“Things are...” I trail off, suddenly sheepish. “Really good. I’m going to sound like the worst, but it’s actually kind of disgustingly great.”
“Disgusting is the goal,” Serena says. “If you can gross us out with cuteness, you’re doing it right.” She raises her coffee in salute and almost walks into a traffic sign, then swerves at the last second. “Oh my god. Close call. Some of us have lives at stake during these check-ins, FYI.”
“Tell us ALL,” Layla pleads. “Because we are, frankly, obsessed with the two of you.”
I take a huge bite of cinnamon scroll to delay answering. The sweet, sticky dough coats my mouth like a hug, and I chew slowly, thinking of how to summarize five weeks of rapid-fire escalation. The sex is incredible, I want to say, but that’s not even the top five. It’s the waking-up tangled together, the ease of being with him. The weird, soft feeling of knowing someone is in your corner—even when you’re too tired to be a whole person yourself. It’s the best. But also…
“He met my family yesterday.” I lick frosting off my thumb as I watch Layla’s jaw drop.
“Oh my god. Did your brothers eat him alive?”
“Not really. They all showed upunannounced. At 9 a.m. While Logan and I were... in the middle of something.”
“Audrey. No.” Serena’s eyes go wide.
“Audrey yes. He ended up wearing my ‘Girls in STEM’ T-shirt while my dad and brothers interrogated him for three hours.”
There’s a moment of stunned silence. Then Layla bursts out laughing—the full-body kind that makes her double over and gasp for air.
“I need more details,” she wheezes. “I need every single detail. Start from the beginning. Did he panic? He panicked, didn’t he? Oh god, I can picture his face?—”
“He was actually...” I pause, remembering. Logan in the too-small pink shirt, his hair a mess, trying so hard to be charming while my brothers sized him up like wolves circling prey. “He was kind of amazing, actually. Nervous as hell, but he tried. He talked to my dad about cars. He let my brothers give him shit without getting defensive. He just... showed up.”
“Of course he did.” Serena’s expression softens. “That man is so gone for you.”
“He is. It’s adorable.” Layla has recovered enough to sit upright again. “And how did your dad take it? Meeting the boyfriend?”
“He gave Logan the ‘if you hurt her’ speech, but like, the abbreviated version. Which is basically his seal of approval.” I smile, remembering the way my dad clapped Logan on the shoulder before they left.Good man. Take care of my girl.“I think they liked him. Even Tony, and Tony doesn’t like anyone.”
“Because he’s likable,” Serena says. “Under all the awkwardness and the computers and the weird, code-poet thing he’s got going for him, he’s actually a sweetheart.”
“A golden retriever in a tech bro’s body,” Layla agrees.
“He’s also the hottest guy you’ve ever dated,” Serena says, pointing her coffee at the screen for emphasis. “And don’t deny it. I was there for Hot Garage Greg, and I was there for Rebound Brian the ‘Just OK.’ Logan is far and away the most bangable.”
“Thank you?” I try to muster an equally enthusiastic response, but something in my stomach clenches. I press a thumb hard into the edge of the bakery box, channeling the tension I don’t want them to see.
Serena squints at me. “You sound like you’re trying to agree, but secretly you’re not agreeing.”
“I’m agreeing, but...” I cut off, like my mouth got ahead of the script. They pounce instantly.
“But?” Layla prompts. “Is there a but? Audrey, it’s us. Say it. Is he, like, weird at sex? Does he have a secret family? Does he pick his nose in bed?”
Serena jumps in, “Or—wait, is he secretly mean behind closed doors? Maybe he doesn’t believe in deodorant?”
“No! It’s nothing like that.” I stuff another bite into my mouth and let the sugar slow me down. “It’s just?—”
Their faces draw closer to their respective screens. I picture them in two corners of my apartment, inching forward from across the city, until I can’t look away.
“It’s just,” I say, swallowing. “We’ve been dating for over a month now, and...”
They wait. I have to finish it.
“And I still haven’t seen his place,” I admit, each word softer than the first. “Not even once.”
There’s a three-second beat as this lands. Layla’s perfectly drawn brows hike up, and Serena’s lips part in surprise.
“Wait,” Serena says. “You mean you fuck all over your apartment, but have never fucked in his?”
