I was afraid that I’d built a hookup into something deeper. I was afraid that she wouldn’t want to do it again. I was afraid if we did do it again, it wouldn’t be the same. The only thing worse than not seeing her again would be to go for a second time and then have everything fall completely flat and for the chemistry we’d had to have been a fluke.
I blurted all that out to Corinne and she listened.
“That’s a risk you’re gonna have to take, my love. But tying yourself up in knots about what-ifs isn’t going to help anyone or anything.”
Brutal, but true. There was a reason Corinne and I had stayed friends after we’d met in college and had ended up in the same city for our careers later on. We’d been roommates for a year too but had decided we both liked our own space. We had sleepovers at each other’s apartments for old time’s sake sometimes though.
I moaned and dropped my face into my hands.
“I know, I know. It’s hard being an adult with good communication skills.”
She patted my head in sympathy.
“This sucks,” I mumbled. “Anyway, how was your date the other night?”
Her eyes lit up. “I’ve beendyingto tell you.”
Chapter Eleven
Gray
There wasa knock at my door on Saturday afternoon and at first I thought about hiding and pretending I wasn’t home, but curiosity got the better of me and I went to see who it was and found Mal standing there.
Oh, shit.
I hadn’t seen or heard from her in a week, but here she was. Taking a deep breath that was only a little unsteady, I opened the door and couldn’t help but smile.
She looked gorgeous in a pair of baggy shorts and a sweatshirt that had seen better days. Her hair was up in a bun, which I’d never seen before.
“Hey,” she said, her voice soft.
“Hi.”
“I was just…” She stopped and took a breath. “Can we talk?”
We both jumped as someone closed a door down the hall too loudly.
“Yeah, of course. Come in.”
She hadn’t seen my place yet and I did a quick frantic scan to make sure there wasn’t anything weird left out.
Dandy ran over to see what the commotion was and inspect the new person.
“Oh,” she said in surprise as Dandy looked up at her.
“That’s Dandy. She’s a menace, mostly, but she likes people.” Whenever maintenance had to come over and fix anything, she had to come over and supervise.
“Aren’t you pretty. Yes you are,” Mal said in a low voice as she held her hand out for Dandy to sniff and butt her head against.
Eventually Mal stood up again and looked at me.
“Can we talk?”
Yes. No. Yes.
“Sure.”
I gestured to the living room and we sat down on the couch. I made sure to keep some space between us. I honestly had no idea where this was going to go.
