"Do you know how many parking tickets I've gotten this month?" Derek demands, gesturing with a fry. "Four. Because apparently stopping for coffee is now illegal if you're within ten feet of a crosswalk."
"The horror," Aiden says, grinning. He's relaxed---legs stretched out, arm draped over the back of the booth. "How will you cope?"
"I'm a firefighter, not a miracle worker."
I'm only half-listening, mostly focused on my burger, when Aiden turns to me.
"So," he says, casual in that way that means he's about to get personal. "How's the neighbor situation?"
I stop mid-bite. Aiden's watching me with that knowing look he gets. Derek perks up, abandoning his fries to focus on this conversation.
"What neighbor situation?"
"The gorgeous paramedic living five feet from your front door. That neighbor situation."
"This is about Gemma?" Derek asks.
"There's no situation," I say firmly. "We share a wall. Sometimes we drink coffee. That's it."
"Right." Aiden leans back, studying me with the same focus he used to apply to reading smoke patterns. "Because you look like a guy who's just drinking coffee with his neighbor. Totally casual. No tension whatsoever."
I glare at him. "Don't you have a girlfriend to obsess over?"
Aiden grins. "Always. Things with Riley are great."
I should ask more. Be a better friend. Instead, what comes out is: "How did you know?"
Aiden's grin shifts into something more genuine. "Know what? That Riley was it?"
"That you weren't just... I don't know. Fooling yourself."
Derek goes quiet, focused on his fries but clearly listening.
Aiden thinks about this, turning his beer bottle in slow circles on the table. "Copper Ridge doesn't let you stay surface-level," he finally says. "This town, this job---it strips away all the bullshit. Either what you're feeling is real, or it burns off like morning fog."
"That's disgustingly philosophical," I mutter.
"It's also true." Aiden steals a fry from Derek's plate, ignoring Derek's protest. "Whatever you're feeling about Gemma, fighting it just makes it worse. Trust me. I tried the whole 'I'mfine, this is fine, everything's fine' approach with Riley. Lasted about three days before the universe started laughing at me."
"I'm not feeling anything," I lie.
Both of them stare at me.
"Okay," Derek says slowly. "So you won't mind if I ask her out."
My hand tightens around my beer bottle hard enough that I hear the glass creak. "Don't."
"Thought so." Derek grins, pointing a fry at him like it's evidence in a trial. "For what it's worth, she looks at you the same way you look at her when you think no one's watching."
I want to ask what that means. I don't ask what that means.
Aiden starts talking about how things developed with Riley, how the fake relationship turned real, how they both fought it. His voice goes soft when he mentions her, this edge of wonder like he still can't quite believe his luck.
I finish my burger and try not to think about Gemma's smile. Her laugh. The way she looks in the morning when she opens her door and finds coffee waiting.
I fail.
The petition appears on my bedroom door that evening.
