I blinked, startled. “No. I don’t think I ever felt anything real for him.”
He regarded me with a slow tilt of his head. “What do you mean?”
“I was always too focused on school to have an actual social life. But in med school, your class becomes its own little universe—you see the same people so much, you start mistaking proximity for destiny. He was the first guy who ever...showed interest in me. And I guess I thought he might be the only one who ever would.”
Khalifa’s gaze swept over me. “Well, it sounds like he knew exactly what he was throwing away.”
I froze, searching his face for mockery, but he gave me nothing—just that maddeningly calm tone, like he was stating a fact about the forecast.
“Don’t romanticize it,” I muttered. “He didn’t throw me away. He never wanted me in the first place.”
“Then he’s an idiot. But I suppose idiots are everywhere. Next time, maybe don’t give them six months to prove it.”
“Next time?” I frowned. “Already planning on divorcing me?”
I thought he’d smirk or turn it into a joke like he always did. But instead, something flashed across his face, something too quick and too human for me to name, and then it was gone.
“Maybe you’ll end up divorcing me,” he murmured.
Before I could respond, he pushed up from the couch, his lean frame unfolding with an efficiency that suggested he was running from the conversation. He crossed the room, paused by the wall, and lifted the clock down. I gaped, baffled, as he twisted the dial, nudging the hands forward. Ten-twenty-two p.m. became twelve a.m., neat and inevitable.
He hung it back up, gave it a short, satisfied nod, and then headed for the kitchen like this was the most logical chain of events in the world.
“Are you...changing time now?” I asked.
He didn’t look at me, just reached for the flour, then the sugar. “You didn’t eat at dinner.” His voice was matter-of-fact. “It’s midnight—the perfect time for pancakes.”
My breath caught.
“Favorite meal: pancakes at midnight.”
It had been my favorite thing for as long as I could remember. A tradition I clung to like a lifeline during school, a reward for surviving exams, the comfort food no one but me had ever taken seriously. And yet here he was, brandishing a pan like he’d been rehearsing this heroic moment his whole life.
Surprise rippled through me, then something softer, warmer, creeping in so unfamiliar I almost mistook it for nausea.
I watched him, still stunned he’d remembered, still more stunned he’d cared enough to act on it. My voice came out defensive, because gentleness wasn’t something I knew how towear around him. “I’m pretty sure pancakes contain more sugar than you’re used to. Your body might go into shock.”
That earned me the smallest whisper of a chuckle. “I can handle some sweetness for one night.”
I told myself it was nothing, that there was no deeper meaning other than the stack of pancakes slowly taking shape in the skillet, but my pulse quickened, betraying me. He flipped the first pancake strategically, the golden circle sprinkled with chocolate chips landing perfectly in the pan, and I wondered if he was always this composed or if it was just another mask.
“Not that I care,” he said finally, flipping the next pancake, “but I never liked him anyway.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better. You don’t like anyone.”
He glanced over his shoulder, that infuriating half-smirk appearing again. “Good thing I wasn’t trying to make you feel better.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a menace.”
“And apparently a freak in the sheets.”
A laugh ripped free before I could stop myself. He peeked at me, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
“I’m so sorry,” I managed between giggles. “Seriously—I have no idea why that came out of my mouth.”
“It’s fine,” he said. “You actually did me a favor. I’m fairly certain none of them will invite me to anything ever again.”
He placed two plates of pancakes on the island—a stack of chocolatey, syrup-soaked deliciousness for me, and one single, lonely slice topped with fruit and the tiniest drizzle of honey for himself. He didn’t say anything about it, just slid mine toward me like a peace offering and took the seat across the island, cutting his pancake into precise triangles.
