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She sighs, squeezing the pillow tighter. “I recently graduated with my master’s degree, and they were supposed to give me a raise.” She swallows. “School year starts. No raise.”
“Damn, that sucks. I’m sorry.”
“Then my apartment raised the rent and… it was just a bad week for me.” She gives me a tight smile, but this time the warmth doesn’t meet her eyes.
“And that’s why you’re here?” I kind of already knew this, parts of it at least. But it feels different to learn the details from her.
“Yeah.” She sounds sad and I feel guilty. She shouldn’t have to work harder to earn more when she’s done so much already.
“Anyways. Thanks for helping, again,” she says, looking up at me. “I really appreciate it. Please don’t feel obligated to help me. I really can finish the rest on my own.”
“Really, it’s not a problem.” I try to sound as casual as I can. “I don’t mind. I’m going to grab some more stuff from the truck.”
“All right well,” she pauses, looking at me and then away. “Thank you.”
I don’t like the way she says it. It sounds a whole hell of a lot like, no one has ever helped me before, and that thought does dangerous things to my sense of judgement.
I’ve strictly limited myself to casual hookups. No dates. No feelings. No second times or unmet promises. With my life, I can’t exactly offer much more than that. And I can already tell, Astrid would challenge that in a way I haven’t allowed myself to want in a long, long time.
A knot twists in my stomach and I try to take a settling breath. I cannot let myself become attached, no matter how beautiful or sweet she is. I finally have my dream, and I can’t afford to let anything distract from that.
CHAPTER 6
ASTRID
Ididn’t expect for Sean to help me so much. I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong, but…
I watch as he carries another box of my books down the stairs as if it weighs nothing. His shirt riding up against his body, showing off his muscled stomach.
It doesn’t hurt to look, right?
“Where do you want the ones labeled books?” he asks. “And why are there so many of them?”
That snaps me out of my appreciation. “Put them in the bedroom. There are two bookshelves in the back of the truck.” I’m not sure I have a future as a mover. The way I packed that box truck to the brim with little plan or organization makes it much harder on me to put things away.
“You can just stay here,” he says. “Shouldn’t you be taking it easy on that injury?”
I follow him back up the stairs, ignoring his comment, but regretting it immediately when I see how good he looks from behind. Those broad shoulders leading to his waist…
Don’t look at him, don’t look at him, don’t look at him.
Sean jumps up on the truck, pushing what remains to the edge so that I don’t have to climb up again.
“Take that one,” he nods to the far right, “it’s the lightest one. Everything else is too heavy for you to carry on that ankle.”
“I already told you, it’s fine.” I lift up my leg as if it shows the proof. “See.”
He just laughs, hopping off the ledge and grabbing the biggest box.
I really could do this myself. It is not like a moving team loaded the thing. I have all day today and tomorrow to do this. There is no rush.
I think back to the things he’s said. He’s an athlete. A professional one. That probably explains his enthusiasm. It’s not me, it’s the challenge of it. Like he said, this is his daily workout. I’m sure he’s competitive about everything.
The worst part of being short is not being able to see above things. I should’ve taken him up on his offer to do the rest. Stupid box. I crane my neck around the cardboard edge, trying to judge if I’m near the last step. It is going to take me a lot more trips before the muscle memory of this house kicks in.
“Oh,” I let out a half-muffled scream as I miss the step and begin to fall, the box tipping out of my arms and falling over the unrailed side of the staircase.
Before I can think to brace myself, Sean is there. I land against his chest, his outstretched arms wrapping around me to keep me steady. His body is hard, or maybe it’s just the fall. And he doesn’t let go as he cages me against his body.
