Adleigh smothered a surprised laugh but finally stepped back and let us inside. The apartment she shared with Shane still bore strong signs of the single guy life, but she was slowly making her mark. Her cute kitchen equipment was making a home on the counters. And I noticed the table was set with real plates tonight.
The last time I’d been here, Shane only had paper plates. And the silverware had been a Solo cup stuffed with wrapped plasticware he’d stolen from various fast-food restaurants.
“Wow, Sis, you went all out.” I picked through the kitchen, lifting lids and poking around. Adleigh had made berry and arugula salad, something with orzo and summer squash, and she’d grilled steaks. There was a sliced baguette and bruschetta I knew would be homemade on the table for an appetizer. And a homemade cheesecake cooling next to the refrigerator.
“I wanted it to be nice,” she said, slightly embarrassed.
“You should have let me help you.” I snagged a strawberry from the salad.
She raised her eyebrows. “Next time.”
She was a liar. She loved to cook. And my usual routine of protein shakes and microwavable Kodiak cakes was repulsive to her. In my defense, I drank a lot of whiskey. So it was more about balance than it was a healthy routine.
“Charlie, have you met Shane?” Adleigh asked when Shane emerged from the bedroom.
“Maybe once? Moving day? Although I’m not sure we were officially introduced,” Charlie said. He stuck out his hand, and Shane shook it. “Nice to see you.”
“Hi,” Shane said, sounding confused.
Adleigh filled in the blanks. “This is Charlie, Ada’s boyfriend, apparently.”
Shane’s eyes widened, and he looked at me like I’d performed a real-life miracle before him. “Ada, a boyfriend?”
I swiped another strawberry. “I know. Hard to believe.”
“No, it’s not that,” Shane said quickly. “I just didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”
“She got tricked into it,” Charlie explained, moving to stand next to me. I thought he wanted to be close to me, but he moved the salad out of reach. Rude.
“Tricked into it?” Shane echoed, more confused than ever.
Charlie put his hand to his heart. “Listen, she’s got needs. You know? But I’m not some floozy. If I’m going to put out, I deserve commitment.”
“Oh my God.” Well, it was a fun night, but probably time to go. And never see these people again. Which was too bad since one of them was my sister.
I tried to move away from him, but he grabbed me around the waist and buried his face in my neck until I was squirming, laughing, and struggling to breathe. When we came up for air, Shane and Adleigh stared at us like a sideshow at a circus.
“I’ve never seen your sister laugh before,” Shane said to Adleigh in a quiet, awed voice.
That wasn’t true.
But Adleigh looked just as confused. Hmm. Maybe it was true.
Charlie slid his arm around my waist and asked Shane what he did for a living. Shane slipped into the universal college pitch where college students immediately rattled off their future degree and their delusional hopes and dreams for their idyllic grown-up lives that never seem to consist of bills, budgets, or inflation. But Charlie was mildly into Duke basketball, so they hit it off immediately.
Eventually, Adleigh moved to the kitchen to open the wine we’d brought, and Charlie and Shane moved to the living room to look at... something related to sports.
I followed Adleigh because I would rather do anything else than talk basketball.
“So this is really happening?” she asked in a low murmur while she poured us both a glass of red. “You and Charlie are really a thing?”
“Yep.” I took a sip to hide my dopey smile.
She made a face. “I want to be mad at you for being so stupid, but you look so damn happy.”
“Do I?”
She gave me a pointed look. “You haven’t stopped smiling since you came in the door.”
