180. Courtney
Chapter 180
Courtney
Lips press against my temple. “I gotta run into town.”
“Mmkay.” My reply is as sleepy as I feel.
“Go back to sleep. You have thirty before your alarm. I’ll see you at lunch.” He kisses me again, then stands. “Don’t make it weird.”
That has my eyes cracking open.
Don’t make it weird?
“What are you talking about?” I ask. But Sterling is already striding out of the room.
Then it dawns on me.
It’s the last day of the month.
And that means I’ll get my first paycheck from Black Mountain Lodge.
I blink at the ceiling.
Sterling’s bedroom ceiling.
This is the payday I’ve been counting on since before I even started.
Since the day I was told I got the job.
At the time, I’d been in… such a bad place.
Financially.
Mentally.
I needed this so badly.
And when I got here… it took a few days, but I got settled.
I got a cabin to call my own.
I got a homemade lunch every day.
I got coworkers who became my friends.
And I got Sterling.
I got stability.
And I kept my position by being good at my job.
A job I’ve come to enjoy.
I take a deep breath.
The relationship I’m building with Sterling has nothing to do with my paycheck.
I won’t make it weird.