I snort. “Oh yeah, I forgot you don’t like to drive either,” I remember.
“I get too distracted behind the wheel, and her anxiety is fucking terrible when I drive, so she usually does. And she’s always extra careful,” he explains. “It works out when we actually have to take ourselves somewhere. Still, it’s better if we have someone drive us.”
I can’t help but be envious of the way he talks about her. “I’m so fucking happy you two found each other, dude,” I tell him. “Like so happy. You guys are perfect.”
He chuckles, a slight blush hitting his cheeks. “Yeah? What about you? You going to rip the mask off of your stalker?”
“I think I probably scared her away for good tonight,” I say. “And I don’t know that that’s a bad thing.”
He smiles. “Good, because I was about to tell you you’re fucking crazy if you’re not giving Gemma a real chance.”
I almost laugh. “I’m glad to know you’ve been rooting for us.”
“How could I not after hearing you two outside the trailer the other night? Jesusfuck, Bon,” he says, teasing me. He whistles, and I can’t help my growing laughter.
“I kind of thought you two were endgame after that,” he says.
A sigh leaves me as I think about earlier with Gemma. “Not yet. I’ve been working through shit in my head. And I wanted to end things with my stalker, too. It just got… complicated. Still, somehow, every time I’m around her, I just want to be with her. It’s like I can’t help it.”
“What about now? If your stalker is gone for good?”
I stare at my terribly painted fingernails and consider it.
And as I do, I feel my chest swell.
“I was pushing Gemma away because I thought it might affect my sobriety were things to go wrong,” I say, almost in a trance. “I wasn’t sure if I’d be strong enough to handle feeling that low. And then… This entire time, things have been going to absolute shit, and I…”
My gaze lifts to his, and Reed grins.
“You’re still sober,” he says.
“I’m still fucking sober,” I realize.
He takes another sip of his soda and points a finger at me. “You’re a badass, B. And if Gemma makes you feel something… You have to give that a shot. It isn’t like the universe just goes around giving that kind of intimacy to everyone.”
My lips lift higher. “Yeah. You’ve been around Mads more, haven’t you?” I ask, referring to his relationship advice.
A soft knock sounds on the door, and Reed snickers at my comment.
“You know I get poetic when I cook,” he says, heading to the door.
He opens it, his face beaming when he sees his wife standing on the threshold. Even so, Wren doesn’t look as enthusiastic.
She places one hand on the door and looks back over her shoulder a few times, and Reed frowns at her.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah… I must be more tired than I think I am,” she says, slapping her cheeks. “I thought I saw a guy who used to hang around Damien.”
Reed immediately sticks his head out of the door and looks around.
“That’s pretty weird,” I say.
Wren steps inside and heads toward me, a solemn look on her face. “I really didn’t mean to crash, but he’s a terrible driver,” she says.
I laugh and pat the seat next to me. “Luckily, he’s a hell of a comfort cook.”
She gives him a look when he walks by and kisses the top of her head, and despite the way she rolls her eyes, I know she’s as grateful to have him in her life as I am to have him in mine.
