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“I don’t know.”
“I know. If he lets you do all the things he hates, he likes you more than just a fuck buddy, girl,” Julie adds.
I move my gaze between all three girls, who are staring at me with the same knowing look.
“You know,” Rae finally adds, “when you first arrived, he called me, freaking out. Telling me you couldn’t live with him and I needed to find a different place for you to stay.”
“He did?” My brows scrunch up, a little hurt. I know I caught him off guard, but I didn’t think he’d want to get rid of me as soon as possible.
“Mhmm,” she muses. “But when Jensen called him a week later, telling him he found a friend of Finn’s you could stay with, he declined.”
“What do you mean, he declined?” I parrot, ridicule etching through my tone. I don’t like to be thought of as something you can accept or decline. I don’t know why, but it irks me.
“He refused to let you stay with anyone else. He said you were going to stay with him until you found your own place. Jensen told me.”
I swallow roughly, my mouth turning dry by this new piece of information. For a moment, I’m speechless, not sure what to think. I could’ve stayed somewhere else, but Bodi didn’t want me to leave?
“He never asked me to get my own place. Not even once.” All three of them look at me with expressions that speak volumes. “That first week I was meaning to ask him to help me find some places to check out, but I never did and he never brought it up. I let it go because I like living with him. I know it’s silly because he’s not my boyfriend, but it’s nice to pretend.” I avert my gaze, unable to look at their hopeful faces. “I feel safe with him around. Cherished.”
Julie snorts. “And you think that’s not mutual? Have you seen the way he looks at you? You can tell me anything you want, but I ain’t buying that.”
“Maybe you’re not the only one who wants a little more, Keeks,” Rae adds, leaving me dumbfounded and confused.
I want to believe them, but my fear is not letting me take the plunge, holding my heart back as much as I can.
“Yeah, maybe.”