Page 16 of Comeback
“You’re okay with this?” I ask him.
A muscle in his jaw flutters, but then he nods. Okay, not exactly that convincing.
I bite on the corner of my lip as I think. I need to get off Olivia’s couch soon before I cause problems with her landlord. And their place is nice and it’s near the club and the locations I’m looking at for a studio. And it would save me from filling out a dozen more rental applications, hoping to find something cheap and short-term. I’m still hopeful I’ll find a dance studio space that can double as my apartment. I have this vision in my head of living upstairs. How cool would it be to have a dance studio in my house? I could dance any time I want.
Archer’s leg presses against mine, drawing me out of my thoughts. I meet his gaze and we have some sort of stare off where it feels like he’s saying a hundred things.I’m okay with this. It’ll make Brogan happy. I’ll be there to make sure you don’t fuck him over. It’s only until you find another place.
Or maybe I’m reading too much into a simple look, but I decide not to dwell too hard on it. They’re offering me an opportunity and I’m going to take it. Olivia won’t have to worry about her landlord, and I can take my time looking for an apartment and studio.
Who knows, maybe in the process I can prove to Archer once and for all that I’m not going to intentionally hurt his best friend.
6
ARCHER
“I think that’s the last of it,” Brogan says as we bring the final two boxes into the spare bedroom.
He sets his box down on the ground and I do the same. Sabrina didn’t have a lot, but the room is already starting to look completely different. The navy comforter on the queen-size bed has been replaced by a fluffy white one. Two purple pillows rest against the headboard. Makeup and perfume and other toiletries line the top of a dresser. And several pairs of heels are strewn across the bed like she dumped them out of her suitcase but hasn’t figured out where to put them.
“Thank you,” she says, coming out of the closet where she’s hanging her clothes. “I told you I could get the boxes myself.”
She did tell us that and I was happy to let her do it, but Brogan wouldn’t hear of it. It’s maybe the one time in our lives that I wish he weren’t such a nice guy. This whole situation has me acting like an asshole and I don’t relish it.
“We got something else for you, too.” Brogan leaves the room temporarily. I hang inside the doorway, feeling awkward in my own apartment. I really hope she doesn’t get too comfortable here. She claims she’s going to keep looking for a studio spacethat could double as an apartment, but why would she do that when she’s living here basically for free?
She would be staying here for free if Brogan had his way. He offered, and to her credit she demanded to pay her share. Which Brogan seriously played down. Her rent doesn’t even cover the utilities.
I don’t care about the money. It’s just her being in my space all the time. I already feel like I can’t breathe. The whole apartment feels different with her here to stay. Nervous energy has me wanting to pace or pull at my hair, but I don’t do either.
“Here it is!” Brogan reappears with a giant gift bag. It’s at least three feet tall, bright purple, and has so much tissue paper sticking out of it, I’m worried about the number of trees that were killed for this gift alone.
I cough my surprise then try to cover it with an actual cough and clear my throat.
Sabrina eyes me suspiciously as she takes the bag from him. Her arm falls with the weight of it.
“Oh,” she says. “Thank you. You didn’t need to get me anything. I’m the one who is indebted to you.”
“It’s just some housewarming things. It’s from all of us. Open it.” Brogan is grinning like he does at birthday parties and at Christmas when someone opens the present he got them. He’s a generous dude who gets more joy out of giving than receiving things. It’s endearing. Usually.
Sabrina sets the bag on top of the bed and slowly pulls out the tissue paper. She smiles hesitantly as she looks in, then pulls out a candle. Then headphones.
“Those are for drowning out Ariana,” Brogan says, nudging me in the side.
Sabrina laughs lightly then sets both items on the bed next to the tissue paper and keeps going. A bath bomb, fuzzy socks, several gift cards to places nearby, and various kinds of candy.
“I wasn’t sure of your favorite,” Brogan says, nodding his head to the giant pile of candy.
“Gummy bears.”
“Oh. I didn’t get any of those.” My buddy’s brows pinch together with his disappointment.
Sabrina laughs so softly I almost miss the sound, but her shoulders shake with the movement and her lips curve higher. “This is great. Seriously. I wasn’t trying to sound ungrateful. I was just telling you so you’d have another fact about me. What’s your favorite?”
His smile returns. “Varies by my mood, but I’m currently obsessed with those Nerd Gummy Clusters.”
Sabrina digs through her stack to find them and opens the bag. She tries one and then nods. “These are good.”
“Right?” Brogan asks.
