She shrugged. “Didn’t seem like any of my business. At first I thought you were going up there to smoke or something, but then you just sat there and stared at the sky.”
I turned my body fully toward her. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
She faced me as well, uncrossing her arms. “Didn’t seem like my business.”
“But you watched me.”
Vail rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t like that. I was just checking to make sure you didn’t tumble off the roof.”
“I was fine.” I’d been climbing on that roof since I was little. It had always felt like a little act of rebellion, especially when my dad had a new wife. It wasn’t stealing booze or sneaking out, but it was something. And it was always quiet up there. I’d listen to the sounds of the night and just…be.
“Why didn’t you join me?” I asked and Vail looked at the ground.
“Didn’t want to disturb you. It was your thing.”
If I’d known she wanted to sit with me, I would have invited her. I would have invited her then, and now?
“I have a key. We could go to my dad’s house right now.” Obviously I wasn’t serious.
“Pass. But we could also just go to my house.” Oh. Right. She had a house. With a roof.
Immediately I was nodding. “Okay.”
“You sure you want to leave?”
“I’m sure.”
* * *
After a discussion,we decided that we’d each take our own cars.
I arrived after she did, mostly because I’d completely forgotten where I’d parked my car and had to do a little searching. When I got to her place, I had to park out on the street, because the cat sitter was still there.
Not sure what to do, I sat in my car for a little bit until I saw the front door open and a woman I’d never seen before wave and go to her vehicle. I didn’t approach the front door until she was gone.
“Took you long enough,” Vail said when I knocked. She opened the door and had one leg stuck out to prevent the kittens from running outside.
“I think they’re even cuter today than they were the last time I saw them,” I said, leaning down and scooping up Tana. I could tell them apart now. Brit was just a little bit darker in color and Tana had two adorable white socks on her front feet.
“They are so spoiled,” Vail said, petting Tana’s head and then leaning down to kiss it.
“Come on. Let’s see how the roof looks.”
* * *
We shutthe kittens away in her bedroom and then tried to figure out the best way to get to the roof from inside the house. It turned out her guest room had a window right over the garage, which seemed like the safest option.
“If I fall and break my legs, I’m suing you,” Vail said just before she ducked through the window.
“It’s your house. Sue yourself.”
She snorted and I followed her out, carefully picking our way across. The roof was just slightly peaked, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Vail had turned the flashlight on her phone to light the way and stopped about halfway to sit.
“I should have brought a blanket or something. Next time.” I crouched and then sat beside her. She was right, it was chilly.
“Come here.” She scooted closer to me so we could huddle our bodies together.
Tonight had been all over the place and more than confusing. One minute we’d had our bodies pressed up against each other while dancing, the next she was leaning away from me and acting like she didn’t want to be anywhere near me, and now we were sitting on her roof and looking at the stars.
