“Arden,” he whispered so quietly I could barely hear him, even as close as he was.
My phone started to buzz.
Simon jerked back like he’d been given a shock. He was on the other side of the room in a blink. “You should get that. I’ll feed Kennedy for you.” He grabbed a tin of dog food and avoided my eye.
He moved around my kitchen like he really lived here. I watched him and tried to steady myself. “Ah, yeah, thanks.”
I grabbed my phone from the counter and took it outside.
“Hi,” I said when I eventually calmed myself down enough to answer.
“Are you okay?” Ollie asked.
I took a deep, shaky breath to try and stay calm and held the phone as far from me as I could. “Peachy keen,” I answered. “Just hungover. I went to a club last night.Terrible mistake, those places are not for people in their thirties.”
Ollie laughed. “Who did you go with?” he asked. A man?
“Sonia, my friend.” I didn’t want any complications.
“I haven’t heard from you in a few days,” he said.
I looked in my kitchen window and saw Simon on the floor with Kenny all over him. The pair of them were as thick as thieves.
“Busy. And also, not much to report.”
“Have – have you thought any more about me? About that night?”
I held the phone away from my face and breathed deeply.
“Arden, please, I hoped … it meant something.”
“It did.”
“But not enough?”
I let it hang in the air.
“I spoke to Constance,” I said. “She’s great. So, thank you for finding her for me.”
“Not a problem. Glad I could help.”
I could hear the regret in his voice. The catch in his throat with every word. This conversation was costing him. Picking up the phone to ring me was emotional turmoil. For me to give these answers was a dagger to his chest.
We lapsed into silence. “Ollie,” I said softly.
“I miss you,” he said.
“I miss you too,” I blurted without thinking. I looked up. Simon stood in the doorway. His face impassive.
“I, uh, I’ve got to go. Kennedy’s set fire to the kitchen.”
“What if I came down to visit you? Next weekend? I could stay in your spare room,” he said in a hurry. “We could talk things through properly, no distractions.”
“Let me think about it,” I said and hung up.
Shit shit shit.
I went back inside and found Simon at the breakfast bar, with Kennedy beside him, like he was his dog and not mine. Like I was the interloper in this charming domestic scene.
