His eyes were fixed on me. “Having fun?” He smirked, strolling into the room with my bags in his hands.
“You got my stuff,” I said, cursing myself at how eagerly observant I sounded.
“I’ll clear out some room in my closet.”
I didn’t even look up from where I was rifling through my bags. “No need,” I said wistfully.
“No?” he asked cautiously.
“No.” I turned and smiled with a snarky attitude. “I’ll take them to whatever room I assume you were gone for hours preparing for me.”
He snorted and shook his head, returning to his closet.
“I wasn’t joking,” I called back, my loudness dissipating with every word. He didn’t turn around. I rolled my head back and forth, trying to decide my next move and stalked forward.
I caught a shirt he had thrown behind his back.
“You really don’t need to do all of this,” I said somberly, my attitude now gone.
“Yes, I do.” He looked at me with a serious expression. “You need room for your things.”
He continued throwing things over his shoulders, clearing out a large section in his closet. I started folding some of his shirts and setting them against a table on the wall.
“What are you doing?” he asked, standing closer to me than anticipated. I shivered and set the shirt on the table.
“Folding.”
“I can see that,” he replied dryly.
“Then why ask me?”
“Sloane,” he growled loudly, pushing my back up against the wall of the closet. I looked up at him, frightened. “I understand that you’re upset about your father-”
“I’m not upset about my father,” I insisted loudly.
He pulled his hand back from its position on my arm and put it over my mouth firmly. “I understand you are upset about your father and that this is all new to you but, it's new to me too. It wouldn’t hurt for you to be a little cooperative.” He looked at me for a moment before peeling his hand off my mouth.
I wiped his germs from my lips with my hand childishly and fixed my shirt. He took a step back and watched me wearily.
“Well, can I at least ask you a question?” I said annoyingly.
“Of course,” came his gruff voice.
“What’s your name?”
“Excuse me?”
“Your name.” I looked up. He was staring at me, perplexed. “You never told me your name.”
His eyes widened, and he blinked his eyes to shake off the surprise. “Rush. Rush Weston.” His lip twitched upward as I nodded.
“It’s a nice name.” I nodded, shrugging my shoulders indifferently. In all honesty, his name suited him, and it made me want to close the closet door to see how it would sound when I screamed it.
“Thank you,” he said sincerely, smiling at me. I tucked my hair behind my ear and peeked back at him. He was still looking at me, and it made me nervous.
I smiled awkwardly and shifted on my feet. “Is something wrong?” I wondered.
He smirked and shook his head, laughing at something I was unaware of. “Don’t worry about it,” he said casually and grabbed the stack of clothes I folded.
I followed him out of the closet and across the room to a dresser where he shoved the shirts inside. “I am worried about it.” I trailed after him, trying to move in front of him to see his facial expression.
Rush shook his head again and slid the drawer shut.
“Tell me,” I demanded, nearly laughing at my desperation.
“You really like to be in control of things, huh?” he wondered. I blushed and bit my lip but didn’t refute. He stepped closer, and my breath hitched. I leaned back as he bent towards me. “I do too.”
“Well then, I guess we’re going to have an interesting time here,” I said, laughing. His dark blue eyes lit up at the sound, and it filled my stomach with the feeling of popping bubbles.
“I like your laugh,” he told me, smiling softly. My cheeks flushed, and I smiled back. “Come on.”
He launched off the dresser he was leaning on and grabbed my hand. He walked quickly in front of me, out of the bedroom, and down a long hallway. I struggled to keep up with him and tripped over my feet multiple times.
“Where are we going?” I laughed loudly, stumbling down the stairs behind him. He cocked his head back and winked.
We ran past groups of people who stared at us as we passed. I noticed Rush’s mother standing near the front of the house with the two women who greeted us. I nervously raised my hand to wave, but Rush pulled me quickly behind him.
She glowered at me and whispered something to the woman next to her. I stared behind me, slowing down my steps, and watching the women laugh rudely. I didn’t notice Rush had stopped running until I was being hauled off the ground and thrown over his shoulder.
“Rush!” I shrieked loudly. He held onto my legs firmly and kept walking off into the woods. I lifted my head and tried to look around us. “Put me down!”
“No can do, pretty girl,” he called back. He walked at a much more leisurely pace after he threw me over his shoulder.
“Please?” I called. “I can’t see where we’re going.”
“Will you let me worry about that? You don’t know where we are anyways,” he pointed out. I huffed, and he chuckled. “Just enjoy the view.”
“All I can see is your ass,” I grumbled.
“Don’t act like you don’t like it,” he said cheekily and squeezed my thigh. I yelped and grabbed his waist firmly. “I’m not going to drop you.”
“You say that so confidently,” I chewed out and flicked my hair out of my eye. Rush let go of my legs, and I slid down his back, close to the ground.
When I thought my face was going
