CHAPTER ELEVEN
GRANT
I see her before she sees me. The first thing I notice is long waves of hair cascading down the back of her sweatshirt—one that looks a few sizes too big. With that, she’s wearing low-rise sweatpants and some type of clog shoe.
Lina walks through the lobby of our apartment and looks slightly above it all. Not as if she thinks that, but more so like it’s simply a fact of nature. I can’t say I’d disagree.
For the past few weeks, Lina has walked slightly above everything else in my mind.
Kara and Eden walk on either side of her, and all three of them are carrying takeout bags.
Noticing her has completely stopped me in my tracks. I’m no longer making my way toward the elevator. I don’t even consider what it looks like for me to be standing here, stopped, watching her.
“What are you doing?” she asks, stopping directly in front of me.
“Hey, Lina, nice to see you. I’m doing great, what about you?” I reply sarcastically.
I watch her head tilt the tiniest bit. It’s barely noticeable.
“Do you wait around in the lobby of our apartment to wait for me or something?” she shoots back in the same tone. “Because I don’t really love the idea of having a stalker.”
“We both know that wouldn’t get me very far, considering our last few run-ins have been while you were either throwing up in my backyard or running at odd hours of the night.”
“The most notable of them being in this elevator,” she counters, walking toward it.
“Shh.” I mockingly place a finger over my lips. “Nobody needs to know what happened in there.” I look toward Kara and Eden, winking before facing Lina again. “I don’t kiss and tell, remember?”
Her two friends laugh, thankfully catching the joke, which isn’t shocking considering they’re used to Lina’s sarcasm.
I’m expecting Lina to say something sharp in return, but I’m completely caught off guard when she whirls around and presses her hand over my mouth. It’s enough to silence me, mostly because of how shocked I am, but I still can’t help the smile that forms against her palm.
“You’re not as funny as you think you are.” Her expression remains unreadable. “And what do you mean, ‘your house’ ?” She changes the subject. “You live here.”
Just to prove I can’t answer her questions, I mumble unintelligibly while she has her hand over my mouth. I don’t pull away from the feeling of her palm, though, enjoying the cool touch against my skin.
“Lina,” Eden teases with a grin. “He can’t answer you if you’re covering his mouth.”
I raise an eyebrow at her smugly, as if to say, “See?”
She doesn’t flinch, nor does she move her hand. Just stares at me like she’s daring me to say something else—like she knows I will the second she lets go.
“I think he’s enjoying this a little too much,” Kara muses, and that’s what finally makes Lina drop her hand.
She rolls her eyes, looking as though she’s not entirely sure why she even bothered in the first place.
But I can still feel the ghost of her touch lingering and the smirk she couldn’t see.
“The house is one of my dad’s rental properties. People check out on either Friday or Saturday morning, and the cleaners come early the next morning, so it’s the perfect place to have parties the night in between,” I explain.
She runs her fingers through her hair, all the way from the roots to the ends. “Makes sense.”
Right then, the elevator door slides back open. As the girls pile in, I make the decision to join them.
The last time I was in the lobby with Lina—when I found her out running and made sure she got back okay—I took the stairs instead of the elevator. It was mainly to prove to her that I’m not trying to make her angry with me.
But tonight, I don’t care.
“I can’t believe we got takeout after eating our weight in ice cream,” Eden says, clutching her stomach as she leans against the back wall.
“It will be worth it,” Kara tells her.
“Says you,” Lina says, poking her in the ribs. “You eat like you have multiple stomachs. Yet, you look like you have thousands of metabolisms.”
“Where would all those fit, anatomically?” Kara asks, smirking as she runs her hands up her waist.
“Magic,” Eden concludes. “That’s the only explanation.”
All three of them chuckle as I scan my keycard and hit the button to the fourth floor. I’m not necessarily trying to listen to their conversations, but we are trapped in a very tightly enclosed space together, so it’s pretty much impossible.
“Oh—remind me to text our landlord again,” Lina says suddenly. “That shelf in the laundry room is still cracked. If it falls, it’s going to take all of the lower shelves down with it.”
“It’s literally hanging on by one screw and a prayer,” Kara says. “And I’m not trying to get crushed by a thousand-pound bottle of laundry detergent.”
“I don’t think it’s safe for us to even touch it,” Eden adds. “It creaked at me this morning. Creaked. Like it had a soul and was warning me away from it.”
Now I really can’t help but listen in. At the slightest mention of potential hazards, my brain goes straight into overdrive.
“I can fix it tonight if you need me to.”
Please let me. Please let me. I internally beg. I can’t bear being responsible if that shelf breaks and hurts one of them.
Three heads turn toward me at once.
“You fix shelves?” Lina asks, arms crossed, clearly skeptical.
“I can fix a lot of things, shelves included. And yours sounds like it might be moments away from collapse, so…”
“We really can’t have a shelf-related tragedy,” Eden says solemnly.
“Not after the popcorn fire,” Kara agrees.
“That’s what that damn smell was?” My eyes widen as I look between them. “That shit stunk up the entire hall.”
All three of them look at one another, biting their lips to keep from smiling. Eden’s cheeks even puff out from trying not to burst out laughing.
“Alright, I won’t tell anyone else on the floor about the popcorn if you let me fix your shelf.”
“I don’t think you know how to bargain correctly,” Lina tells me, sounding completely serious.
“Yeah. That’s a win-win situation for us,” Eden adds.
“Perfect,” I say, right as the elevator opens. “Then I’ll go get my toolbox and get to work.”
Lina hesitates. “You’re not doing it so you can snoop around our apartment, right?”
“Please. If I wanted to snoop, I’d have installed hidden cameras when I was there last.”
She narrows her eyes at me, unimpressed.
“ Joking, ” I add quickly.
“I vote yes,” Eden says.
“Me too.” Kara grins. “If he breaks it worse, we can always guilt him into buying a new one.”
Lina still doesn’t say anything, but she levels me with a look I can’t quite read.
Finally, she relents. “Fine. But if you mess up anything else, I’ll cut your hand off. Your dominant hand.”
My first thought is to make a joke about jerking off, but my face must give away where my mind is headed, because Lina gives me a disgusted look.
“Don’t you dare say what I think you’re about to say.” She holds another hand in my face.
“Fair warning,” I say, stepping out of the elevator after her. “I’ll be at your door in a few.”
They all nod and head down the hall. I pass them as they unlock their door, their chatter still echoing faintly behind me.
I unlock my own front door and quickly grab my toolbox from the hall closet.
Braxton’s at the kitchen island. “What are you doing?”
“The girls’ apartment has a broken shelf. I told them I’d fix it.”
He stands and follows me back through the entryway. “I’ll go with you,” he says, slipping on shoes. “I haven’t seen Mer yet today.”
We exit our apartment, closing the door behind us before making our way down the hall toward their door.
When I knock, Kara answers immediately. “Welcome,” she says, stepping aside dramatically.
“Thanks. I brought reinforcements,” I point toward Braxton.
“Oh, I’m not helping,” Braxton says, passing me and heading straight for Meredith’s room.
I glance around their place. I’ve been here before, but every time I come over, I find myself noticing how slightly chaotic it is—in the way only three twenty-something girls can pull off.
There’s an open textbook on the couch, a couple blankets hanging off the armrest, and a single, unmatched sock on the coffee table.
The painting Braxton and I hung for them is still safe and sound on the wall, and the standing bookshelves on either side of the TV have more stuff on them every time I come over—books, trinkets, fancy-looking gold picture frames. Girly shit.
The three of them are surrounding the kitchen island, all eating from their takeout boxes. I’m not sure why Meredith is still in her bedroom, but she and Braxton probably won’t be coming out anytime soon.
I stare at Lina longer than I intend to, memorizing the way she laughs mid-bite, like whatever she just said was too funny to wait. Her hair’s tucked behind one ear, there’s a smudge of sauce on her thumb, and she looks so at home here. It hits me harder than I would have expected.
Eden points toward the laundry room with her fork. “It’s in there. Try not to die.”
Nodding, I set the toolbox down and open the door carefully.
One look tells me they weren’t exaggerating.
The shelf is visibly slanted, one side sagging under the weight of what looks like three Costco-sized bottles of detergent and a crate labeled ‘Miscellaneous but Necessary,’ which almost makes me shake my head with amusement.
“Okay, yeah,” I mutter. “This thing’s a lawsuit waiting to happen.”
Lina appears beside me, arms crossed again. “So? Can you fix it, or are we about to be tragically crushed?”
“Do you want me to fix it, or are you hoping for an insurance payout?”
She doesn’t answer. Just watches as I kneel down and start pulling things off the shelf, setting them aside carefully.
“I’ll need to replace the anchor screws. These are barely hanging on,” I explain, more to myself than anyone else.
“You brought anchor screws?” Kara asks, impressed.
I nod, reaching for my drill. “Always prepared.”
Plus, they’re the most sturdy, and I need all the reassurance I can get that this shelf isn’t going to fall on top of one of them.
“You didn’t even need to go to college. You’ve got the whole trade thing down!” Eden jokes.
“Not like he’s paying much to be here,” Kara mutters in the same tone.
I look back at her, shaking my head while laughing. I mean, she’s not wrong .
Lina still hasn’t said much, but I can feel her watching me as I work.
Ten minutes later, the shelf is reinforced, level, and—most importantly—not going to kill anyone.
I finish putting all their stuff back up before turning toward them. “Try not to overload it again. It’s fixed, but not indestructible.”
“Guess we’ll cancel the five-gallon bucket of bleach we were about to order,” Lina says, mock disappointment in her voice.
A smile quirks my lips. “What the fuck would you need five gallons of bleach for?”
“Don’t worry about it,” she deadpans, making the other two girls laugh.
“Was that a threat?” Kara asks.
Eden can barely control herself. “ Lina. You cannot kill him now that he’s fixed our shelf.”
“ That’s why she can’t kill me?”
She shrugs. “You’ve officially been declared useful.”
“High praise,” I say, turning to Lina last. “What do you think? Satisfied?”
“Yeah. Thanks.” Her expression remains the same.
“Anytime.”
Braxton reappears from Meredith’s room, hair slightly mussed, looking far too pleased with himself for someone who did absolutely zero manual labor. “Shelf fixed?”
“Crisis averted,” I confirm, closing the toolbox with a snap.
He claps me on the shoulder. “Proud of you, Bob the Builder.”
“I’m ignoring that,” I say as I follow him toward the door.
“Do we owe you anything?” Eden calls behind us. “Payment? Tip? Homemade cookies?”
“Cookies,” Braxton answers without hesitation.
“Just don’t break it again.” I pause before adding, “I also wouldn’t mind some cookies.”
When I step into the hallway, Lina’s still standing there.
“Hey.”
I turn back. She’s still standing in the doorway, arms crossed but no longer guarded.
“I wasn’t actually hoping for the insurance payout.” She pauses. “But now that I know how much money you’re making to throw a ball around, I might.”
I chuckle. “You’d lose the case.”
“You think so?” She asks, almost mischievously.
“We’ll never find out. That shelf isn’t coming out of the wall, and if it does, it’s because you put too much weight on it.”
“Right. No five-gallon buckets of bleach.” She pretends she’s making a mental note and then steps a little closer, leaning against the doorframe. “You sure it’s safe now? Maybe I should test it, hang off it a little.”
I tilt my head, a grin tugging at the corner of my mouth. “If you’re looking for an excuse to fall into my arms, just say that.”
She scoffs, but I catch the slight tug of a smile before she hides it. “You wish.”
“I’m not the one suggesting a stress test.”
“Lina! We’re watching Dancing with the Stars!” Eden calls from the living room.
“Sounds like you’re needed,” I muse.
“Guess that stress test will have to wait.”
“Hey, you still haven’t sent me that podcast,” I remind her.
When we didn’t exchange numbers after our run, I got hers from Meredith. I even texted her, but never got a reply.
“Oh.” She looks surprised. “You were serious about that?”
“Why else would I have asked?”
“I’ll send it to you.”
“I’ll let you know what I think.”
The volume of the TV is suddenly turned up, ringing through the kitchen and entryway.
“That’s my cue,” Lina says, pointing behind her. “Thanks again for fixing the shelf.” This time she sounds a bit more sincere.
I open the front door and step into the hallway. “Of course. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Goodnight, Grant!” Eden calls from the living room.
“Goodnight.” I reply. “I’ll see you later,” I then tell Lina.
“Bye,” she says, biting her lip as she closes the door.