Only Home with You by Jeannie Chin

Author:Jeannie Chin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2022-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

“So…do you want me to stay away?” Zoe had her back turned to Devin as she brushed her hair, but her gaze flicked to his in the bathroom mirror.

He was a little groggy, still splayed out on the mattress, naked and boneless. She hadn’t had to close the bar tonight, so she’d come over after her shift, which was great—he loved seeing her. But it was past his bedtime, and that last round had been particularly athletic.

There was something in her voice that told him he needed to pay attention, though.

He rose onto his elbows and rummaged around in his skull for enough brain cells to rub together. “What do you mean? It’s your house.”

Their pillow talk had inevitably turned to a discussion of the dinner party Han was holding at the Leung house. She’d seemed surprised to hear he was trying to find a way out of it.

“Yeah,” she allowed. She set down her brush—one of a couple of her things that had somehow found a home for themselves in his bathroom this week—and came back over to the bed. As if she could tell that he wasn’t at his best when she wasn’t wearing any clothes, she pulled the covers up over her chest. “But Han is your best friend. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

He wasn’t quite tired or stupid enough to laugh. He’d only resisted her as long as he had because he hadn’t been willing to risk Han’s friendship or Arthur’s welcome. Of course his being with her now was going to affect his relationship with her family.

He reached for her hand and held it in his, running his thumb along the lines of her palm. He should be stressing out right now, but it was hard to be anything but relaxed when it was just the two of them. She made talking about his feelings easy in a way no one ever had. “You aren’t in the way. I’m just nervous he’ll catch on to something being weird between us.”

“Yeah…”

He closed his fingers around hers more firmly. “You know I don’t like keeping this secret, right?”

“I know.” She wasn’t looking at him, though.

“It’s just…”

“I get it. I’m probably not going to be here for long.” She huffed out a breath and pitched her voice higher, putting on the fake-happy smile she always used when talking about her job search. “Fifteen more applications submitted today.” She deflated back to a more natural tone. “No point rocking the boat for something temporary, right?”

Sourness coated the back of his tongue. This was good, them being clear with each other like this. It was smart and mature.

So why did he hate it so much?

He couldn’t bring himself to agree with her, so he barreled on. “Look, I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay away.”

“And I don’t want you to feel like you do.”

“So we won’t,” he decided. “We’ll both go—if that’s what you want to do. And we’ll just try to be normal.

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