Chapter 51 The Amused Guest
ALICE
I ran my fingers through Rory's thick head of dark curls while staring at the ceiling of his bedroom.
The glow-in-the-dark stars were still staring back at me. I was the one who glued them there when he was around ten years old. I had some in my room and thought he should, too.
It was easier to focus on all these things than the fact that Theodore Linden-Hawthorne was several feet away from me, sleeping on our couch like he was a part of the family. My fiancé.
I felt like I was losing my mind.
"You wanna tell me about baking classes?"
"They're good."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"What do you like about them?"
He didn't answer me so I phrased the question in a better way. "Do you like baking there?"
"Yeah."
"Is your teacher nice?"
"Yeah."
"What's her name?"
"Jasmine."
"Hm," I remarked. "Are you making friends there?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't know."
I turned my head to look at him and we made eye contact in the room. "No one's upsetting you there, right?"
"No."
"You'd tell me if they were?"
"Yeah."
"Okay."
"You okay if I sleep here for the night? On your bed?"
He gave me a look that made me laugh out loud. No matter how close we were, Rory didn't like sharing a bed with anyone. He'd be uncomfortable and wouldn't even sleep all night.
"Fine. I'll sleep on the floor, then. That okay?"
"You should sleep in your room."
"I can't. My guest is there." I paused, then sat up. "Is it okay?”
He continued staring at me for a few beats, then nodded. I smiled, gripping his hand which was lying on his chest. He squeezed it back. “It’s hard all the time. I always miss you.”
“Then stay here. Don’t go.”
I sighed. The sound came from the depths of my soul. “I wish I could. There’s no job here for me and I have to keep supporting you guys. You’re all I have, Rory. But if I could, I’d stay with you all the time.”
My brother watched me silently. I tore my attention away from him and stared at his door, thinking about Theodore Linden-Hawthorne.
I squeezed his forearm and jumped over his body in bed, saying, “We should bake something together. You know, like how we used to? What do you think we should make?”
He thought about his answer for a few beats. “Cookies.”
“Chocolate chip?”
Rory and I used to bake together all the time, which was why I decided to enroll him in baking classes so he’d perfect his art. When his psychologist told us that he’d never be able to fully grasp school and have a formal education, that was when I decided to teach him cooking and baking.
She encouraged us to find things he’d become passionate about. Things he could do with his hands. It wasn’t easy at first. Rory tended to drop anything he wasn’t good at. He hated being in a position where he’d be judged, so most of the time, he gave up on things before giving them a chance.
But with a lot of patience, he started getting better at it. I remembered his first time baking cookies vividly. They came out…not so great. Raw and burnt around the edges at the same time. We ate the cookies anyway, and he was so happy.
Rory nodded, jerking me out of my thoughts.
“It’s a date, then. I’ll be back, okay?”
I opened the door as quietly as I could but it creaked nonetheless. I could see him from where I stood by the door. He had his right arm resting on his forehead, and I could see his bare shoulders. His feet, as I’d assumed, were hanging off the edge of the couch.
I clenched my jaw and approached him.
He didn’t seem to stir, but I didn’t care that he was asleep. This had to end right now. I touched his shoulder lightly and he immediately cracked an eye open.
“You should sleep in my room tonight,” I claimed. “I’ll sleep in my brother’s room, so it’s no worry at all.”
“Nonsense, Miss Rhodes,” he replied calmly. His voice was a deep rumble in his chest. “I’ll stay right here.”
“Don’t be stubborn!” I hissed. “You’ll be all sore tomorrow!”
“I’ll be fine.” His eyes met mine in the dark, and of course, that amused look hadn’t left his face. “You should go to bed. It was a long, stressful day. You should rest.”
I stared into his eyes and tried to look past the surface. It wasn’t possible, or maybe I just didn’t know where to look. Either way, I didn’t understand his motivations at all.
“Why are you doing this?”
I had to wait for several beats for an answer from him. I was almost on the verge of giving up. How could I handle all of this in a mature and calm manner when I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he shouldn’t have been here?
He didn’t fit in any of this. Hell, he should’ve dropped me off at the hospital, since he wanted to help me, and move on. But here he was.
It was like I couldn’t escape him. The harder I tried to put him away, the closer he got to me.
His answer was, “I thought that part was clear already. But we don’t have to get to that.”
“You could’ve left,” I remarked. “You didn’t even need to come with me.”
“I wanted to make sure you’d be alright. And if you needed anything…”
His answer sent warmth trickling down my spine and I didn’t like it one bit. I had to fight to keep a lid on my emotions.
“I’m fine,” I claimed. “My family’s fine.”
“I can see that.” After a beat, he added, “This doesn’t have to be more than what it is. I’m only trying to help you in the only way I saw fit.”
“You mean you’re admitting you overheard my conversation with my ex,” I said through my teeth. How else would he have known about my parents and their religious beliefs?
He didn’t answer me. Then again, he didn’t have to. I already knew this and didn’t need a confirmation.
I took it as my cue to leave.