Throuple In Paradise - Faleena Hopkins Page 0,11
could carry a sword.
As they reappear with boxes, Troy realizes what’s happening and he jumps in to help. This takes me by surprise, and shows a side of his personality I wasn’t expecting. A guy that handsome being a well-mannered gentlemen, too? That’s damn attractive.
But he’s not Jack.
He looks…
Dare I say it?
Too young.
His skin isn’t rugged like Jack’s.
Would Jack carry those boxes?
He’d probably tell Teeka she should carry them herself to learn her lesson. The image brings a smile to my face.
As the last bit of stuffed cardboard vacates the premises, Teeka and I stare at each other. “I won’t miss you,” I tell her.
“Yeah, you will. But it’s okay, I’ll miss you a little bit too. Biatch.”
“Ugh.”
She waves her pinky and smiles an amused, “Wish me luck!”
“Stay in past the normal twenty-eight days!” I call out as the door shuts. “Stay in for ninety!”
Troy walks up, calm as he dials the phone. “Jack? If I’m going to live here, we need bleach.” His smirk is adorable as he throws me a wink. “Yeah, send a team with gas masks. Alright, bye.”
“You really think you’re moving in with me?!”
“I don’t think I am, Marion. I am.”
I kind of hate that he called me Marion. Why didn’t he have the balls to call me Mar again, like I warned him not to?
“Oh Troy,” I smile, leaning back and hooking my hands over my flat tummy. “I am going to walk all over you.”
“Ya think so, huh?”
“I know so.”
He grins. “Can’t wait.” Throwing his phone in the air, he snatches it before it falls as he saunters to my kitchen. “Got any pizza?”
“Dancers don’t eat pizza!” Except when they visit you in a hospital room under extreme conditions. “Ever!”
“You could use a pizza, Marion. You look a little thin.”
“I’m supposed to be this weight, you ignoramus. Men have to lift me!”
“I could lift you with my pinky.”
With those muscles, he might be right. “My lines are part of what I do. Ballet is not just dancing, Troy. It’s art!”
“If you were a painting, I’d feed you.”
My head flies back on my neck. “What a weird thing to say.”
“Welcome home, babe.” He walks over and sits on the couch next to me, thighs bursting at the seams with strength.
“Excuse me, Troy, but I’m no dummy. You do not get as ripped as you are without a healthy diet.”
“I work out so much I can afford to eat pizza, that’s my trick.” He touches my nose, and smirks at me, our faces really close. His eyes travel over my face and he hums approval before returning to his phone. “Even got the number in my favorites. Hey Peter, it’s me, Troy. I need a veggie pizza with pesto and parmesan delivered to a new address this time.” He rattles off mine and locks eyes with me as he adds, “I’ll pay in cash when you get here. See ya soon.” Hanging up, he grins, those dimples absolutely adorable.
“You’re on a first name basis with that pizza place?”
“Nah. But that would be pretty funny if I was, right?”
I stare at him. “This is going to be terrible.”
He frowns, which for some reason makes him cuter. “Have any beer?”
“Girls live here!”
He heads for the kitchen, muttering with a laugh, “Not anymore.”
Chapter Seven
Troy
My face is shoved sideways into my pillow as I’m lying on my stomach, just waking up. Squinting at the blue sky out my open window, I exhale and remember where I am. It hasn’t settled in yet.
Jack had some furniture shipped over with my clothes. I’d sold it all before I moved in with him. He had no place to put it. Little did we know I’d be lacking a dresser again so soon.
I feel like a dick for needing him to buy one for me, but neither of us planned this. And he was right in his prediction.
Marion is not an easy woman to live with.
I’ve been here for six days so far, but she’s gone the opposite way I expected. Each day she speaks to me a little less. I’m not sure if she’s just not into me, or if she’s so interested she’s running in the opposite direction in order to create a challenge.
Marion’s idea of dealing with her broken leg, and the loss of a dream, is to watch sad movies and sleep most of the day. When awake, she’s more snapping turtle than ballerina. I laughed it off for the first few, but then it started goading me. I