By the timeMacie walked in, each of us were making our own dinners. The kitchen was a chaotic mess as we danced aroundeach other, fighting for the microwave, stove, and sink. But let’s face it, all I really needed was the microwave.
I sat down to my frozen dinner, nicely heated from those microwaves. Becca and Logan joined me at the table.
“Tink, that shit is so bad for you,” Logan said.
I bristled at the nickname, even though he explained what it meant to him. I’d gotten used to him using my real name, but he was keeping up the façade.
“Well, you didn’t offer to cook for me, so this is it,” I retorted, with my best attempt at being snarky right back. Becca sat to my right, completely oblivious to what was going on around her.
“Any food for me?” Macie asked as she walked in and foraged through the cabinets.
“It’s a fend for yourself kind of night,” I told her. “Chef Logan was selfish.”
That earned me a gruff harumph from my other side. His fork stabbed at his grilled chicken with such force the plate slid across the wood surface. But I was following through on what we’d agreed on…back to how we were in front of the roommates.
We decided we didn’t need to be quite as mean, but that it needed to be authentic.
“Well, looks like I’ll be having peanut butter and jelly tonight,” Macie said.
No one but Logan had been to the grocery store in a while.
“We can go shopping tomorrow,” I told her.
Macie nodded as she made her pitiful sandwich and joined us at the table. It wasn’t often that the four of us were at the table together. It hadn’t happened since Logan and I had started our “thing.”
This could be interesting.
Especially since he and I were sitting next to each other.
“Logan told me you guys kicked ass on your presentation,” Becca said in my direction.
“We did. He was a pain in the ass to work with, but the meathead here has a head for business on his shoulders.” My lips turned up in a slight smile, working hard to not overdo this interaction.
His snicker made me pause, hoping he understood what I was doing.
My hand landed on his thick thigh under the table, and I gave it a squeeze. I was working to be my old self, the one they expected me to be around him. I watched him put his fork down with precision before his hand came under the table and found mine. At first I thought he was going to remove it, push me from his leg. Instead, he gripped my hand in his, threading his fingers through mine, before looking my way.
“Yeah, well, Tink here is like working with a drill sergeant, and not the good kind. But I guess considering we did well, it was worth it.”
He gave my hand a squeeze then let go, his attention back to his plate of food.
Our little secret moment, in front of our friends, made my heart skip a beat or two.
It was thrilling keeping this from them.
More than thrilling, invigorating even.
That shifted when I looked over at Macie. She was smiling, and my mind made me think she’d seen us, making my stomach drop and my food almost come back up. I put my fork down, my appetite now gone at the thought. As I looked back her way, she was eating her sandwich as she listened to the story Becca was telling the table, something about Ty’s daughter, Savannah.
“She sounds adorable,” Macie said.
She was oblivious of me.
And my worries and stress.
They all were as the three laughed at whatever Becca had said.
Then I felt his hand on my leg, his thumb rubbing small circles, as he continued listening to Becca. Like a tether, his hand anchored me to his strength, as he somehow sensed I needed it.
