“Well, it’s kinda my only option at this point. It’s all I can afford without selling off my organs. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty attached to my kidneys.”
“Come on. Be serious,” he chastised in a very unlike-Till way. The crinkle on his forehead was unnatural and looked out of place on his strong face.
Till was no longer a boy in any respect. He stood at six foot four, and every plane of his body was covered with chiseled edges and contoured muscles. His hands were large and callused like a working man well past his eighteen years. Boys didn’t look like that. Men did. Till did.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed the changes in Till either. There was no shortage of women vying for his attention. But if they were lucky enough to catch it, I didn’t know. He always brushed my questions about his romantic relationships off. I’d eventually given up and stopped asking. I didn’t really want to know the answer anyway.
He cleared his throat to catch my attention, but it only drew my gaze to his throat. I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed. It was a spectacular show I could barely drag my eyes off. And when I did, it was only to move down to the thick muscles at the base of his neck.
“Hello? Earth to Doodle.” He waved a hand in front of my face.
I stuttered for a moment before remembering what we were talking about. “Till, my student loans won’t take me far. Plus, I have to pay for utilities and crap. Not to mention buying books and supplies. That stuff is expensive. Even if I increased my hours at The Smokehouse, I wouldn’t be able to eat half the time if I picked one of the other apartments. It’s not that bad, and this way, I can afford the one bedroom.” I grinned proudly.
“Oh, fucking fantastic. You’re going to be living there alone,” he snapped then began to pace a small circle.
“Hey.” I stepped in front of him. “If I have my own place, we can ditch this one and start hanging out there.” I smiled, excited about the possibility.
Till blankly stared at me.
“Um, hello! This is a good thing. Did you hear me?” I asked.
He barked out a loud, sarcastic laugh. “Yep. Loud and fucking clear.” He crossed his arms over his chest and eyed me for a second longer. “You’re not living there,” he stated definitively, causing me to copy his earlier reaction and bark out a loud, sarcastic laugh of my own.
“Oh, I’m not?” I lifted an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest, mimicking him. I had a sneaking suspicion my glare wasn’t nearly as effective as his, but I held his eyes anyway.
We must have stood there for a full five minutes. I wasn’t even sure that I blinked. By the time Till’s lip twitched at the ridiculousness of our stare-off, I couldn’t contain it anymore and burst out laughing, collapsing to the pillows on the floor.
I used a deep voice to mock his as I rolled around in hysterics, saying, “Doodle, you’re not living there.”
He wasn’t impressed by my uncanny impression.
Finally, I was able to collect myself enough to glance up at him. I fully expected him to be pissed, but he was watching me with a wide smile.
God, he is gorgeous.
“You done?” he asked with a twinkle of something I couldn’t quite figure out in his eyes.
“I don’t know. Are you done telling me where I’m allowed to live?” I tilted my head questioningly.
He sucked in a breath before releasing it with a hard sigh. “I just worry about you living alone. It’s not like your dad’s going to get off his sorry ass and be there to make sure nothing happens to you.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously.” He put his hands on his hips, and if it weren’t for the fact that I was irritated by his attitude, I would have at least taken a minute to ogle his biceps.
Instead, I focused on the aforementioned attitude. “News flash. I don’t need anyone to make sure nothing happens to me. I’m a big girl, Till.”
“Right. Of course you are.” He let out a frustrated groan and rolled his eyes. “Can we just stop talking about this shit? I got you a graduation present.” He headed back toward the window.
“You got me a present!” I squealed. All of my annoyance disappeared.
He had given me a lot of things throughout the years. Most of them were things he found for the apartment when people moved from the building or, more often, got evicted. I loved them nonetheless.
“Well, kinda. I actually made you a present.”
“You made me a present! That’s even better!” I flew to my feet, and he started laughing at my enthusiasm.
“Well, I got to thinking a few days ago. What the hell are you gonna do when I’m not there to hold your sketchpad on my chest while you draw?” he asked with a huge grin, but it deflated mine.
“Why wouldn’t you be there to hold my sketchpad?”