“Calm down there, killer. Your excitement is a little over the top.” Chloe held her hands in front of her as though she was warding off his onslaught of enthusiasm.
Reid laughed, a flicker of life dancing in his eyes. He leaned back in the chair and took a swig from his beer, his smile still in place. “I see the late hour hasn’t affected your ability to put me in my place.”
With a dismissive wave, Chloe scrunched her face. “It will never be too late for me to put you in your place. I live for these moments.”
“I bet you do,” he murmured, his eyes narrowed with playful suspicion. “So have you worked out the details of what you plan to do during your two-week break?”
“The first thing I’m going to do is cook my own food. I know that probably sounds silly to you, but I want to eat something that doesn’t feel like takeout.”
“That doesn’t sound silly. I know exactly what you mean. No matter how many meals are catered in, it still feels like eating out every single day.”
“It does,” Chloe agreed, her mind shifting to her apartment in Brooklyn. Well, what was soon to be her old apartment in Brooklyn. Apparently, Reid’s train of thought had moved to the same topic.
“Are you still planning on packing up all your things while you’re there?”
“Yeah. I know it’s a lot to do, but I don’t see the point in waiting. My landlord found someone to take over my lease. If I move now, I can avoid paying six months of rent for a place I’m not living in.”
“Do you have help?”
“I do. Anders is promoting a movie in New York next week, so Josie is tagging along. She’s going to help me box everything up and arrange for it to be delivered to her place in LA.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. I was worried about you doing all that by yourself.”
Chloe shrugged. “I have friends in Brooklyn who would have helped. Although, they probably would have spent the entire time trying to convince me not to move.”
Chloe didn’t miss the way Reid’s jaw tightened. “Well, I’m glad you won’t have to resort to their help.”
Chloe laughed. “You’re probably right. What about you? What are your plans?” Chloe’s grip tightened around the glass bottle in her hands. She wanted to kick herself for asking a question she already knew the answer to.
Reid shifted and took another sip from his beer. “Memphis,” was all he said. No further explanation was necessary.
“How’s the writing coming?” Chloe asked, wanting to change the subject.
“Hit and miss,” Reid answered with a humorless chuckle. “I’ve written some, but every word is a struggle. I just can’t seem to find my rhythm for more than a second.”
Chloe reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “Maybe Memphis will do you good. Give you a chance to breathe. Maybe you can visit some of the places you wrote about.”
Reid shrugged and downed the rest of his beer. “I’ll take another one if you have any.”
Chloe grimaced. “Sorry, that was my last one.”
“I have a few in my room. Are you up for another round?”
“Sure. Go grab ’em. I’ll be right here.”
As soon as the door clicked behind him, Chloe dropped her head in her hands and groaned. He was doing everything in his power to make her hate herself and he didn’t even know it.
“Rainbow socks,” Reid muttered as he pulled a six-pack of beers from his fridge. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. He shouldn’t go back. He should call it a night and crawl into bed, but he wasn’t going to do that. The truth was, the idea of going two full weeks without seeing Chloe was more difficult than he wanted to admit. Had she not agreed to move to LA, he wasn’t sure what he would have done. That knowledge alone was the only thing keeping him from following her to New York.
He shook his head at the ridiculous thought. Following her to New York would be the worst thing he could do. He belonged in Memphis—with Jess. The moment her name popped into his head, a pang of guilt and shame seared through his chest. Not wanting to think about all of the ways he was screwing up every aspect of his life, he shoved his room key in his pocket and walked back to Chloe’s room.
Rapping his knuckles on the door, he pushed it open and stepped inside before flipping over the lock that had been used to prop open the door. Chloe was still seated at the table, one knee pulled to her chest while her other leg dangled from the chair. Wordlessly, they smiled at each other as he passed her a beer and grabbed one for himself.
“So have you decided which songs we’re doing for the awards show?”
“I’ve only changed my mind about a dozen times,” he groaned. “I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time with this one.”