Page 69 of Hometown Halftime

“Yeah,” I say weakly. “That feels accurate.”

He turns, taking in the spreading water, the fallen drywall, the sagging edges of the ceiling that look like they might give way again at any second.

“This is bad, Kinsey.” He exhales, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “Like…really bad. Something upstairs must’ve blown. We’re gonna have to get plumbers in here, contractors, open everything up.”

I nod, even though my stomach is sinking lower with every word.

“How long will it take to fix?” I ask.

He grimaces. “I don’t want to give you a timeline yet, but…you’re not staying here tonight. Probably not for a while.”

“For a while?” I repeat, the dread creeping in.

“Best case, a few weeks. Could be longer depending on what we find.” He gestures vaguely toward the ceiling. “I’ll work with insurance, get you sorted, but for now…you’re gonna need somewhere else to stay.”

I glance around my apartment, and I feel my eyes begin to burn.

“Okay,” I say, even though I have no idea what okay looks like right now.

The three of us stand in silence, taking it all in, until Riley steps closer, his voice certain.

“You could stay with me.”

My eyes dart to him. “What?”

“My place,” he says, like it’s the simplest solution in the world. “You already have your stuff. It’s close and I have an extra room. You don’t have to figure anything out tonight.”

I blink at him, my brain struggling to process his offer.

“Riley, I can’t just move in with you.”

“You can,” he cuts in gently. “It’ll be temporary. Until this all gets fixed.”

Sam nods, already backing toward the door. “That’s probably your best bet for now, Kinsey. We’ll get all this handled, I promise.”

Riley’s eyes stay on mine.

“Stay with me,” he repeats.

Absolutely not. Nope. Terrible idea.

Because staying with Riley means sleeping under the same roof as this tempting man. Seeing Riley first thing in the morning looking all sleepy and hot and he probably has this annoyingly sexy morning voice. And frankly, I’m not sure I’m strong enough to resist that.

I cross my arms tighter. “You realize this is a bad idea, right?”

He puts his hands up in surrender. “I promise to be a complete gentleman. I’m offering because it’s the easiest solution and I have the space.”

I hate that I almost smile. My brain keeps trying to come up with reasons to say no, but every argument falls apart.

I narrow my eyes at him. “If I stay with you and you end up being secretly messy, I’m leaving.”

His grin spreads wider. “That’s your biggest concern right now?”

“It’s in the top five.”

Something warm flickers across his face then, soft enough that my heart gets weird about it.

Damn it.