Stir Me by Crystal Kaswell

Author:Crystal Kaswell [Kaswell, Crystal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, New Adult, Love
Publisher: Crystal Kaswell
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The shriek of my ringtone pierces the otherwise calm silence. It's Samantha. I peek into the bedroom. Alyssa is in her own little world, her hands curled around her Kindle, her eyes glued to its screen.

She turns towards the sound, her eyes connecting with mine. "Samantha?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not going to be upset if you answer."

I nod. She motions for me to close the door. That must be a sign of trust.

I answer. "Hey."

"Hey," Samantha replies. It's almost a whisper.

Her parents must be home.

"Is everything okay?"

"I can survive a few days without you," she says. "But this isn't really a social call. And I have to make it quick."

"Date with Mr. Whole Foods?"

"No, that's not happening. Not after my fun attempt to get to the afterlife again."

Fucking hilarious.

"I have a few interviews in L.A.," she says.

"That's great."

"I want to move back as soon as I can. My parents are driving me crazy."

Tension knots in my shoulders. "My friend Mike could help you find a place."

"Yeah, Mike is great." She takes a slow breath. "But I already know where I want to live."

I clear my throat. "Where is that?"

Samantha sighs. She wants me to say all this for her. She wants me to offer the house back, so she doesn't have to ask.

"Luke... you know where."

"Where?"

"I want the house."

She says it so bluntly, as if I have no say in the matter, as if it doesn't matter that I've been living here for six months. Or that she dumped my sorry ass and promised to move out. Or that she didn't even want the house when she tried and failed to leave me. She didn't even want me to buy her out of her half of the mortgage, not with Edward fronting the money for the down payment.

She wanted her conscious clean, so she could live happily ever after with him.

"Luke? Are you there?"

"Yeah."

"I know I don't have any legal standing, but I want it. It was a long time ago, but it felt like home."

"When did it feel like home? When you were fucking my father or when you tried to kill yourself in our bed?"

She sighs. "It's not just where I tried. It's where I survived. And before that, we were happy. I was happy."

"When were we happy? Because most of what I remember is a crock of shit. Since you were fucking my father for, what, two years? Three?"

"Luke..."

I feel dizzy, like the air rushed out of my lungs all at once. Samantha wants this house. I knew she'd want it eventually. I promised it to her. I expected to give it away.

But that was before Alyssa. Before we kissed here, before we spent long, tired mornings here, before we started to make a life here.

"It's my house," I say.

"Can we not fight over it?"

"You didn't want it when you dumped me."

"Please." She's pleading. "I have enough to buy out your half and throw in a little extra for the interest. I don't want to go back to some sterile apartment complex.

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