Page 58 of Game Point
On an instinct I didn’t know I had, I closed my eyes, tightening my arms to stop her leaving.
‘Goodnight, Dylan.’ I breathed in the last of her before her limbs untangled from around me.
Stepping back, she sent me a small, sleepy smile. ‘Sleep well. If you need anything, just shout.’
‘Will do,’ I said, watching her as she headed down the hallway, her steps slow and heavy. She opened the second door in the hallway and I realized how close her bedroom was to mine.
We were used to distance, miles and miles of it. Now, all that separated us was a wall.
Closing my own door, I finished setting myself up for bed, leaving unpacking for the morning, sleeping in only the briefs I already had on. I had expected to fall asleep quickly, given the travelling. But instead, I lay awake, staring up at the ceiling, thinking of myfriendjust down the hallway from me, and how her arms had felt around me, her body close to mine.
And, when I was starting to drift off, I was sure that these sheets smelled of her, her shampoo scent familiar after one hug, and suddenly, I was wide awake once again.
20
Dylan
Rose-Colored Boy – Paramore
As it turned out, living with Oliver was a pain. And not because he was dirty or lazy. He was seemingly very well house trained, even putting the toilet seat back down when he was done. No, it was the way heinsistedon helping or doing every single bit of housework, as if I was incapable of doing anything myself.
‘Oliver, is it okay if I go into your room?’ I shouted from midway up the stairs. It had only been a couple of days, but it felt wrong to go into the spare room without his permission.
Oliver appeared in the doorway of the living room, a bowl of cereal in hand. It was mid-afternoon, but given that neither of us seemed to be very good cooks, and the fact we had only quickly run around the supermarket with hats and sunglasses on to get the basics, cereal had become our snack of choice.
‘You don’t have to ask. This is your house.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘I’m going to bring down some boxes and start clearing some more space.’ I turned, taking a few steps up when I heard Oliver respond.
‘I’ll help.’ I looked back, watching him put down his bowl, following me up the stairs.
I tsked, heading into his room, noting his perfectlymade-up bed as if it wasn’t just a blow-up mattress on the floor.Could he be a tiny bit less perfect?
‘I can do it,’ I replied, my arms wrapping round the first box I came across. It was quite light in my arms, but nonetheless, the fracture in my chest ached a little, stinging and reminding me I wasstillinjured.
As I turned, Oliver appeared in the doorway, his height nearly filling the entire space. He looked around the space, his eyes flickering down to the very box in my hand. He stepped forward to take the box directly from me.
‘Here, let me help,’ he insisted, and I had to turn my body slightly away from him, as if to protect the box from Oliver’s grasp.
‘I’ve got this one,’ I replied, ‘just go enjoy your cereal.’
‘No, I want to help,’ he said. ‘Tell me what boxes you want and I can take them down.’
‘No, just …’ A slight frustration biting at the edges of my voice. I had been taking it easy since we arrived the day before yesterday. I could manage a few boxes. ‘I can do it myself.’
‘Of course you can,’ Oliver forced an unconvincing smile. ‘I just want to help.’
I considered continuing to fight him, but at the end of the day, I needed the boxes taken down and this was an offer of free labour. Who was I to turn it down?
A retired, injured tennis pro. That’s who.
‘Fine,’ I ground out. Craning my neck, I motioned to the boxes behind me. ‘I was going to take these downstairs and sort them out.’
‘Aye, aye captain.’
By the time I’d placed the box in the living room,Oliver had taken histhirdbox downstairs, leaving them in the hallway instead of following me through to the living room. I considered taking them through but suspicious of what he was doing, I went to the spare bedroom instead, passing Oliver on my way up, his arms filled with another large box.
I was barely halfway back down the stairs, large box in hand, when Oliver appeared in front of me, smiling brightly.
