“Sorry.” Cheyenne crumbled the tape into a tight ball and tossed it on the kitchen island. Then she straightened and nodded at Matthew Thomas standing in their doorway. “This is—”
“Ember. Hi.” The fae wheeled back to chart a new course around the scattered boxes and packing trash. Cheyenne hurried in front of her to kick as much as she could out of the way.
“Hey, don’t worry about braving the wreckage,” Matthew said. “I helped my sister move recently. I totally get the chaos. Mind if I come in?”
“Enter at your own risk, but sure.”
Ember shot Cheyenne a warning glance, and the halfling shrugged in reply. What crawled in her lap?
“Yeah, I don’t envy anyone the—” Matthew grunted as he stepped over a stack of boxes, then side-stepped to avoid more piles of bubble wrap. “Dangers of unpacking.” He finally reached Ember in the center of the living room and stuck out his hand. “Matthew.”
The fae’s eyes narrowed as she reached up to shake their neighbor’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too, Ember.”
Cheyenne glanced at them and stuck her hands in her pockets. That’s a pretty long handshake.
Matthew cleared his throat, their little moment ended, and he released her hand. Ember tucked her hair behind her ear and kept smiling, though a small frown creased her brow.
“Well.” He chuckled. “I guess I should be welcoming you to the neighborhood, huh?”
“Thanks.” Ember stuck her hands on the wheels again and rolled back a little. “Just got here yesterday, so everything’s still...well, I guess it’s obvious.”
“Happens to the best of us.”
Look at that grin-fest. I can’t sit through this conversation. Cheyenne pulled her hands out of her pockets and clapped. Matthew and Ember both jumped and slowly turned toward her. “So, Matt. What do you do?”
“Matthew, actually. I’m a dabbler by trade.”
Ember chuckled. “I didn’t know dabbling was a trade.”
“Well, if you’re good at what you do, you can turn almost anything into a business.” He shot the fae girl a winning smile, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
“Sounds pretty exciting.” She grinned right back.
Cheyenne blinked. Not.
“Sometimes, sure.” Matthew-not-Matt shrugged and took a slow, lazy step closer to Ember’s wheelchair. “Most of the time, I still feel like there’s something missing, you know? Like it’s right there in front of me, and I can’t quite reach it.”
Ember and Matthew kept staring at each other.
Oh, for Christ’s sake. Cheyenne turned away and brought her fist to her mouth to fake a cough.
Their neighbor took a sharp breath and glanced around the apartment again. “So, I just keep looking. And dabbling, while I’m at it.”
“Well, whatever it is, go get ‘em.” Cheyenne pumped her fist in front of her with a sharp nod.
“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” Matthew chuckled a little and stepped back again, glancing at his newest neighbors. “What about you ladies? What do you do?”
Ember glanced up at Cheyenne and tilted her head. “Uh, we’re grad students, actually.”
“Really?”
“Yep. I’m on a little...hiatus, I guess. The university was pretty understanding about the whole thing and told me to take as long as I need. You know, recovery-wise.” The fae swallowed thickly and plastered on a different kind of smile.
“I’m sorry.” Matthew’s eyebrows flicked together.
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Ember shrugged. “So, I’m just moving into a new apartment with Cheyenne and ordering a bunch of crap in boxes from a wheelchair. Hopefully, that doesn’t last too long.”
The man quickly gave a self-conscious smile. “I’ll cross my fingers for you.”
“How nice.” Cheyenne grinned so wide, her cheeks hurt. Watching this is a whole new level of torture.
Ignoring her, Matthew nodded at Ember’s wheelchair. “How long will you be...recovering?”
The halfling bit her bottom lip, and this time, the glance Ember shot her had the same thought written all over it. This guy’s pushing it with the questions.
“I’m, uh, not sure.” Ember blinked and stared at the wall behind him.
“Well, if you need any referrals, I know one of the best physical therapists in the state.”
“She’s got it covered, man. Thanks.” Cheyenne nodded.
“Yeah, I appreciate it anyway.” Ember drummed her fingers on the armrests of her wheelchair. “Starting PT on Monday, actually, so you can cross your fingers for that too.”
“Oh, man.” Matthew’s airy chuckle was a lot more self-conscious. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep. That’s none of my business.”
Damn straight. Cheyenne glanced from the guy’s sheepish smile to the open door behind him. Take the hint, guy.
“No, it’s okay. I need to figure out how to have this conversation sometime, right?” Ember tucked her hair behind her ear again. “Still figuring out how all this works. This thing especially.” She slapped her palms on the armrests and shrugged.
Matthew nodded and stepped toward the door. “I’ll, uh, let you guys get back to it, then. Nice to meet you, Ember.”
“You too.”
He nodded at the halfling. “Cheyenne.”
“Matthew.”
He spun slowly on one foot, reached the open front door, and turned halfway back around again to catch Ember’s gaze. “Just, for what it’s worth, it looks like you’ve already figured out how it all works. At least from where I’m standing.” He didn’t quite wink at her, but his eye twitched as if he’d wanted to but realized it was a bad idea. Then their odd new dabbling neighbor stepped quickly across the hall.
Another door opened and closed in quick succession, and Cheyenne walked swiftly to their front door to close it. “What a guy, huh?”
Ember burst out laughing and buried her face in her hands. Her voice came out high-pitched and muffled. “That was awful.”
“Who gets up in people’s personal business like that? I mean, seriously?”
“I think he was just trying to be nice, Cheyenne.”
“I think he was just trying to get you hooked on that smile before he grabbed those handlebars and wheeled you right out of here.”
“Oh, please. That’s not what he was trying to do.”
Cheyenne leaned back against the kitchen island, propping her forearms behind her on the granite countertop. “Oh, yes, it was. I stood right there and watched the whole
