Chapter 4

Ian

Early Sunday morning, I drove over to Abigail’s place with the rental truck. I felt bad for getting her up so early, but I had a last-minute booking I needed to get to a few hours from now. Abigail said she didn’t have much stuff to move, though, so I was sure we’d be done in time.

When I got up to her apartment, the door was already open, like she was waiting for me. I knocked anyway before entering.

“Hey,” she said, turning toward me after taping up one last box. She wiped hair out of her face, looking tired. “I think this is everything.”

I looked around. There were about a dozen boxes in the room with two more sitting off to one side.

“Those are the two that I want to bring with me to your place,” she said.

“Our place,” I corrected, giving her a teasing smile.

“Our place,” she agreed, looking away from me. I suddenly wondered whether she was having second thoughts about this, but I didn’t know how to ask.

“What about the rest of your stuff?” I asked. “Is it going back to your parents’ place?”

“Nah. I got a storage unit,” Abigail said. “The first three months were free. I figure that gives me time to sort out a more permanent place. Or, you know, if you find a paying roommate and need to get rid of me…” She trailed off, biting her lower lip.

“Hey,” I said, moving closer to her and rubbing a hand up her arm. “I’m not that much of a jerk. I’m not going to just kick you out.”

“You can, you know,” she said. “I know it’s pretty irresponsible of me to mooch off you like this.”

I frowned, wondering where this was coming from. I only hoped it wasn’t Zach who had said these things to her. I’d kick his ass if it were. I spared a thought to wonder why I felt so suddenly protective of Abigail. It was just because she was my best friend’s kid sister, though, and because she deserved more than the lot she’d been handed in life lately.

We started carrying boxes down the stairs and loading them into the truck. I wanted to make conversation, but Abigail seemed lost in her own thoughts. I imagined there was a lot going on in that head of hers right now. I knew she had lived here for a while now, and she was probably saying good-bye to the place while we carried her things down. I didn’t want to intrude upon that.

“Are you sure you want to put all this stuff into a storage unit?” I asked her once everything was in the truck. “I’m pretty sure it’ll all fit in my place—our place. And like I said, I don’t plan on kicking you out.

“I think it’s better that we just put it in the storage unit for now,” Abigail said. She gave a small laugh. “Gives me a chance to see what I don’t even miss, and maybe then I can downsize a little.”

“If you’re sure,” I said, shrugging. I hoped she didn’t think I was going to kick her out the second I found someone else for the place. I didn’t even plan on looking for someone else. As far as I was concerned, it was her home as much as it was mine. Like I’d said the previous day, I was just relieved not to have to weed out all the creeps to find someone decent to live with.

We took her things over to the storage unit, and then we drove over to our place. “I guess I’ll leave you to your unpacking,” I said, glancing at my watch. “I’ve got a couple work appointments today, so I have to run.”

“No problem,” Abigail said. “And thanks for everything. Seriously.” She looked around the room, biting her lip.

I knocked her lightly under the chin and was happy to see her grin at me. “Chin up,” I told her. “Things are going to be good.”

“Yeah,” she said, exhaling heavily.

I wished I had more time to cheer her up, but I had to get to work. Maybe I could take her out to dinner later, though. I started making plans, just hoping she would agree.

Sure enough, that night we found ourselves on our way over to a local restaurant. “I figure you have to know all the best places in the neighborhood,” I joked. “You know, now that you live here.”

Abigail laughed, but I could see something else in her eyes. “Are you sure you don’t mind paying for me?” she asked anxiously.

“Relax,” I said. “It’s one meal, and we have to celebrate you moving in.”

“Okay,” Abigail said.

Fortunately, I saw her relax as we ate. “So, you’re a bit of a foodie, aren’t you?” she asked.

I laughed and took another bite of my chicken. “You could say that,” I said. “It kind of goes along with being a personal trainer. I started out just being a gym rat, and then I started trying to get creative with my meals so I was eating healthy and getting into the best shape I could be in. Then I started sharing some of the recipes I liked the best with some of my clients, and then they started asking for recommendations for good, healthy restaurants in the area.”

“Are there are a lot of healthy restaurants?” Abigail asked in surprise. “I mean, obviously this is one of them, but isn’t that one of those things everyone says about America, that there aren’t any healthy options here when you eat out?”

“That’s an outdated stereotype,” I said, shaking my head. “There are plenty of healthy options if you know what you’re looking for, especially now that it’s so normal for people to be counting their calories and dieting and whatever else. You’ll notice that a lot of restaurants now will even tell you how many calories are in each dish. So, if you know what you’re looking for, you can definitely find good places.”

“So, what, you’ve tried every restaurant in the area?” Abigail asked, a teasing note in her voice. “You take all your dates out to different restaurants just so you can try someplace new?” Instantly, she clapped a hand over her mouth. “Not that this is a date,” she added hurriedly. “I just meant that it’s just the two of us, and you’re not eating alone, and I know you sleep around a bunch.” Again, she looked mortified at the words that had just come out of her mouth. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

I laughed and poured her another glass of wine. “Relax,” I said, not for the first time that night. “Your brother is my best friend, and I’m sure you’ve heard about my reputation from him.” I frowned. “Not that I’ve been sleeping around that much lately.”

“You have a girlfriend?” Abigail asked.

“Nah. I just haven’t been interested in sleeping with anyone lately,” I told her. That wasn’t exactly true. The more I got her to relax and the more I heard her laugh, the more I started thinking about sleeping with her.

But Zach would kill me if he found out I had slept with his little sister. And besides, we were roommates now. The last thing I needed was to make things awkward.

“Oh fuck,” Abigail said, ducking down in her seat.

“What?” I asked, looking around to where she was looking. There was a guy on the other side of the room at the bar, staring at the two of us. He looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place him. “Who’s that?”

“Do you remember my ex, Jason?” She shook her head. “It’s like he’s stalking me or something.”

“Didn’t you guys break up a while ago?” I asked, confused.

“Yeah, and then he moved away, and now he’s back. I ran into him the other day while I was having coffee with Brittany.” She paused, giving me a guilty look. “I told him I was engaged.”

I had to laugh at that. “Was he really trying to get back together with you? The guy should have moved on by now.” I winced. “Not that I think you’re super easy to move on from. You’re great. I just figure it’s been months now.” I felt like I was digging the hole deeper and deeper, and I wondered if this was how she had felt when she was talking about me being a player.

Fortunately, Abigail didn’t seem to notice how flustered I was making myself. Her full attention was on Jason, who was on his way over to the table. Immediately, I reached over and grabbed Abigail’s hand. I wasn’t sure why I did that, but Abigail shot me a grateful look, and I was glad I had.

“Imagine seeing you here!” Jason said when he reached us. “Abigail, I didn’t realize you ever came over to this side of town.”

“I live over here now,” she said.

“Oh really?” Jason asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I could tell he was about to say something snide to me, and I didn’t want to hear it.

“Jason, why don’t you get out of here?” I suggested icily. “Abigail and I would really rather be alone.”

Jason frowned, and I thought for a second that he was going to challenge me, but he seemed to think better of it. “Whatever,” he muttered, turning and stalking off, shooting one last dirty glance at me as he left.

Abigail sighed when he was gone. “He probably thinks you and I are engaged now,” she said. “Sorry.”

I shrugged. “Let him think that then,” I told her. “I don’t really mind.”

“Thanks,” she said, and I could tell just how thankful she was. She cleared her throat and withdrew her hand, and I realized I had still been holding it. I felt embarrassed, but she didn’t say anything about it.

“You know, I never liked that guy,” I commented, startling a laugh out of Abigail. I never knew him all that well, but I hadn’t thought he was the right kind of guy for Abigail. He just seemed…creepy or something, and nowhere near as witty or funny as the kind of guy she deserved to be with.

Not that I spent a lot of time thinking about the type of guy Abigail Foley should be with.

Abigail smiled at me. “I honestly don’t know what I saw in him,” she admitted. “I guess I’ve grown up a lot since we broke up.”

“Just since you two broke up?” I asked teasingly. “I still remember that time when you came up to your brother and me and announced you were too old to play with dolls anymore so we’d better teach you how to play hockey.”

We fell into an easy conversation, reminiscing about when we’d been kids, and I was glad to see Abigail relax even more. It was a good thing, her moving in with me, I decided. I just had to make sure I didn’t make things awkward between us. She needed a friend, not another guy trying to get in her pants.