“As thorough as Mom.” I take a small, careful sip of my black coffee, then nestle the cup between my thighs. “They’ll ask questions, like how we met, how long this has been going on, what we plan to make of this. Marriage and?—”
“Holy shit.” Her jaw drops. “Marriage?” She takes a huge bite of her bagel and chews rather quickly. I stifle a grin. “Your parents are fucking insane. I thought mine were bad. I’m sorry.”
“I know.” I fold the parchment paper back, blowing on the steaming bagel before taking a bite. I don’t know how she didn’t burn herself. “And it’s fine. They don’t expect me to get married now, but they want it to happen with Florence.”
She takes another bite, chewing quickly and I watch clouds of steam leave her mouth.
“You’re burning the shit out of your tongue. Slow down.” I chuckle.
“I like my food really hot. I know it’s weird, but if it’s not hot, I can’t enjoy it.”
The way she ate her food fast at Strangers makes sense now. I was too occupied with being in her presence, I didn’t put too much thought into it.
“I’ll make sure your food stays hot from now on.”
“How thoughtful. You already sound like a boyfriend.” she sardonically remarks before pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “So, question…”
“Answer.”
“Would marrying Florence be such a bad thing?” She eyes me with curiosity. Picking up her cup, she blows faintly through the hole before taking a sip.
I pick at the parchment paper. “Yes. You’d think it’d make sense because we…” I side-eye Anna, who’s looking at me like she knows exactly what I’m going to say. I think I see the divot between her brows, but when I really look at her, it’s not there.
“Fucked?” She arches her brow.
“Yeah, once.” Flashbacks of the night appear in my head. She was angry, but I never found out why. I had my own shit going on, with my father being the cause. We ran into each other, didn’t think as we started taking off our clothes, and the rest ishapless history. “Since that night, she’s believed we’re meant to be.”
She hums pensively. “Andthatis why you don’t fuck everything you see.”
“I saw you at Salt, didn’t I?” I flippantly say.
“Oh, get fucked.” She laughs and I laugh too. “And that wasn’t fucking. We were simply…getting each other off in a way that didn’t involve your dick inside of me.”
I love how casual andeasythis feels. I can’t remember the last time I had a conversation that didn’t revolve around my parents or hockey, and I find myself leaning in, not wanting the moment to end.
“Did it hurt?”
“Did what hurt?”
“Your piercings.” I glance at her chest. She’s wearing a dark-green oversized pullover that has “Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal” on it.
Anna’s gaze follows mine. “Yeah, the second one was a bitch. I think all the adrenaline went to the first and I was slightly in shock from it. So once it wore off, I really felt everything.” She peers up at me. “We need to find some common ground. Something that doesn’t revolve around our bodies and sex. We’re good at that, but I don’t think your parents would appreciate it.”
I snicker, taking another bite, and nod. “We have it.”
“What is it?”
“This—how easy everything is between us. How we align so well and maybe in a strange way, make a lot of sense together.” I falter, realizing it sounds cliché, but there’s no point taking it back. I meant what I said. “We didn’t know each other a couple weeks ago and now look at us. I’m sure my parents have their doubts, but we’ll sell it.”
She goes quiet and I wonder if what I said sounds ridiculous. I don’t know where it came from, but it made sense. Like we do. I don’t understand it, but it’s comforting being around her. Whether it involves being physical or not.
Her lips curl into a…bashful…smile? And her eyes soften, alight with a tenderness.
I don’t know what classifies as a crush, but maybe Thea and Marc are right. Maybe that’s what this is.
Why is it so hard to know?
She looks away and picks up her cup, taking a drink. “So…um…” she stammers, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear that’s covered in piercings. “What do you think they’ll expect to see from us? Do we need to be affectionate? Or…”
