“Yeah, for sure.” Jae grabbed a glass dish from a cabinet beneath the island and handed it to Rick. Rick placed it on the island and leaned against the countertop.
“So, it’s just us?” he asked looking between Jae and me.
“Yep,” Jae answered coming to stand beside me, crossing one ankle over the other as he leaned back against the opposite counter. “This is family right here.”
Rick nodded, glancing around the space. “I still can’t believe you guys managed to do this all yourselves.”
Jae chuckled, “Me neither, to be honest. Feels like it was a fever dream. I’m just glad that my downstairs space was more recently updated and I’m not thinking about changing anything else anytime soon. Between the gym and the house, I’m completely over DIY renovations.”
Rick chuckled softly, nodding, “I don’t blame you, Jae. How is the gym going? From what I saw on the opening day it looked pretty damn amazing.”
Jae smiled sheepishly, and my mind drifted back to seeing it for myself on Monday. It really was incredible inside, and I was tempted myself to sign up for some classes.
“Thanks, Rick. Yeah, it’s going surprisingly well—”
I clicked my tongue, “Shut up, dip. It’s no surprise that it’s been successful. You work your ass off for that place.”
Jae’s cheeks flushed and he shoved my shoulder, “Whatever.”
“She’s right,” Rick said with a nod in my direction. “You should own it. You’ve done a great job, and you should be proud of yourself.”
“Yeah, yeah. Alright. Save your compliments for the man of the hour when he gets here.”
“So, did you two,” he wagged his finger between Jae and I, “meet before?”
“Before what?” I asked with a look towards Jae. What the hell had they told Rick?
He laughed awkwardly, “I just mean, you two look like you’re rather close. Nox mentioned that you two had dated previously in high school, but I wasn’t sure if Jae and yourself had met prior to here in Anchorage.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jae said. “We were all friends in high school.”
“Sounds like it was one hell of a reunion,” he chuckled, his eyes going wide as if to say he knew all about Enoch’s emotional breakdown. “He’s convinced that it was God’s hand that led you both back together, and I gotta say, I believe it. No such things as luck or coincidence in my book.”
I nodded, forcing a smile and turned to the fridge to grab a water.
“You want something to drink, Rick?” I asked.
“Sure. You got some soda in there?”
“Yeah,” I said, stepping out of the way of the fridge to give him a better view of the selection. “Help yourself.”
He reached past me and grabbed a can of Coke Zero and I shut the fridge. I could feel his stare on me and when I looked up I found his eyes on my chest. A rush of anger flooded my system before I looked down at myself and realized he was staring at my hand that was fidgeting with my necklace.
I dropped it, opening my water and walking to stand next to Jae again, if only to get somewhere I felt more comfortable.
I was too on edge, and I really needed to calm the hell down.
“So, you been stationed in Alaska long?” I asked, trying to get to a neutral topic.
“Uh, almost two years now,” he said, opening his Coke.
“You like it?”
He rocked his head back and forth slowly before scrunching up his face with a grimace. “I’m just not a fan of the snow. And the darkness in the winters. Or the fact that everything is so expensive here.”
Jae nodded beside me, “Yeah. That’s fair. It’s definitely not for everyone. I forget, where are you from originally?”
Rick’s cheeks puffed out as he blew out a breath, “Gosh, I was born in Chicago, but I’ve lived away from there longer than I ever lived there.”
