffie.
When he doesn’t say anything and just stares, I can feel the pressure mounting between us, so I continue, “You, uh . . . you bought the house?”
“We’re under contract,” he answers.
“Cool, yeah, great choice. Looks like your, uh . . . your . . .”
“Niece,” he says.
“Yeah, your niece seems like she likes it.”
His eyes leave mine for a moment as he focuses on her. And the crease in his brow lessens as he follows her. I glance over my shoulder and catch her rolling around in the grass, tossing her horse in the air.
When we both find each other’s gazes again, he says, “Seems that way.”
Not really knowing what to say, I add, “So I guess that means you’ll be my landlord. Exciting. I’ll have you know, I plan on paying my rent on time and don’t intend on causing a ruckus, so no need to worry about me throwing any wild parties.”
He rubs the back of his neck. “Do you think it’s a good idea that you live in the apartment above the garage?”
What does he mean by that?
Do I think it’s a good idea?
Uh, yeah.
It’s a great idea.
The apartment is close to town, cheap, and updated. There is no way I could find anything better. This apartment is like Monica Geller’s apartment, a diamond in the rough, and I will rot in it until someone scoops me out and throws me to the curb.
“Not that it’s really any of your business,” I say, “but yeah, I think it’s a great idea that I live in the apartment above the garage. It’s a real snag. Not sure if you noticed, but the cost of living around here is pretty damaging to the bank account. So when I came upon this gem, it was a no-brainer. One of my best decisions, actually.”
“I mean,” he says in a dark tone, taking a step forward. “Do you think it’s smart living in the apartment after we fucked?”
