Setting my drink down, I turned the chair to face her. “It was really irritating at first. That anger from our college days burned even brighter when I saw him.”
“Because of how handsome he is, right?” she asked giddily like a schoolgirl.
“Vicky, he’s notthathandsome,” I lied. “And no, that wasn’t why I was angry. It was just all that stuff coming back again. We butted heads initially, and it got heated there for a while. But we’ve talked and listened. And, yeah, it’s better now.”
She frowned and said, “That’sit? That’s all you’re going to give me?”
I swatted her playfully on the arm. “We are not teenagers gossiping about boys. He’s…nice. I’ve gotten to know him better and understand where he’s coming from.”
As much as I trusted my friends, I wasn’t going to break Niko’s confidence about what he shared with me.
“Sofia says he’s from Istanbul, but his first name is from his grandfather’s Greek side. Wow, what a combo.” She waggled her eyebrows and winked.
“Do I need to get you some ice water, my dear?” I teased.
Vicky cackled again and shook her head. “Nah. The only man I see is my gorgeous husband. I’m just teasing about the Turkish thing because Corinna and her friend Aria areobsessedwithTurkish dramas. Like, certifiable. There’s one about a girl from a simple Turkish neighborhood who wants to be a writer and falls in love with her boss, a famous photographer. Saw a few episodes. It’s really cute.”
“Yeah,obsessedis the right word. They send me reels every week,” I said, shaking my head. “Niko mentioned his mom watches them, too. Anyway, we decided to be friends.”
Her countenance fell. “Friends? Why?” She said it like she was spitting out something sour.
I lifted my hands up in confusion. “What do you meanwhy?”
“Listen, where I come from, a man and woman with that kind of volatility means there’s an attraction being played down.” Her raised eyebrow and wicked grin made me laugh.
“You’ve got this all wrong, my feisty Italian. WhereIcome from, what Niko and I felt for one another was called rage, pure and simple.”
She pursed her lips. “Rage…passion. Same coin, different sides.”
“You’re incorrigible. You and Sofia need to stop trying to get me to start something with this man. I’m just getting around to tolerating him.” I shrugged nonchalantly, hoping to appear uninterested.
My words may have said one thing, but apparently, my face was telling a different story, because my insightful young friend just shook her head with a smirk.
I definitely wouldn't be sharing how I felt when he put his arm around the back of my seat, leaned toward me to look behind him, so he could pull out of the parking spot the other day. Holy smoke. I’d seen that in romance novels but had never experienced it in real life.
Yeah, I get it now. That was the most masculine thing I’d ever seen, and I hoped he hadn’t heard the loud intake of breathI’d taken. Wow. I was just grateful I was sitting. I smiled just thinking about it.
“Yeah, youlooklike you’re thinking about a friend right now,” she teased.
“Ugh. Stop! Seriously, friends, that’s it,” my finger pointed at her in warning.
“I’m not saying I’m trying to ship you two. Just, you know, be open to the possibility.”
“Ship? Got that matchmaking term from MJ?” I teased. Vicky was about eight years younger than me, but even coming from her, that sounded strange.
With a heavy sigh, she answered, “Yup. My daughter got me saying that instead of relationship, andshegot it from her friend. We can’t seem to separate those two.”
“Oh geez, you mean Jojo?”
Vicky just shook her head, her brows lowered. Just hearing MJ’s friend’s name made me bite my lips together to keep from laughing out loud. Jojo was twelve going on thirty-two. She had attached herself to MJ, to Miles and Vicky’s dismay. She meant well, but she seemed well-versed in all things boys, and the stories about her were legendary.
“Anyway, shipping you two together or not, Luke said you get all mushy when Niko is near.”
I was going to kill my best friend.
“Honestly, you’d think that man had nothing better to do than gossip. Maybe I should be giving him more responsibility around the office,” I growled.
“Hedoesthink there’s something there, and it’s not one-sided,” she sang.
