“I get it.”
Seth returns with the fries and we drink and eat in silence until Madison’s head swivels dramatically in my direction.
“I mean . . . we’ve never had that kind of friendship.” Evidently she’s been over there churning this topic round and round. “It would’ve been weird to suddenly have you all up in my business every day like,How are you, Madison?” she says in a droll tone. “And me responding with something like,I’m okay but sort of lonely. How are you, James?Like, gross. Who even are those civil, communicative people? Not us.”
“Definitely not us. Where’s the snark?” I say, enjoying this new game.
“The condescension?”
“The rude comments about my tiny . . .” I let the sentence dangle so she’ll fill it in.
“Brain.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Wow. Resisting a dick joke? I even teed it up for you.”
She shrugs and sighs dramatically. “I’m feeling charitable. Or maybe I’m just tired from all the travel. Point is. We are not the type of friends to talk one-on-one. So . . . no. I didn’t want you to call me again.”
“Great,” I reply, unbothered.
“Good.”
I stare at her. At the freckles across her nose, at the curve of her neck, and at her full watermelon-pink mouth. I replay the words that just exited those beautiful lips and come to a conclusion that might actually kill me.Madison wanted me to call her again.But why?
That night after I hung up with her, I decided it would beessential to take a big step back. Putting her into a Colleagues Only box is the only way I will survive working with her every day. I’d let Tommy handle most of the day-in-and-day-out communication, and when I saw Madison around I’d be friendly yet brief.
But seeing the look in her eyes just now . . . it has me changing course immediately. Because where Madison is concerned, I think I’d be willing to set the world on fire if it made her smile. And she has no idea.
I watch her closely as I say, “We could be—you know?” My beer hovers in front of my mouth, and when she looks at me with a curious expression, I clarify. “We could be friends who talk one-on-one. Might even be a good idea since we’re about to work together.”
Whether from curiosity or horror, her eyes widen. “I’m not sure you can handle the full force of Friendship Madison.”
“You make it sound like a hurricane.”
She tips a little closer to me, like she’s telling me a secret. “They’re very similar.” She sits back. “Only difference is, one comes with an invasion of privacy and complete use of your kitchen whenever I want.”
“You do that anyway.”
“But now you don’t get to complain about it.”
God, I should leave this bar right now. If I knew what was good for me, I’d close out my tab and get the hell away from her.
Instead, I turn my stool so we’re facing each other. “And what do I get out of this friendship?”
She thinks for a second. “To taste test a lot of incredible food?”
“Sold.”
She laughs, looking skeptical that I would actually agree to this. Maybe skeptical about agreeing to it herself. We’ve never been direct friends. Even though it wasn’t intentional, it’s like Noah hasalways been standing between us—a human buffer. And in this brief conversation, we just pushed him out of the way. Madison is looking directly at me now.
“Really?” she asks. “You want to beactualfriends?”
I don’t mean to, but my eyes drop to her mouth. “Bring on the hurricane.”
Her smile is a lightning bolt. “Great.Let me go get a knife.”
It takes me half a second to register her words before I hook my hand around her biceps to catch her when she leaves her seat. “Why the hell are you getting a knife, Madison?”
“So we can make a little cut on our palms and shake on the new friendship. A blood pact.” She mimes the slice across her open hand.Casual.Like she does this all the time. Most disturbing part of it, she’s dead serious.
