Staying in his house

SAIGE POV

As we left the mall, Collin kept looking over at me with a playful grin while shaking his head.

"A unicorn? Seriously? Out of all the drawings in that book, you choose that?" He laughed, clearly getting a kick out of it as much as I was.

"It seemed fitting," I giggled.

Our moment of laughing halted when my phone began to ring and my mom's face lit up the screen. My heart fell into my stomach as I stared at her face. I didn't want to answer it because I knew what she would say.

"You going to answer that?"

Collin's voice brought me back to the moment as I shook my head at him and ignored her call.

"It was my mom. I don't feel like talking to her right now." I could hear the sadness in my own voice, so I wonder what he's hearing.

"Do you have a place to stay tonight, Saige?" Collin asked.

I thought of the very few people who would take me in. TJ and Kora, but I knew TJ's mom hated me so that wouldn't work and I knew Kora's grandparents were up from Florida visiting, taking the only guest room they had.

"I can climb into my bedroom window. My mom will never know I'm there."

I watched his hand grip the steering wheel. "I don't think you should go back there, Saige. I may not know all the details of what goes on at your place, but you don't deserve to live like that. I have a spare futon in my den. You can sleep there tonight and we'll figure out where you can go tomorrow."

I knew he was offering out of kindness but I also knew that he was uncomfortable about the situation. If this was offered to me a few days ago, I would have come up with a plan to get in his bed, but after today, things have changed for me. Sure, I still wanted in his bed, but only if he invited me.

"Are you sure?" I asked timidly, not wanting to sound as excited as I felt.

"No, but where else will you go?"

Well, there was my answer. He really wasn't comfortable with it so I needed to be on my best behavior.

"Thanks, Collin," I replied genuinely. I really appreciated his offer. I knew he was giving up a lot to let me stay the night and I didn't want to blow it. I was getting closer to tearing down the wall he put up, no need to add to the bricks.

~~~~~~

As he drove well past my neighborhood, he finally pulled into a gated one. All the homes were made of brick and I laughed at my earlier metaphor of the wall I pictured he had built up around him. It was very fitting. But, that's when I noticed he pulled into the last house on the cul-de-sac and I gulped.

"You live here?!" My eyes were glued to the house. It was like a mini-mansion with bricks laid out as the driveway. Small brick pillars greeted us at the end of the driveway that was lit up in the darkness. The house was dark except for the front porch lights and I couldn't stop gawking at it.

He laughed from the driver's seat as I watched him press a button for the garage door.

"I do. However, it isn't my place. This is my uncle's house that he uses when he's here for business. He told me I could live here until I figured out my next plan. He still thinks I'm going to give up coaching football and join him at his firm." I could hear the annoyance in his voice and decided not to question him about it just yet.

"This place is amazing," I breathed out, still gawking at the two-story brick home.

"It's alright," he joked. "Come on, I'll show you where you can sleep." He jumped out of the truck and I followed suit.

The house was much larger inside than it looked from the outside and I swear I stopped breathing. What the hell did his uncle do for a living?!

Cream walls greeted me with large art pieces hung in their perfect places. A fireplace was the centerpiece of the huge living room with glass windows on each side. And out those glass windows was a huge in-ground swimming pool. The place was straight out of a magazine and I was in heaven.

"Do you swim often?" I asked, nodding toward the pool.

He turned to look at the pool before he shrugged. "Sometimes. I haven't gone swimming since I moved in, though."

Hmm, maybe we can change that, I thought to myself. I'd love to go for a dip. It had been years since I swam in a pool.

"It's this way," Collin said, pulling me away from my thoughts.

I followed him down a long hallway before he turned into a room that overlooked the pool as well. The floor-to-ceiling windows let in all the pool lights, casting a warm glow in the room.

A fancy futon sat along the wall as Collin walked over to it and pulled it down into a bed. He then went to a closet and pulled out a few pillows and blankets, tossing them onto the futon.

"There's a private bathroom for you." He nodded behind me as I spun and found what he was talking about.

The bathroom was twice the size of the one we had back home and I just shook my head. It was amazing to me that people live like this on a daily basis and I had never seen a house like this in person. I was totally out of my league. Even if I did weasel my way into Collin's life, he deserved a woman that came from a much better background than mine. No respectable guy wants to date a girl who grew up in the slums as I had. And Collin was definitely a respectable guy. What was I doing there? 

"Thanks, Collin."

He gave me a small nod before leaving the room. I took the sights in, turning my head this way and that, finding more luxury views. Jesus Christ.

I was in the middle of making my bed up when I heard Collin cursing up a storm down the hall. A smile spread across my face as I went in search of him. I had to see what he was fussing about.

When I found him, he was in another bathroom off the kitchen, staring himself in the mirror while trying to wash the unicorn off of his face.

"Need some help with that?"

He jumped at the sound of my voice but nodded in reply anyways.

"I can't get this fucking thing off."

I giggled. "Got any olive oil and salt?" I stepped farther into the bathroom and assessed his face. That henna ink wasn't coming off anytime soon.