“I’m fine. Just had to help Cassandra finish her section, and Andre was on our asses. Can I say ‘ass’ or are you with the fam?”
“I’m in bed.” He chuckled.
“So youwantme to say ‘ass?’” I teased. “Should I tell you what I’d do to it?”
“No, I can probably imagine,” he said.
My heart skipped a beat.
Had he imagined it? What I could do to him?
He cleared his throat. “I mean, if you were here, it’d be different.”
I flexed my fingers around the steering wheel. “Are you asking me to come over on a weeknight?”
“No. I–I wish you could. But I’ve got an early morning, and my mom would wake up, so—”
“Right.” I doubted he’d ever brought home a booty call, and our arrangement didn’t include sleepovers.
“I’d still like to talk to you until you get home,” he said.
“Why?”
“To make sure you’re safe.”
I cackled and propped my elbow on the window sill. “Okay, Dad.”
“What? I can’t worry about my girlfriend?”
Fake girlfriend, I almost corrected. “Do you do this for Shelby? Make her stay on the line after a long day of princess duty?”
“No, but she lives across the street. It’s easier to check in.” Something rustled in the background on his end of the line. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” I steadied my grip at the top of the wheel.
“Is it lonely, living by yourself?”
Lonely…
I drove into the night, pops of light decorating the streets like a runway home. My phone and the dashboard glowed with connection.
“It’s peaceful,” I said. Everything was exactly the way I wanted it. Sure, it was fun to imagine him waiting at home for me in nothing but gray sweatpants, but I wasn’t about to clear out my drawers for him to move in. “Are you nervous about getting an apartment?”
“I don’t know.” He sniffed. “It was different in college. I missed Mom’s cooking and stuff, but I had a meal plan, a roommate, teammates, friends, classes—”
“And a girlfriend,” I reminded him.
“Yeah.” He scoffed. “And then, they moved on. No one wanted to stay in during my recovery period, and I wasn’t in any shape to go anywhere. So, I’d call my mom. She’d fill me in on family drama, ask about my progress, and send food to get my strength up. She even came to help me with my laundry a few times. God, that probably sounds pathetic.”
“No, it’s sweet.” At least in this context. “You do your own laundry now, right?”
“Yes.”
“Thank god.” I grinned, sliding into the right-hand lane. “I’m not going to praise you for basic adulting, though. As far as I know, you can only make tuna sandwiches and mow the lawn.”
“I can do a lot more than that, Nic. And I'm happy to learn the rest.”
I bet he was.
