I was lying there, and all I could smell was your pillow. I thought back to all the times you held me, and how when Lizzie was sick, you were there. I knew in my heart they had it wrong. I’m sorry it took me so long for my head to catch up.”
I exhale, grab her hand, and bring her knuckles to my lips. “Don’t apologize for anything that happened today, Mal. None of it was your fault. I’m just fucking relieved everything turned out the way it did.”
“Me too.” She sighs, sagging against the headrest. “I can’t believe he broke into my apartment.”
“I know he was arrested and hopefully going away for a hell of a lot longer than a handful of months, but I want to talk to you about your apartment. I know it’s your place and I don’t want to take away your independence or your decisions, but if you’re going to stay there, I want to stay too. The thought of you and Lizzie being in that place all by yourself makes me crazy.”
Mallory leans over and places her head on my shoulder. It’s not easy, since she’s belted in, but it’s enough. “I’m not sure I want to stay there,” she says. “The fact he was able to get in so easily, even with the locks engaged, is scary, Walker. I can’t risk Lizzie like that.”
I pull into the parking lot of the apartment building and glance up, spying the living room light on in Mallory’s apartment. When the ignition is off and the keys are in my hand, I turn to her and ask, “What if I have a solution to both of our problems?”
“I’m listening,” she replies, unfastening her belt and sliding a little closer.
“What if you moved in…with me?” My heart is tripping over itself, beating like a snare drum, and I think my palms turn sweaty as I wait for her to say something. She remains quiet for ten of the longest seconds of my life.
“You want to live together?” she asks, her green eyes so bright, even in the darkness of the car.
“Yes.”
“We’ve only known each other two months.”
I shrug, tossing my arm over her shoulder. “What does that matter?”
Now it’s her turn to give me a little shrug. “It doesn’t, I guess. Not really. What will your friends say?”
“They’ll say I’m an idiot for waiting this long, that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I may have only known you for a couple months, but I knew the moment I met you that you were different. You were going to change my life.”
Mallory grins and looks me square in the eye. “Lizzie and I are a package deal, Walker.”
“I’ve never received a greater gift.”
That’s when she throws her arms over my shoulders and kisses me square on the lips. She tastes like mint and my Mallory.
My cell phone pinging with a text message has me pulling away from her sweet lips much sooner than I’d prefer. “That’s probably one of the guys.”
“Probably.”
As we start to climb out of the car, she waits for me at the passenger door. I slip my hand around hers and lead her toward the apartment building. “You were already in your bedroom when you realized the drugs weren’t mine. Is that why you’re practically wearing pajamas?”
I see her blush under the dim security light by the entrance. “Yeah. I grabbed this hoodie out of the laundry, slipped on some shoes, and ran out to the living room to find Jameson.”
A growl echoes through the night. “I know why he was there, but I can’t help but want to punch my oldest friend in the face because he was here, at your place, protecting you when I couldn’t.”
“I thought you’d be happy he was here,” she counters, a look of uncertainty filling her eyes.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, Mal, I am. More than you’ll ever know, but at the same time I’m jealous there was a man here, in your apartment, because I couldn’t be.”
She reaches up and brushes her soft hands against my cheeks. “You have amazing friends, Walker. They stood up for you from the very beginning. Even when I wasn’t there yet.” I watch as her eyes turn misty and she works her throat to swallow.
“Hey, don’t do that. We’ve already been over this. I don’t blame you at all for being a little skeptical.”
She nods but doesn’t say a word.
“Why don’t we go upstairs and see our