I’ll see what dirt I can dig up on Jim Green and the other major players at Green Industries eight years ago.”
“Thank you.” I wanted to give him a hug, but that would have to wait for later.
“Okay, I’m out. See you guys later.”
The phone screen went dark, and Leo pulled me even deeper into his arms. “We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
I nodded, not in the mood to argue with him. Besides, there was nothing wrong with hoping. We knew more now than we had a few weeks ago, and that was something.
Forcing myself to relax, I slipped off my shoes and stretched my legs out next to me on the couch. “So, are you going to tell me what we’re doing here?” I kept expecting people to walk through the front door and ask why we were snuggling on their furniture.
Leo kissed the top of my head. “I rented this place for you.”
Whatever looseness had seeped into my limbs tightened in an instant. I sat up straighter and pushed away from him so that I could easily see his face. “What are you talking about?”
“You have a choice now. You don’t have to stay in that house, with him, if you don’t want to.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, relief and apprehension rushing through me in equal measures. Leo had...rented me a townhouse? I could barely even process it.
When I eventually reopened my eyes, I glanced around the spacious, open concept living room and kitchen. “You want me to move in here? By myself?”
Suddenly seeming to find one particular lock of my hair fascinating, he picked it up and rubbed it between his fingers. “Well, I thought you might want me to live here with you.”
Oh.
Oh. He wanted us to move in together?
I was eighteen. A freshman in college. The idea of living with my boyfriend—or even having a boyfriend—at this stage of my life had never crossed my mind. If asked, I probably would have said another girl in my position was crazy to even consider it.
But I wasn’t another girl. And Leo wasn’t another guy.
We were two people with a past and, I found myself hoping, a future.
There was no point in holding our relationship to a standard that didn’t fit who we were, apart or together.
Still...
“What happened to playing Vincent’s game? He just got Tristin back. What do you think he’ll do if you up and leave?”
Leo ran a hand through the front of his hair. “I don’t know, but it pisses me off that you’re stuck there, when I know you hate it.”
“I don’t hate it.”
“Sure, you don’t.”
“I don’t.” I shifted until I was sitting in his lap, straddling him. His thighs were so bulky, even my long legs could barely stretch over him in this position. And I liked it. Liked feeling small to his big. “I can’t hate it when you’re there.”
“Thea,” he groaned as he gripped my hips and tugged me even closer. “It’s hard to talk to you when you’re on top of me.”
I grinned at him. “Something is hard, all right.” Then, I moved slightly against that hardest part of him, pretending like I was merely getting situated.
His eyes flashed with desire and mischief as a slow smile spread over his face. “You’re evil.”
“And you’re cute when you’re horny.”
“I must be cute all the time, then.”
“Spoken like a true guy.”
He chuckled before sobering again. “Are you saying you don’t want to move in?”
I heard the silent “with me” in his question and was quick to assure him. “I love the idea of us living here together. Adore it, in fact.” Reaching up, I brushed a hand over his bristled jaw, enjoying the feel of the soft hairs on my skin. “But I don’t think now is the time. Not when we’re only days past the latest almost-fiasco with your father.”
“I get it.” Leo turned his head to place a kiss on my palm. “This place is yours either way. Come here whenever you want. If you need a place to study. Or time away from the mansion. Hell, have Petra over for a girls’ night. Whatever you want.”
Tears pricked at my eyes as I took in his earnest expression. When had he become this guy? The guy who understood what I needed even more than I did. The guy who kept finding ways to put me first. The guy who should have banged me six ways to Sunday by now but was holding back to prove to both of us