Chapter Thirteen
Lily
Thanksgiving was fine. I spent most of it in a self-inflicted turkey coma on the sofa watching the game. For most of the following weekend, I stayed in bed watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls and basically avoiding reality. When I finally went back to work on Monday, the routine was a distracting relief. Things were getting back to normal.
That is, until I got home on Tuesday evening. Because I couldn’t actually get home, as there was a wall of boxes blocking entry to my apartment.
“Mrs. Joblowski?” I called out.
Wiry movers wearing back-braces swiftly encircled me, carrying furniture and huge boxes with preternatural ease.
What was going on? Mrs. Joblowski had lived in her unit across the hall since the eighties and was one of the oldest tenants in the building. I started to get worried.
“Mrs. Joblowski?” I called again. As I approached her door, a painter in coveralls pushed past me.
That’s strange.
I crossed the threshold of the apartment, and as I slowly made my way inside, I gasped. All of her pink and green furniture was gone, replaced with a modern sofa and dining table that looked like it was straight out of Design Within Reach. The floral wallpaper had been stripped, and the walls of the small space had been painted a dark gray, which I had to admit was pretty sexy.
What the hell?
“Excuse me.” I stopped one of the movers. “Have you seen Mrs. Joblowski?”
He tilted his head at me. “Who?”
“Never mind.” I started to get worried. Had she died, and no one told us? She was pretty old.
“She’s upstairs,” a voice came from behind me.
I spun around.
Rhys.
I blinked at him. “Wait. Rhys? What are you doing here? What’s going on? Where’s Mrs. Joblowski?”
“I told you,” he said, stepping toward me. “She’s upstairs.”
“I don’t understand.”
He tucked his hands into his pockets and looked up at the ceiling. “She moved. She’s in the top floor apartment now.”
I frowned at him. “What? That makes no sense. She’s on rent-control; there’s no way she could afford that one.”
He lolled his tongue around inside his mouth in that way that made his cheekbones stand out. “Let’s just say she got a deal.”
It all started to click into place.
The move.
The masculine furnishings.
Rhys fucking being here.
I couldn’t believe it.
“Rhys, you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.”
The corners of his mouth ticked up. “Hey, neighbor.”
My eyebrows flew up. “Oh my God, are you serious? You’re moving in across the hall from me? Why? What would compel you to do such a thing?”
He shrugged. “I liked the building.”
I pressed my hands against my forehead. “You can’t do this. Didn’t you hear me the other day? I said no, Rhys.”
He stepped into me. “You said you were mad because I’d abandoned you, Lily. And you were right. I fucked up, big time. But I’m not making that mistake again. And I don’t care how long it takes for me to convince you of that. I’m here, and I’m not leaving this time.”
I blinked at him, still completely in shock that he’d moved in across the hall from me. “This is insane,” I hissed, keeping my voice low as a mover walked by. “I’m not going to change my mind just because you’re my neighbor.”
Rhys only smiled and crossed his arms. “We’ll see.”