Page 70 of Robbin’ the Rich

"Your nerd house."

I laughed. "My house."

“The Nerd House.”

There wasn't much point arguing with her when she was drunk it seemed. Robin possessed an impressive ability to commit to a bit.

Inside, she almost fell over when she tried to yank off her boots. I steadied her and knelt down, unlacing them and taking them off.

"You should shower," I said.

She squinted at me suspiciously. "You're very bossy tonight."

"You are very drunk tonight. Trust me, after your bout, your muscles will thank you in the morning."

Her expression shifted as she considered that before giving a little shrug.

The victory felt significant.

A little while later, after much grumbling, I finally got her settled in a hot shower. While she was in there, I gathered a blanket from the hall closet, filled a glass with water, and set a bottle of ibuprofen on the coffee table.

The whole thing felt strangely natural.

Most of my adult life had been spent carefully keeping people at a distance. Relationships happened, but none of them had ever settled into my life this easily. None of them had ever felt like they belonged there.

Robin somehow did.

When she finally emerged from the bathroom wearing one of my t-shirts, her damp curls falling around her shoulders, I felt something shift inside me.

Not desire, at least not only desire. There was an affection that was new. It was the kind that sneaks up on you when you're busy paying attention to other things, that makes seeing someone comfortable in your space feel more intimate than kissing them.

She accepted the water I handed her and curled up in the corner of the couch beneath the blanket. By the time I sat beside her, she had already tucked her feet underneath herself and claimed approximately three-quarters of the available space.

"I see you're settling in."

She smiled sleepily. "I make myself at home."

"Clearly."

The television played quietly in the background, neither of us really paying attention to it. The energy from Trixie's had faded, leaving behind the pleasant exhaustion that followed a good night. Outside, the neighborhood was quiet. Inside, the house felt warm.

Robin leaned against my side without hesitation, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. For a while, neither of us said much. We sat together watching the television. I could feel the warmth of her through the fabric of my shirt and could smell her shampoo from the shower.

Eventually, Robin tipped her head back and looked up at me.

"Can I tell you something?"

There was something in her voice that made me look down immediately.

The teasing had faded. The alcohol was still there, softening her edges, but beneath it was something more vulnerable than she usually allowed herself to be.

"Of course."

She was quiet for several seconds, staring down at the blanket gathered in her lap.

"I don't trust people very easily."

The confession wasn't dramatic. She didn't say it like she was revealing some great secret. If anything, she sounded resigned to it. I thought about everything she'd told me over the past few weeks. Lila, her parents, Lantern House, the church, none of that fostered a sense of trust.