“Nice place.” I dig around for any other signs of life. “Where are Troy and Avery?”
“They went out to grab something to eat. Come on.” She walks ahead of me and I blatantly stare at her ass because I can’t help myself. “I’ll give you the quick tour.” She gestures with her hand. “Living room.”
My eyes travel the space, zeroing in on family pictures lining the walls, evidence of her sculpting talent covering tables and spanning shelves. Various pieces of nostalgia sit on top of a television cabinet. A brightly colored painting of Mickey Mouse hangs in the corner and makes me smile. While the apartment is filled with many things, in no way does it look cluttered. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an apartment this clean.” I chuckle. “Certainly not mine.”
She flicks me a grin over her shoulder. “That’s all me. If it were up to Avery, all the furniture would be draped with dirty clothes. This,” she waves her hand like a wand, “is the kitchen.”
“Nice roses.”
“Thanks.” She glances up at me with a soft smile. “Some guy gave them to me,” she says in a quiet voice as we make our way out of the kitchen. “You’ve already seen the living room.” She points to the right as I follow her down the hall. “Bathroom. And that door,” her chin lifts, “leads to Avery’s room. I’m a bit scared to walk in there so you’ll just have to use your imagination.” Crossing over to the opposite side, she reaches in to flick the light switch on the wall. “And this is my room.”
All at once, her scent attacks me. It’s everywhere, wrapping me up in so much fucking sweetness my chest fills with it. Distracted, I struggle to absorb everything that is Ember— sculptures on colorful shelves, picture frames full of memories, blown-up prints of sunsets, and another small poster of Mickey Mouse. A short distance away I spot the snow globe I bought for her and my heart jumps in my chest. “You kept it,” I murmur, walking over to pick it up from her dresser. As I shake it, Ember comes over too, and together we watch the tiny white particles fly around inside the cheap plastic.
“Of course I kept it. It means something to me.”
Means.
I set the globe down then turn to Ember, trying like hell not to focus on the present tense of her words. Vulnerability flashes in her eyes and all the questions I want to ask die on my lips. I don’t know how I fit into her life now, and for me to push doesn’t seem fair. “I’m kind of ready to start our date. Are you?”
“Yup. Let me just grab a jacket.” My tentative expression makes her hesitate. She looks down at herself then up to me. “What?”
I brush back a few strands of her hair. “You fucking stun me. That’s… that’s all.” A pink flush spreads over her cheeks and along her neck. I let my fingers slide down the soft skin of her arm to entwine our hands. “Let’s go before I find reasons for us to stay.”
We step off the elevator and weave our way through the lobby to street level. My mind still races with questions, but also with possibility. I release a breath and tell myself to have patience. It’s obvious Ember is preoccupied too—but with what, or who, I couldn’t say.
“Where are we going?” she asks, her warm palm in mine making me realize how much I missed this—fucking hand holding is underrated. “Vance?”
“Huh?”
She laughs, bending her head to catch my eyes. “I asked where we’re going.”
“You’ll see when we get there,” I retort. Her cheeks fill up and she looks like a pufferfish. “You trust me, right?”
Her hesitation makes me think maybe that was the wrong thing to say. Until she surprises me with her answer. “I do.” Relief leaves my chest in a rush as we walk for a while, blanketed by conversation and periods of comfortable silence.
“How do you like living here?”
She breathes out a sigh. “I like it a lot. But at first it was hard for me to adjust. Everything was so big and in your face, and I found myself missing Oregon. But not Avery.” She laughs. “I swear the moment we got here she got down and kissed the ground. It’s like she knew she belonged here or something.” She glances up at the lights of a plane flying overhead. “I love it here now, though. The energy became addictive.” Her gaze travels down to mine. “What about you?”
“I like it. It definitely took a while for me and Chris to get our bearings and figure things out. But everything is going well for us. Plus there’s the band which I love and….” I stop myself from what I really want to say—that being with her makes it feel like home. “Yeah, it’s good.”