“North enough that I’m fucking freezing.”
I snort and shake my head, because he’s ridiculous. And I’ve missed him. I tell him so and pull him in for a side hug.
“Missed you too,” he says softly, then nudges me. “How’s it going over here with your new team? Obviously, they’re not a patch on your old one.”
“Obviously.”
“But are they all right?”
“Yeah. They’re a friendly group.”
“Good.” He nods to himself, then adds, “For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing. The past couple of weeks the whole team has been in the office most days.”
Ahh.
By that he means Karl. And there’s no way I want to have to see him day in day out. And god forbid have to work with him.
“I think I did too.” I shrug. “It’ll just take a bit of getting used to, that’s all.”
We finally reach the café, and I find us a seat along the back wall.
To Paul’s credit, he manages to hold off until we’re sat down waiting for our food to arrive before he starts.
“So, how’s it going with Jerry? Have you fucked each other yet?”
Thankfully he keeps his voice low, but it’s still probably not the place for this conversation. Although no one seems to be paying us much attention.
Paul kicks me under the table. “No one’s listening. Come on... my life’s boring these days. I need to live vicariously through you.”
“I’m sure your better half will be thrilled to hear that.”
“You know what I mean,” he says with an eye roll, then adds, “but maybe don’t tell him I said that.”
“I like living with Reed.” I fiddle with the cutlery I’d fetched for us. “And no... we haven’t fucked.” I don’t look at him when I say that last bit, because he can read me easily sometimes and he’llknow.
Silence follows my statement, and when I dare to glance up, Paul is staring at me, one eyebrow arched.
“What?”
“Don’twhatme. I know you. You can’t lie for shit.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Okay, so maybe you haven’t fucked. But you’ve done something, right? Things aren’t strictly platonic with your hot vet friend anymore, are they?”
I really regret the day I told Paul what I’d initially called Jerry in my phone.
I’m not about to tell him any details, but thingshavechanged, and I want to tell someone. “No. They’re not.”
His eyes widen in delight.
“But it’s just casual, while I look for somewhere new to live.”
“And when will that be?”
I shrug, because I have no idea. “Whenever my house sells, I guess. It only went on the market a few weeks ago. I’ll start looking for a place after Christmas. For now, I want to have a bit of fun and enjoy the whole festive season this year, because god knows last year’s was a bit shit.”
“Fair enough.”
