“That’s…convenient.”
I huffed. “He was just looking for an excuse to keep paying his half of the rent so he wouldn’t leave me in the lurch when he moved in with Teddy. This way, I don’t have to find a roommate and he doesn’t have to feel guilty. It’s kind of a win-win.”
Zach and I had argued about it. Vehemently. But when it came down to it, I wasn’t in a financial position to turn him down and I honestly didn’t want to room with a stranger. So, we pretended he needed a space where he could get a break from Teddy, even though that had literally never happened.
But Renn didn’t need the full explanation to understand where I was coming from. “It’s cool how you and he take care of each other.”
“Yeah. I insisted he keep the big room, though. Technically, my room isn’t even a bedroom since it doesn’t have a closet.”
“I’m sure your bedroom is nice.” His husky tone washed over me and I swallowed.
Thinking of bedrooms reminded me of the conversation we needed to have. But that was going to require at least a few fortifying cookies, so it could wait until after dinner.
We settled into the little dining table and ate leisurely. Both our phones sat on the table, facedown, and we remained blissfully uninterrupted. I saw no signs of the Renn Archie had described, although by tacit agreement we avoided the topic of Pete. I talked about Chester’s Coffee Shop and my Advanced Sociology midterm. As with Zach, I was vague about where I thought my studies would take me career-wise, but Renn seemed happy just to hear about what it was like for me being back in school. He also had me laughing with stories about ridiculous tattoo clients and theGame of Thrones-level machinations of the PTSA.
“Seriously, Sadie, you really left me in the lurch with those ladies. After the 5K, they were practically feral with the need to gossip, trying to gather intel about what was going on with us. I finally had to tell them we weren’t together.”
“It’s lame they’re so pushy.”
“You don’t know the half of it. Do you remember that woman Hannah you met?”High ponytail, size two, designer athletic apparel Barbie Hannah? Nah. Can’t place her.
“Um…I think so.”
“Well, she straight up hit on me at the back-to-school drive in August. Like, super cliché, ‘My husband is out of town, we should have some fun.’ I turned her down, obviously, and I thought it would be awkward, but whenever I see her now, she acts like it never happened.”
I grinned. “Sorry.”
“You should be.” Renn winked. “If you and I had been together, she probably wouldn’t have been bold enough to do that. You left me alone with the wolves.”
“Don’t you mean the cougars?”
Renn chuckled. Halfway through dinner, he noticed the wooden lotus on a shelf in the kitchen and nodded toward it. “Did you get that before or after the tattoo?”
“Before. It was sort of the catalyst that got me thinking about the design.”
“Well, doing your lotus got me thinking about…lots of things.” He sat up in his chair and looked me straight in the eye.
I warmed at his words.
Renn dug back into his dinner and ate a healthy portion until finally declaring himself defeated by the carbs and dairy. “I gotta be honest…” He smiled as he pushed his chair back. “I was expecting blue soup.”
I chortled. “Renn Stoller, did you just make aBridget Jonesreference?”
“You told me it was your favorite movie, so I watched it.”
“That’s so sweet.”
“Well, it’s your favorite. I can’t guarantee I’m going to watch every movie you ever talk about.”
“Noted…and, same.” I grinned back.Could it truly be this easy to be with someone?I hated to spoil it by getting heavy, but I trusted Renn’s willingness to listen.
I grabbed the cookies from the kitchen, and we sat on the couch with the plate on the coffee table between us.
“Do you want to watch a movie?” he asked.
“I do want towatch a movie…” I used air quotes. “But before we do that, I think we need to discuss some things.”
Renn had been at the midpoint of bringing a cookie to his mouth, but he immediately put it down and turned toward me. “Okay.”
