She giggled. “Did you take notes?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I teased.
She wrinkled her nose at me. “No. But Idowant to know how things are going with Eve.”
“Fine, I guess.” I leaned back in my chair, spinning in a circle.
“Convincing,” she deadpanned.
I shrugged. “We’re having fun, like we said.”
She pinned me with a knowing look.
There wasn’t much I could get past Nora, and I didn’t really want to pretend that what Eve and I had meant nothing to me anymore.
I sighed. “But you were right, okay? I like her.”
She covered her smile with her hand. It was a testament to our friendship that she tried to hide how pleased she was to hear me admit that I’d finally caught feelings for someone.
When she finally regained control of her face, she stepped further into my office. “Now that you’re admitting it,what are you going to do about it?”
I scrubbed my hands over my face.
What was I going to do about it? Hell if I knew.
I didn’t know the first thing about taking a relationship from casual to whatever came next, especially when she kept closing up on me. I pulled my fingers through my hair roughly. Maybe Nora would have some words of wisdom. She was a woman. She was stubborn. Surely she had some insight to share.
“I’m not sure what to do about it.That’sthe problem. I want more than fun, but whenever I think we’re making any progress, she slams shut and ghosts me.”
“Have you told her?”
“Told her what?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “That you like her! That you want more than fun.”
I scratched at the back of my neck. “Like with words?”
“Yes, you dumbass. With words.”
I’d shown her a million different ways that I cared for her. I thought I’d made it obvious that I had more than only friendly feelings towards her. And that last time we’d been together... Hadn’t she felt it? The world tipping on its axis, everything rearranging and settling back down exactly how it was meant to be.
“Well, no. Not with words. I’ve hinted at it a million times.”
She crossed her arms, gifting me with a haughty look. “Penetrating her with your little meat stick isn’t a good hint.”
“First of all, it hurts his feelings when you call him little. And did you seriously use the words penetrate and meat stick when you were referring to sex? What kind of book porn are you reading?”
She lifted her shoulders, unfazed by my question. “You need to have an actual conversation with her about it, Ben. You know, like a grown up... You can’t expect her to realize that what you’re doing with her differs from what you do with every other woman.”
I stared down at my fingers, tapping out a rhythm on the arm of my chair.
Did Eve really believe I did those things for any woman I was seeing? I’m not an asshole to them, but I wouldn’t say the things I’ve said to her. I never felt hollow when they weren’t around. I didn’t experience the same feelings with them as I did with Eve.
“Tell her how you feel,” Nora nudged.
I realized Nora was probably right, but I didn’t have to like it, so I took the opportunity to turn her own advice around on her.
“Sort of how you told our boss how you feel?”
