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I looked at the long column of required reading books and sighed. Why were these so expensive? And did I really need to read anything from this list? I hadn’t yet bought any of the texts for the fall semester as I’d considered my next move. Usually, I didn’t have time to do all the required stuff anyway, and that approach to my education had led to a few grades that I wasn’t entirely proud of—yet another reason why law school was out. I probably wouldn’t have been accepted, anyway, and who even knew how long it would take me to get a bachelor’s degree? I might turn fifty by the time I was done and I probably wouldn’t ever have enough time to study for the Bar exam.

So again, I had proven my own point. In fact…I looked at the list of required texts again, considering. Did it even make sense to push through undergrad? The only reason I’d enrolled in college was because my dad had his heart set on me being the first person in our family to go and I’d wanted to make him happy. But where was that degree going to get me? Right now, I was sitting in a trailer office of a decaying condo complex, and the job above mine was Iva’s. There was no upward mobility here and a history degree wouldn’t change that.

We were still in the add/drop period so I could get a refund on my tuition, and I studied the book list and thought about things. Then I got a call about another calculator going bananas and I tried to deal with that, but my heart wasn’t in it.

My heart, in fact, was tired. I had spent the weekend gardening, trying to shore up a gutter that was detaching from our roof, and rewiring the back of my car so that it didn’t fall off again. I had also helped Iva, boxing up the stuff that was hers in stupid Dominic’s house. I kept telling her that she wouldn’t need a ton besides clothes at Tyler’s place, because he had everything. He definitely had everything she could ever need in the kitchen, he had tons of towels and bathroom supplies, and he even had a lot of automotive stuff.

“If you need windshield washer fluid, he has it. He can change the oil in your car, too. He offered to do mine for me,” I said.

Iva had been turned away, looking out into the yard which she had kept up by mowing, edging, and weeding. But it was stupid Dominic’s yard, not hers.

“Don’t cry,” I’d begged, but had those words ever worked to stop someone’s tears? They sure didn’t stop Iva’s. I also would have been crying if I were in her position, and I had done enough of it in the past to know what actually would help her now. “I thought we could all watch the game together today, you, me, my dad, and Miss Gail,” I said. Iva had met her and liked her a lot, but this would be even more of an opportunity for them to make friends. “I’m going to make the blue cheese dip that you like.”

“You hate blue cheese. You’re sour cream and onion all the way,” she’d said, but she’d smiled in a trembly way.

“Football is the answer,” I’d told her, because that was true. You could watch a game and forget about everything else, like that you were moving out of your house, the one you loved, because the guy who had been your boyfriend didn’t feel any love for you. You could forget that you were in a hospital room and that, pretty soon, social services people were going to make you go into foster care because your only living parent was incapacitated. You could sit in front of the TV and not even remember all the bills that you hadn’t been aware of but were now piling up…yes, football was a constant, a comfort, and the Woodsmen were the best team in the world.

We had watched the away game together at Tyler’s house, the four of us eating dip (three of us eating dip) and cheering and whistling every time number sixty-two ran onto the field. It was loud enough to bother the neighbors through the thin walls, but they were cheering too, and didn’t seem to care. I did, however, field a call after the game from the tenant in Building B who said that her gold bracelet was missing, but maybe her sister took it, and anyway, she thought I should contact the FBI. I let her know that she should look again, talk to her sister, and then call the police herself. She didn’t like that answer.

“I forgot how much I miss my job,” Iva had said as I hung up. “I was really good at it.”

“You’ll be back doing it soon enough,” I had encouraged, which had made her burst into tears because I was saying that she would be leaving her baby, and where was he supposed to go?

“Sorry,” I apologized. “Please don’t cry.” And again, that hadn’t worked, but I’d put on game highlights which had.

Thank God for the Woodsmen.

Tyler played great, although he’d limped to the sidelines in the third quarter and then, when he subbed back in, we could all see that he wasn’t moving and cutting on his routes as well as usual. I watched Miss Gail get nervous, and honestly, I felt the same way.

That was why I’d wanted to see him on Sunday, but I’d spent more time packing at Iva’s and then, when I’d taken a few loads over to his condo, he had been gone. I figured that he was probably at the stadium for treatment and I knew that Miss Gail was at church. There was no way to get an accurate assessment of his injury since I wasn’t able to use my eyes or talk to his mom, and his texts of “it’s fine” and “no problem” could have been lies.

That was why I was watching for him now. I had missed him leaving because I’d had class, and his yellow car was already gone from the parking lot when I’d arrived at the complex. I was keeping the office door open, in fact, since it was a beautiful fall day and the fresh air felt so good. It was good to have that breeze blowing in because it helped to keep me awake, which I would definitely need since I already had homework, but before I did that, I had work to do here.Then later, I would go with Iva to rent a trailer so we could move the rest of her stuff. It would be a busy day—and now my phone was ringing.

“This is Kasia, how can I help you?” I answered. And damn, this wasn’t a condo problem, and my intense feelings of disappointment told me a lot about how much I dreaded doing my second job. It turned out that I couldn’t help, and the whole time that I was talking to the customer, I kept getting messages from Iva. I was frantically trying to find the right script that would help this poor guy who had spent so much money on this calculator, so much money (he kept telling me), as she wrote.

My suggestions about the input mode went nowhere and, as usual, I had to escalate the problem to my manager. I was getting fired for sure but at least there was nothing wrong with Iva, which I finally saw when I was able to look at her texts. Per her directions, my next step was watching Shay Galton’s latest video.

“Royaux,” she purred at the camera as fancy letters spelling the word flashed over her chest. “It’s a dating app for the right people.” She did her lip-lick, that perfect swipe that didn’t dislodge even a speck of her gloss. I’d tried so many times and it had never, ever looked so sexy. Her tongue was just cuter, I decided.

“It’s where I met my new guy,” she told us, and two hands encircled her waist as a man stepped from the darkness behind her, smirking at the lens.

Wait a minute. Him? He’d been a Hollywood actor forever. I remembered him from when I was a little kid, which I thought had been the height of his popularity. And that was a weird thing: their ages were pretty divergent. He had to have been sixty, or maybe sixty-five? But there was Shay Galton in her new post, making out with him. His hands slid up under her breasts, very close to cupping them, and he kissed her neck with an open mouth. He seemed to stretch a lot to accomplish that, since his head didn’t rise much above her shoulder. How short was he? And his hair had a funny tint to it, not really the color that it had been in his last big movie. I had gone to see that with my dad, so it must have been before the stroke. I recalled that I had successfully argued for a child’s half-price ticket. I had been my current height (which confused the box office person) but I had still been a tween, which meant that his last major blockbuster had been about ten years before.

“He’s still very famous,” I said to Iva when I called her back. “He was the most famous actor ever, for a while. I saw him in that movie with that woman who sells hair extensions now, and he was very handsome back then.”

“Back then, he was. Now he’s old!” she told me. “And how famous can he be, if he’s appearing in Shay’s videos? She’s not that big herself, and they’re shilling a dating app. I downloaded that and it says it’s for the crème de la crème of society. It’s supposed to be for rich, famous, beautiful people,” she explained.“Maybe that guy is rich but he’s not that famous anymore, and I sure wouldn’t call him beautiful. And she broke up with Tyler for him?”

“Tyler broke up with her,” I corrected, and Iva told me that wasn’t what all her followers were telling each other. She had sent the video to Oisín—

“Who?” I interrupted.

She meant her new online friend, the Irish guy. He had said that in his scientific opinion, the actor’s hair was definitely dyed.

“I’m not saying that I disagree, but I thought his area of expertise was mollusks,” I answered.

“It is, but Oisín is very smart in a lot of ways,” she assured me. “He’s actually one of the foremost experts on unionid mussels. Those are found in fresh water around the world.” She told me more about unionids as I answered emails, and then I told her about my concerns regarding college. She wasn’t a fan of my plan to drop out and wanted to argue, but she also wanted to return to the hospital so she let it go for now.She hadn’t said anything I hadn’t thought of myself, and I got even more convinced about the right side of the debate.

I yawned at my screen as I typed a response to the couple in Building B, who had one email address that they shared. We’d had enough communication that we were now firmly on a first-name basis. “Dear Hilary and Stu,” I typed. “Thank you for letting me know that you’ve identified the nighttime prowler that you’ve emailed and called about on so many occasions. I’m certainly relieved that it’s a raccoon family outside your unit and that no one is actually stealing your prescription medications from your bathroom. I hope that you have now completely removed all the lures you had set up on your patio.”

By “lures,” I didn’t mean food or scented bait for animals. I’d walked around the side of their block of condos (where, apparently, the lawn service hadn’t ventured in a while) to check on their complaints about intruders, and I had seen their display. They’d made a trap for burglars by laying out tiny baggies of white powder and plastic jewels from the dollar store. The “cocaine” wasn’t real either, they’d assured me, it was just baking soda.

I was very glad that they hadn’t reeled in an actual criminal, but I had spotted another big problem back there. The reason those raccoons were on their patio was that Hilary was secretly maintaining a giant and uncovered compost bin, which also explained the odor complaints coming in from their neighbors. I’d asked Oren to check before, but somehow he’d missed the problem.

“I’ve attached the portion of the homeowners’ covenants (signed by Stu) that stipulates that your rear patio must be properly maintained and free of any items except furniture and gas-powered grills with a cooking area of under 200 square inches. This means that you must remove the compost bin, and I’ll check next week to confirm that you’ve taken care of it. As I’ve explained before, this is not an attack on your desire to help the environment. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding the rules for outdoor areas.”

Blah, blah, blah. I shot off a quick response to the woman who was still insisting that I had to find her bracelet (“call the police”) and when I got to the next one, I’d had enough. I went up to the units with a stepstool and a toolbox to check the damn bathroom fan myself. After that, I decided to take a moment to rest and the corner of the office, behind Iva’s old desk, was the perfect place to do that. She had always vacuumed back there very thoroughly but I had to admit that in her absence, I had let things go a little. I sneezed but settled in. I would close my eyes, just for a moment.

“Kasia.Kasia?”

“I’m not sleeping,” I said.

“You’re on the floor, covered with a blanket.”

“It’s not,” I argued as I rolled over and opened my eyes. “This is Iva’s old coat.”

“Fuck,” Tyler said, and he was smiling. “You must have put your face on your phone. There’s a big, red dent exactly that shape.”

I had taken one last call from a dissatisfied calculator customer. “Great,” I said, sitting up carefully. Instead of rubbing away the mark on my cheek, my hand went to my neck, which was sore again. “Are you back already? You didn’t practice on that ankle, did you?”

“I know you’re concerned about the team,” he said. “You memorized the roster, so you’re aware that there are other guys who play my position.”

“Are you admitting that you’re hurt?”

“I already told you that I was fine.” He shook his head and held out his hand. “Get off the ground.”

I didn’t use him for leverage, though, because that would have put a lot of extra weight on his ankle. “What did the trainer say? Is it a sprain? Oh…” I had gotten up too fast, and I had also forgotten to bring my lunch today. Both of those things combined to make a black film creep over my eyes, and I held onto the desk because I felt so dizzy.

“What’s wrong? Are you sick? Kasia?”

“No, I’m also fine.” I stood straight and covered my mouth as I yawned. “Totally good. I forgot my cooler.”

“So you didn’t eat? What time did you leave your house this morning?”

“Uh…I had an eight a.m. class, so I left around seven. But I had to get up early to put dinner in the slow-cooker for my dad, because I’m going to be home late since I have to help figure out how to attach a trailer to Iva’s car. We can’t use mine.” Not with the way it was wired together.

He shook his head. “You don’t have to do that. There are real movers going to her house.”

“What? Did you hire people? No,” I told him. “No, she can’t afford it.”

“I can afford it, but I can’t go and haul all her boxes myself.”

“Your ankle!” I looked down at it. “What’s wrong, really?”

“You sound actually concerned about my health,” he commented, and I actually was. “I promise, it’s ok. I’ll be good to go on Saturday, and you’re coming, right?”

“Definitely,” I promised. “We’ll all be there, except Iva and baby Balderston.”

“She has to come up with a name for him.”

I agreed, but I circled back to the problematic topic. “You don’t have to pay for her movers.”

“Did you taste that sports drink I’m selling now? It’s made from pickles and it’s delicious,” he commented, which didn’t seem to relate until he added, “The check I got yesterday would buy that house, not just the truck to carry her shit away from it.”

“Really?

“I’m not bragging,” he pointed out. “I’m telling you that I can pay and it’s worth it to me. I’d rather do this than have you over there bringing one box at a time in your trunk that won’t close.”

“It will, with the wire,” I said absently, but I was thinking about how he’d grown up, unsettled and running. Had people helped him this much? Paying for all kinds of stuff, opening their homes? It made me appreciate humanity a lot more. “Iva will say thank you, but you have my thanks, too. And I found a few places for rent that I’m also going to go look at tonight. Wait, is today still Monday?”

“Do you think you’re doing too much right now?” he asked me. “If you don’t even know what fucking day it is…”

“I’m good.” I picked up my phone and it opened to Shay Galton’s post, frozen right at the moment that the old actor had his hands almost on her boobs and she had her face set in a rictus of supposed ecstasy. Tyler was looking at the screen so I put it in my pocket. “That probably wasn’t the best way to tell you that she found someone new,” I mentioned.

“I had heard. She texted me first to let me know that she’d locked down the new guy and was going public.”

“That’s about as romantic as signing a lease.”

“It’s not just personal. It’s business,” he said, but shrugged. “I told her good, congratulations. I think she was expecting me to get pissed and want to fight for her.”

“You don’t want to do that?”

“No,” he answered, and he sounded very sure. “I think you may get a bruise there.” He reached and touched what must have been a deep indentation on my face, because it did kind of hurt. “Why were you sleeping on the floor?”

“That’s my spot,” I explained. “I used it a lot when Iva was here.”

“But this time you were alone with the door unlocked, unaware.”

“You’re still thinking like you live in a big city,” I started to say, but he cut me off with just one word.

“Oren.”

Well, that was true. I didn’t want our maintenance man or anybody else coming in while I was unaware.

Tyler sat in the chair he’d brought in and leaned back. “I got so much shit today,” he mentioned. “The whole team is calling me ‘Royaux’ instead of my name.”

“Is that how you and Shay Galton met, too? Through that app?”

“No, we met because that movie I was in. You probably didn’t see it—”

“I did,” I told him. I would have nodded, but my neck still hurt. “I didn’t think it was as bad as everyone said.”

“Thanks, Kasia. I only did it because I was trying out options for what I’ll do when I retire. Turns out, acting isn’t for me,” he said, and I understood. He’d looked amazing on that big screen but I didn’t see him making a career of it. “They paid her to do some promotion so she was at the premiere.”

“So you didn’t get connected through the dating app that’s only available to the crème de la crème.”

He looked slightly ill. “Royaux is available to anyone who pays ten thousand to join.”

I gaped for a moment before answering. “That’s a lot of crème. Ten thousand dollars?”

“I’ve seen her spend that in one shopping trip. Grocery shopping.”

I tried to imagine what you could buy with all that money. If I had an extra ten thousand dollars, it certainly wouldn’t have gone to an app to be matched with a short old man who felt me up in public. But honestly? I wouldn’t have minded getting felt up. I looked at Tyler’s hands, thinking about that.

“I’m going to eat. Want to come?” he offered, and I did. His mom had started a big meal and while they finished the preparations, I went upstairs to organize some of Iva’s stuff so she’d feel comfortable here right away. There would be stacks of boxes that we wouldn’t bother to unpack because Tyler already had everything that she could need.

But stupid Dominic didn’t. I smiled as I thought of what would be left in his house after we’d cleaned it out, and I hoped that he would be shocked and disappointed with the dregs of possessions that remained for him. I hoped that he would realize what he’d lost when he’d abandoned his girlfriend and premature baby, and I really, really hoped that Iva wouldn’t go back to him when he made another apology that was full of fancy words and cheap gifts, but meant nothing.

When I came back downstairs, both Tyler and Miss Gail were frowning. “What’s going on?” I asked.

“Iva told my mom that you were thinking about dropping out of college,” he said. “Not just skipping law school, but leaving right now.”

Iva was supposed to have kept that to herself. “I know it seems like a bad decision. What a waste of time and money if I don’t finish, right?” I asked. “But this may be the right way to go.”

“Why?” his mom asked.

“I’ve been considering it since I backed into the light pole and I realized how long it was going to take me to pay for the repairs on my car. We still have medical debt,” I said. “We have all kinds of debt. It was always my dad’s plan for me to get some kind of big career going, but as I get older, it makes less and less sense. We need stuff right now, at this moment, not ten years down the line or whenever it is that I’m finally done. So I’m considering the idea, but don’t tell him,” I cautioned them. “He’ll be upset.”

“Because that’s stupid,” Tyler announced. “It’s a stupid idea to drop out.”

“It isn’t,” I answered icily. “It’s practical.”

“No, it’s a dumbass move.”

“Ty,” his mom cautioned.

“You’re thinking short-term,” he continued. “In the long run, it will be better for you to have the law degree that I know you want. You said so. You told me you wished that you had it already.”

“So I could help Iva!”

“You can help her and a lot of other people if you stay and finish,” he said.

“No,” I answered. “It was impractical to even start. I have too many other things to worry about besides some stupid book list! And I’ve been killing myself for years, and I’m tired.”

“So you’ll sabotage your future?” he asked.

“Sweet Jesus, are you one to talk about self-sabotage? You came onto the Woodsmen team and immediately acted like a booty hole, insulting people to the point that they beat the crap out of you. And you deserved it!”

“What happened?” Miss Gail asked. “Who beat the c-word out of you?”

“Mama, crap isn’t the c-word,” he told her. “I didn’t get hurt or anything, and it’s fine now. We get along ok.”

“Now you do, luckily,” I said.

“Luckily, so your team will win,” he answered.

“Luckily, so I don’t have to see your naked body covered in bruises!”

“You were naked in front of Kasia?” his mom demanded.

“He’s not great about wearing clothes,” I stated. “It was an issue that we’ve addressed.”

“You told me that you wouldn’t come around anymore unless I covered it up,” Tyler remembered, and I nodded. It had been for my own preservation, so that my body didn’t overheat and spontaneously combust.

“If I drop out, it’s not sabotage. I’m being realistic,” I continued. “Look at Iva’s life! I have to get some money in the bank and set myself up for stability. Not in five years or a vague point in the future, but now. Right now,” I said. “I don’t want to end up like her, depending on the kindness of strangers to get by!”

After I said the words, in just a split-second of silence, I realized what I’d done. I looked at him and Miss Gail and I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” I told them. “I’m glad when people help others and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with needing a hand, either.” I paused. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to explain and it came out wrong. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right,” she said, and she carefully walked, leaning on her crutches, toward the bedroom.

“Mom,” her son said, and he followed her.

I felt like I’d done enough—more than enough. It really had come out wrong, and I hadn’t meant to make them feel bad about the way they’d had to live. But they had been attacking me, and why would I need to defend my decisions, anyway? Yes, they’d been nice and yes, Iva needed them, but I didn’t. I didn’t need to listen to Tyler’s uninformed opinions or accept his insults, either. I left the condo and was immediately waylaid by a man who insisted that there were rats in his condo, because something was moving bottles around in his medicine chest, which turned out to be an actual chest. He insisted on showing me, and it was the size of something a pirate might have buried centuries ago. Except instead of ingots and doubloons, his was full of various prescription drugs. It brimmed with amber containers.

“You know, you can take these to a pharmacy for disposal,” I told him, but he seemed shocked.

“Why would I do that? I use them!”

I was pretty sure there were no rats, but said I would talk to maintenance about it, and I added that maybe he should talk to his doctor. “That’s a lot of pills,” I mentioned, which was probably overstepping and made him mad.

I was doing that a lot today. My dad also wasn’t thrilled with me when I got home, because he’d finally checked his calendar and had noticed that I’d scheduled him for a visit with a nutritionist.

“I don’t need that!” he told me.

“You do, because you’re way too thin,” I said. “You’re pulling the strings at your waist as tight as they’ll go, and you’re still just about to lose your pants.”

“Kasia—” He stopped, blinking.

“Daddy? Daddy!” I stood up and leaned over the table to grab his shoulders. “What’s wrong? Can you talk?”

He swallowed carefully. “I’m fine,” he told me slowly, but I wasn’t sure. I sat down just as slowly, still watching him. “Stop,” he ordered.

“That made me very worried.” I hadn’t been around when he’d had his first stroke symptoms—no, I had left early for school, because I had been trying to start a poetry club and I had a meeting with the teacher who coordinated student activities. My dad didn’t remember how it had started, either, but we both knew how it had finished: he was on the floor, almost dead.

I tried not to let him see me watching for the rest of the evening until I helped him into bed, and I was very, very quiet when I got up in the night and pushed open his bedroom door to check on him. I left it that way so I could go in again, several more times until the sun rose and he started to wake up. Then I closed it just as quietly.

“Are you off to school?” he asked at breakfast, and I nodded.

“I have an easy day, though. I was supposed to help Iva move, but now there are professionals doing it for us. Tyler hired them.” Tyler, who hadn’t answered when I’d texted to say (again) that I was sorry, that I hadn’t meant to insult him and I hadn’t meant to upset his mom. “I just have to go to the college, supervise the movers, put in a few hours at the leasing office, help Iva unpack…there’s something else. Oh, right, I’m on today for calculator stuff, too. No, there’s also something else…” I couldn’t think of it, though. I was pretty tired from being up so much the night before.

“Gail wrote to me,” he mentioned.

“Oh, did she?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“Kasia, please,” he told me, but he smiled a little. “She was only making arrangements for the game.”

“Right, the game. I was supposed to make sure that you’re coming. You are, right?”

He nodded. “I am.” He talked about what Miss Gail had told him regarding where we would park and sit, and how we would negotiate the crowded stadium. It seemed like she wasn’t mad at him, at least, and I was glad.

The morning really got going at the registrar’s office, where I didn’t have an appointment and she was too busy to meet with me. I set up a time, because I’d made my decision about college regardless of the Hennessys’ opinions. Then, even though I’d thought it would be an easy day, I found myself running from one thing to the next, hurrying to get everything accomplished. When I showed up at the leasing office for my shift there, I was yawning my head off.

That was why the corner, less dusty since I’d removed some of it with my clothes the day before, started to look so appealing. I used the coat instead of my phone for a pillow this time, and it really wasn’t so bad—or maybe, I was so tired that I didn’t care about lying on the floor, just me and the dust bunnies. My eyes closed immediately and I dropped into sleep.

“Wake up.” Fingers rubbed my hip and stayed there. “You filled out some, No-Kasia. Feels good to me.”

“What?” I opened my eyes and saw Cody leaning over me, Cody who had been my high school dream and was now my adult nightmare. “Get your hands off me!” I shoved his arm and he stood up, smiling, as I scrambled to my feet. “What are you doing here now?”

“This is my new day and time, and lucky me. I got to find you like that, like a story I heard. You were waiting for my kiss,” he said, and laughed.

“Nothing with you will ever be a fairy tale because you’re no prince, Cody. Screw off.” I straightened my skirt, noticing that it had pulled up high on my legs. “Where else did you touch me?”

“I didn’t get much of a chance to do anything. We could right now,” he suggested, and stepped forward.

“Get away!” I said, my voice loud. “Get out of this office.”

“Come make me,” he told me, grinning wider.

I picked up the lamp from Iva’s desk. It was kind of flimsy but if I used it to hit him, it would hurt. “Get out.” I raised it above my head and the plug yanked free of the wall, allowing me to take a practice swing. “Get out!”

The door opened and a man filled its frame. With the sun shining behind him, I couldn’t immediately see his face, but I knew who it was.

“What the fuck is happening in here?” Tyler asked. “Are you fighting this guy?”

“No,” Cody said quickly. “I’m leaving.”

Tyler grabbed the front of his uniform shirt and prevented that. “Did he do something?” he asked me.

“Yes. He was touching me when I was asleep,” I said.

“He what?” He shook Cody, rattling his teeth. “You put your hands on her?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll never touch her again!”

Tyler scowled down at him but spoke to me. “You want to call the police?”

“No, I want him to leave me alone. Like, never talk to me, never come into this office, and stay away forever,” I said.

He stared down at Cody. “Did you hear that?” To make sure that the words were clear, he took a better grip on the polyester shirt and shook it again.

“I got it!” Cody answered. I had never seen this expression on his face. Satisfaction, arrogance, and spite? Yes, but never fear, and I didn’t mind it there. He was turning red, too, because Tyler had him off the ground enough that he was on his tiptoes, and the uniform shirt must have been cutting into his airway.

“You should let him go,” I recommended. “I don’t want you to strain your arm before the game tomorrow.”

“Strain my arm with him? I lift more when I do bicep curls.” But he did lower Cody back down. “I’m going to say this clearly. You look stupid so pay close attention.” He did speak clearly, and also very loudly. It was more like he was bellowing. “Stay the fuck away from Kasia!”

“Yes,” Cody promised, his voice trembling. “Yes, I will. Got it.” And the second that his shirt was free, he ran out, faster than I’d ever seen him move.

“He only touched my hip,” I said.

“Were you sleeping again? Were you sleeping in here with the door unlocked?” Tyler asked, and his voice was almost as loud as before.

“What? No! No, I had locked…” I rubbed my neck. “I’m sure that I locked it. I’m sure.”

“Obviously not!”

“Stop yelling!” I yelled back.

“Are you ok?” he asked me in a normal tone, and I said yes. “Good. You can tell me later who the hell that was. Right now, the movers are here.”

“Good grief,” I sighed. “I was supposed to meet them at Iva’s! I slept through everything.”

“My mom let them in. Iva doesn’t have much there and it won’t take long for them to unload here. But I hope you gave the office forty-eight hours’ notice of these trucks,” he told me. “That shit’s in the lease.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, and walked toward the door. As I passed him, Tyler took my arm.

“Are you ok?” he asked me again, and this time, I shrugged.

“That was weird. It kind of scared me,” I admitted.

“Yeah, me too. Come on and help me deal with these guys.” He put his arm around me. “We’ll go together.”

That felt weird, too, but in a very good way. I didn’t mind it at all.

“Thanks,” I told him. “And you didn’t respond when I texted, but I hope you believe that I’m sorry about what I said to you and your mom.”

“You’re welcome, and it wasn’t a big deal. I thought about what I’d said, too, and I shouldn’t have put it that way. I’m not mad.”

“Next time, you should answer and say that, then. Because I didn’t like how you weren’t speaking to me.”

His arm pulled me closer. “I’m sorry for not answering, and next time, I will.”

Next time, I would try not to say stupid things, but stuff happened. I hoped not too much stuff, though—because I liked how things were with the two of us working together, standing together.

Just being together. I liked that a lot.