Chapter 12
Sly
Her apartment looked exactly the way I’d pictured it in my head and then a little better.
It was lived-in, not staged, and it seemed as if every little thing had its place. There were multiple plants in big pots by the windows, photos on every wall, and three blankets on the couch. There was a desk in the corner with neat piles, colored tabs, and a charging cable neatly coiled.
It was a strange thought, but if I had been presented with three different apartments and asked to guess which one was Sumner’s, I would’ve gotten it right.
“Make yourself at home,” she said, while I stood in the middle of the open kitchen and living room area. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Water’s great. Thank you.”
She grabbed two glasses from the cupboard, filled them, and pressed one into my hand. I never took my eyes off her as we drank, but when our gazes got a little too intimate, she turned her head and pointed her thumb over her shoulder.
“Do you want to sit down?”
“Yeah, sure.”
She led us to the couch, and we set our glasses on the table. I sank back and let an arm rest along the top, careful not to touch her, even if I wanted to. She studied then, probably deciding if letting me in here was a good idea.
“You’re the only guy I ever let in here,” she said.
My eyebrow went up on instinct. “Yeah? How come?”
She gave a small shrug and an even smaller smile. “Because this has always been my safe place. Even when I wasn’t here a lot the last few years, it stayed mine alone. It doesn’t hold any bad memories.”
I understood and hated that she needed to protect her peace this hard when it should’ve been a normal thing. To have a place to call home without fearing it wouldn’t be safe one day.
“I get that,” I said. “I’m glad you feel safe here.”
She nodded, her smile tightening as her eyes went to my arm resting behind her.
“Is this okay?” I asked. I wasn’t touching her, but we were sitting closer than we ever had. I didn’t want to cross a line and make her uncomfortable.
“Yes, it’s fine. Just don’t touch me.”
It sounded like a threat, but I knew she didn’t mean it in a rude way.
She was just being cautious. Without knowing what Joey did to her, I knew her not wanting me to touch her had something to do with it.
It wasn’t just about what he might’ve done physically; it was her constant second-guessing, wondering if any small move would piss him off, and so she would ask first to avoid a fallout.
Of course, that was all just me guessing, but we had hugged earlier, and even that had come with a question first. She’d asked if she could.
That told me everything I needed to know about how to move here: ask first, wait for the answer, follow it.
“Give me your house rules,” I said.
“Rules?” she asked, brows pulling in.
“Yeah. This is your safe place, and you invited me in, so I want to keep it that way. Tell me your house rules and I’ll follow them.”
She stared at me like I’d said something no one had ever offered her. That, again, told me how little Joey truly cared about her boundaries. When it sank in that I was serious, her expression shifted, and a small spark I hadn’t seen before flashed in her eyes.
God, those perfect grey eyes.
“House rules,” she said, thinking it through, letting her eyes wander around the room. “I like everything the way it is. I don’t like change. I have an organized mess. So if something sits somewhere strange, I put it there on purpose.”
“Got it. What else?”
“Shoes off inside the apartment, and no walking barefoot,” she said, looking down at my feet, which were, in fact, not bare. She looked pleased, and it made me smile.
“Done. Next?”
“No surprise visits. Always text first.”
That made me smirk. “So you’d let me come over again?”
“If you behave tonight.”
“I will,” I promised her.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
“Shoot.”
“If you go to the bathroom, you sit down for number one and two.”
“Definitely something I will respect.”
“Good.” Her lips pressed into a thin line as a smile threatened to break out. “Are you hungry?”
I was, because all I had today was coffee and cake. “Yes, you?”
She nodded. “A little. I could cook something. Or we can order in.”
I waved a hand. “You decide.”
“Okay.” She thought about it for a moment, then said, “I don’t think I have enough in the fridge for two people. So let’s order.”
“I got it,” I said, pulling out my phone and opening my most-used app.
“You don’t have to pay.”
“I want to. You invited me over, so I want to pay for dinner.”
She studied me, eyes steady. “This is still not a date.” There was a hint of defensiveness in her voice, which I didn’t judge her for.
It stung a little, but I kept my smile because I respected her decision. “I know. Just friends.”
She nodded. “Just friends.”
When she said it, it didn’t land as convincingly as she wanted.
I didn’t call her out on it, though. I wasn’t going to push her into feelings she wasn’t ready for.
I had hope—maybe too much of it at times—but I wasn’t going to use it to hurry her.
Going slow was smarter. Everything I felt already was very overwhelming to me, and I didn’t want to ruin the first good thing I’d had in a long time by overdoing it.
We scrolled menus until we agreed on sushi and noodles.
While we waited for the food to arrive, we picked a movie to run as background noise.
Our conversation felt real, and when the food finally came, we simply kept it going.
There hadn’t been one moment in which either of us felt forced to say something, and even moments of silence felt good.
The longer we sat there, the more she relaxed. Her shoulders dropped. Her voice sounded lighter. She leaned back into the cushions and tugged the blanket up over her legs.
Seeing her calm and comfortable in her own space mattered to me more than anything else tonight. I wanted to keep giving her nights that felt like this.
Time slid, and around eleven, she sat a little straighter and tightened her hands on the blanket. “It’s late.”
I nodded, reading between the lines. “Yeah, it is.”
I pushed up from the couch and folded the blanket I’d used and set it on the armrest the way she had it before. I stacked our empty plates, carried them into the kitchen, and rinsed them.
“You don’t have to do all that,” she said, frowning at me.
I wasn’t going to argue with her about being a decent human being. I came back for the glasses. “Are you still drinking?” I asked, nodding at hers.
“Uh…” She looked genuinely thrown by the small help, and it made me hate Joey all over again. “No, I’m done.”
I picked up her glass too, carried both to the sink, and set them down gently before I turned back to her.
She stood and came a step closer. The frown softened.
I knew what that look meant. She wasn’t used to anyone doing things for her without a price.
She wasn’t used to a man who didn’t treat her as a worker instead as a mutual.
My fingers twitched, and I wanted to cup her face and promise that this was different, but she’d set a rule.
No touching unless she asked, so I slid my hands into my hoodie pocket and kept them there.
When the tightness in her mouth finally eased, her lips curved into a small smile. “Thanks for today. I had a good time.”
“Me too,” I said, matching her smile. “Thank you for letting me come over.”
“Of course.” Her voice got smaller. “We should do it again sometime. Have dinner and talk, I mean.”
“I’d love to.”
“Great.”
“Perfect.”
Color rose in her cheeks. She turned toward the door before the shyness could win, and I followed, giving her enough space.
“Are you going to stay up late tonight?” I asked. “Do some more editing?”
“I’m not sure. I’m a bit tired,” she said. “What about you?”
“I promised my followers a livestream tonight, so I’ll go live for a few hours.”
Something lit in her eyes. Curiosity, maybe a little excitement. “Can I watch it?”
“Of course,” I said gently. “I’ll send you the link once it’s up.”
“Cool.” She bit her bottom lip and tilted her head. “You really don’t mind if I watch?”
“Why would I mind?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you don’t want me to. Joey said gaming was something intimate to him, and that if I watched, it wouldn’t be the same.”
Yeah, if I ever crossed Joey on the street again, I would punch him in the face and in the nuts. What a fucking dick.
My jaw tightened, but I made sure she wouldn’t notice my anger.
“I think I’ll want you to watch me livestream every time in the future.”
That pulled another smile out of her. “Okay.”
“Okay,” I said, grinning. I stepped into the hall and put on my shoes. “I’ll text you once I’ve got it all set up.”
“Okay.” She moved into the doorway, arms crossing over her stomach, then reached out with one hand and hooked two fingers in my sleeve. Her gaze stayed on the fabric for a second before it climbed to my face. “I’d like another hug.”
Her voice was so soft and careful, like she was scared to say them out loud. Another jolt of anger rushed through me, but I suppressed it and replaced it with happiness.
I stepped in and wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her just enough to feel her body settle against mine. Her arms came up around my shoulders, and she tucked her face against the crook of my neck. I buried my face into her hair and breathed in her sweet scent.
I kept my hands moving slowly along her back while hers fisted in my hoodie.
We stood there for a long moment without talking before her grip on my hoodie loosened.
I didn’t want to move. I wanted to stay with her like this forever, and I wanted to tell her just how good it felt to be around her.
My initial feelings toward her hadn’t deceived me.
The moment I first saw her, I knew she was special, and without wanting to sound arrogant, I just knew I could give her what she needed.
She eased back first. Her hands fell to her sides, and her eyes held mine with a kind of warmth that not many people held.
Her gaze was a little longing, and still clear about what needed to happen next.
“Drive safe,” she said.
“I will. I’ll text you when I’m home.”
She nodded and took the door with one hand, leaning against it as she slowly closed it. “Good night, Sly.”
“Good night, Sumner.”