“Neither am I.” I slowly walk up to him and place my hand on his chest. “I should have reacted differently. Like an adult, you know,” I add with a cheeky smile. “Look at us, having our first fight.”
“I wouldn’t call it ‘first,’” he notes lightly.
I stare into space. “M-m-yeah, probably not. Wanna learn together?”
His face loses all humor. “Do you?”
Somehow, the question feels heavier than it sounds. Like he’s asking way more than I asked him, so before I reply, I give myself time to really think.
With a determined sigh, I place my second hand on his chest and let it slide behind his back. Slowly and very carefully, I pull myself closer and rest my head between his pecs—very mighty ones, I might add.
“I do,” I whisper into his body, feeling it take a deep breath under my touch.
His hands wrap around me, dragging me closer into him.
We don’t say anything else.
But we both know it now.
We’re in it.
Even if neither of us knows whatitis yet.
34
Jericho
A few days of total warmth is not something I know how to handle. A woman like Nora being all comfortable around me is not something I can handle either. I can deal with bitchiness, cold shoulders, or anything else I won’t catch feelings from.
I can deal with hot sex. But warmth is not on my know-how list.
We haven’t kissed since that evening when her douchebag ex showed up. I haven’t even attempted to touch her. And not because I don’t want to. I just want to savor this new sensation in the pit of my stomach—anticipation of something good. Feels like I’m purposely starving myself before a delicious meal.
I’ve been finding excuses to come to her door, like asking for sugar or salt, which is ridiculous and we all know it. Especially Moon. That old witch knows a lot, way more than shelets on. Every time she opens the door with narrowed eyes, she’s scanning my brain for my intentions with her granddaughter.
She keeps calling me Steve. I tried reminding her of my actual name, but she seems to forget it instantly. She doesn’t forget to grill me with her eyes though, so I’m getting the feeling that she might not have any memory issues after all—she seems too sharp for that.
One of these days, I get a call from city hall with a summons. Not knowing if it’s for good or bad, I show up prepared for either. Turns out, their promise of approving that electrical permit in exchange for my snow-removal services was real, and I walk out of the building with a signed-off paper in my hands. I bet Dick’s cousin didn’t feel pleasure signing it, so this paper feels extra special.
It will be a different story to close it when the work is complete, but that can take months or even years. And seeing as I’m not planning on selling the house anytime soon, I can deal with that.
During Nora’s days off, which are rare, she comes to my house with her witch brew coffee where I’m already waiting for her with bacon and eggs so we can share breakfast. And I go to the diner when she’s working. Karina and Roman greet me like I’m a part of the diner’s entourage at this point, and it’s surprisingly comforting.
In the evenings, she’s been bringing colorful crystals to my house and placing them in odd spots, claiming they createa protective shield. At this rate, soon I won’t have any unprotected surfaces, but I don’t dare move them. She touches one black crystal she placed on the accent table by the door every time she walks in—like some kind of ritual.
As promised, she also did a sage-burning ritual to cleanse the house of the energies of its past inhabitants. She said all the people who’ve lived here before me were good but verytroubled, and she didn’t want the bad energy to rub off on me. I sneezed for days after she stunk the hell out of my living room, but I kept my mouth shut with a smile placed firmly on my face.
All that witchy stuff seems to make her more comfortable and happy around me, and seeing her happy gives me the endorphins I lack in my life, so I’ll happily deal with them. I think if she started drawing pentagrams on my floor and performing sacrifices, I’d still let her.
We spend hours together like that, and yet we don’t kiss.
I can’t go on like this for long though; I don’t want her to get the wrong idea that I’ve friend-zoned her. I do want to be her friend, but I wish to be so much more for her.
The only problem is that I don’t know what I’m doing. Despite what she might think, I have zero experience when it comes to relationships. I had a girlfriend in high school and then one in college, and that’s about it. After that, life put me on a fucking hiatus, switching to a different kind of being fucked over.
So now I’m already halfway across our yards toward Nora’s house, quickly losing confidence with every step as I’m getting closer because I have no clue how to be normal.
When I’m standing on her porch with two coffees in hand and a made-up excuse tumbling around my head like laundry in a broken machine, I’m ready to bolt back to the security of my house and wait for her to come to my place for our regular friend-zoned routine.
