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CHAPTER NINETEEN: YOU'RE GONNA CARE
THE COLE'S HOUSE was packed with people. They had an off day, so Gerrit and Amy invited everybody over to their house. Amy always insisted people bring plus ones, so Oswaldo dragged Valerie along. Usually Lila was the one to force her to come, but she was still in Miami with Alix so it was just them this time.
When they got there, Oswaldo just left her to go talk to Gleyber and Liz, so she was stuck walking around by herself. She had just grabbed a beer and was making her way over to the patio, when Anthony came into view.
Her eyes met his and for a moment, neither of them moved. But then she managed to tear her eyes away and walked outside, where the cool air hit her. She sighed and walked over to the edge of the porch, leaning on the railing.
Hotel life was...it wasn't the worst, but it definitely wasn't her favorite thing. The room was ok, but it was expensive, and the fact that the couple in the room next to hers fucked at all hours of the night, did not help.
The sound of the door opening and closing made her turn around. She was expecting to see Oswaldo, but it wasn't him. It was Aaron.
"Hi, Val," he greeted, walking over to her.
"Hi." She tried to sound happy to see him, but her tone came out sounding tired. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Hi."
He didn't seem to notice and instead leaned against the railing next to her. "How's it going?"
"It's going," she replied, taking a sip of her beer. "Living in a hotel is great."
He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you living in a hotel?"
"The storm and flooding caused some damage to my building," she explained, picking at the label on the bottle. "So my landlord kicked me out for a couple months."
"Yikes, that sucks," he replied, cringing. "You couldn't find an apartment?"
She shook her head. "Not on such short notice."
He nodded and for a moment, his eyes lit up like he had an idea, but he didn't say anything.
"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Huh? Oh, nothing." He shook his head, dismissing her.
"No, c'mon," she urged, nudging his shoulder. "What is it? Do you know a place?" She didn't mean to sound so desperate, but the thought of having a real place to stay for a while, sounded better than she could ever describe.
He was hesitant for a moment, and then his shoulders dropped. "I might-"
"You do?" she asked, her voice filled with excitement.
