Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)(133)

It was only the Wednesday after our phone call, and I already had a vase of fourteen at home. If he kept up at this pace, I’d have to buy more vases. And I’d probably have to move out. My sister was being a bear lately and rolled her eyes at every romantic gesture Kellan made. She’d even snipped that the flowers were making the apartment stink. Really?

How is that even possible?

I tried not to gloat about it, since she seemed pretty irritated at Griffin’s lack of…everything, but I hoped her mood improved soon.

Maybe if it didn’t, I’d go shack up with Denny?

He’d finally found a place to live and it was…impressive. It was a house in a secluded residential area on Queen Anne hill. The places up there were pretty nice, and Denny had an amazing view of the city. My jaw dropped when he’d shown me around.

After class today, I was going to go help him pick out furniture. He had a pretty good eye when it came to decorating, since it sort of went hand-in-hand with marketing, and I think he just invited me along to make sure I was okay.

He hadn’t said anything about my mood improvement since the night I’d cried in his arms, the night he’d found Kellan’s love letter, but Denny watched me like a hawk, waiting for me to breakdown again. I felt bad that I’d caved in front of him, admitted my fears to him, so I think I over-compensated my joyfulness around him, probably making it seem disin-genuous. As a result, he called me a lot and invited me out a lot.

I didn’t mind. I enjoyed spending time with Denny…I always had.

373



As winter quarter was ending, today was the last day of my poetry class. I gave Cheyenne a hug and thanked her for helping me through it.

I was sure I’d never have gotten through the flowery language without her help.

“No problem, Kiera. Maybe for our last quarter, we can still get together and study over coffee?”

Knowing my spring quarter was equally just as challenging as this last one had been, I exhaled with a long sigh. “Yeah, definitely.” As I waved goodbye to the boisterous blonde, she gave me a warm smile. It was an overly warm smile and it made me frown. The smile had seemed…a little too fond.

Waving goodbye to other friends I had made in the class, I hoped that Cheyenne hadn’t taken a liking to me. I wasn’t sure if she was interested in boys or girls, things like that don’t usually come up in candid conversations. Although, when we talked about Kellan, she often mentioned an ex she’d had, years ago in high school. I was pretty sure that had been a guy. At any rate, I didn’t want to hurt yet another person in my life.

But, then again, maybe I was reading too much into it. Cheyenne was friends with just about everybody in the class. And I wasn’t exactly a drop-dead beauty that everybody lusted after. No, that was Kellan…not me.

Laughing at myself, I headed out to the parking area where Denny was picking me up. Knowing we were shopping together today, I’d left Kellan’s “baby” safely parked at my apartment, with firm instructions to my sister for her to not take it for a test drive. Looking sullen and tired, she’d only shrugged and muttered, “Whatever.” Stepping out of his car as I arrived, Denny cocked his head at me.

“What’s so funny?”

Realizing I was still giggling over the idea of yet another person being enamored with me, I shook my head. “Just realizing that I think way too much of myself.”

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Pursing his lips, Denny shook his head and rolled his eyes. It was an adorable expression and I grinned. “Right, your self-esteem is just…obnoxious.” He gave me his charming, goofy grin. “You should really work on your modesty.”

I smacked his shoulder, laughing as I opened his car door. Sliding into his creamy, luxurious seats, eagerly anticipating the warming sensation of the heater installed in them, I looked over at Denny as he got in his side. He eyed the flower in my hand as he started the car. “That from Kellan?”

He raised a dark eyebrow at me as I set the flower on the dash.

“Yeah,” I said, a little dreamily.

“Everything…all right then?”

Hearing the concern in his question, I looked back at him, his dark eyes now concentrating on the road. “I guess. I mean, we haven’t talked yet, but I feel like we’ve taken a step closer together.” Not looking me, Denny said, “But you haven’t talked yet, so nothing’s really changed.”

I sighed, twisting to look out the window. “No, no I guess it hasn’t. I don’t really want to talk about it though, Denny.” He sighed a little, then softly said, “Okay, Kiera. It’s your relationship, not mine.”

Looking back over at him, I tilted my head. “Speaking of yours…any word on Abby coming over?”

He visibly brightened as he looked back at me. “Yeah, her assignment is wrapping up soon. She thinks she could make it out here by the end of April.”

Denny’s eyes filled with a warmth that I was only used to seeing in reference to me. It hurt a little, seeing it in connection to another woman, but it also made me feel good too, in a strange way. Denny was a part of my life, and I loved him. I wanted him happy and she seemed to make 375



him that way. Placing my hand on his knee, I gave him a soft smile. “I’m glad, Denny, I’m sure you’ve missed her.”