Page 216 of Scrimmage

He rolls his eyes, as if this conversation is the biggest inconvenience he has ever experienced. “You still do.”

“What is happening?” I say out loud to myself.

“Goddamn, baby girl, catch up. We moved in together.”

I search his face, looking for a sane side of Koda, but if he was ever there he is long gone.

“I live with Penny,” my voice rises.

“Right.”

“So I can’t live here.”

“You live here with me, and so does Penny,” he explains calmly. “It’s a four bedroom.”

“This place is for rich people, Ko. We can’t afford this,” I fret.

He takes my cheeks between his palms. “Money isn’t an issue. It’s paid for. All of it is. If you want something? It’s paid for. If Penny wants something? Paid for.”

“Koda,” I try to talk sense into him.

He sighs. “Penny said you would resist.”

“Penny knew?”

“I wasn’t about to move her without asking.”

“You didn’t askme!” I screech.

“Semantics.”

I stare at him open-mouthed. I don’t even know where to begin. He sighs and sits on the floor next to me. It’s so odd seeing him sitting there like this is carpet time.

“When you died, Ash, everything changed for me. I prayed. I don’t fucking pray, and I prayed. I’m not leaving, and I made sure you can’t either. So just let me be an arrogant asshole, and you can be the bitch who is going to claw my eyes out in the middle of the night, alright?”

I feel awkward. He’s spilling his guts again, and I don’t know how to handle this sort of visceral reaction.

“Koda Armory is begging. I would video this if I had a phone and extort you.” I want to be nice. I want to thank him, but it’s not physically possible.

“You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t thank you.”

“I’ve gotten pretty good at speaking Ashland in these last few months.” He leans over, his face only inches from mine, and shoves the pills into my hand. “Now take your fucking meds like a good girl.”

My face gets hot. I feel a blush creeping up my neck and onto my cheeks. I like this side of Koda. Even if he did move us in together, Penny lives here, too. I try to find a way to refuse, but not only am I not in any position to tell him no, I don’t want to.

“I liked it better when you were a dick.”

“Oh, I’m still a dick. It’s just directed at everyone else right now.”

“Control freak.” I pop the pills into my mouth and reluctantly swallow them.

“You’re the one whose into it.”

“So,” I begin casually. “Do you have security cameras outside?”

“I had them installed, yeah. There's a lot of security. No one will come here without us knowing about it first.”

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