I try not to be surprised that she just called him by the very same thing I always do, but I am. How, after all this time apart, are we still so connected? Will it always be that way between us? Does she feel it too?
“Gosh, you’re just the cutest, you know that?” she tells him, tickling his stomach. “I still can’t believe you got a cat. You never wanted animals before.”
“That’s not true. I suggested we get a ferret once.”
She scowls, just as she did the first time I said it, and I laugh.
“All right, so maybe I could have compromised a bit, huh?”
“Yeah, I’d say.” She runs her finger down the cat’s nose. “What made you change your mind?”
Because I missed having someone around. I missed being important to someone. I missed someone needing me.
Because I missed you.
I keep all that to myself and shrug. “I don’t know. He seemed like he needed someone, and I had nothing else going on.”
She eyes me warily, and I wonder if she can see through all my bullshit. Just when I think she’s about to call me out, the intercom buzzes, saving me.
“That would be dinner. Could you grab some plates?”
“Yeah, of course.”
I hurry out the door, and it has everything to do with needing a minute alone. While it’s easier having her here now, it’s still not as easy as it used to be, and I’m trying to wrap my head around it all.
I smash the button on the elevator and shake out my tingling hands as I wait for the car. I think about calling Stefan, then I remember it’s Thursday, and he always goes out on Thursdays for boys’ night with his friends. He’s likely already three beers deep, and I need someone to talk me down, not hype me up.
The elevator arrives, and I step into it without even bothering to look for anyone else. Big mistake.
“Well, well, well…”
Fuck. I know that voice.
I look up to find Lawson—who is grinning like he’s just caught me doing something I shouldn’t be doing, even though I live in this building—and his girlfriend, Rory. She rolls her eyes at him, then gives me a tight smile, which, for her, is considered friendly. She likes people about as much as I do, and it will never not amaze me how she ended up with Lawson, who is the exact opposite of us.
“Hi, Keller,” she says.
“Rory,” I counter. I take in their nicer clothes. “Date night with Locke and Vanessa?”
“Yep. I forced him to invite us over to show me his apartment. You were right. It does look just like yours except it’s, like, homey. Got a real lady’s touch, you know?”
His girlfriend looks thoroughly exhausted by him. “How are you, Keller?”
“Is the wife here?”
Rory stomps right on Lawson’s foot, and I grin when my teammate hisses in pain. “Please feel free to ignore him,” she says to me. “He’s obviously never been in public before.”
“With pleasure,” I respond, sliding back against the wall opposite them and closing my eyes. “And I’m fine, Rory. Thanks for asking.”
“Thanks for asking?What the fuck is that?” Lawson says, and I don’t need to have my eyes open to know Rory just smacked his stomach—I can hear it. “What? He doesn’t say shit like that to me!”
“That’s probably because you always say the worst thing possible.”
“I do not!”
I peek one eye open just in time to see her shoot him a look that saysAre you serious right now?
“Okay, fine. So maybe I do. But can you blame me? He has awife, Wednesday,” he says, using his favorite nickname for her. “Asecretwife. That’s a big deal. You can’t fault me for being curious.”
