I scrub my hands down my face and then start to take my clothes off. I crank the water all the way over and try not to think as I step under the hot water.
I let the spray calm me down and relax me. It doesn’t take me long to soap up and rinse o,ff and I feel better, but it doesn’t last long.
As soon as I step out and see my suitcases filled with clothes, a pang of sadness hits me. I’m going to need to talk to Rule about this sooner rather than later.
I pull on a pair of pajamas, but when I lie down in bed, I know that I won’t be able to fall asleep. At least not until I’ve cleared this up with Rule.
I sit up, intending on going out to find him, when the bedroom door bangs open and he strides in.
He seems surprised that I’m out of the shower and he blinks, turning to face the bed. Then his eyes land on my suitcases, and he scowls.
“When are you going to unpack? I cleaned out the top three drawers in the dresser and over half the closet for you days ago.”
“You did?” I ask.
I’m so confused by his tone right now and I frown as I look over to the closet. I never had a reason to go in his dresser or the closet, so how was I supposed to know?
“Sorry about them being in the way,” I say as I start to crawl toward the edge of the bed.
“It’s not that,” he says, his hands landing on his hips and he scowls down at the suitcases.
“Okay… what is it?”
I’ve never seen him so agitated. Normally, he’s calm, cool, and collected. Not right now though.
“You’re not leaving,” he finally spits out and he crosses his arms like he’s getting ready to argue with me. “I know that you missed your friend and that you like it here in town. So stay.”
“Yeah, I was thinking about moving back here,” I admit.
My heart is beating out of control. Is he asking me to stay? I feel like he’s hedging around it, but I need to hear him say the words.
“Good. Then it’s settled. You can unpack.”
“Well, I’ll have to leave to go to New York for a little bit. I need to take care of my apartment, and then I’m sure I need to meet with my manager and modeling agency.”
“You can call them. I’ll hire people to move your stuff out here.”
“That’s okay. I can go do it.”
He looks like he’s at the end of his rope, but he still hasn’t said what I need to hear.
“Plus, then I still have to find my own place here. I’m sure that Arlowe will let me stay with her until I find a house, but—”
“No.”
“No, what?” I ask, the hopefulness bleeding into my words.
“You live with me. You need someone to keep you out of trouble.”
“Well, I did while the stalker was still around, but he’s not now, so it’s safe for me to stay with Arlowe.”
“I know that you’re trying to drive me crazy, baby girl,” he growls as he prowls onto the bed toward me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie, and he snorts.
“You drive me crazy.”
“So why do you want me around?” I snap, but he keeps going like I never spoke.