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When he returned, he wouldn’t meet Sabrina’s gaze as he asked, “What are your thoughts now that you’ve slept?”
“We need to check in with Patrick about the updates. If he needs the new operation manual today, we should take care of that first. Then I need to run into town–” Sabrina stopped as she considered how she’d get there without a key for her car.
Freddy cocked his head in thought. “What if I stay here and rearrange things for our new office space while you run into town. You can take my car. If you don’t mind grabbing groceries while you’re there, I can have our office set up by the time you get back.”
It was a good plan, but Sabrina had a few concerns. “I’m not okay with your mom just coming and going.”
“That would be an issue if you stayed up at HQ, too.”
“Yeah, but there I’d have a lock on my door that kept her out of my personal space.” She wouldn’t have pushed it if she didn’t know it bugged Freddy just as much as it did her. Neither of them like other people touching their stuff or invading their space. Mutual respect and boundaries were part of why they got along so well.
Shifting his weight and staring at his feet, Freddy didn’t respond right away. When he did look up, Sabrina could tell he’d made a decision, but he still didn’t answer her.
Instead, he pulled out his phone, tapped on a contact, and set it to speakerphone, so Sabrina could hear the other end of the call ringing.
“This is Nathan Taylor,” Freddy’s dad answered.
“Hey, Dad. Mom should be pulling up any minute, but I need to talk to you.”
“What’s up? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, but I need to make some changes.”
Even through the phone line, Sabrina heard Mr. Taylor’s sharp inhale. Did Freddy really want her to hear this conversation? She felt like an intruder, but when she looked at him, Freddy’s gaze was locked on her, holding her in place.
“What kind of changes?” Nathan asked.
“I need my own place to live,” Freddy told him.
“You have your own place.” Confusion laced Mr. Taylor’s words.
“Not really. I have a house that Mom considers part of her domain. She decorated it, has a key, and is always handling maintenance, cleaning, and upkeep.”
Sabrina knew that was the polite version of how Freddy felt and wondered if his family ever got the unfiltered version of him. When his guard was down, his voice was deeper, half of what he said was sarcastic, and the other half reached philosophical depths that always surprised her.
“What are you thinking about doing?” his dad asked hesitantly.
“That depends on how this conversation goes. I either need new locks and boundaries, or I’m looking at buying my own place. I need a place that’s my own, where my mother doesn’t have free access to come and go without an invitation.” Freddypulled his bottom lip to the side and nibbled on the corner of it the way he did whenever he was nervous.
“Your mother just walked in. Let me discuss it with her. We’ll talk about it more at family dinner tomorrow night.”
Sabrina could tell by Freddy’s grimace that he’d either forgotten about dinner the following evening, or he hadn’t been planning to attend. He didn’t let any of his reaction bleed into his response, though.
“Okay. Thanks.”
“I love you,” his dad said.
“Love you too.” Freddy ended the call. “Roommates?” he asked.
“Sure,” Sabrina agreed. “But I pay rent, utilities, and help with groceries.”
Freddy narrowed his eyes at her. “You pay rent and cover your own groceries. I’ve got utilities since I’ve been using your utilities for all my work for several years now.”
Rolling her eyes, Sabrina decided it wasn’t worth the argument, especially since she was about to buy a ton of crap to replace the stuff that had been destroyed.
She looked around Freddy’s house and considered their set up. He had an eat-in kitchen with a small dining table, so the sounds of one of them cooking wouldn’t interrupt the other working in the living room. The windows that made up almost an entire wall would make setting up both their desks challenging, especially with the built-in bookcases along another wall.
“What’s your plan for our office set-up?” she asked him.
