Chapter 18
Eighteen
Conor
Eloise is upstairs with Jade, borrowing some of her clothes until she can get her stuff from Tristan’s. I haven’t questioned Eloise as to whether she thinks there’s a chance her stuff might not be there anymore. Supposedly, the movers took her stuff to his house on Friday morning before their rehearsal.
“Are you sure about this?” Rowan asks me as we sit at Henry’s kitchen table.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t.”
“I get the whole instant connection thing, but moving her in after she just ran out on her wedding?” Tweetie shakes his head and downs the rest of his coffee.
“We’re not going to date. She’s not going to be sleeping in my bed.”
Henry scoffs, pulling my attention to him. He’s been quiet most of the morning.
“Speak your mind, Daddy.” Tweetie holds out his hand as if we’re in some business meeting, and he’s magnanimously giving up the floor.
Henry’s eyes bore into mine over the rim of his coffee mug. He swallows and sets the cup down in front of him. “She’s Jade’s best friend.”
“I know.” I maintain eye contact.
“If you hurt her, Jade is going to be upset. If Jade gets upset, I’m going to be pissed off. Last year, you were concerned my feelings for Jade were gonna fuck up our team dynamic. How do you think it’s going to be if you screw over Eloise, my fiancée’s best friend?”
I sink back into my chair and run my hand over my face. “I’m not going to screw her over.”
He twists his coffee mug in his hands. “I hope not. But don’t go fucking around with her emotions. Crashing the wedding turned out to be a good thing. Tristan was a shitty fiancé from what Jade says, and Eloise wasn’t happy. But to move her in with you is next level.”
Tweetie and Rowan remain quiet.
“Daddy, I promise, we’re roommates only. I’m not going to step over that line unless she tells me she’s ready to. But I can’t sit here and tell you I don’t want to. I like her, and I know there’s something between us. That said, I’d never try to get with her right now. I understand she needs time to heal.”
He nods.
“Relax, Henry, I’ve never seen Conor so invested. I have a feeling he knows what he’s doing.” Rowan smiles at me.
“Thanks, man.” I’m happy that a guy who knew me in college sees how different I am right now.
“Of course, that’s what good friends do for one another. They vouch for the other.” He widens his eyes, obviously calling me out for how I acted toward him when Kyleigh told me she loved him.
“You’re an adult, and I can’t stop whatever is going to happen, but we thought last year was our year. We’re only getting older…” Henry says.
We all look at Tweetie.
He raises his hands, flipping us off. “Fuck you all.”
I raise my hand. “Don’t worry. I got this handled.”
“You better.”
I let the topic go because I can tell Henry whatever I want, but it will be my actions that speak the loudest.
And I sure as shit don’t want to tell him I’m a tad worried myself. I really hope Eloise doesn’t wear skimpy pajamas or anything like that.
Thankfully, we hitched a ride back to the condo with Tweetie, Kyleigh, and Rowan. Coming back to the apartment alone with Eloise could have been hella awkward if we both just sat there in silence, digesting the arrangement we both just agreed to.
“If my brother’s being an idiot, I’m just upstairs,” Kyleigh says as Rowan tugs her toward their condo.
“Can you play darts?” Tweetie asks Eloise, walking backward up the stairs.
She shakes her head. “Afraid not.”
“That’s one thing you guys have in common then.” He laughs and jogs up the stairs to his condo.
“Jade said you weren’t very good at darts,” Eloise says to me.
I key in the passcode for my lock. “I can hold my own. She and Henry are on another level.”
Unlocking the door, I push it open for her to go first and grab the small bag to bring in for her. She walks in and looks around.
“This is very masculine,” she says and twirls around, holding her hands in the air. “No judgment though.”
I take her bag to the bedroom that will be hers. “You can judge. I’m a bachelor. This is your room. You have your own bathroom as well.”
“So, I don’t really have to see you, huh?” She joins me in the bedroom.
“Very boyish because this was Bodhi’s room.”
She spins in a circle, taking in what will be her space. “Would you be upset if I painted?”
I chuckle and put her bag on the bed. “It’s yours to do what you want with.”
She unzips her bag, and I head over to the door.
“Should we go over the bills now?” she asks.
“No. Get settled. If you need anything, let me know. I’ll be around.”
She stops taking clothes from the bag but digs into a pocket and unfolds a piece of paper. “I guess I don’t need to hide this from you.”
After walking over to the corkboard Henry didn’t take with him, she pins it there. I push off the doorframe and walk over to read the list.
“I thought you were crossing them off?” I ask, seeing stargazing still on there.
“Oh yeah.”
I leave the room and return with a pen, which I hand to her.
She bites her lip and takes the cap off the pen, holding it up to the paper. She puts a checkmark beside stargazing instead of crossing it off. “That felt good. I should have done that earlier.”
Her blonde hair is swept up in a messy bun, and she’s wearing a T-shirt and yoga pants that I’m pretty sure are Jade’s. Her ass looks amazing in them, which does nothing to help me remember that I need to keep this platonic.
“Let me know if you need my help at all.” I force my feet to move in toward the door because she needs her space, not me hounding her.
“Thanks again, Conor. Your place is really nice.”
I stop at the door. “Our place.”
She grins and nods. “Not until I pay my share.”
I ignore her and walk out of the room. I don’t want her money.
I go into the family room, grab the remote, and turn on the reality show I’ve been binging lately.
I wasn’t expecting it to be this weird, but she’s the first woman I’ve ever lived with, and she’s the first woman I’ve wanted who I couldn’t have. Those two things together form a powder keg that will eventually combust. I just hope it’s at the right moment.