“You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, trying to convince herself.“Glad to see you.”
He nodded and she wondered what was going through his head; what he was feeling.And whether he was as conflicted as she was.
But there was no trace of that in his eyes—concern maybe and possibly relief?
“Good,” he finally said.“I’m glad to see you too.”
He was carrying a cooler, otherwise she’d have embraced him already.But all the same, she led him to the kitchen table, where he put the cooler down, and then put her arms around him.
He didn’t push her away; in fact, he pulled her closer.
“I’m so glad you figured out the caterer situation,” he said.“At least you got someone who’s willing to step in and give Ash and Judith the food they deserve.”
It was a question, but only someone who knew Jason as well as she did would hear it.“Yeah.But more importantly, I never would have been able to have the presence of mind to even begin to fix the issue without you,” she said.“If you hadn’t been there, if you hadn’t sat with me, pulling the list together…I don’t know what I could have done.”
He stepped back and she felt like she’d lost something.“You could have,” he said.“You’re the strongest…”
She didn’t want to hear him tell her she was strong.Not then at least.“I wasn’t feeling strong at the time, but you didn’t make me feel any less.It means a lot that you were there for me.”
He reached up to cup her cheek but then dropped his hand as if he’d been burned.
She was glad she hadn’t given in to the impulse to rub her cheek against his hand or close her eyes; that would have been awkward, as if she hadn’t already lost the map to this particular set of interactions.
“Sorry,” he said as she wondered, once again, what was going through his head.“Anyway, should we eat?”
She nodded.“Yeah,” she managed, hoping that this awkward feeling hanging over everything would dissipate soon.The last thing she needed was for this particular friendship to be lost in the mire of unbalanced feelings.
*
Dinner was worsethan quicksand.Not the food, of course.He learned the extent of her gastronomic vocabulary, complimenting the food he’d prepared in every possible way; some he’d heard before and even some he hadn’t.
And that was the extent of what they discussed: the food.
As if somehow conversations over food had become their safe space.
Dammit.
He didn’t want this friendship, this connection, that he had with Naomi to have the need for a single solitary strand of a damn safe space.He wanted tobethat space.
He also wanted to touch her, wanted to kiss her again.But there was so much muddling his brain and, clearly, hers.
And he still had things to tell her, which he’d been putting off.
They’d talked briefly about movies earlier, so he’d brought a few—and some popcorn.But as he brought out the popcorn, seeing the space next to her on the couch free, he decided it was time.
Once he’d put the popcorn down on the table in front of him and had settled into the couch, he said, “Now that we’ve finished celebrating, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me!”she said as she moved away from him, looking up into his eyes.“What is it?”
He swallowed.There were so many things he could say at this moment, but there were words he had to use.“I’ve organized my trip.I know how it’s going to go.I still can’t believe it, but I’m ready to tell you.”
The gasp was of excitement; he’d heard her gasps enough to be able to distinguish them.
“Oh my God,” she said, grabbing his hands, eyes wide.“I need to hear all about it.”
He couldn’t resist her anyway—this enthusiastic Naomi, holding his hands?He had absolutely no chance against her, not that he wanted to fight her.“There’s a lot,” he said.“I’m telling you.”
