82
" You’re bringing all of this?” he asked as we went inside, and before I could formulate an awesome retort, he added, “You’ve got enough junk here for a small army. Were you planning on invading the beach?”
“Have you ever gone somewhere with four kids before? Trust me, it’s all necessary.”
I grabbed Zia’s and Zelda’s car seats and turned toward the driveway, surprised by what I saw. “You own a minivan?”
“I don’t own a minivan,” he responded, sounding offended. “I have many beautiful pieces of machinery, and I would not insult them by bringing something like that into my garage. I rented it. By myself. It was easier than I thought it would be. And I even remembered your tip about the gas icon and the arrow so I know the gas tank is on the driver’s side.” Now he sounded proud of himself, and I guessed he’d never rented a car on his own before. "
― Sariah Wilson , #Starstruck (#Lovestruck, #1)
89
" Have you always had a dog?” I asked. I so wanted to know everything about him.
“No, Pigeon’s my first pet.”
“And you didn’t consider getting any other kind? Like a cat?”
“A cat?” he scoffed. “Never. I’m not bringing home some sociopath intent on luring you into a false sense of security before they eat your face.”
That made me laugh. “Some cats are nice and affectionate.” Not that I had any firsthand knowledge, but it had to be true.
“Decoys. They’ve never forgotten that they used to be worshipped as gods. You’ll never see dogs planning on destroying humankind. Which is one of the reasons I adopted Pigeon.”
“She won’t eat your face?”
He smiled. “I’m pretty sure she’s not plotting my demise. And it’s nice to love somebody who doesn’t want anything in return.”
Whoa, that sounded deep and like an area that was obviously none of my business but I still wanted to ask too many questions about.
Before I could figure out what to say in response, he said, “While we’re on the topic of animals and their devious plans, something you should definitely know about Pidge is that she loves shoes. And by love, I mean she chews them into tiny pieces until they no longer resemble shoes. So you always want to keep your closet door shut.”
“Got it. She won’t come for my face, but she will for my shoes.” Pigeon and I were going to have issues if she chewed up my shoes. I’d been forced to sell off most of my bags and footwear. The shoes I had now were very inexpensive and I wasn’t emotionally attached to them, but I didn’t have enough money to buy more cheap shoes. "
― Sariah Wilson , Roommaid
99
" Pigeon observed me silently as I took my pile to the stackable washer and dryer located next to my bathroom. I decided to do a rinse cycle and then wash them. I then grabbed my phone to figure out where I’d gone wrong. Turned out only dishwasher soap should go in the dishwasher. Which was different from dishwashing liquid. And there were also handy directions on how to clean soap out of a dishwasher when you used the wrong kind.
Feeling reassured that I wasn’t the only one who’d ever done this, I pulled all the dishes out of the dishwasher. When I got to the bottom rack, I noticed that the heavy pan I’d placed in there looked . . . rusted.
I finally gave in and called Shay. I explained what had happened, and after she stopped laughing she told me to send her a picture of the pan in question.
“You put his cast-iron pan in the dishwasher?” she shrieked when my text arrived.
“Is that bad?”
“So bad! I mean, there’s things you can do to try and fix it once you’ve rusted it up like that, but if you don’t want him to know . . .”
“I definitely don’t want him to know.” I’d been at his place for twenty-four hours and I was already destroying his property. This did not bode well.
“Then I think you’re better off buying him a new one. When you do, watch a video on how to take care of it. They’re not like regular pans.”
“Why would someone buy something you couldn’t put in a dishwasher?” I asked.
“Because it cooks certain foods so much better. It’s one of those things where if I have to explain it to you, you’re not going to get it. But time to replace that sucker. And make sure you season it.”
She hung up before I could ask her what seasoning it meant. Time to do more research.
I looked his pan up on Amazon. I gasped when I saw how much it cost. “Why would anyone spend this much on a pan that, I repeat, you cannot put in a dishwasher?”
Pigeon cocked her head at me.
I’d put a self-ban on online shopping mainly because American Express had invited me to stop using their card.
But desperate times and all that . . . I put the pan in my shopping cart and then entered my new address and my debit card information. The new pan was going to arrive in two days, which was plenty of time before Tyler was due back.
Pigeon had continued to study me, keeping her distance. Was it an improvement that she was choosing to hang around me?
“We just had our first adventure together,” I told her. "
― Sariah Wilson , Roommaid
