Not even my coffee cup could hide the smile that came with the memory of the last week. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Don’t give me any dirty details, but that’s awesome!” Raina’s smile matched mine and she leaned in a little closer. “Well, if you wanted to share afewdetails…”
Laughing, I pushed her away. “Not happening. It’s been nice, though. I’m still getting used to waking up with someone, but… yeah. It’s nice.” Really, though, ‘nice’ didn’t even begin to cover it.
“Have you guys talked about maybe moving in together yet?”
“We’ve only known each other since the beginning of October,” I reminded her. “That’s a little fast, isn’t it?”
“I’m hardly the best judge of that. Camille and I moved in together after like four dates.”
“Way to downplay lesbian stereotypes,” I teased, and she just rolled her eyes. “That was different circumstances, though. She needed a place to stay while she settled in town. Donovan already has his own place. He rents that little house down on Columbus Avenue, remember?”
“You should tell him he’s wasting that rent money. How often does he actually ever use that house?”
“He does his laundry there sometimes.” More often, I just tossed his dirty clothes in the washer with mine, something neither of us commented on other than a quiet ‘thank you’ from Donovan when he found his clothes folded neatly in the drawer I’d cleared for him.
“Just admit it. You two live together now.”
“It’s only been six months,” I protested, but it sounded weak even to my own ears. I didn’t even know why I was arguing it, but it just felt like I should. “It’s too soon… isn’t it?”
Raina sighed softly and turned on her stool so she faced me directly, so I did the same. She took the cup from me, put it on the counter, and took both my hands in hers. “Alex. I’m your best friend and I love you.”
“That’s not at all dire.”
“Hush. Now, I know you have your reasons for being anxious about this, and I get it. Before I met Camille, I was the poster child for toxic relationships.” She gave my hands a little squeeze. “Fuck what anyone else has to say about your relationship. Donovan seems like one of the good ones.”
“He really is. I keep expecting him to help an old lady across the street or rescue a kitten out of a tree.”
“Exactly. How long did it take you to know for sure that you loved him?”
I did a quick mental tally in my head. “Barely two months. But we were seeing each other nearly every night, so we had time to get to know each other.”
“You don’t have to defend yourself to me or to anyone, Alex,” Raina said. “When you know, you know. Why do you think I asked Camille to stay with me so quick? I knew by the end of our third date that she was the one for me. My point is, you do what’s right for you and Donovan, not some arbitrary timeline made up by society.”
The words hit like a sledgehammer, which is what she’d likely intended. Ihadbeen judging my relationship with Donovan on what other people would think, hadn’t I? Even after I’d met his mom a few months ago and she’d said nearly the exact same thing Raina was saying now, I was still hesitating. What was wrong with me? Here I’d managed to find an amazing man who put up with my weird psychic bullshit and I was dragging my feet?
Something squirmed in my chest, a dark little ball of anxiety that only grew with every self-doubt and fear I fed it. I ruthlessly squashed it down, taking a deep breath and hoping I could hide it from Raina when I looked up at her.
“That was romance movie-worthy. You should be a motivational speaker.”
“I will throw that chicken salad sandwich at your face.”
Success, then. I laughed, and she laughed along with me, giving me time to lock down the negative thoughts.
“Thanks, Raina.” I let out a slow breath. “I’ll talk to him about it soon.”
“Don’t let me influence your relationship too much, either, much as it pains me to say it. Don’t do it if you’re not ready, but at least remember that I’ve got your back, no matter what.”
“I’ll do it when the time is right,” I agreed, and it only felt a little bit like a lie. “So, can I finish my lunch now?”
Raina laughed, finally releasing my hands. “You are such a brat. Yes, finish eating. I need to get back and relieve Cami, anyway, so she can take a break and go feed Will.”
“You know that Will, Donovan, and I can get food, right? You two don’t have to feed us every day. Not that I’m complaining,” I added quickly, in case she took it to mean I didn’t want Camille’s food every day. I could cook, but not anywhere close to what Camille made.
“We like doing it,” she shrugged. “Besides, where else would we find three willing test subjects for our recipes?”
“Just… no more gross stuff, please?” I’d learned the hard way exactly what ‘Rocky Mountain oysters’ were and now looked up any food they brought me that I didn’t immediately recognize.
