He shrugged. “Too big for a single guy like me.” She took a tentative step to turn off the lamp. “Just…I don’t care if you see my place, but I’m not ready for you to see everything yet.”
Okay, so that was weird. She walked over to the lamp and switched it off and then began walking up the stairs to Stone’s room. Maybe she should ask him to just take her home now. After all, she was awake and so was he and, well, now things were starting to feel strange and awkward.
She avoided eye contact as she took one step after another. When she made it to the top, Stone took her hand. “I know it probably seems odd, but…if you really don’t know who I am, I’d kinda like to keep it that way for a while. You walk down there, then you’ll know, and I don’t want you to look at me differently.”
She cocked her head, looking in his eyes then. She remembered him saying on their first date (or was it when she’d asked him out?) that she had to know him, doubting that she didn’t really know who he was. That must have been it, though. He actually was some rich and famous dude that she was too fucking stupid to know. Well, she’d never followed celebrities, not having much reason to give a shit about them. Or maybe he was the son of some rich guy—as she’d wondered before—and, whether they’d gotten along or not, perhaps he’d inherited the old guy’s stuff. Whatever the case, Stone was convinced that she should know and had a hard time believing she didn’t.
She’d humor him, though. She knew, based on what he’d said, that he planned to tell her someday, so she’d be happy with that. She nodded and gave him a small smile. “Just give me more time, Kory. It’s nice just being myself for a change.” He leaned over and kissed her, immersing her magic and fire once more, but the one kiss was all she got before they drifted off to sleep with Lady curled up at the foot of the bed. And, before they passed out, Kory asked if he could drive her to class in the morning and he mumbled that he’d love to.
For one of the first times in her life, Kory felt secure and loved…and almost happy.
Kory’s stupid phone started blaring early, a weird klaxon that made it sound like she needed to evacuate before radiation levels reached critical mass. She jumped out of the soft bed, knocking the phone on the floor. She leaned over and picked it up, swiping it into silence.
She noticed Stone and Lady were nowhere to be found. She thought she could smell the aroma of bacon wafting up the stairs, but she realized that could also have been her overactive (and hungry) imagination. Still, she was curious enough that she had to check. She found Stone’s t-shirt again and slipped it on. It was becoming a security blanket.
She hoped Stone was downstairs. If he wasn’t, she wasn’t sure what she’d do. But when she was halfway down the stairs, she could hear music playing in the kitchen and she was positive that smell was bacon too. As she got closer, she could hear him singing, and she tried not to giggle, because he was really into it. She realized it was a Trivium song, and as she walked into the kitchen, she saw him drumming a spatula against the stove in time to the song. Lady saw her first and ran over to her in the doorway, jumping up and putting her paws on Kory’s legs. “Morning,” she said to the little dog, and Stone looked over, grinning.
“Morning. Caught me.”
“Guess I did.”
He walked over and kissed her on the forehead. “There’s coffee if you like it.”
“I like it okay. Do you have a Diet Coke, though? I like that better.”
He wrinkled his nose. “No diet anything is allowed in this house.”
“Wow. Okay. What about juice?”
“I think there might still be some grape juice on the top shelf.” She nodded and walked over, opening the door. She found it in a pitcher and pulled it out. “I suppose you like fancy lattes.”
She grinned, setting the pitcher on the table, and then she shrugged. “I’ve never really had one, so I can’t say.”
He turned back around, ignoring the bacon. “You’ve never had one?” She shook her head. She couldn’t afford an overpriced drink that would take her half an hour of hard work to earn. No way in hell. “Then you are in for a treat. I’m buying you one this morning.”
“No way. They’re all sugary and shit, right? And ridiculously expensive?”
“And I’m going to get you one.”
She grinned. “Fine.” It wasn’t that she worried about her weight, but she hated how syrupy non-diet sodas felt in her mouth. Maybe a coffee would be different. She’d never had a guy want to spend money on her, either, and that thought made her feel warm inside.