Page 32 of Lovestruck at Sundown
blocked until you give me a definitive answer. Mimi will
continue to buy groceries and cook for you for the rest
of the month. Your tuition is covered regardless of
what you decide because despite what you think,
I am a reasonable man.
What in the actual hell? I scoffed at the screen in disbelief and slid the phone back into my pocket. Replying would have to wait. I needed to have a clear head and avoid doing so ina reactive way.
“Here you go.” I smiled, pretending as best as I could that I hadn’t just read that message, and gave Nina her beer then sat on the couch next to her.
“Can’t we get more beer from William’s apartment through the special door?” Tobias asked. “I’m sure Billy won’t mind.”
“That’s for conjugal visits,” Liam said, high-fiving Tobias. They laughed.
“You guys are disgusting.” They weren’t entirely wrong, though. It’d been fun and convenient for us to walk into each other’s bedrooms whenever we pleased. William had been sleeping in my bed almost every night. He liked to sneak in even when I was asleep, and I would wake up the following day to see him lying next to me. It was so sweet. The best part of all is we could get away with it undetected. I didn’t want to give my father more reasons to be upset if he asked for the surveillance camera footage. Not that it’d helped in changing his mind about selling the apartment.
The “special door” had been fun while it lasted.
“What special door?” Nina asked with a confused smile, looking between us for an answer.
“Can I show her?” Tobias asked. Nina hadn’t come to my place since I got back from South Africa. I’d been so busy getting up to speed with all the schoolwork I missed that we hadn’t had much time to hang out here.
“Sure, go ahead.” I pulled out my phone again while Nina followed Tobias to my room. “But I’m telling William you’re raiding his fridge!”
“Snitch!” he shouted back.
“You’re one to talk!” The audacity. I was surrounded by busybodies, and he was by far the worst. Right up there with Liam.
Me:Tobias is raiding your fridge. He’s going through the wall door. We need locks, lol. What if I get mad at you one day and want to keep you away?
Getting locks was irrelevant now. I needed to stop pretending like I was going to keep living here.
W.S.:Tell him I’ll cut out his tongue if he eats the strawberries. I’m making strawberry shortcake tomorrow morning for my mom’s birthday. It’s her favorite. She arrives tonight.
W.S.:And we’ll talk about the locks when I get home. Might be
a good idea for when I’m out of town. And if you ever get mad, don’t lock me out. Let me crawl in and beg for forgiveness.
Guess I wasn’t the only one in denial of the inevitable fact that I’d be moving out. But I loved how he said home as if we were living together though. It certainly felt that way. And with the door in place, our apartments had, in a way, become a huge single apartment.
Me:He’s just getting beer. And I hope I never have
to get mad at you.
W.S.:Never.
Me:Also, my credit cards bounced earlier. It’s happening.
W.S.:Don’t worry. I’ll see you in a bit and we’ll figure
everything out.
Tobias and Nina returned with a six-pack and a plastic container filled with strawberries.
Damn it.
