Page 142 of Tell Me I'm Enough

I bend down to unzip my duffel. “There’s plenty of room for Queen Simone here.”

“You really live like this?” she asks, incredulous. “Like since you were a kid?”

“Not by choice,” I mutter, pulling out a hoodie and tossing it onto the chair. “You can take my bed. I’ll grab the couch or one of the guest rooms down the hall—”

“Or…you could not leave me alone, and also not hurt your body sleeping on a couch.” She points to my bed. “That thing is big enough for ten people. Sleep in your bed.”

I give her a playful look. “You just love sharing a bed with me, don’t you?”

“Don’t make it weird, Sinclair.”

I walk closer to her, smirking. “Admit it. You loved cuddling with me.”

“Hey,” she says with a serious face. “That was a very vulnerable time for me.”

My voice gets softer. “I know. And I’m glad you wanted me there.”

Our eyes lock, and I see the silent appreciation she’s trying to give me.

She clears her throat, breaking our trance. “So…what trouble can we get into around here while everyone is still gone?”

“Anything your heart desires.”

There’s a long moment of silence, and then averymischievous look in Simone’s eyes that both worries and intrigues me.

“Have you ever…smoked weed before?”

I almost double over, laughing from the shock of that question.

I look back up at her. “Wait, hold on. That was a serious question?”

She nods, smiling.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ve smoked weed before, Simone.”

“Yeah…like, you’ve smoked once? Or yeah, like, you know what you’re doing?”

I run my hand over my lips, trying not to laugh at her. It’s cute…really.

Simone is a party girl, sure, but she’s also so innocent. It’s endearing. I can see the way she wants to break out of the good-girl shell she’s always kept herself in.

“Yeah, like, I’m not acop, Simone.”

“Do you have some?”

“Do I have some? No, I’m a college athlete…I don’t have weed on me. I don’t smoke anymore. I haven’t smoked since freshman year, actually.”

Her shoulders drop, and she looks a little disappointed.

I let out a sigh, shaking my head. “But…I know where to get some.”

She perks back up. “You do?”

“Haveyouever smoked before?”

She tries to give me a little innocent look. “No…but I wanna…try it.”

“I can’t be the one to corrupt you.”