He knew it was a lie, knew that I knew that he knew it was a lie, but he let it go and just nodded. “Yeah, I bet.” He popped the trunk and started unpacking my bags. “Let’s get you home, you can take a nap if you want. I know this is a lot.”
Home.
Would I really be able to call Blue Harbor home one day? I wasn’t even sure what having a home meant in the usual sense, in the way normal people that had healthy home lives meant it. Home was supposed to be a safe haven, a sanctuary, a place filled with love.
Shea had been the only home I’d ever had.
He shouldered two of my bags while I grabbed my hard shell suitcase that had all my computer equipment.
“Lea’s great, you’ll love him. He owns a bar with our other friend, Monroe, right down the street from here. Maybe once we’ve got you all set up and you’ve rested, we can go down there and grab a drink with the guys?” Shea’s green eyes cut to mine,and there was a hint of something uncertain in them. I wondered if he was nervous like I was.
I didn’t know what he had to be nervous about. He wasn’t the one who’d just uprooted his whole life to go live with a stranger.
“Um, yeah, maybe,” I said, having no intention of going down to his friends’ bar and hanging out with them. All I wanted to do was get my computer set up, talk to my friends, and go to sleep.
“Cool,” he said, flashing me a smile. He seemed genuinely happy that I was here, that I would be spending more time with him, that I was going to be part of his life again. And while I was happy about that too, it was hard to set aside those deeply ingrained feelings of abandonment. Maybe my time here with him would help resolve them, to some degree.
His brows drew together as his gaze trailed down to my torso. “Where’d you get that shirt?”
Oh, crap.
I’d completely forgotten I was wearing it. Why hadn’t I changed as soon as I’d gotten back to the car?
My heart pounded as I glanced down at the soft fabric. “Oh—just the s-store,” I lied. No way could I tell Shea about what had happened earlier. If I wasn’t wearing the shirt, I’d probably think it had all been a dream.
“Hmm. Looks like something Lea would wear.” I had no idea what to say to that, and thankfully he didn’t press the matter further. “Come on, let’s head inside.”
“This way,”Shea called over his shoulder as he walked down the hall. He stopped at the last door on the right and set my bags down. He unlocked the door and shoved it open, holdingit for me while I dragged my belongings inside, looking around the apartment.
Lea’s home was extremely cozy.
Straight ahead was a small living room with a cream-colored couch that had several colorful throw pillows and a blanket over the back. There was a wide ornamental rug in front of the couch, a dark brown coffee table, and directly across from the couch was a TV mounted to the wall. A small table sat in the corner, the same brown as the coffee table, with two chairs and a vase of flowers in the center.
The kitchen was immediately to the right through an arched doorway. There was a little seashell decoration at the top of the arch, and down the side on the right was a silver octopus. I stepped closer and realized it was a key holder with four tentacles curling down then up to act like little hooks. Cute.
To the left was a hallway, which was where I assumed the bathroom and bedrooms were. My assumption was confirmed when Shea said, “Your room’s at the end. Come on.”
Relief spread through me. I wouldn’t have to meet anyone right now, I could just lie down and take a nap. Be alone for a little while.
That relief was immediately obliterated when the first door on the right swung open.
“Sweet tiny Jesus, you scared me.”
I couldn’t see past my brother, but that voice sounded…familiar. Didn’t it?
Shea stopped short and muttered, “Oh my god, Lea. Are you serious?”
The sweet, silky voice said, “Can’t a girl change in peace? And why are you sneaking around like a ghost? I didn’t even know you were here!”
“Can you just go?—”
I peered around Shea to put a face to the voice. There was asudden roaring in my ears, and it grew louder as I took in the man I was going to be living with. My breath caught, my cheeks flooded with heat, and there was a burning sensation in my chest that flared across my shoulders as I stared.
And stared.
“Oh my, what a small, small world.You’reBeau?”
My heart jolted against my rib cage and began pounding.