"Thanks for helping me, Grace," Luke says, and I collapse on his bed. His apartment elevator is not working so the two of us had to lug his incredibly heavy suitcases up seven flights of stairs. Thank God it was all he brought, I can't imagine climbing those steps with boxes.
He lays down next to me, letting out a heavy sigh. I look over to him, "Are you happy to be back?"
He shrugs, staring at the ceiling, "Not really, honestly. I wish I could just stay in Seattle," he looks over at me, "With you."
I give him a small smile and he winces, "Sorry."
My eyebrows furrow, "Why are you sorry?"
"Because," he says quietly, "You aren't ready for a relationship. We're taking it slow."
I know he's talking to me, but it sounds more like he's reminding himself.
"Don't apologize," I say, equally as quiet, "I wish we could spend more time together, too."
He smiles at me, before looking back up at the ceiling. I don't look away from him, though. I know he knows I'm staring, but I don't care. He is just so beautiful. His nose curves up at the tip, the curve of his cheekbone being masked by the stubble on his jaw. Which, by the way, he is starting to grow back. He had been shaving for a while, but he's letting it grow back again and I love it.
He gets up abruptly - okay, well, maybe not abruptly. It seemed abrupt to me because I was hardcore staring at him and wasn't expecting it, but he really just got up.
He walks over to the corner of the room and picks up his suitcase, dropping it on the bed next to me where he just was. It's so heavy that I go airborne for a second, which makes both of us laugh.
He starts unpacking and I sit up, taking out the clothes and refolding them, handing them to him so he can put them in his drawers.
We're doing this for about 10 minutes when his door bursts open. I flinch, and Luke groans.
"Hemmings, my guy!" A fellow blonde shouts. His aura just wrecks of rich white frat boy.
"I should of locked it," Luke mutters.
"Oh, who's this," the man says, coming behind me and putting his arms around me. He smells so strongly of axe I feel like I'm going to get a headache.
"Please don't touch me," I squirm away from him. The fuck does he think he is? Cat would have a field day ripping him apart.
"Hemmings, you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!"
I see Luke goes quiet, and I speak up, "He didn't tell me he had an asshole roommate."
"Oh, hot and feisty," he laughs, not taking me seriously.
"Get the fuck out, Brett," Luke says, and goes over to him, pushing him out.
"I will see you later," he winks at me, and Luke rolls his eyes, slamming the door in his face, locking it.
"He's gross," I say and Luke laughs lightly, "You have no idea."
"I'm sorry if he made you uncomfortable, I should of locked-"
I stop him, "Luke, stop. Not your fault."
"I know. It's just-" he stops, shaking his head, "Never-mind."
"Oh, no," I say, putting his empty suitcase on the floor next to me, patting the bed for him to sit, "What's wrong?"
He sits, and I face him completely with my legs criss crossed. His legs are dangling off the bed, his hands in his lap, "It's dumb."
