Normal couple things.
Except we’re not a couple.
But sitting here, listening to him speculate about the latest episode ofGetting the Goons, I want so badly for this to be real.
I just talked to Annie about my fear of vulnerability and hiding everything behind humor, how I struggle to be real.
I know I need to find the courage to tell Jared that friends with benefits isn’t enough for me anymore. That I want the cheek kisses and the pasta dinners on a permanent basis, along with the right to call him mine.
Surely, surely, he wants this too? Surely he recognizes how perfectly we fit together?
The worst he can do is say no.
Actually, the worst he can do is say no and then call off our friends-with-benefits situation. Then we’ll have to keep living down the hall from each other, avoiding eye contact when we see each other, while Patches judges us both. And then I’ll have to watch him with another guy… I try to slam a halt on my catastrophizing.
Jared’s brave. He got an award recently to prove that.
Maybe I just need to try to be as brave as him.
Chapter 11
“This is so cool!” Emmy’s pigtails fly as she bounces on her toes. She’s wearing her special birthday outfit for Uncle Jared—a tutu over jeans, gumboots with dinosaurs on them, and a T-shirt that readsFuture Prime Minister.
We’re at a sensory maze, which promises mind-bending illusions, fun challenges, and sensory surprises for the whole family.
Given this is Emmy’s level of enthusiasm when we’re just in the reception area, I’m slightly concerned by what we might see when we get inside.
Sophie stands slightly apart from us, reading a sign. “No phones allowed inside, apparently.”
“How will we document my inevitable victory dance when I conquer the maze?” I ask.
Sophie just looks at me while Jared laughs.
Right. So that didn’t land well. I’m trying not to take it personally that Sophie doesn’t seem particularly excited about my presence here today.
And it definitely appears Sophie doesn’t appreciate my humor the way Jared does.
“Thanks for organizing this,” Jared says to Sophie, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “Even though I specifically said no fuss.”
“It’s not a fuss. It’s Emmy’s idea.” Sophie’s face softens as she looks at her daughter. “She said Uncle Jared needed an adventure for his birthday.”
“An adventure!” Emmy confirms, then grabs my hand. “Felix, you’re on my team!”
My chest does that squeezing thing it’s been doing lately.
“I’m fairly sure a sensory maze doesn’t require teams, but if it does, I’m totally there. We’ll whip your mum and Uncle Jared at whatever competitive element we can invent for this.”
Sophie’s eyes flick between Emmy’s hand in mine and my face, something unreadable in her expression.
A cold weight settles in my gut.
It feels weird to have someone with Jared’s features look at me without smiling.
It’s okay. This is my chance to spend time with Sophie, to win her over and make her like me more.
We put our phones in a locker and then enter the maze through a corridor lit with UV lights that make everyone’s teeth glow like we’re in a toothpaste commercial directed by aliens.
The first few rooms are pretty straightforward, navigating through a rope maze, and a room where the floor tilts at weird angles and the walls are painted with optical illusions that make you dizzy if you stare too long. Emmy loves the room that’s got piano stairs, jumping up and down them to somehow create the perfect soundtrack to four-year-old joy.
