Page 46 of A Matter of Time

I nodded. I would really try.

Chinese food sounded the best, so we stopped at a good place in Oak Park. He talked about his day, and I told him how many errands I had run for Dane in one eight-hour period. It was nice just swapping information that wasn’t so much vital as just banter. I was getting used to him, to having him around, and as much as I knew it was a mistake to get attached, I was having a lot of trouble not doing so.

“What are you thinking now?”

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“Lot of sighing and watering eyes for thinking about nothing.”

“My eyes are watering because I’m yawning and tired, no other reason.”

“You’re a real piece of work,” he said, exasperated.

“Whatever.”

“Get up, let’s go.”

Back in the car I was wide awake, getting my second wind. I was silent though, not wanting to fight with him, afraid that I would for no good reason other than to keep him there. It was juvenile, so I clammed up in hopes that he would just drop me off and drive away. When he stopped in front of my apartment, I muttered a thank-you and grabbed the door handle, but the hand on my shoulder stopped me, and I turned back to him.

He cleared his throat. “You know what? I think maybe I should go in and check your place out to make sure it’s secure and all.”

“Sure,” I said quickly, my mind racing all over again. Did he want to come in to just come in, or did he want to come in and get in my bed?

“Are you all right?”

It was just stupid wishful thinking… Although, why not check out my place a week ago? “Yeah, I’m just a little out of it.”

He nodded like he agreed, and I climbed down out of the car.

“Where are you going?” he asked me as I started leading him across the lawn.

“What?”

“Something wrong with the front door?”

I pointed to the side. Obviously, he’d never stayed and watched me go in. I’d wondered about that. “I can’t get to my apartment that way.”

He shot me a look.

“What?”

“Are you kidding?”

I walked around the side, behind the house, and started up the wooden stairs.

“Wait,” he ordered, like he was exhausted.

I stopped moving.

“Lemme get this straight,” he said quickly, his voice strained. “You walk behind the house in the dark, up these stairs to the top where you can’t see shit?”

I turned around to look down at him. “Yeah.”

“Move,” he ordered gruffly, slipping around me so he could go first. “For crissakes, Jory.”

He sounded more exasperated than mad. I didn’t see the problem.

“How stupid are you?”