she felt him press his lips to the top of her head. She smiled again as her eyes combed his apartment, taking it in for the first time since she arrived there earlier that night. It was, as Colin had once said, basically a closet with a bathroom. It was just one large room; the small kitchenette took up half of the space, and his bedroom/living room took up the other. His bed, the bed they were lying in, was just a foldout couch, and she could see there was a tiny bathroom off the kitchen.
There was a dinginess to the paint on the walls, to the appliances in the kitchen, the result of old age rather than uncleanliness; in fact, while the apartment itself was somewhat messy, everything in it was surprisingly clean.
“Can I ask you something?” Andie asked before she had even fully decided to speak.
“Anything,” he answered softly.
“Colin said that you…” She trailed off, realizing now that she didn’t exactly know how to phrase her question without sounding rude.
“Colin said that I…?” he prompted her.
“That you…didn’t have to…live here,” she finally said, chewing on her bottom lip and cringing slightly.
She felt his chest bounce with laughter beneath her cheek. “What do you mean? You don’t appreciate the five-star accommodations?”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said, sure he could feel her blush against his chest. “I just meant…he said that you could…that this apartment wasn’t…God, never mind,” she said with a frustrated roll of her eyes, realizing there was no polite way to ask the question and wishing now that she just hadn’t said anything.
Chase pulled his fingers through her hair again. “Are you asking about my money?” he said, a smile in his voice.
“No, no,” she protested, officially transitioning from embarrassed to mortified. “I just…God, I’m sorry…I shouldn’t have said anything.”
He laughed again, leaning down and kissing the top of her head. “It’s okay,” he said. “And he’s right. I do have the means to live in a nicer place than this.”
Andie licked her lips, her embarrassment ebbing slightly as he continued to run his fingertips up and down her back.
“And you wanted to know why I choose to stay here?” he asked against the crown of her head.
She nodded softly, and she felt him take a deep breath.
“Because that money isn’t mine. I didn’t earn any of it. It was my mother’s, and it’s only mine now because she’s gone. To take that money, her money, and use it to keep myself comfortable while I play around, pretending to be a photographer—”
Andie lifted her head off his chest. “Stop it,” she cut him off. “Don’t belittle yourself like that.”
He smiled up at her. “Put it this way; I couldn’t support myself any better than this off of my photography right now. And until I can, I consider myself to be just playing around. It’s not self-deprecating. It’s just fact.”
Andie frowned, and he twined their fingers together before he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it softly. “Anyway,” he exhaled. “I won’t use that money unless it’s going toward something…I don’t know…worthy. Something she’d be proud of. And I just don’t feel like I’ve earned it yet.”
Andie looked down at him, completely humbled by his words. It seemed like every time she thought she had him figured out, he did or said something that revealed him to be even more complex, more amazing than she initially gave him credit for.
“Well I love this apartment,” Andie said as she leaned down and kissed him softly. “In fact, when you make it big as a photographer, I think you should keep it.”
He laughed again, pulling her down onto his chest. “We’ll see,” he sighed, and Andie began to trace shapeless patterns on his chest with her fingertips.
Chase lifted his head, looking down at what she was doing. “Are there bruises there?”
“Bruises?” she asked, lifting her head.
“Yeah. In the shape of your hands?”
Andie rolled her eyes as she saw the smirk lift the corner of his mouth. “Shut up. I didn’t push you that hard.”
“Didn’t push me that hard?” He laughed in disbelief. “You almost put me through the wall!” Andie pressed her lips together, fighting laughter as he added, “I mean, shit, remind me never to piss you off again.”
Her composure finally broke as she laughed, dropping her forehead to his chest. “You’re lucky that’s all you got.”
“That’s true,” he said, his hand finding its way to her hair again. “I thought you were gonna deck