Chapter 97

• My hand slid down his arm as he left, and even though his expression was still cold, he gave my hand a quick squeeze before leaving me alone, so brief, I wondered if I’d only imagined it. The bedroom door shut quietly behind him. For a long time after he left, I just stood there in the middle of the bathroom, wondering what the hell was happening between us. We’d marked each other deeply last night, and not just physically. And I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt it.
• Straightening my spine and taking a deep breath, I combed out my wet hair and stuck it up on top of my head in a messy bun. Or at least it would be when it dried. Then I finished in the bathroom and got dressed. As I passed by the closet door, I stopped and looked inside at the things I’d hung up earlier. Nothing from “Nicole” was there. Just the things I liked to wear, few as they were. It was all summer stuff, and I wondered if now that the gig was up, if he’d let me get the rest of my things from my apartment. Or better yet, let me go home. Eventually. I held onto hope that I could talk him into it. I needed some space. To be my myself, away from his overpowering presence. If I still had a home to go home to and hadn’t been evicted by now.
• There was only one way to find out. Pulling the blankets up on the bed, I went to go get some coffee and find Luca.